Chapter 21
“Wow, don"t make me laugh!”
“This is not funny at all. If you were tempting me, it was successful.”
Rose retorted, “I didn"t even know you were next to me!”
“Then why were you clinging onto me, rubbing your body with mine?”
Rose"s face flushed with his direct question.
Maxim one by one started unb.u.t.toning the silk satin b.u.t.tons that bound the front of Rose"s wedding dress.
Click. Click.
Every time a b.u.t.ton was unfastened, her white peachy skin bounced from the pressure of the tightly clasped dress.
“Hah…”
Rose"s breath became unstable, so Maxim raised his head and kissed her as he continued to unb.u.t.ton her dress. The alcohol of fruit wine still lingered on his lips, even more so on his tongue that penetrated through her lips, distracting her from any logical thoughts.
“Mmph.”
Rose gently released her lips from his, then kissed him again intensifying the kiss.
“Hah… Ah.”
Rose"s body went taut just by kissing.
Maxim lowered his head lightly licking Rose"s neck from her collarbone up to her chin. Rose"s back arched reflexively when his hot lips pressed against her neck. His muscular body pressed down from heavily atop her, the bed started to sink, and Rose was rendered unable to move.
I grabbed his forearm to push him away, but he caught it and held it firmly within his grasp.
“As you swore earlier, you must fulfill your duty as my wife,” Maxim"s husky voice purred into Rose"s ear. His voice was dangerous, but the corners of his mouth curled up playfully as if antic.i.p.ating what would come next.
At that moment.
“Your Grace!”
There was an urgent knock at the door from outside, both Rose and Maxim looked at the door at the same time.
Maxim answered, “What"s going on?”
“I have something urgent to tell you,” replied the soldier with an obvious anxiety in his voice.
Maxim suddenly rose, sensing the unease in the soldier"s voice. He pushed himself to the edge of the bed, pulled up the rolled quilt, and used it to cover Rose.
What the h.e.l.l is going on?
Rose looked anxious and peeked up to see the situation outside the door. However, Maxim"s large upper body completely blocked the door, so she couldn"t see or hear a single thing.
“d.a.m.n it! b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
I only heard loud harsh cursing coming out his mouth.
Maxim, who shut the door quietly as if nothing happened, told her, “I won"t be long.”
What"s going on? This is so sudden! He says he won"t take long, but I still didn"t know how long or what is even going on.
Rose held the half-loose sheet and ran to the window.
Her eyes widened in surprise at the situation outside. While she was tangled in bed with Maxim, soldiers in black were already gathering outside ready for dispatch.
Even Tulio, who was drunk and wobbling earlier, was sitting on a horse donned in armor.
Rishar seemed to be waiting for Maxim and was talking seriously with other knights at the forefront.
What the h.e.l.l is going on? Did people from Solstern invade all of a sudden?
Anxious, Rose couldn"t sleep a wink all night.
“There"s friction around the border. To think this would happen on your wedding day.” Yansen said with regret, feeling sorry for Rose who had spent her first night as wife alone.
“Does this happen often? Suddenly invading like that?”Rose asked in a calm voice as if she didn"t care about their first night together.
“It"s rare for His Highness to come forward. The situation seems to have been quite serious this time as they likely knew it was your wedding day and planned for it.”
I was worried that the situation was severe.
Rose was embarra.s.sed to show that she was worried about Maxim, so she asked in a pa.s.sing manner, “Is he… is he okay?”
Yansen replied with a relaxed smile, “Of course he"ll be fine. It would be better for you to adjust to life here during his absence.”
Rose nodded and tried to step forward again, but an unexpected loud noise sounded from one of the rooms along the corridor.
A man and woman were arguing. No, a man was soothing an angry woman.
“This all happened because of that Solstern b.i.t.c.h!”
“Honey, watch your mouth!”
“What would have happened if he had married my Ayla? Even if we join forces with the tribes, we"ll still have enemies everywhere!”
Yansen approached the door and tried to stop them when he heard insults aimed at Rose outside the room.
“No, wait.”
Rose pulled Yansen back and listened quietly to what they had to say.
“It was something the ministers and elders should not have allowed.”
“Huh! That"s too much. Even if you"re against it, you know it"s treason, so what do you want me to do?”
“One useless Solstern woman blew this golden opportunity to attract all the tribes! Pathetic! Pathetic!”
“It"s no use running around like this now. It"s already happened.”
“Then I"ll make that b.i.t.c.h walk away on her own.”
Yansen was amazed by the harsh words coming from inside.
Katriana was the only one to hear snippets of their conversation thus peeking out the door, but did not see Rose or Yansen, nonetheless Rose and Yansen overheard every dirty word from the corridor.
However, this was too much. Yansen tried once more to enter the room and stop them despite Rose"s dissuasion.
“Stop it.” Rose looked up as she spoke, before continuing to walk down the corridor in peace, leaving Yansen no choice but to quickly follow her.
No emotion was revealed on Rose"s face after hearing such words, so Yansen was unable to guess what she was thinking.
“Are you alright? Mrs. Katriana is hysterical because she can"t marry her niece to His Majesty. Understand?”
“It doesn"t sound like it at all. If Helabant has enemies everywhere, this is really serious.”
“What?”
Yansen looked at Rose.
Rose was lost in thought with a worried face.
I didn"t care that she was cursing me thinking she could make me leave on my own, rather I was concerned about Helabant"s enemies.
[Dear,
My beloved brother Hans.
I received your letter well. Is everything alright back at home?
As you said, I know how much I"ve done; I"ve made my family upset because of my decisions, and feel very guilty for causing you such harm. Don"t feel sad because of me it only makes matters worse for me, so please don"t do that.
Fortunately, I had a safe wedding here.
You shouldn"t worry about me anymore. Halbant isn"t as savage as you think it is back in Solstern., and trust me I can overcome such difficulties. I"m from the Etoile family after all.
Like brother, your sister isn"t that weak.
It is not the right time yet, but I"ll think of how to reunite again when it"s appropriate.
Also, the gatehouse that I wrote about in the letter is from this family. I don"t know if it"s related to Marquis Tricia"s wife, so look into it quietly, without anyone noticing.
You said you frequented the castle, right?
You know that the wife controls the emperor, right?
Sasha"s probably already attached herself to Ca.s.siax.
It seems the Mundo family is trying to rule out our family influence, so we need to keep our heads together.
Promise me you won"t ignore my words!
I don"t know what kind of damage Ca.s.siax will do to this family. He"s grinding his teeth because of me.
Always be vigilant and take care of yourself. Alright?
Never mind the dowry. Maxim Lancert doesn"t seem to care about that anyway.
I"m sure there will be times when I need the help of my family here soon. You can help me when that time comes.
I"ll pray every day for you to let us meet again.
I love you. I love you. Tell everyone I love them.
-Rose.
P.S. Be nice to Helen. She"s already like family to me. Don"t you dare make her sad!]
Rose, who finished writing the letter, melted the red wax and dropped it on an envelope.
When I kissed the ring I was wearing and pressed it firmly on the wax, an elaborate emblem symbolizing the Etoile family was engraved on the letter.
I am holding a letter to my heart, missing my family…
Clack!
Rose turned her head to the sound of something falling next to her. Perhaps she fell asleep because of the warm sunlight, but a small embroidery frame fell from Natalie"s hand.
Why did you come along to Helbant with me? You didn"t have to. Rose wondered as she picked up the fallen embroidery frame and looked at Natalie, who appeared extremely tired.
My family is not around, but I was grateful that Natalie has been able to stand by my side so far.
Then Rose heard a loud noise resounding outside, Natalie had already fallen asleep, and couldn"t be woken, Rose on the other hand flinched at the deafening roar.
What"s going on?
Rose"s forehead wrinkled by the noise that had disturbed the peaceful moment.
When I went out into the corridor and looked, maids were gathered on the central stairs.
Rose looked up straight and walked quickly towards the source of the ruckus.
“What"s going on!” When Rose"s voice was heard, the maids parted a way for her.
“No!” Someone screamed.
The scene she witnessed was a disturbing spectacle. Perhaps a maid was violently grabbed by her hair, or maybe she"s being beaten by a maid, and her hair has become messed up. The back of the maid"s hand, which had been struck, was cut overflowing with blood.
Miriam, the head maid, calmed down her anger and set this as an example for Rose to display her authority in the castle.
“It"s nothing. I was ridding this child of her bad habits,” Miriam spoke calmly, but Rose still felt a tremor in her voice.
Miriam appeared so excited that every time she breathed out her chest moved wildly up and down.
Rose looked at the condition of the tearful maid as she walked slowly to stand beside her.
This child!
She looked familiar, she was the innocent-looking young maid who fell in the garden not long ago.
The maid quickly tucked the back of her hand under her skirt to hide the wound.
“How about fixing your hair?” Rose asked, staring at Miriam.
“It is none of your concern, Your Majesty. This is a trivial matter.” Miriam said in a stiff posture as if it was no big deal.
Rose"s eyes caught something on the floor.
“What"s that?”