Chapter 232. Wedding Night (1)
After the wedding reception, the moment I most dreaded finally arrived— the wedding night.
The wedding night when I would have to take the lead.
Will I be able to do it well?
…I had no experience taking the lead in such a relations.h.i.+p.
Of course, I should be able to do it, but will I have the courage?
I don’t think I could even lift my face in embarra.s.sment!
But I couldn’t stand idly by in front of the inexperienced Heinley.
I’m in trouble.
I couldn’t stop repeating inside myself, ‘I’m in trouble, I’m in trouble’.
Meanwhile, time pa.s.sed quickly, and I could finally enter the Queen’s Room, which I was forbidden to enter until the wedding took place.
I suppose it should now be called the Empress’s Room.
In the room there was a bed that surprised me a little, as there was a shared bedroom between Heinley’s room and mine.
When this palace was built, did the King of the Western Kingdom have such an intimate relations.h.i.+p with the Queen?
Why was it designed with such an annoying structure?
Putting that aside…this room was really incredible.
Heinley deliberately had it decorated in gold. In fact, the whole room glowed in gold tones. The difference was seen in the details; dark gold, light gold, and so on… But without a doubt it was all gold.
As I watched in amazement, the ladies-in-waiting following me, one after another, exclaimed in admiration,
“It is so beautiful that it has no comparison with the detached palace, Your Majesty.”
“It’s truly pretty. You’ll be staying here from now on, won’t you?”
“Oh, where are our rooms? Where, Miss Rose?”
” This way.”
As Rose went out into the corridor to show the ladies-in-waiting to the rooms where they would be staying, I sat alone on the bed, squeezing the soft sheets.
As I opened the door to this room, I remembered Yunim’s expression and chuckled. He may not be pleased that this room is now officially mine. However, he has been surprisingly quiet lately.
Was his hostility toward me gradually diminis.h.i.+ng? Let’s hope so.
After a while, the ladies-in-waiting, who had finished looking at their rooms, excitedly explained how they were structured.
“There’s a bed, there’s a closet, and there’s a desk in there!”
“The dressing table is all silver, Your Majesty!”
“The closet went from here to there!”
It seemed that it was not only my room, but also each lady-in-waiting’s room that was very sumptuous.
“I will see them another time?”
When I asked them with a smile, my ladies-in-waiting who were making a fuss instantly fell silent.
As I wondered why, they began exchanging glances with each other and grinning.
… I think I know what they are thinking.
I guess they think I should take a bath and go into the shared bedroom now.
Well, it’s already evening…
Is Heinley taking a bath in his room? Before we went upstairs, Heinley’s secretary stopped him in a hurry. He said there was an urgent report related to the outskirts of the Kingdom. So Heinley probably wasn’t in his room yet.
“You must take a bath immediately, Your Majesty.”
“I’ll make your body smell like a subtle fragrance of flowers. I have a perfume of lilies and roses, it is currently the most fas.h.i.+onable.”
“I brought some bath bombs that will make you feel like you’re in the clouds.”
As my ladies-in-waiting tried to drag me away, I firmly resisted.
“Your Majesty?”
Laura looked puzzled because I wasn’t moving.
“What’s wrong?”
I pointed a finger at the door.
“Wait a moment. I want to get some fresh air.”
“Now?”
“His Majesty the Emperor is not yet in his room…”
I wanted to take advantage of the night breeze to soothe my hot face.
After today the relations.h.i.+p between Heinley and I will change. I don’t know if the change will be positive or become somewhat awkward.
So I wanted to enjoy the time that was left before that happened.
This tingling feeling.
***
After going down a few steps, I stepped out onto the veranda. I put my hands on the railing, and inhaled the night breeze that blew past the tip of my nose.
The cold air filled my lungs as it pa.s.sed. But still the heat on my face did not diminish.
I looked toward the party hall where there were still people from the reception.
I could hear occasional explosions of fireworks, and the lights were clearly visible from here. In addition, I could see people coming out to get some fresh air, lovers sneaking out to enjoy their secret love, and Grand Duke Kapmen…. Grand Duke Kapmen?
Grand Duke Kapmen was alone? Standing… on the veranda over there.
Although his expression could not be seen properly from here, at first glance he looked very lonely and depressed. Most likely because of the effects of the potion.
When Grand Duke Kapmen was talking nonsense mixed with a sincere tone, it was funny and even made me laugh a little.
Come to think of it, it’s a really scary potion. Love can be a strong poison to the point that one can become lovesick.
Were the potion’s effects so strong that suffering was inevitable? Unfortunately, even in that case it was because of a mistake made with his own hands.
Then, suddenly, Grand Duke Kapmen looked this way.
He was definitely looking at me. I felt our eyes meet despite the distance…
He didn’t turn his head, so I turned around first and left the veranda.
I was about to have my wedding night with Heinley.
Knowing how he felt about me, I couldn’t greet him calmly. Eventually, I returned to my room after wandering around.
“You’ve arrived just in time.”
“A moment ago ‘His Majesty the Emperor’ also entered his room.”
“Miss Mastas, why do you put so much emphasis on ‘His Majesty the Emperor’?”
Mastas and Rose quarreled as usual, so I went first into the bathroom with Countess Jubel.
As Laura had said earlier, the large bathtub was filled with bubble like clouds.
As I undressed and stepped into the bathtub, a warm sensation began to spread from the tips of my toes.
I closed my eyes for a while to enjoy the warmth, but opened my eyes once I began to feel drowsy.
I rinsed again after applying a little of the perfume of lilies and roses. At the end, I put on the robe that had been prepared with the wedding dress.
… My hands were shaking.
Fortunately, looking in the mirror, I felt a little more sensual than usual.
Will Heinley also wear a robe like this?
Although it was made so that we could both wear it as a couple… I don’t know how Heinley would look in this kind of clothing.
Looking around awkwardly, I made up my mind and asked my ladies-in-waiting to leave.
The structure of this place was somewhat peculiar.
There was a bedroom between my room and Heinley’s, but there was no door that would allow access to that bedroom from the corridor.
One could only enter that bedroom, through my room or Heinley’s, and not even the ladies-in-waiting could enter without permission.
After taking a few deep breaths, I suddenly heard a m.u.f.fled noise from inside the bedroom.
Heinley had entered first.
I took one last deep breath, walked slowly and put my hand on the doork.n.o.b. Steeling myself, I carefully turned it.
As the door opened, the bedroom that had remained hidden until now was revealed.