Dear Contract Husband, I Didn't Know You Were Like This? - Chapter 72
The warmth where Tristan’s lips had touched contrasted with his flushed face.
Tristan realized that with this kind of gentle contact from Maya, he could suppress the desires rising within him.
He felt he could go along with whatever Maya wanted, acting as if he were crazy.
Her trembling voice, her shy smile, and her body moving for him dissolved his unfulfilled desires.
The heat rising in his body flowed in a positive direction.
“Maya, I promise you.”
“What….”
“I will only hold your hand while we sleep.”
Maya burst into laughter at Tristan’s resolute words. Only hold her hand while sleeping, he said.
“You can hug me while we sleep too.”
Tristan’s joke eased her tension. With some mental preparation, she felt she could accept a hug.
“I’m ready.”
“I’m not.”
Tristan groaned and covered his face with both hands.
Maya quickly lay down next to him.
“Then Tristan, let’s just hold hands while we sleep.”
So, Tristan and Maya held hands.
The warmth from their hands was comforting. The sound of breathing next to her made her heart race.
The resolve he had made melted away like spring ice.
‘We agreed to just hold hands.’
Feeling the heat rise in his body again, Tristan sighed inwardly.
Would Maya ever realize how difficult it was for him to suppress his feelings?
It was a night of both torment and happiness.
***
Tristan returned to his usual self early that morning.
As he looked at Maya sleeping in his arms, he realized how small she was.
It felt different from walking beside her or traveling together.
‘You’re so small but so immense.’
There wasn’t a single thing about her that he didn’t find endearing.
“Mmmh….”
Tristan felt a surge of satisfaction as he watched Maya nestling into him.
‘I want her to be like this only with me.’
It was the first time he had felt possessiveness.
He didn’t want to let go of Maya, who was breathing in his embrace.
He wanted to break the curse as soon as possible.
He was more eager than ever to reveal his true self as the Grand Duke of Bayarden.
‘You never know what the emperor might say.’
Even though Maya was married, the emperor was someone who wouldn’t care about such things.
‘She shines even in my eyes.’
Tristan now understood why Kendrick had been so wary of him.
Kendrick had already known.
He knew that Tristan would fall for Maya.
Even though it was a contract marriage with supposedly no emotional ties, Kendrick and Tristan were on similar grounds.
‘At least Kendrick is tied to the Mage Tower, which is a relief.’
However, the people Maya would come into contact with in the capital brought a different kind of anxiety.
‘I have to keep an eye on them.’
Emperor Reserfield was the greatest adversary in House Bayarden’s life.
Even if nothing happened between Maya and the emperor, he wasn’t someone to be overlooked.
‘If it weren’t for Maya this time, Alec could have been in danger.’
The emperor’s presence always brought misery and destruction to his life.
‘…The death of my parents is still suspicious.’
The sudden carriage accident that killed the previous grand duke and grand duchess simultaneously left no evidence, but Tristan was convinced that Emperor Reserfield had orchestrated it.
It wasn’t just about personal revenge.
Even the news he heard on his way down to the capital suggested there were definite problems with Reserfield.
People were suffering from unusual weather patterns not just in the north but everywhere, yet nothing was being properly addressed.
‘Although I can’t participate directly….’
The curse Tristan was under couldn’t be undone by a mage’s disguise.
Lost in thought, Tristan stroked Maya’s hair.
Her wavy chestnut hair felt like a tree supporting him.
In a low voice, Tristan murmured words he couldn’t yet say to Maya.
“If the time we spend together helps break the curse more….”
There was something he wanted to say.
