For My Birthday, I Was Gifted Five Husbands - Chapter 25
A large, warm palm gently stroked her forehead. With each soothing touch, the pounding headache that had felt as if it would break her apart began to fade away like a lie.
“…Eugenie? Eugenie, are you okay?”
“Mmm… huh?”
“Eugenie, open your eyes.”
“…Oh.”
Drawn in by the tender voice, Eugenie blinked weakly. Just moments ago, she had been surrounded by a world enveloped in white mist, but now, as she looked around a space filled with bright sunlight, her head spun.
‘How many years has it been since I dreamed of Mom?’
The lingering pain in her head was proof to just how intense that dream had been.
But the moment she saw the man gently caressing her cheek, her hazy thoughts began to clear.
“Brother Alfred?”
“Does it hurt a lot? Are you alright?”
“I’m okay, I’m fine.”
Eugenie quickly scanned the white bedding and pulled the covers closer.
‘Why am I naked like this? And why is he dressed like that again?’
His well-defined abs and broad chest muscles were starkly visible through his pajama gown. And as she noticed the reddish marks scattered across his trained body from beach life and training…
“Ah.”
It was then that she fully returned to reality. She was now Eugenie Norton, an infamous femme fatale married to five men.
Alfred studied her with concern, his brow furrowing as he noticed her still-pale complexion.
“Are you really okay? I heard you groaning in your sleep.”
“….It was just an old dream. I’m really fine. By the way, what’s that?”
Not wanting to delve into the dream that reflected her own faults, Eugenie hurriedly changed the subject. In fact, behind the bed where Alfred sat, she could see a trolley with a silver dish on it.
Although Alfred seemed somewhat displeased, he managed a smile.
“I brought you something to eat.”
“Oh…?”
“I figured you might be too tired to go down to the dining hall.”
Eugenie’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected thoughtfulness.
When she lifted the lid of the dish, a plate appeared with a fresh salad and a beautifully prepared sunny-side-up egg atop bread.
‘Is this what they call a meal in bed?’
It really did feel like a honeymoon… though, of course, it was a honeymoon, to begin with.
However, as she moved her body, Eugenie suddenly felt a strange sense of dissonance.
‘My body doesn’t hurt at all.’
She had heard that the pain of a woman’s first experience can vary greatly. From those who suffer immensely to others who feel just a slight discomfort—it’s all over the map.
‘But no matter what, it’s still a first experience… shouldn’t my lower abdomen feel a bit tender?’
Yet Eugenie felt remarkably energetic. In fact, she felt even more revitalized than when she had woken up after receiving the most effective and expensive treatments.
Even if Alfred had been incredibly skilled at foreplay and had relaxed her tense body, was it too much…? Too much…?
‘Am I possibly just made for this?’
To enjoy such a variety of positions right from her first time?
It was a somewhat embarrassing realization, but she decided it was better than collapsing after just one round.
‘If I’m really going to be doing this with four more men going forward…’
To hide her embarrassment, Eugenie took a big bite of her bread.
Alfred turned his body to reach for his plate, and at that moment, Eugenie raised her eyebrows as she caught sight of his side through the gap in his gown.
“Brother, did you have a scar here?”
Was it because it was dark last night that she hadn’t noticed it? There was a long, diagonal scar running vertically along Alfred’s left side.
The scar was about a third the length of her arm, and Eugenie’s eyes widened as she lightly touched it with her finger. The smoothness at her fingertip suggested that it was an old injury.
“Wow… when did you get this?”
“Well— that was probably when I had just become a lieutenant?”
“What? You were injured in a battle back then?”
Eugenie looked at Alfred with curiosity. If he had been a lieutenant at the time, he would have been seventeen, and she would have been fourteen.
‘It looks like he must have bled quite a bit. If it had been any deeper, it could have been dangerous.’
Even though the borders of Hermeland were tumultuous, she couldn’t recall any significant battles where the son of Marquis Wilberforce had been injured like that at that time.
“…Well, there were sometimes training exercises that were as dangerous as real battles.”
With a slight squint, Alfred pushed a piece of bread dipped in egg yolk into Eugenie’s mouth.
Reluctantly, she swallowed the bread, lost in thought.
