For My Birthday, I Was Gifted Five Husbands - Chapter 62
“Yes, you can sleep a little longer.”
Carter smiled softly as he looked at the drowsy Eugenie. The temperature inside the automobile was just the way she liked it. Although Eugenie had never mentioned it, the angle of the seat that supported her body was also the most comfortable for her.
He knew everything about her.
‘But you’ll never know that.’
That I’ve been watching you for such a long time.
That I’ve been trying so hard to win you over.
And yet, in the end, others have gathered around you, and I must endure the fact that we will have to spend time like this…
But just then, as Eugenie gazed at Carter silently, she spoke.
“…Carter.”
“Mm?”
“You said this marriage is an opportunity, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Really? Then can I take this as an opportunity?”
“I told you back then when I confessed, right? That I’d do my best to make you happy.”
He had said that before they reached the temple. But Eugenie, with a dissatisfied expression, muttered.
“But what if I don’t like you as much?”
“…”
“Are you okay with that, Carter? I… back then, I couldn’t really-”
“Yes. I’m fine, Eugenie.”
What else was there to say? What was Eugenie Norton so worried about? Carter smiled widely, unfazed.
“After all, you don’t love anyone, do you?”
“…Huh?”
“Your father, Peregrine Norton, did something.”
Before Eugenie could get too flustered, Carter smoothly continued.
“That’s probably why, no matter how much men like you, you can’t accept it. Isn’t that why you kept Peter Lamburg waiting?”
Eugenie tried to argue, but the words felt too accurate, so she couldn’t speak. And as Carter warmly pulled her head into his chest, she lost the chance to respond.
“So I understand. It’s okay if there’s no one special among us for you.”
“…”
“Even if you hurt me, I don’t mind.”
Carter whispered gently. The strongest chain that would bind this woman to him wasn’t love.
It was guilt.
“But I’ll be with you all the way this time…”
In one year, the only one left out of the five will be me.
* * *
After committing a terrible sin in the worship room, Carter took Eugenie back to the usual annex of Livingston House.
‘There’s no need to go back to Magnus Napier’s place just because it’s our honeymoon house, right?’
But if that’s what the groom wants…
Even after coming to the bedroom, it seemed there was more communication through the body than with words. In the early hours, Eugenie woke up in Carter’s arms and gazed at the sleeping man’s face, lost in thought.
‘What kind of help did Carter get from Mother, I wonder?’
After receiving that confession, she had distanced herself from Carter for a while…
‘Not even a single scar on his body.’
Though he was covered by the blanket, Eugenie had thoroughly observed every inch of Carter’s body. But unlike Alfred with his injuries, or Percival with his peculiar constitution, or the suspicious circumstances around Napier, Carter’s body was flawless, with no scars at all.
‘Could he have received help in ways other than physical?’
But as she was contemplating, Eugenie suddenly bolted upright.
“…!”
A chilling sensation ran from the crown of her head to her toes, as though someone had exhaled cold, eerie breath from behind her. Her skin prickled with goosebumps. It was such an uncomfortable feeling on a clear summer morning like this.
She carefully pulled herself up and glanced out the window at the garden.
“Is someone there?”
This chill was definitely creeping in from the garden.
Swallowing her fear, she opened the window, and at first, only the sounds of the early morning birds could be heard.
But along with the gentle breeze, a voice like a chime reached her ears.
“Good morning, Lady. Did you have a pleasant night?”
“…Ah. Cassius Lysander?”
“Thank you for the warm welcome!”
A man wearing a parasol so bright it almost blinded her smiled with an innocent expression.
His hair was a soft, pale pink, like cherry blossoms, and his white outfit made him look as if he had stepped right out of a fairy tale.
From head to toe, he seemed like a flower fairy. Cassius tilted his parasol toward Eugenie and smiled brightly.
“Your husband for today has come to escort you. Shall we go together now?”
The scent that drifted on the breeze was as sweet as lily-of-the-valley.
But without realizing it, Eugenie frowned slightly.
‘This scent… I’ve smelled it before, in the lab.’
It was faint, but unmistakable—rusted iron.
The same smell she had grown used to whenever the laboratory animals died…
