My Favorite Smut Author Is My Husband! - Chapter 40
“Madam, what on earth…!”
“Shh! Keep your voice down! Quickly, bring in the carriage!”
Having left the ducal estate at dawn, Lily returned by moonrise the same day.
The gatekeeper, who had thought her a passing peddler as she approached in a modest carriage, shouted in shock upon recognizing her.
“How… when…! I-I’ll call the butler at once!”
—
“Don’t tell Ashulin! Just quietly summon the butler!”
After calming the flustered gatekeeper and sending off the hired carriage, Lily slowly entered the ducal estate.
The distance from the gate to the mansion was considerable, but if she wanted to sneak in unnoticed by Ashulin, this was the only way.
Halfway to the mansion, she encountered the butler and a couple of maids running toward her, visibly panicked.
“Madam, did something happen at the Count’s estate?!”
“No, calm down, butler. I met with my parents, and everything went well.”
“But…”
Judging by the butler’s pale face, Lily could guess what he was thinking. After all, women returning to their family homes after a marital dispute weren’t unheard of. Some, unlike Lily, received neither kindness nor welcome but were turned away at the door with a cold admonition to resolve their marital problems on their own.
Even though Lily had been raised with utmost care by her parents, the butler couldn’t know what transpired after her marriage. Her early return seemed suspicious, and his eyes wavered with uncertainty.
“I simply wanted to see Ashulin sooner.”
Lily smiled at the butler and maids, her expression resolute and cheerful, a stark contrast to the gloom she had shown when leaving. They froze, stunned by her firm smile.
“Madam…”
“I’m sorry for worrying you over nothing. Things have been tense around here while I was gone, haven’t they?”
“Madam! It’s such a relief that you’ve returned!”
Finally realizing she had come back willingly, the servants looked as though a weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Lily reassured them, quieting their exclamations, and began tiptoeing toward the mansion.
“What is Ashulin doing right now?” she asked.
“Drinking? He’s been drinking?”
“Yes, madam. And an extraordinary amount at that. In all my years of serving him, I’ve never seen the Duke drink continuously from noon until night.”
“My goodness. He’s been drinking all day?”
“If you had stayed away for several more days, it might not have been just half a day—it could have gone on for days.”
The butler, who had served Ashulin since his youth, looked deeply distressed as he described the Duke’s visible torment. Lily felt both pity and a glimmer of opportunity.
“He’s in the bedroom now, right?”
“Well… Yes, he’s in the bedroom, but…”
The butler hesitated for a moment, which prompted Lily to press him with her gaze.
Finally, under her scrutiny, he continued.
“The Duke is not in his bedroom but… in Madam’s bedroom.”
“He’s drinking in *my* bedroom?”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Ah, that’s no good.”
“Excuse me?”
Having walked the long path through the garden to the mansion, Lily bit her lip. She had planned to enter her room dressed in her slip, but with him already in her bedroom, she wasn’t sure how to proceed.
“Oh my…!”
“Shh. Everyone, keep quiet.”
More than once, startled servants on night patrol almost cried out when they saw her, but Lily silenced them and decided to confront the situation head-on.
Forget the outfit or the performance—meeting him was all that mattered now.
“I’ll handle this myself. Don’t come near my room until tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, Madam…!”
For some reason, the butler and servants seemed to cheer her on as she ascended to the floor where her bedroom was located. Slowly, she stepped forward.
—
Earlier that day, she had felt nostalgic looking at her old bedroom in the Count’s estate. But now, back at the ducal estate, she felt another kind of familiarity, albeit a different one.
*Creak.*
“….”
That strange, bittersweet emotion—not quite longing or nostalgia—intensified the moment she quietly opened the door to her unlit room and saw Ashulin inside.
Was it because he was in *her* room, not his own?
Amusingly, despite having emptied several bottles of wine, he had neatly lined them up on the table as if to avoid making a mess. He stood there, swaying unsteadily.
It was clear he had been drinking heavily since midday. He didn’t even notice Lily approaching, his face pale and his gaze vacant, staring off somewhere.
*Swish—*
“….”
“….”
Lily grabbed his hand and pulled him down onto the bed. He toppled over without resistance, and she straddled him. Even then, he remained utterly unresponsive.
Even though the empire was in its golden age of peace and prosperity, such carelessness left her aghast. What if an assassin had come instead? She suppressed the growing bitterness in her heart and stared at him, his blank eyes and limp hand reaching out feebly.
—
“…A dream?”
“….”
“This must be a dream. Lily.”
“…[Your Grace.]”
His pallid, gloomy expression softened the moment he touched her, his lips curling into a faint smile.
Lily intertwined her fingers with his outstretched hand and pinned it above his head. She called him—not by his name but by his title.
“[Your Grace. Is my body the only thing you truly desire?]”
“…Lily?”
“[You’ve already taught me every pleasure there is. Are you now going to abandon me?]”
“….”
She was mimicking the lines of the Saintess from Ashulin’s latest draft. It was a deliberate act, meant to provoke him and draw out his innermost feelings.
“[You regret deceiving me and holding me in your arms, don’t you?]”
“…This really is a dream.”
“[But you don’t just want my body—you love me, don’t you?]”
“Damn it.”
Ashulin swore softly.
In his unedited draft, his desires were starkly revealed. In some places, the female protagonist’s name was even replaced with Lily’s, and around the smeared ink, spontaneous declarations of love were written multiple times.
“[You… you love me. If not, try to push me away. This time, I’ll be the one to have you.]”
Sitting atop him, Lily began to remove the dress she had intentionally loosened.
“Ah!”
No, she tried to take it off. But despite loosening the ties, a dress is still a dress, and it took some time to remove. Taking advantage of that moment, Ashulin reversed their positions, pulling her down.
“You’re so fearless.”
“……”
“You shouldn’t do this. You mustn’t act like this in front of me, Lily!”
“…Ashulin.”
“I can’t hold back.”
