We're Married, After All - Chapter 11
The maid brushing my hair paused for a moment.
Curious, I lifted my head to look in the mirror. In the large mirror before me, I saw the two maids exchanging glances. More precisely, the young maid holding the comb was glancing nervously at the older maid holding the hair ornaments.
Noticing my gaze, the older maid spoke in a soft tone.
“How about braiding your hair down today, Madam? It’s been a bit chilly lately, and an updo might leave you feeling cold. Especially since it’s for tonight’s dinner…”
As she spoke, she carefully set the hair ornament back into its box, her movements deliberately casual.
I gave a slight nod instead of replying. At that, the maids’ faces visibly brightened.
Perhaps because the sudden change in hairstyle caused some delay, they both began braiding my hair together. Starting from the temples, they braided ribbons into my hair, bringing it together at the nape of my neck before merging it into a single plait. My usually smooth, straight hair was styled to look as voluminous as possible.
When they were done, the younger maid held up a small mirror to show me the finished look.
Instead of admiring the hairstyle, I pushed aside the strands covering the back of my neck to check the nape. I had a suspicion, after all.
Beneath the voluminous layers of hair, hidden by the cascading braid, was a mark that shouldn’t have been there. A distinct bite mark, as clear as if a beast had sunk its teeth into me.
In the mirror, the two maids exchanged glances again. As expected, the older maid was the one to speak first.
“It seems that the brief warm spell brought the bugs out again.”
“Really?”
At my reply, the younger maid let out a faint whimper. The trembling of her hands, which had been subtle before, was now clearly visible. The older maid who had addressed me didn’t seem much better off.
I quietly observed the two of them, both nervously gauging my reaction, before responding indifferently.
“If you say so, then that must be it.”
Even as their shoulders quivered, neither maid pleaded for forgiveness or admitted to their lie. Their reaction didn’t anger me. It merely confirmed a suspicion I had been harboring for some time.
As I thought… Everyone in this castle is deceiving me.
I instructed the maids to bring out some other dresses, explaining that I wanted to change. I knew that the hairstyle they had just finished wouldn’t clash terribly with the original dress I’d planned to wear. This wasn’t about coordination—I simply needed to check something.
The maids, clearly flustered, quickly bowed their heads and left the room as soon as I finished speaking. Left alone, I idly touched the back of my neck.
Even if everyone in LaFechia Castle was deceiving me, I didn’t doubt their loyalty.
If they had wanted to humiliate me for marrying a man other than the one they were supposed to serve, they would have let me attend the banquet with my entire back exposed for everyone to see.
That left only one explanation for their deception:
Their master wishes to deceive me.
My husband, who left bite marks on me while I slept.
The morning after a night where I passed out in climax as if fainting, we returned to our usual routine. Danel spent the entire day shut in his study, poring over documents, while I threw javelins or practiced archery in the backyard. When night came, we engaged in the same predictable, routine coupling.
Each day was exactly the same. Every night, Danel would caress my body in a precise sequence. Afterward, he would move inside me with the same positions and nearly identical pressure. Once he released himself deep into my abdomen, I would fall asleep as if knocked unconscious.
When I woke up, it was morning. The bed was always spotless, without a single trace of the previous night, and I would open my eyes alone, ready to start the day anew. Until night fell, our interactions were minimal, limited to shared meal times at best.
Danel had fully returned to being the husband I knew. The man who had gripped my chest tightly, sucking audibly, or who had pinned me down and pounded into me until the sound echoed—those moments seemed to have never existed.
Yet, the reason I had begun doubting Danel was something that had happened a few days ago.
That day had been no different from any other. When I woke up, I was alone as usual, and I ate breakfast by myself.
But the afternoon brought a slight change in routine.
When I stepped out for a walk in the garden, I noticed the grass leading to the backyard was damp. It seemed spring rain had fallen in the early hours of the morning.
As I admired the soft, dew-covered grass, I decided to take off my shoes and socks. Placing my bare feet on the ground, I felt the tender blades cushioning my soles.
Holding my shoes and socks in one hand and lifting the hem of my dress with the other, I walked across the grass. The sensation of damp blades underfoot was so pleasant that I wandered all the way to the backyard, taking a leisurely stroll around the wide lawn.
At some point, I glanced back toward the mansion and locked eyes with Danel.
He was standing at one of the large windows facing the backyard. From the third floor—his study, which was the largest library in the mansion.
The backyard was quite far from the mansion itself. On any other day, even if I had noticed Danel standing by the window, I wouldn’t have thought he was looking at me.
But that day was different. I could tell his gaze was following my every step. His violet eyes brushed over my ankles, peeking out beneath my dress, and lingered on my toes glistening with dew. The intensity of his stare was palpable, almost hot.
As I walked across the lawn, I felt my undergarments grow damp. It was the same sensation I’d felt that morning when Danel had returned at dawn.
Anticipation wet the space between my thighs.
I began to wonder if the past few days had been a lie. Perhaps what Danel truly desired was the kind of intimacy we shared that night. Or maybe, it was that filthy act at dawn—when he buried his face between my legs and pleasured himself—that reflected his real desires.
