TPOTLPIM Chapter 32

After the wedding ceremony ended, the four people bid farewell in front of the monastery.

"When do you depart for the campaign?"

"In three days."

"Oh my, your new bride will be lonely right after getting married. Miss Cecilia, will you stay at the Serin estate for the time being?"

"Yes, there are many things to organize before my father returns."

Cecilia said with a gentle smile.

"Cecile, I'll visit the Serin estate often."

"Thank you for coming today, Rose."

As Rosein gently embraced Cecilia, Cecilia patted Rosein's back in return.

After finishing their farewells, the four split into pairs and boarded their respective carriages.

Thanks to Cecilia's voluminous dress, the spacious carriage interior seemed cramped today. Or perhaps it felt narrow because Teros was sitting closely beside her. However he had managed his expression until boarding the carriage, Teros had been smiling continuously since getting in.

When their eyes met, both burst into laughter simultaneously.

"You seem happy to be married to me, Teros?"

"Of course. Isn't my fiancée... no, my wife happy?"

"How could I not be?"

'This wonderful man is my husband!'

Though it had been a sudden marriage, Cecilia felt like shouting with joy. However, the reason she appeared outwardly calm was because she felt guilty about being so happy when she was worried about her father.

"It seems like only I'm happy."

Teros pulled Cecilia into his embrace. The pleasant fragrance he felt from her made his head spin. He gently cupped Cecilia's chin to make her look at him.

"I want to kiss you."

At his words, Cecilia's startled eyes glanced toward where the coachman sat. Though the driver couldn't possibly see them inside the carriage, she felt unnecessarily self-conscious.

But Teros didn't seem inclined to back down despite her flustered expression.

"I can't?"

His dark blue eyes gazed intently at Cecilia's eyes. For some reason, meeting those eyes made Cecilia feel nervous, as if she were helplessly bound by that gaze.

Unable to speak, Teros's lips approached her trembling lips. As she felt his hot breath, she found herself wanting to gladly share that warmth.

Teros slowly began to draw in her lips. He touched her full lips with his tongue tip and playfully bit her lower lip.

"Ah...!"

When Cecilia's startled mouth opened, he pulled her closer as if he had been waiting and began to explore deeper inside her mouth.

Her rigidly tense body softened as their tongues and lips naturally became entangled.

"Mmm..."

Hearing the soft moan near his ear, Teros felt every nerve in his body stand on edge. He held her shoulders more firmly and pressed their bodies together.

"Haa... ah!"

Cecilia's face flushed red. She didn't want to make sounds, but strange noises kept flowing from her lips. As the kiss deepened, she felt like she might make even louder sounds.

She urgently pushed against Teros's shoulders and broke away from the kiss. She wanted to turn her head away and calm her heated excitement.

But he only gave her a brief moment. Soon he grasped the chin of her turned face and kissed her again.

"Mmph... ah!"

As sounds mixed with confusion and excitement flowed from Cecilia's lips, Teros felt a strange pleasure. He wanted to confuse her more, to dishevel her.

The force in her hands pushing against his shoulders grew stronger, then her hands slipped from his shoulders.

Taking this as a signal that they really should stop now, Teros finally lifted his face from hers.

Cecilia escaped from Teros's embrace and breathed heavily. Though this wasn't their first kiss, today's kiss felt different from previous ones. It was a kiss that gave her both a dizzy sensation and a sense of danger, and she didn't entirely dislike it.

Watching Cecilia catch her breath, Teros found her appearance so lovely that he couldn't help but kiss her cheek.

After kissing her cheek, other places caught his eye. He wanted to kiss her neat forehead, her cute earlobes, her snow-white nape.

But he only clenched his fists and took no other action. He instinctively knew that if he went further, even he would find it hard to stop.

"Teros! You were rather mischievous today."

Embarrassed by how she had been excited in his embrace just moments before, Cecilia glared at him as she spoke.

"Did you dislike it?"

"No, I didn't dislike it, but..."

Cecilia looked only at her toes as she trailed off.

"Then did you like it?"

Teros pushed his face close to Cecilia, who was trying to slip away like an eel, persistently demanding an answer.

Cecilia darted her eyes here and there to escape his penetrating stare. In the cramped carriage, dodging his gaze was impossible.

"Please say you liked it."

When Teros, who had been persistently demanding an answer, now spoke almost pleadingly, Cecilia had no choice but to confess honestly.

"I liked it. Of course I did. How could I dislike kissing my husband? Do you really need to hear this in words?"

Annoyed that Teros had persistently drawn out such embarrassing words, Cecilia glared at him again.

At her words, the anxious expression disappeared from Teros's face, replaced by an utterly satisfied smile.

"If you don't tell me, I can't know. It seemed like only I was enjoying it."

So that's how it was. She had never imagined that the perpetually confident Teros would harbor such anxieties. The man revealing his weak side suddenly felt endearing and precious. To soothe his unease, Cecilia placed her hand on his pitch-black hair and gently stroked it as if petting a large dog.

Teros lowered his head as if wanting more petting, accepting her touch.

Cecilia almost burst into laughter at this unexpected side of a man who seemed likely to get angry if treated like a child.

Then Teros moved closer to Cecilia and put his arm around her waist.

"Then from now on, I can engage in skinship like today's without asking permission, right?"

"When did you ever ask permission before?"

Teros whispered against Cecilia's ear as she let out a slight laugh.

"We're going to do much more together in the future. Prepare yourself mentally, Cecilia. Don't be surprised like today."

Returning to the Serin estate, Cecilia could only gape.

"What is all this?"

Dresses, jewelry, and accessories piled high enough to fill a room were waiting for her.

"I couldn't give you a proper wedding ceremony, so I wanted to at least prepare good wedding gifts. It would be nice if you used these things and thought of me while I'm away."

"I didn't prepare anything... Father isn't here either, and I didn't even think about how to prepare a dowry. When Father returns, we can discuss together..."

"You know I don't care about such things. These are just gifts I wanted to give."

Teros kissed Cecilia's forehead. Things like dowries were for political marriages that treated marriage as part of business, and he didn't want to give and receive such things with her.

"Your marrying someone like me is your gift to me."

"Still..."

Cecilia suddenly seemed to remember something and unfastened the bracelet she was wearing. It was a bracelet set with blue topaz that resembled her eyes.

"Ah, it falls short of Teros's sincerity, but I'll give you this. It's something I always wear. Teros should have at least one thing to think of me with."

"Then I'll gladly accept this."

When she placed the delicately sparkling bracelet on Teros's large palm, he clenched his fist firmly as if he would never lose it.

What surprised Cecilia wasn't just the gifts Teros had sent.

When the two, after washing and changing into comfortable clothes, had finished dinner, Dalein quietly called Cecilia out and led her somewhere.

"Miss, you said to prepare a separate room for the Marquis, but it's still your wedding night. Just in case, I prepared a bridal chamber. The head butler also said to prepare it just to be safe."

With stunned eyes, Cecilia surveyed the bridal chamber the maids had decorated. Among the many, many rooms in the Serin estate, she hadn't even known such a room existed. On the blankets of the spacious bed where two people could sleep with plenty of room to spare, there were flower decorations made by scattering petals gathered from all sorts of flowers.

Where they had obtained the expensive ice, there was champagne in an ice bucket, and subtle scented candles were lined up that would definitely turn romantic once lit.

Cecilia's face turned bright red.

"Dalein! I'm grateful, but you've done something unnecessary. Today Teros and I won't be using the same room. That sort of thing, later when he returns, at Hasblue..."

"Since the maids put in such effort, we should make good use of it."

At the deep voice heard from behind, Cecilia spun around in surprise.

Teros stood leaning against the doorway, wearing a thick robe over light indoor clothing.

"Te, Teros!"

While Cecilia stammered in confusion, Teros approached her and fingered the ends of her hair.

"Since we've prepared a bridal chamber, we might as well enjoy the atmosphere."

Sensing the pink atmosphere flowing between the two, Dalein blushed and hurriedly left them alone.

Left alone with Teros, Cecilia fidgeted like a lost child in the spacious room, lowering her head. She hadn't expected such an atmosphere to develop suddenly. Her body felt hot and she was breaking into a cold sweat.

"Sit down, Cecilia."

Teros leisurely sat at the table and began opening the champagne in the ice bucket.

"We were both tired from this morning, so let's have a drink and rest."

The sound of champagne being poured into glasses seemed unusually loud.

'I'm dying of nervousness, but why does Teros seem so unaffected?'

His calm and skillful attitude, like he was still the owner of this room, was somehow irksome.

Seized by petty defiance, Cecilia concealed her nervousness and feigned composure as she went and sat at the table.

Clink-

The two lightly clinked glasses in a toast.

Taking a sip of champagne, the cool yet sharp taste seemed to wash away the day's fatigue and ease her tension.

Then came a careful knock and Dalein's voice.

"Um, Miss. May I light the scented candles for you?"

"Yes, come in, Dalein."

Dalein entered cautiously, watching their expressions, and quickly began lighting the candles placed around the room one by one.

The room began to brighten little by little, flickering with warm colors.

After Dalein left, the room was again wrapped in silence. In the darkness, Teros's face in the candlelight was as neat as a well-crafted sculpture.

Without thinking, Cecilia reached out and traced Teros's smooth face.

Teros seemed slightly surprised but soon began rubbing his cheek against her palm.

"Cecilia, you're not already drunk, are you?"

"I'm not drunk! How long are you going to tease me about that?"

As a warning not to tease, Cecilia lightly pinched his cheek. Usually with a stern expression and solid build, she thought his face would be hard too, but unexpectedly the texture felt under her fingertips was soft and squishy.

He caught her hand touching his cheek and kissed her palm. At the soft, hot sensation, Cecilia briefly tensed and drew in her breath.

"I like seeing you drunk too. Thanks to you being drunk that day we went to Le Stouef, and became quite close."

As Teros brushed her palm with his lips, he slyly licked her skin with his tongue. Startled by the unfamiliar sensation, Cecilia's eyes grew large and met his gaze. Teros still had his face buried in Cecilia's palm while observing her reaction with keen eyes. His attitude was sensual—lustful yet devoted, like licking the sweetest candy in the world.

When she didn't pull her hand away, Teros's lips gradually moved toward her white wrist.

The veins showing blue beneath the tender flesh gave a fragile impression. Without hesitation, Teros pressed his lips against the white skin. Then, as if trying to take in her scent, he gently traced with his tongue tip and repeatedly lightly bit her wrist with his lips before releasing it.

Cecilia's expression gradually contorted with confusion. She knew well what his actions meant and understood that these were things that could be done between lovers, especially between spouses.

But what made her feel bewildered was that Teros's expression was excessively attractive.

His closed eyes with downcast lashes were beautiful, and his cheeks that had visibly heated up gave a peculiar feeling. When he occasionally opened his eyes to observe her expression, Cecilia felt a dizzying sensation as if her heart had been pierced through.

'Dangerous.' Cecilia suddenly realized that if Teros set his mind to seducing her, she would have no choice but to fall for it. He seemed to give her the initiative in their relationship, but in truth he was very gradually pushing her into the range of actions he wanted, bit by bit.