# 46 -
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Yuan's voice made Seret swallow. Tension spread throughout her entire body.
“What do you mean by something we didn’t finish last night? Is there such a thing?”
Seret pushed Yuan's shoulder and sat down. She feigned ignorance, but his look was so seductive that it made heat rise to her neck.
“There are a lot.”
“Well, I don't know anything about that.”
“First...”
Yuan lightly grabbed Seret's chin and pinched her lips with his thumb. He looked at her lips under his hand.
“I have never tasted those lips.”
Then his voice came low.
Yuan lowered her chin slightly, and her lips parted. His gaze rose from her lips to her eyes.
Their eyes met in the air.
The room was quiet, the only thing audible was their breathing, but their locked gazes were noisy enough.
Yuan dropped his hand from her chin, ran it down her neck, then hooked his finger on the collar of her pajamas and lowered it slightly. Her white neckline became more pronounced.
“And I couldn't dye this neck red.”
“I was very tired yesterday.”
Siret pushed away Yuan's hand that was fiddling with her collar, and her features appeared reserved. Even if it wasn't stressful, she would have avoided him anyway.
Yuan shook his head as if he understood. It was natural to be exhausting.
Then he grabbed the back of her head, pulled her slightly towards him, and planted a kiss on her forehead before getting off the bed.
Seret wiped her forehead and stared at him. It was a strange feeling, as if the trace of his lips was still there.
“The things we didn't finish...we'll finish them tonight.”
Yuan looked at her with an expressionless face.
Since they are married, it is normal.
Seret Freaktwister, from head to toe, became his.
And he intended to prove it tonight—to this woman who could only think of running away.
“Tonight?”
Seret's heart skipped a beat.
After she became his wife, she could no longer run away forever.
But she had no desire to get close to Yuan.
She shouldn't get pregnant from him, and she doesn't even want to do any of that with this horrible man.
“You should always wear a wedding ring. It is inappropriate for a married woman to have no ring on her hand.”
Yuan pointed to her fingers.
Seret looked at her hand. She remembered well that she had taken the ring off before going to sleep, and yet it was on her finger.
He put the ring on my finger while I was sleeping.
Seret smiled a weak, sarcastic smile as she looked at him.
“Of course. This is my wedding ring from the husband I love so much — I must keep it.”
Siret said in a completely sarcastic tone as she got out of bed.
“Let's have breakfast together.”
Yuan said with a deadpan face as he left her bedroom.
After she was left alone, Seret grabbed the ring and tried to take it off, annoyed, but she stopped.
“I have to wear it carefully.”
She had to live a whole year in a marriage with no loopholes. Wearing a ring was the simplest thing.
Seret sighed lightly.
At that moment, Hannah entered with a knock on the door. Seret looked at her slightly sharply as she approached with a sly smile.
“Hannah, don’t look at me with those eyes.”
“Did you enjoy last night, ma’am?”
“It was a lot of fun, Miss Hannah.”
Hannah screamed “Kya!” And I laughed cheerfully.
Seret looked at her wearily and then began to remove the bed covers.
“Miss—no, ma'am—I'll call the scullery.”
"No, Hannah. You'll wash it yourself."
"Me? But Freaktwister's house has washermaids!"
Hannah shook her head since that wasn't her job.
Even among servants there are classes, and a maid like Hannah, who serves her mistress directly, does not touch the laundry.
"No. Don't let anyone touch it. You wash it. Don't show it to anyone."
“Aha, you are ashamed of the traces left on the sheet, aren’t you?”
Hannah laughed wickedly.
“How does an unmarried girl know such things?”
Siret stared at her suspiciously. What a girl.
“I read it in novels.”
Hannah said with a laugh, then hugged the sheet that Seret had folded.
“Stop reading strange novels. Don’t hand it to anyone. Wash it yourself.”
"Okay. I'll wash it off without leaving a single trace."
“Here, the sheet is clean. There is no trace.”
Seret shrugged and sat down on the tea table chair.
“Clean?”
Hannah's eyes widened.
But it doesn't have to be clean, miss...
Hannah quickly inspected the sheet.
“Yes, clean.”
Siret did not assign the laundry to Hannah out of shame.
But because there was no trace at all.
Servants love to gossip about couples' affection, especially after the first wedding night.
If they know the sheet is clean, they will talk more.
It will immediately spread that Duchess Freaktwister is unpopular.
“Just a moment.”
Isn't this what I want?
Poor wife whose husband does not love her.
The spread and accumulation of such rumors will make divorce in her interest. She was about to ruin it just because she didn't want to be underestimated by the servants.
It was true that, in her previous life, she had spent most nights in Yuan's embrace, but she could not escape the disdain of the servants.
They must have felt it too. That the Duke treated his wife like a servant. That's why they dared to treat the lady on the same level.
A man whom no one can love no matter how hard he tries. What did she like about him that made her so desperate for his love?
Seret disdained her former self.
With a troubled face, she approached Hana.
“Hannah, give me this.”
Seret snatched the sheet that Hannah was hugging, and threw it carelessly on the bed.
“Nothing happened yesterday? Even though it was wedding night!”
Hana looked at Seret with a face full of incomprehension.
Wedding night and nothing happens? This is completely wrong.
Hannah's features grew serious; It seemed to her that her miss received no affection from the Duke, and this saddened her. If only she had been a little nicer to him...
“What is special about wedding night?”
“Of course special! Very special!”
Hannah looked very worried.
“The sheet will always stay clean.”
Siret said it as if she was making a firm promise.
And what Hannah expects will never happen.
“Anse... I mean, ma'am, that's not permissible. Mrs. Hale said that a woman's strength comes from the love of her husband. You must make an effort to gain the affection of Your Highness.”
“Hannah, what ancient times are you talking about? A woman’s strength does not come from loving her husband.”
Hannah's face looked full of distress, but Seret felt even more distressed than she did. I know very well, I died at the hands of my husband. The husband is just another man...no, worse than a strange man.
“So where does the power come from?”
"the money."
Seret answered simply.
Seret answered clearly and without hesitation.
Power, whether among women or men, comes from money.
Money is better than the love of a husband...and money does not kill me with poison.
“Madam…don’t say that you are still thinking about divorce, property division, lawsuits, etc.?”
Hannah said with a worried look.
"Of course. Why do you think I got married in the first place?"
“Madam, please… come to your senses. If the Viscount had known about this, he would have fainted.”
Hannah began to tap the ground with her feet anxiously.
Even after marriage, her mistress is still immature.
“I am fully conscious. Now go and get the laundry maids.”
“I'll wash it myself. If there's no trace on the sheet, everyone will start whispering.”
Hana said, hugging the sheet uneasily.
“That's an order, Hannah. Bring the laundry maids.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
With Sirett's decisive tone, Hannah had no choice but to put the sheet aside and leave the room with a worried face.
***
The scullery maid Belle went down to the underground laundry room carrying the sheets from her mistress's room.
The rest of the laundry maids screamed with joy when they saw her.
“I brought it.”
Belle said with an excited face.
The maids stared at the sheet with great anticipation.
Certainly novel-like things happened last night.
They started moving excitedly.
But soon astonishment appeared on their faces.
“There is nothing.”
“Really not?”
The sheet was completely clean.
Their eyes widened at the absence of what should have been there.
“Did nothing happen?”
“On the wedding night?”
They looked at each other in amazement.
“Are you sure it's him?”
“Yes, I brought it from the Duchess’s own room.”
Belle answered.
“It's impossible.”
“Madam’s expression was a little sad... Could it be...?”
Belle dropped her voice.
And then everyone started thinking the same thing.
First night with nothing.
A husband who did not touch his wife.
They knew very well what that meant.
“The two were already far apart.”
“Honestly, there is no affection between them.”
The maids began to remember what they had seen and recount it.
The lady was not kind to the Duke, and the Duke was polite but not loving.
They heard about their argument while eating.
And that the lady threw away all the clothes and jewelry he had given her.
In the ring issue raised by Miss Elliott, the Duke consoled Miss Elliott and embraced her instead of his wife.
“Maybe because of Miss Elliot.”
“It seems he has not forgotten his first love.”
“He should have married Miss Elliot.”
“Poor Duke.”
The maids were moved by Yuan and Lidya's unfinished story.
If they had married, the Duke would have been happier.
Because the Duke could not forget his first love, he did not touch his wife on his wedding night.
The maids delved into this romantic story.
Soon this tale rolled off their tongues and spread far beyond the ducal palace.
This was something that pleased Seret very much.