A Barbaric Proposal Chapter 35

※Spark (4)※

Their lips met again.

This time, the kiss was more hurried and lacked the former leisure. It wasn't rough, but it was fierce.

He immediately plunged inside her mouth, losing his composure and devouring her wet lips.

The overwhelming, driving kiss tangled her mind into a blinding frenzy.

All coherent thought vanished completely. Only sensation remained.

The feeling climbing up her fingertips, the pressure on her skin, the scent her nose recognized, the taste adhering to her mouth... these were all she could perceive at the moment.

[Liene] "......?"

The frantic kiss suddenly ceased.

When she opened her eyes in bewilderment, Black—his lips wet and glistening—whispered.

[Black] "Someone is here."

[Liene] "What?"

His words were true.

Knock. Knock.

[Flambard] "Your Highness. Are you awake?"

It was Madam Flambard.

[Liene] "Oh... Oh dear. What should we do?"

Her cheeks flushed instantly. She fumbled, pushing his chest, and scrambled to sit up.

[Liene] "What now?"

Black watched her for a moment, then gave a slight nod. His fervent expression had cooled down appropriately within moments.

[Black] "Should I hide?"

[Liene] "......What?"

[Black] "Under the bed seems impossible... I suppose I can hang from the window ledge."

[Liene] "......."

The suggestion brought a flash of unpleasant déjà vu.

Just days ago, the person who had to hang and hide from that window ledge was Laffit. He had come to a place he shouldn't have been.

Forced to hide him, Liene had felt a deep sense of humiliation. She had felt like a disgraced person, engaging in dishonorable conduct.

[Black] "Just buy me some time. Until I've hidden."

Black rose from the bed.

Whether he brought up the window ledge specifically to needle her about that day, she didn't know, but judging by his action, he wasn't joking. He was willing to hang from the window ledge for her sake.

[Liene] "No, please don't. There's no need to hide."

Being in the same bed with Black right now was not wrong. He was her official fiancé, and there was no reason whatsoever for him to be treated the same as Laffit Kleinfter. Hiding him would be the greater dishonor.

[Liene] "We are engaged. It is improper and against etiquette for my fiancé to hide from the eyes of a serving maid."

[Black] "......It will cause misunderstanding. No one will believe I was lying here quietly."

[Liene] "What does it matter? We will be officially married in a few days."

[Black] "......."

Black, who had been looking at her, frowned. However, it wasn't a look of displeasure or disagreement.

[Liene] "......Ah."

Suddenly, her words were blocked as he grabbed her tightly and crushed his lips over hers.

The kiss that invaded her mouth was incomparably intense than the previous one.

Knock... Knock.

[Flambard] "Your Highness. Are you not inside?"

The madam, unaware of the situation, lingered outside, debating whether to open the door, and Black did not stop kissing. If anything, he seemed to grow even hotter with fervor.

[Flambard] "Your Highness?"

The passionate, overwhelming kiss only ceased right before Madam Flambard could not bear it any longer and opened the door.

[Liene] "Ah... Why did you...?"

[Black] "Suddenly..."

[Liene] "Suddenly?"

[Black] "Because you were so beautiful."

[Liene] "......What?"

She never expected to hear such a thing from him. As she stood there blankly with her lips parted, Black leisurely kissed her parted lips again.

Smack. It was a sweet, gentle peck.

[Black] "Should I open the door now?"

[Liene] "Ah, I should open it now... "

Too late.

[Flambard] "Your Highness. I apologize, but I must check if you are inside. I hear sounds, but why are you silent...?"

Click!

The bedroom door opened.

[Flambard] "Your Highness...!?"

The madam, having entered the room, became a statue, still clutching the doorknob. Her complexion turned from white to grey.

[Flambard] "H-how... how could this be?"

[Liene] "Good... ahem, good morning, Madam."

Though she didn't feel the same humiliation as before, Liene was still embarrassed. She subtly pushed away Black, who was using his finger to wipe the corner of her lips.

[Liene] "There is no need to be so surprised. Lord Tiwakan slept in this room last night. It is only proper that my fiancé receives the same courtesy as I do."

[Flambard] "I-I see... but it's so s-sudden... "

[Liene] "Madam."

When she spoke with a stern voice, Madam Flambard clamped her surprised mouth shut. Although Liene intended to look stern, her bright red, apple-like cheeks made it less effective.

[Flambard] "I understand. Then I will... um... ah, I will prepare your washing water."

[Liene] "Yes, that would be helpful."

[Flambard] "Yes, yes, Your Highness. Of course. Of course."

The madam, still bewildered, hurriedly rushed into the bathroom.

Liene let out a long sigh of relief.

[Liene] "Now... ahem, Lord Tiwakan should also prepare to face the morning."

It was a polite way of telling him to leave.

[Black] "I'm not feeling much like it."

[Liene] "......What did you say?"

Perhaps she had looked too serious, for he chuckled briefly.

[Black] "All the same, I will go out now."

[Liene] "Please do."

It was only for a moment, but his smiling face left a deep, lingering impression.

I wish he wouldn't smile like that.

Then I might keep myself from wanting to hold onto this morning forever...

...Ah, seriously. What am I even saying? Why am I acting like this?

[Black] "Princess."

As they were both rising from the bed, he called her.

[Liene] "Yes?"

As she turned her head toward him, he quickly grabbed her and pressed his lips to hers—a succession of swift kisses on her forehead, the bridge of her nose, her cheeks, and her philtrum.

[Black] "May I join you for breakfast?"

[Liene] "That would be nice. But why do you keep kissing me...? This only makes me take longer."

[Black] "So you won't forget."

His gaze lingered over her lips one last time before he released her.

[Black] "I will see you shortly."

[Liene] "......."

She stood rooted to the spot, watching him leave the bedroom.

Her heart felt like a lake. A strange current was constantly swirling.

Forget what?

She wished he had told her. If he didn't, all she would be able to remember was the sensation of his lips, so diligently marking her face here and there.

---

[Flambard] "Your Highness."

Madam Flambard, who was already in the bathroom, looked much less shocked now.

[Flambard] "Stand here. I will roll up your sleeves."

[Liene] "Thank you, Madam. I will wash myself."

Madam Flambard efficiently folded the hem of Liene's nightgown so it wouldn't get wet while she washed her face.

However, even when she leaned over the water basin, the madam showed no intention of leaving.

[Flambard] "Forgive my forwardness, Your Highness, but I really cannot help but ask. Did you truly sleep with that man last night?"

[Liene] "That... ahem, it wasn't exactly as it looked..."

[Flambard] "You did not, did you?"

[Liene] "......That is correct."

Liene felt that the Madam would find out somehow anyway. She was observant and knew Liene's affairs better than Liene herself.

[Flambard] "No matter how I think about it, sleeping with him is simply out of the question. The Princess would not impulsively do such a thing. Especially considering what happened yesterday. Didn't the Tiwakan Commander accuse you of lying and get angry because of what Sir Kleinfter did?"

[Liene] "That is right."

[Flambard] "In that situation, how could sleeping with him be possible? With a man who might do anything when he is angry?"

[Liene] "......."

Her expression became subtle.

Black was certainly different from usual. The sharp, ear-piercing voice he used when demanding retribution still made her heart ache when she recalled it.

But he didn't do anything abusive.

He is not that kind of man.

[Liene] "Madam. I would prefer you refrain from saying such things. Lord Tiwakan is now..."

Madam Flambard, deep in thought, missed her words as she tilted her head.

[Flambard] "Anyway, that is what I thought. But isn't there something strange about this? Despite that huge misunderstanding, it seems to me that the Princess and the Tiwakan Commander look like a pair of newly bonded lovebirds. How on earth did this happen?"

[Liene] "......."

[Flambard] "Your Highness?"

Liene hesitated, and Madam Flambard pressed her for an answer.

[Liene] "Well, that is..."

Indeed. How did it happen?

The man suddenly offered to apply ointment. Saying I shouldn't refuse since I had done the same.

Next, he said he would kiss me.

When I closed my eyes, the throbbing sensation of his lips on the nape of my neck returned.

[Flambard] "Your Highness?"

[Liene] "......Ah, I was thinking about how it happened."

And then he said he would sleep in my room... and I brought him a blanket, and then...

...In the morning, he found the mole under my earlobe. He kissed me, saying I didn't know anything... and he called me 'too beautiful'.

[Flambard] "Then what I saw is correct? Have you opened your heart to him?"

[Liene] "I don't know about that..."

All those events had fallen like rain and flowed like a river.

It was certain that Black had not cleared the misunderstanding. He didn't seem willing to believe her either.

Liene could only say it was a misunderstanding. She could do no more than that. She also didn't fully trust him, and she had to tell him many lies, as she had before.

And yet, he was not unpleasant at all. His gaze, which found spots others could not see, was gentle, and his touch made her body tremble.

Why, in this very situation, did that feeling refuse to subside? She could not know.

[Flambard] "You don't know?"

[Liene] "No... I don't know."

Madam Flambard looked at her for a moment, then sighed.

[Flambard] "I heard it was always like this... It really is true."

[Liene] "What is?"

[Flambard] "The matter of men and women. They say it happens in an instant, and no one knows the exact reason why."

[Liene] "I think this... might be a little different..."

Madam Flambard shook her jaw, implying that she thought it was no different at all.

[Flambard] "Your Highness. Although I may know nothing, please heed this. The matter of the child... I think it would be best to clarify that it's not true, if possible. I speak as someone who knows a little more about men and women, even if I am politically ignorant."

[Liene] "......."

She knew the Madam's words were intended for her welfare.

But she simply could not yet.

[Liene] "I cannot."

[Flambard] "Your Highness... Lying like that will not be good after you are married."

[Liene] "I know that. I want to tell him. That there is no child."

That there is no other man I cannot forget.

That it is truly a misunderstanding. That I have never thought of that person even half as much as I think of him.

[Liene] "......But before that, there is something I must know. I cannot pretend I don't."

[Flambard] "What on earth is it?"

Perhaps now was the time to tell her.

[Liene] "Someone said that the reason Lord Tiwakan proposed to me is for another purpose... that the marriage itself is not the goal, but rather... a terrible reason."

[Flambard] "What? No! Who says such a thing? How would they know?"

[Liene] "I don't know if it's true or false. But I cannot pretend not to know. If, by any chance, it is true, it will be irreversible."

[Flambard] "That... Yes, that is true."

[Liene] "Sir Weroz left to find out about it. But I don't know if he will return before the wedding."

[Flambard] "Then what should we do? Shouldn't the wedding be postponed?"

[Liene] "Perhaps."

She squeezed Madam’s hands.

It was a moment when she had to ask for a dangerous favor.

[Liene] "But I think there is someone else who knows about it besides Sir Weroz."

[Flambard] "Who is it?"

[Liene] "Can you meet that person?"

Liene would have difficulty moving around for the time being.

With Laffit locked up, she didn't know what the Kleinfter family might try, and since Black said he didn't trust her, meeting anyone would only add unnecessary suspicion.

This was a secret far more dangerous than the misunderstanding about Laffit.

[Flambard] "I will, Your Highness."

The Madam, who had rarely left the castle since becoming Liene's nanny, bit her lip and nodded repeatedly.

[Flambard] "Who should I meet?"

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