“Now you can look. Everything’s covered.”

I clutched the bedsheet tightly, feeling embarrassed even as I spoke. The more awkward I acted at a moment like this, the more uncomfortable the atmosphere would become.

Yezar lowered the hand that had been shielding his face and met my gaze. He seemed just as flustered, his posture stiff with unease.

There was no helping it. Standing around like this wouldn’t solve anything. I tried my best to shift the topic.

“…Now that Yezar has arrived, I think it’s fine to clear away what the maids prepared. Would you help me remove the rose petals scattered on the bedsheet?”

First, I needed to restore the room—this increasingly awkward space—back to normal. He nodded and stepped closer to me. Then, as he moved, something seemed to catch under his foot. He looked down. It was the scrap of cloth I had carefully tucked into the corner. He picked it up without hesitation.

“My lady, what is this?”

‘I hid it so well. Why did Yezar have to find that of all things…!’

At this point, I gave up and answered with resignation.

“It’s a scrap of cloth the maids gave me to wear. As you can see, it doesn’t function properly as clothing.”

On our wedding night, I’d worn a sheer slip, but even that wasn’t this bad. The piece they’d given me had an opening down the back so wide it left almost nothing to the imagination.

Yezar said, sounding genuinely surprised:

“This was supposed to be clothing?”

To his eyes, it probably looked like a rag fit only for a dog to wear.

“Technically, it’s a slip. But since it’s completely see-through and cut so low in the back, I couldn’t possibly wear it. So I rummaged around and found this robe to put on instead.”

And that robe had come undone, fully exposing the valley between my breasts. How had it come to this?

“Haaah…”

I exhaled deeply and tried to think positively. What was done was done. I just had to move past it.

Even if I wanted to die of embarrassment. Even if I wanted to bang my head against the wall right now—I had to endure it.

“Still, seeing how excited and hard the maids worked for our wedding night… I couldn’t just ignore their efforts.”

I brushed the petals off the bed with quick flicks and gestured to Yezar.

“Yezar, come here for a moment? I just cleared the petals with my hands, but I need another kind of help.”

“What kind of help do you need…?”

As he approached, he carefully avoided meeting my eyes. In the soft candlelight, I could see a faint flush on his face.

‘Ah… Yezar, please don’t make it so obvious. I’m embarrassed too, you know.’

My face reddened again, but I held myself together. I could bear my own embarrassment. After all, the maids had done all this out of care for us.

I had to understand—had to forgive—the unfortunate consequences of their well-meaning efforts…

“Just a moment. I’ll go bang my head against the wall a few times first.”

If I hit my head against the wall a few times, maybe I could wipe this memory clean. But he stopped me.

“If it’s because of me, please don’t worry. I’m sorry… I’m just not used to situations like this… I didn’t mean to make you feel more uncomfortable.”

Hearing him say that, I realized—he was flustered too. We were both fumbling through this. Why were the two of us acting so awkwardly?

“No, I’m the one who reacted too sensitively. Sorry. Well, things like this can happen in life, right?”

“If… if it’s only your modesty that’s troubling you, I could also take off my clothes—”

I quickly grabbed his hand and stopped him. What was this innocent man even saying?

“Don’t. I don’t want to be the kind of wife who deliberately strips her husband bare just to admire his muscles.”

I didn’t want him to awaken the lewd thoughts buried within me. He loosened his grip on the hem of his shirt.

I refocused on what I had originally intended.

“So, about the help I need. Well, it is our wedding night, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So they’ll assume we’re doing… something in here. But what if they come in and see only a neatly made bed? They’ll realize nothing happened. When they see a supposedly loving couple avoiding intimacy, what do you think they’ll think?”

They’d obviously find it suspicious. A small seed of doubt might one day grow into the realization that our marriage is merely contractual. It was a bit of a stretch, admittedly.

I energetically tossed and twisted the bedsheet, crumpling it in every direction, and scattered the petals all over again. Watching me silently, Yezar finally asked:

“So… are you deliberately making the bed messy like this?”

“Yes! If the bed looks all rumpled, won’t it look like we’ve done something? Hah! If we even get it a little wet, it’ll look quite convincing.”

On a real wedding night, I might have even used a dagger to cut myself and leave bloodstains.

“Yezar, help me too!”

“I’d like to help, but if we wet the bed, won’t it feel damp when we sleep?”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

A perfectly dry, cozy bed would become unpleasantly clammy if soaked—sleeping in it would feel sticky and uncomfortable.

Then what should I do? Should I just leave a damp towel lying around messily?

“My lady, just lie down. When I get up in the morning, I’ll make it look like something happened.”

Since he usually rose at dawn for training, that might actually work better.

“Okay, fine.”

I smoothed out the bedsheet I’d just crumpled. Then I blew out the flickering candles one by one. It was better to sleep in the dark.

After leaving just one or two alight, the room finally felt like a bedroom again. The dim light made visibility poor, but I could still tell where Yezar was.

I groped my way toward his silhouette, and suddenly his voice came from right beside me.

“My lady, if you come any closer, you’ll bump into me.”

I must have gotten too close. I carefully stepped back. But then the sharp ridge of his nose brushed against the nape of my neck.

My body involuntarily shivered. A soft voice wrapped around my ear.

“Julietta. Did you put on perfume?”

“No… I didn’t.”

“It smells very pleasant when I’m this close.”

Was there anything that could smell that good? Now that I thought about it, hadn’t the maids rubbed scented oil all over me? They’d applied all sorts of skin treatments, too.

“Maybe it’s from the oils the maids applied to my skin. Some of them probably had a nice scent. They also styled my hair into soft waves.”

My hair, which usually tangled easily even when well-groomed, now flowed in smooth, gentle curls. Then his hand reached out and gently stroked my hair.

I unconsciously held my breath. I didn’t know why, but the touch of his hand made me tense.

“What a pity. I can’t see the waves clearly.”

I felt his fingers moving through the curls, gently combing through the strands.

“…Ah, I’ll show you in the morning.”

I stammered without realizing. Now he was holding my hand too. Why was I so flustered today by his simple act of touching my hair? An awkward laugh slipped out as I tried to erase my embarrassment.

“Hahaha. The maids really went all out for me today, since it’s our wedding night. Now that everything’s cleared, shall we go to sleep? You must be tired, Yezar!”

It was late, after all. Our pre-sleep conversation had surely lasted long enough.

But then he caught my arm as I turned to lie down. His hand naturally wrapped around my waist. I suddenly noticed how broad and strong his fingers felt.

“There was something I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“You told me to make our good relationship obvious to your brother, didn’t you?”

I had said that. Weaslet was the type to worry needlessly and suspect too much.

“To show we’re close… how much physical contact should there be between us?”

Contact. Just hearing that word brought back memories—of holding hands, of sudden embraces. That level of intimacy should have been more than enough to convince Weaslet.

It definitely should have been. Yet, without thinking, different words slipped out of my mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be enough to do what we did at the wedding?”

My lips moved on their own, suggesting a repeat of that brief kiss. Of course, we had technically kissed at the wedding, but it had been so fleeting—our lips had touched and instantly parted, barely noticeable.

‘It was a kiss so short it didn’t even last a second, and I can’t even recall what it felt like.’

Then why was I bringing it up now? Only then did my senses return.

‘Goodness. What did I just say! Did the maids’ decorations make me lose my mind for a moment?’

I quickly tried to take back my words. I could laugh it off, say it wasn’t necessary to go that far—Weaslet wouldn’t suspect anything anyway.

But why was Yezar’s face suddenly so close?

“Like this?”

The moment he finished speaking, a soft sensation touched my lips. I didn’t understand what was happening. My mind seemed to freeze.

I felt his warm breath through my slightly parted lips. He smelled good too.

A rich, deep fragrance, like mist, lingered at the edge of my nose. It felt as if the sound of my rolling eyes could be heard by him. My lips trembled slightly from tension—and then, with a soft press, his lips pressed more firmly against mine.

That brief kiss at the wedding hadn’t lasted even a second. But this time, the moment our lips met lasted far longer. When he slowly pulled away, his warmth remained on my lips, burning like a brand.