Don’T Get Caught By Your Husband! [EN]: Chapter 27

#27. I Want to Share Rings Tomorrow Morning

2024.03.27.

‘Yes!’

Belladonna exclaimed inwardly.

“Since His Imperial Majesty hasn’t used it since it was bestowed upon him, there are a few places that need repair. However, it should be comfortable enough for about two months. If we prepare diligently, you should be able to leave within three days.”

“…….”

“I will instruct the maids, including Cindy, to prepare the items you need, Madam. The paper I just gave you contains a brief explanation of Cirellenia [a region in the south]. Please read it, and feel free to ask any questions you may have.”

Belladonna nodded with a satisfied smile.

With this, she was set to leave Griblata for Cirellenia in the south.

She felt relieved that things were going according to plan, but the thought that she might be leaving this place in a few days and never returning made her feel a pang of sadness at leaving good people behind.

‘Volff won’t be coming to Cirellenia with me; he’ll stay in Griblata, right?’

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have contributed more to the household expenses…….’

She looked at him with regretful eyes.

Volff, seemingly unaware of her feelings, adjusted his gleaming glasses and continued.

“If there are no objections, we will arrange for the earliest possible departure. I will select suitable maids and prepare the carriage.”

Belladonna nodded slowly.

That evening, after taking a hot bath, Belladonna sat leaning against her bed, making eye contact with Escalión, who was staring straight at her.

‘Is this your room now?’

She scoffed inwardly and sat down in front of the vanity with Cindy’s help.

Cindy, overly conscious of Escalión, who had almost completely loosened his upper body, revealing his sculpted torso even in the cold, slowly opened her mouth.

“Madam, shall I dry your hair……?”

“I’ll do it.”

At that moment, he, who had been quietly watching them, raised his upper body and spoke.

“Pardon?”

“I’ll do it. How do I do it?”

Escalión, who had approached Cindy, snatched the towel she was holding and asked.

Cindy, flustered, looked back and forth between the lord standing beside her and the madam sitting in front of her.

Belladonna gave her a reassuring smile through the mirror, and Cindy, regaining her senses, pointed to her hair and said.

“Start by squeezing the water out of the ends of your hair. Then, you can shake it out like this…….”

“Let me try.”

Escalión settled in and began to grip the ends of her hair with the white towel.

“Ouch!”

At the sudden, tremendous force, Belladonna’s head snapped back.

“Ah! You can’t do it that hard! Gently like this……. Like this…….”

Cindy, startled, reached out and returned Belladonna’s head to its original position.

She timidly grabbed the end of the towel Escalión was holding and demonstrated.

‘Thank you, Cindy…….’

Belladonna felt grateful to Cindy, who was trying so hard, and turned her gaze to the mirror in front of her.

Through the mirror, she saw Escalión frowning and listening intently to Cindy’s explanation.

“I still don’t know how much force to use.”

Muttering, Escalión began to gently squeeze the water out of her hair.

He concentrated all his attention as if he were handling a tiny, fragile chick in his palm.

“That’s right! Do it like that.”

“Leave now.”

Escalión snapped, his voice sounding much more relieved than before.

“Yes?”

“I’ll take care of the rest, so you can leave.”

“But…….”

Cindy seemed unconvinced.

She looked down at the back of Belladonna’s head with worried eyes, then reluctantly took a step away.

“Madam……. I’ll be going then……?”

“Yes…….” Belladonna nodded with a half-resigned look.

Cindy kept looking back, seemingly still worried, before finally leaving the room and closing the door tightly.

“…….”

“…….”

As she disappeared, an awkward silence suddenly fell in the room.

Belladonna felt a strange sensation in the unusual atmosphere and carefully examined him in the mirror.

‘Well, I’m like this, but why is this man suddenly so quiet?’

Escalión silently squeezed the water out of her hair, shook it gently as Cindy had instructed, and then squeezed it again.

‘I think that’s enough…….’

When Belladonna raised her hand to stop his arm, Escalión dropped the towel he was holding straight to the floor.

“Shall we go to bed?”

‘If we’re going to sleep, we should go, right?’

Belladonna got up without hesitation and walked to the bed.

She lifted the blanket as usual and got inside, assuming a comfortable position, but Escalión did not come to her side.

Puzzled, she turned her head to look at Escalión standing in front of the bed. He looked unusually anxious and opened his mouth.

“Are you feeling okay today?”

“Today, well…….” Belladonna nodded casually.

Escalión, looking at her with a lowered gaze, hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth as if he had made up his mind.

“Then, tomorrow morning…… I want to share rings [a euphemism for consummating their marriage].”

Rings……?

It took quite a while for the word that entered her ear to travel to her brain.

Soon, Belladonna’s face turned bright red as she realized what he meant.

“Would that be alright?”

Escalión asked again.

Belladonna remained frozen, unable to move, her wide eyes blinking.

‘Wh-what should I do?’

She never dreamed that he would suddenly ask for their first night like this.

Well, she knew that something like this might happen someday, but it would be more accurate to say that she had been too complacent.

She had been sleeping in the same bed with him almost every night.

Even for a husband with great patience, she couldn’t postpone their first night any longer.

‘Wh-what excuse should I make?’

Belladonna quickly racked her brain.

Poor condition? She already said she was fine……. Sudden stomachache? Her period? Or should she just run out of the room?

“Did I surprise you?”

At the low voice that suddenly struck her ear, Belladonna raised her head as if waking from a dream.

Escalión, staring at her looking up at him, raised a hand to cover his eyes. Behind his covered hand, his ears were red.

“Damn it……. I won’t force you if you don’t want to. So don’t make that face…….”

‘Face?’

Belladonna still looked up at him with a troubled heart.

She felt a mixture of surprise, embarrassment, awkwardness, shame, and guilt, and those feelings must have been evident on her face.

“I was anxious.”

He muttered, still covering his eyes.

“My wife will soon be leaving for the south to spend the winter in a townhouse there, and I don’t think I’ll be able to go with her. If that happens, we’ll have to live apart for at least two months.”

“…….”

“The thought of not seeing you for two months……. Damn it, but I think I was too hasty.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his feelings.

Rather, knowing his feelings made her feel guilty for postponing their first night and preparing for a divorce far away.

The Pope’s sinister voice echoed in her ears.

Belladonna frowned, feeling a subtle sense of nausea creeping in.

Just then, Escalión, who had taken his hand away from his face, checked her expression.

Seeing Belladonna’s deeply furrowed face, he sighed with a bitter taste.

‘A complete rejection.’

“Just pretend you didn’t hear it.”

Escalión turned away.

“Go to sleep first.”

‘Ah, that’s not it…….’

Belladonna watched his retreating back, not knowing what to do.

The Pope’s voice kept ringing in her head.

‘I don’t want to……. I really don’t want to, this kind of thing……. Becoming the same kind of person as that man…….’

At that moment, something welled up and burst forth from Belladonna’s heart.

It was what she had been suppressing and suppressing for the past year, unknowingly living the life of a saint.

‘……I don’t want to do as the Pope says! I don’t want to go back to Astagna like this either!’

“Shall I turn off the light?”

Escalión, standing at the door, pointed to the lamp with his chin. Belladonna immediately shook her head.

Even her headshake felt like a rejection to him.

Escalión felt the bitter taste lingering in his mouth and turned the doorknob.

Then, he heard something running towards him from behind.

Instinctively turning his head, he saw Belladonna, who had been lying on the bed, getting up and running towards him.

“What is this…….”

Escalión reached out and grabbed her.

Otherwise, she would stumble and fall at any moment.

Belladonna crashed into his chest.

She hadn’t been able to control her speed, but he had caught her in time, so she didn’t bury her nose in his hard chest.

“Why are you doing this?”

His bewildered voice was heard. Belladonna hugged him tightly, buried her face in his chest, and shook her head.

From above, a low sigh fell.

“Okay, I understand. I said I wouldn’t do it if you didn’t want to.”

Belladonna raised her head to look at him.

She herself could not define what this emotion was that was erupting within her.

Perhaps it was a rebellion against the Pope, or perhaps it was something like free will that she was experiencing for the first time.

Or perhaps it was the excitement or anticipation that she had been unconsciously feeling for him all along, or perhaps it was just a natural instinct.

Escalión, misinterpreting Belladonna’s pitiful gaze, gently pulled her away.

“I’m not angry. I just need to clear my head. I’ll be back soon if you go to sleep first……”

Belladonna reached out and placed her hands on his shoulders, raising herself on her toes.

With clumsy movements, she brought her lips to his.