By Zephyria The wedding ceremony proceeded in a quiet and calm atmosphere.
In Eldos, only my father and aunt attended, while from Viscount Holmos’s estate, only Ivan’s brother and his twin brother attended as representatives. I decorated it with the best flowers I could manage and wore a ceremonial robe I had put effort into, but a wedding without guests was bound to be simple.
Ivan was dressed in a white suit, and I wore a veil that reached my waist over a white suit. They said it was to clearly distinguish the bride and groom, but it was a ridiculous sight.
This flowing, elegant-looking fabric would suit Ivan Holmes… no, Ivan Bikoff better than me. It was a shame I couldn’t get a closer look at my husband’s face, now that he was so neatly put together.
Amidst the gentle music played by the Artifact, I heard my father sniffle, swallowing back tears.
After reciting the set prayers, the priest kindly suggested,
“Do you promise to respect, cherish, and love each other for the rest of your lives?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
Do you promise to love each other for the rest of your lives.
It felt as if someone had punched a fist into my chest and was hammering it. It was fortunate I was wearing the veil. I had no idea what kind of awful expression I was wearing right now.
In every other wedding I had seen, the groom would lift the bride’s veil and kiss her to seal their union. However, the priest didn’t explicitly suggest such a thing. Even if I were the priest… I wouldn’t want to witness an awkward situation by suggesting it.
Ivan Holmes became Baron Bicov by placing a shining wedding ring on my ring finger. My fingertips trembled as I placed the ring on Ivan’s hand. Ivan calmly held my hand in return, soothing me.
Is this what being a noble is like? To be this calm, in this situation?
Or am I just the only one trembling, distressed, excited, and flustered?
Not wanting to dwell on unnecessary sadness, I pulled the corners of my mouth up as much as I could from within the veil. Still, this man was mine now. I decided to think of it that way. At least he wouldn’t cheat. I should be satisfied with that, Eric Eldos. At least I wouldn’t have to see this man rolling around with some other bastard…
A familiar heartburn filled my chest. So, I just laughed.
As soon as the modest reception, which was barely worthy of being called a reception, ended, we took a carriage home.
The marital home I had prepared was a mere three-story stone building. I couldn’t help but look for a house in the capital, not too far from the Eldos Merchant Guild headquarters. Inviting Ivan, who had lived his entire life in a mansion, to this place was embarrassing and agonizing, but since the contract was only to gain the title from his family, I didn’t have the capacity to prepare anything more.
Still, I had decorated it with some effort, but Ivan said nothing about the house, not even when entering the gate or the entrance hall. I had deliberately hung a painting he liked on the wall right inside the entrance, but he must have seen it.
Feeling unreasonably hurt, I almost blurted out a question, but I bit my lip and forced myself to hold back. No, even if he didn’t like it, how could he not say a single word?
Still, I had to do my part. I calmly led Ivan around the not-so-spacious rooms. “This is the drawing-room, and you can keep your clothes here. The servants commute, so they come at nine in the morning and leave at six…” I explained such things.
“And this is the bedroom. If you’re uncomfortable, I can—”
“This is the bedroom where ‘we’ will spend every night from now on.”
“…Yes? Ah, yes, yes. That’s right.”
It was good that I had prepared a large bed, just in case. My body temperature was quite high. If someone were to sleep with me, who was already large in build, it would naturally be cramped, so I had chosen a bed large enough for us to sleep at opposite ends.
Ivan, as if it were the most natural thing, walked towards the window. He deliberately pulled the closed curtains aside. What was that? Was he the type who couldn’t sleep if it was too dark? It wouldn’t matter since I wasn’t particular about sleep, but it felt even stranger because Ivan usually asked for my opinion before doing anything.
That wasn’t all. Ivan looked around the room, then walked towards the bed and pressed down on it several times with one hand, testing its springiness. I stood there, tense, worried he might scold me if it wasn’t soft or firm enough for his standards. He beckoned me with a nod.
Come here?
I took a step forward. Then Ivan smiled.
…He smiled. That, very, sexy… and refreshing smile, like the day of our first kiss…
“What are you doing? Aren’t we supposed to do what married couples do now?”
“…Yes? Yes?”
Ivan untied his neatly tied bowtie and let it fall.
I couldn’t believe I was getting aroused watching a man undress before my eyes. No, it wasn’t even clothes. He had only untied a ribbon around his neck, yet I couldn’t tear my gaze away. After placing the bowtie on the side table, Ivan unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt.
Ivan, always dressed neatly, had a collarbone as straight as mine. My gaze briefly fell to the deep hollow, then I quickly looked up, feeling like I was doing something very wrong. Frozen, unable to make a sound or move a muscle, I wondered, what is this? No, what? Is this Ivan’s hand around my waist? Is it real? So, Ivan is… pulling my shirt out of my pants?
“Why are you so surprised? Don’t you like it?”
“No! No, no. I like it, I like it…”
“Is that so?”
You weren’t this smiley, you bastard. This is completely insane. He was clearly determined to charm me. Ivan’s fingertips touched my waist. Then, with his bare hand, he traced and brushed against my bare skin. Goosebumps prickled me, and my legs momentarily weakened, but Ivan, surprisingly steady, supported me and whispered,
“This won’t do. Lie down.”
“Yes? Yes. Yes…”
“No, not there. You need to move further in.”
“Ah, yes! That. Yes…”
As instructed, I lay spread-eagled in the middle of the bed. I regretted not lying down more demurely for a moment. Ivan sat between my thighs, parted my tuxedo jacket, reached over my shirt, and placed his hands on my breasts.
Then he squeezed them firmly.
I knew well how firm my breasts were, tensed with anxiety. Yet, I was flustered by his hands, which stroked upwards, gathering them as if to mold them. I was the type who wouldn’t hesitate to take my shirt off and wash my back in the street, but even with my shirt on, it felt incredibly strange.
My clumsy lower half began to stir. Ivan’s gaze flickered down.
“Indeed, you get hard quickly. Your nipples, and down there too.”
“Huh?”
“Haha, just kidding. You’ll let me get away with a joke like that, right?”
“Hic, th-that. Of course…”
“Yes. I’m not exactly a man of refined taste… You’ll have to bear with me, my wife.”
Wife. It finally hit me that we were married. My face flushed with shame. Now, now I finally understood what was happening. This was foreplay, and therefore, this was… sex.
He… to me.
Ivan, who firmly gripped my ridiculously thick and sturdy thighs, made me wrap my legs around his waist. I did as he said. Right now, I was the most obedient dog in the world. If I had a tail, I would have been wagging it furiously, but since my tail was only in the front… Ah, fuck. Crazy.
He’s hard too.
I froze at the heavy sensation pressing and rubbing against my groin. The feeling through my pants was different from anything I had imagined in the past. It was more… hard, wasn’t it? That’s what it felt like.
“Hic.”
“…Ha.”
“Ngh. Hng.”
“Haha, you keep making strange noises.”
Every time Ivan pressed his against my groin, my tongue tingled. Glancing down, my lower half was swollen halfway up my thighs, and the tip was wet. I didn’t know when he had unbuttoned so many buttons, but my shirt was gaping open, exposing my unsightly chest entirely to Ivan’s view.
As Ivan said, the moment I saw my erect nipples, I tilted my head back. Then, my eyes met Ivan’s, who seemed to have been watching me the whole time. He asked in a honey-sweet voice,
“Then, may I lick them now?”
“Yes?”
“No?”
“No, no. Yes, yes. You may.”
Crazy bastard. Insane bastard. He’s lost it. Ivan acted with the same leisure he always did when using cutlery. His neat face slowly lowered and buried itself between my breasts. My heart pounded so wildly I broke into a sweat. It must be wet, but without a care, he kissed each of my breasts, making a ‘ppok’ sound.
“From the left, or from the right?”
“Hngh…”
“Sorry. You’re just too cute.”
Immediately, a wet, hot breath touched my right breast. His tongue licked up my skin, sucked deeply with a ‘ppok’ sound, and then he began to bite it gently with his teeth. Sometimes he just bit the nipple, and other times he took the entire breast into his mouth, making a cute sound.
And. So.
“…Hah, hng, ugh…”
“…Mmm. What, you’re already done?”
“Ah, fuck…”
“Fuck?”
“Ah, no! No… I, hng, I can do more, I can.”
“I know.”
He unbuttoned my pants and his hand plunged in, gripping my penis tightly. Perhaps because the window was open, the moonlight streamed deeply into the bedroom, and my glistening genitals looked exceptionally clear. Even if Ivan hadn’t thoroughly stroked them, seeing my throbbing penis like this felt incredibly, incredibly surreal.
Ivan’s hand began to slowly stroke up and down my penis. Heat rose from my fingertips to my toes. It felt so good, yet so embarrassing that tears welled up. My hips began to lift against my will. I didn’t know if I wanted to rub more into Ivan’s hand or escape from it.