Chapter 37

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It was a strange feeling.

The Rixus, who had despised me for a long time, and the Rixus, who desperately wanted only me now…

The gap between the two was dizzyingly large, and this situation felt more exhilarating than the fall.

Rixus pulled the ribbon on my chemise with an unhurried hand. The sound of the ribbon slipping through the hole of the knot was particularly loud. It was so annoying that it could kill people.

His eyes were cool, and he buried his face in the exposed, pale neckline, letting out a hot breath.

My whole body was on fire. I took a deep breath and called out his name.

“Rix, xus…”

The exposed arm line, then the chest and the waist… It felt like my heart was about to explode as his hands passed.

…It might be okay to be swept away by him like this.

That was what I thought for a moment, then when Rixus’ lips touched my collarbone…

My eyes were wide open.

It was the spot where the blue rose bloomed in my past lives.

At the spot where his lips touched, the memory of the cold sword that pierced me without mercy revived.

Even the eyes of the Rixus then, who were so insensitive to the point of being sullen.

Astonished at the memory, my heart was beating so much that it hurt.

‘No… It’s just a nightmare from the past.’

I managed to calm myself down.

His black hair was messed up between my pale fingers.

I made Rixus raise his head.

I wanted to check. What kind of gaze the cold-tempered man I knew was giving me now.

Making my heart throb…… They were heart-rendering eyes.

He called me in a calm, low, but sweet voice. As if calling someone lovely.

“Berylia.”

“……”

How could Rixus look at me with these eyes?

Those eyes seemed to express his heart.

That he loved me more than himself.

I felt like I was the only one in the world. No, at least at this moment, I could be sure that I was the only one in the world of Rixus.

In my life, I had never met a man who gave me so much confidence.

He lowered his cool eyes and tilted his nose closer, interlocking our lips.

In an instant, I missed the answer and the hot exhalation sweetly came between our crushed lips.

Soft, thick, moist, hot……

My heart felt like it would melt away even though only our lips were touching.

We were careful in this kiss… My whole body felt thrilled and dizzy just by feeling the surface of his lips rubbing against mine.(TL/N: No one asked, but I felt the need to let y’all know I replaced ‘mucous membrane’ with ‘surface’ ahahaha x)

And the afterimages of old memories penetrated that gap very skillfully, sharply, and harshly.

“…It’s not fair.”

Without realizing it, I spit out those words as if crying.

“……”

Rixus let out a hot breath and looked down at me.

There was confusion in his eyes, but at the same time he was calm. As usual, his face didn’t change at all.

Now that I saw it, it felt unfair that my heart was beating all over by itself.

From our tightly entangled lower bodies, I could feel how hot he was, to the point of shame and embarrassment…

How could he be so calm?

The feelings of unfairness surged because I was the only one who was messed up in the head.

“…This is Aktoum’s way.”

Anyway, having spoken up, I had to come up with something.

He was fully focused on me, but I couldn’t tell the truth that I said it was unfair because I kept thinking about how he killed me in the past.

He asked calmly, his dark blue-violet eyes blinking.

“Therefore?”

Oh my god, on the first night, during the kiss, arguing about fairness and unfairness like this. It must be torture for him as well.

Even so, Rixus was showing enough patience.

“In Spinel, no matter how much a married couple is in love, they don’t have such a relationship.”

I gently pushed his forearm with the tip of my finger.

Rixus’ eyes turned to that finger, and he gently dropped his arm.

With that gap, I got up slightly, sat up, and glanced at him, squinting one eye.

“And I’m the King of Spinel. So I don’t have to follow the customs of Aktoum, right?”

As I made it up roughly, a fairly reasonable logic was unfolding.

“I’m sorry…….”

Now it was time to put the wedge in. I said with my characteristic cold expression.

“I don’t like you that much.”

I thought it would hurt. Because Rixus confessed his feelings to me.

But somehow, he didn’t seem offended at all.

After thinking for a moment, he asked a very unexpected question.

“If it’s not ‘that much’, does that mean that a little bit is okay?”

“That……”

…Was that how my explanation went? It sounded like he was listening to what he liked.

I was taken aback for a moment, but I couldn’t say no.

Rather, if he had asked, ‘Do you mean that you like it a little?’, I would have said ‘I don’t like it’.

To say ‘It’s not okay’ was to say ‘I don’t like it at all’.

Which felt like too much for Rixus.

“…It’s a little okay.”

Rixus’ lips rose a little more.

“Is it okay enough to kiss?”

“…Not that much.”

I was surprised and hurriedly denied it, but he patted his chin in a relaxed manner and said,

“We’ve already kissed, Candy.”

“It wasn’t a kiss. It was… a kiss. A light one. That’s right. Light.”

At my response, he bowed his head with a face that seemed to hold back laughter. Then he casually crossed his arms and said this.

“Then it means you have enough feelings for me to kiss me.”

He looked oddly amused.

He looked like he expected something from me, so much that he didn’t want to refute it to break the joy.

In fact, there was nothing to object to. Because it was true.

The kiss with him was so impressive that it still burned hot.

“Then let’s start from there.”

“…What?”

“Our relationship.”

He looked at me with soft, dark eyes.

“A husband who seems to do anything he likes, and a wife who has a small affinity to just kissing.”

A heavy, low-pitched sound swept softly in my ears.

“From a light kiss, to something very deep and hot…”

His long fingers twisted the ribbon near my collarbone like a knot. Then, pulling it slowly, he tilted my straight nose down below my collarbone.

He whispered,

“Do everything with me.”

The tingling and strange sensation made my back straighten.

I gently stroked his hair.

Every time his breath brushed against my skin, my heart instinctively pounded.

“One by one…”

His lips touched the boundary between the cloth and bare skin.

“Slowly.”

A small groan burst out of my mouth.

When I finally looked up, the ribbon that had been untied and left on the bed was neatly tied again.

I looked at him with wary, cautious eyes.

If it had been me before, I would have wanted to run away from Rixus’ suggestion with all my might.

Strangely, I became curious.

What would my ending with Rixus be like in this life?

At first, it was just a marriage to prevent war.

About half of it was calculated, not my will.

But… After coming all the way here, I was really curious about him.

How would this story end?

Would the twisted original ending be a little different this time?

I felt like I was in a burning boat, my heart was hot and I was afraid. I also felt a strange sense of excitement.

Rixus was right.

If I was curious, then I had no choice but to go to the end.

“Great.”

I answered him with trembling eyes.

I wanted to hold the hand of my nemesis and run all the way over the cliff.

Would it be another death for me there?

Or something else……

He and I would eventually find out together.

“Okay, Rixus.”

* * *

The next day.

Rixus and I had been sitting at the negotiation table for a long time.

Now that the high priest had granted his permission, we had to earnestly prepare for the wedding.

The ‘Holy Marriage Agreement’ containing important and sensitive matters between countries had already been set in Spinel, and the ‘Holy Marriage Permit’ we were working on today was about marriage.

Most of them were formal documents with items of lesser importance.

But to me, it was very important.

Because there was something I really wanted to agree and act on in this document.

“I don’t like it.”

As I was reading the document, I furrowed my eyebrows and picked up my pen.

“Delete this item here and let me fix it as I please.”

I scribbled out the items in a flash.

Rixus and Lieutenant Ires, who was next to him to help write the documents, widened their eyes.

“Your Majesty the Queen… With all due respect, I’m sorry, but this is the basic format agreed upon on all continents.”

Then, Rixus raised his hand and made Ires shut his mouth.

Then he reached out to me.

“Let’s take a look.”

I handed the document after giving it a glance over. The item I drew a line over was the one stating the wife must follow her husband’s surname.

“I am the monarch of Spinel, and I cannot be ‘Berylia Aktoum’.”

The elderly priest, who was helping to write the marriage permit, bowed his head and firmly said,

“Your Majesty, there cannot be cases where a couple’s surnames are different.”

I guessed so too. But it was something I couldn’t let go of.

“If the monarch’s surname is changed to ‘Aktoum,’ my people will feel that Spinel is being absorbed into Aktoum.”

“……”

“It’s not fair.”

“……”

“So I’ll keep the last name ‘Spinel’ even after marriage.”

As if embarrassed and caught in a difficult situation, the priest started to sweat.

“Hah…”

Then, a low voice pierced through.

“It makes sense.”

Rixus simply dismissed it. Then the priest was visibly perplexed.

“However, Your Highness, as I said, the surnames of couples cannot be different…”

“I’ll change it to her last name. Rixus ‘Spinel’.”

“!”

Ires’ eyes widened. His expression showed that he thought his master must be trying to do something absurd again with those crazy eyes.

“T-That! Then the morale of the nobles of Aktoum and the people…!”

“How can the Crown Prince of a country abandon his name!”

Following Ires, the priest hurriedly added.

“In the end, does it mean that it’s a big deal to have the monarch’s last name changed?”

Rixus said, gently sweeping his chin with a long finger.

“You have just added credibility to my wife’s words.”

“…….”

“…….”

The jaws of the priest and Ires locked, and they closed their mouths without making a sound.

“Do whatever she wants.”

I was ready to fight hard… I didn’t know it would be accepted so easily.

It was both fortunate and unfair.

Because Rixus wouldn’t have thought about this in the first place.

“Berylia’s and my surname will be the same when the two countries are merged and a new empire is created.”

It was a smooth conclusion. But.

“There’s one more.”

At the sound of my dissatisfied voice, Ires and the priest looked only at my mouth with nervous eyes.

I opened my mouth and said in an arrogant voice.

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