Chap 1

In a moment of anticipation, Blair stood in front of the door.

Today was her wedding day, and this room would be where she would spend her first night with her husband.

After standing still for a while, she knocked after covering her thin nightgown that revealed the curves of her body.

"....?"

It seemed her husband had not yet come to the bedroom.

Blair let out a small relieved sigh and entered the room, sitting on the couch as she waited for her husband.

Ten minutes passed.

Thirty minutes, and then another thirty minutes.

Her husband had not arrived even after an hour. It was different from the past.

'Is he not coming?'

While staring at the tightly closed door, Blair suddenly remembered what kind of marriage this was.

'Right, this isn't a real marriage; it's a one-year contract marriage.'

A marriage arranged thoroughly for their respective purposes.

There was no need for them to fulfill the duties of a real married couple on their first night.

'It's probably better this way.'

Blair thought she might fall into the delusion that he loved her if they faced each other again, just as she did in the past.

'Spending the night with him for just one day, on the day Asiel appeared, is enough.'

Today was not that day, so it didn't matter.

Blair concluded that her husband wouldn't come to her room tonight and took out paper and a pen from a drawer.

Then, she began calmly writing the contract that would prove this contract marriage.

When she completed the last sentence of the contract, warmth suddenly approached from behind, and a large hand of a man who had silently come closer touched the desk.

Startled, Blair turned around, and a man who had approached her back appeared.

Taller than ordinary men, a man with a perfectly built body that could be seen even through his overcoat.

Under his softly fluttering black hair, cool eyes resembling the summer night sky.

A man with an exceptionally beautiful face that could make anyone, whether male or female, momentarily hold their breath when they made eye contact.

Duke Herdin Delmarc.

Officially, he had become her husband today.

He looked into Blair's eyes, who was surprised by his gaze, as if he could read her heart, and asked,

"Why do you look so surprised? Today is our first night; it's natural for a husband and wife to spend the night together."

"...I didn't know you were coming."

"Even though you've been waiting without sleeping until now?"

At his words that hit the mark, Blair tightly closed her lips.

"I was just waiting just in case. Be…cause it's not polite to be asleep when you… I mean, when you come."

Herdin's eyes deepened at Blair's use of 'you' as her address.

"It sounds like you were prepared to spend the first night together."

Blair shivered at his touch on her cheek and his soft voice in her ear.

But what surprised her more than that was his story.

'Why?'

In her past life, Herdin had accepted the unwanted marriage proposal from his brother to uncover the truth.

Their first night, their affection, and everything else were just a play to extract the truth.

So, in this life, before their marriage, Blair had proposed to him first.

'If you accept my proposal, I'll do my best to help you uncover the 'truth of that day."

Even without deceiving me, I'll give you what you want.

So, I thought he wouldn't act in a seductive play anymore, but why…

'I had nothing to do with you once I found out the truth, right?'

Just like the past you.

However, he showed the opposite reaction from what Blair expected. In this somewhat bewildering situation for Blair, who thought he wouldn't even come to her room, Herdin responded in a somewhat confusing manner.

"You don't need to prepare to spend the first night together, but…"

"I want to."

Here's the English translation of the provided Korean paragraph:

His gaze, whispered softly, was fixed on her red lips. His hand, wrapped around her cheek, traced her lips with his thumb.

The heat radiating from his fingertips made her heart race faster and faster.

In that moment, Herdin, who had been looking at Blair's lips, raised his gaze, and their eyes met.

"Right now."

His blue eyes were filled with unfiltered, intense desire.

Blair, surprised by the raw desire, had no time to react before his lips came crashing down on hers.

Blair suddenly remembered that he was a man.

'Men can intertwine with someone they don't care about.'

Yeah, this wasn't love. It wasn't pretending to love for some other purpose either.

It was just a momentary desire.

Thinking this way made her feel more at ease. Blair closed her eyes as if she had come to terms with her confusion.

In the past, her unfamiliar and secretive acts with him had been scary and frightening.

His large build had felt like a beast ready to devour her or a prison that caged her.

Yet, she had fallen in love with the way his eyes, focused only on her, and the warmth of his embrace made her feel.

'But now, I won't be deceived by that warmth.'