Is this the first crisis?
A suffocating sensation washed over him, as if his clothes were constricting his body. From the moment he realized he was fully dressed, he felt as though he couldn't breathe.
“Haa….”
Byleon’s face twisted. The hand that had been covering his eyes dropped on its own. If nothing else, he wanted to loosen the cravat wrapped around his neck. Wouldn't he be able to breathe a little easier if he just undid this?
“Ugh.”
*A cravat is fine, surely. Marien has seen me in loungewear ever since I got hurt. Besides, she’s even seen me in just a bathrobe, though that was a mistake.*
Amidst a flurry of drunken self-justification, Byleon finally managed to tug at the cravat and toss it aside.
“Ah….”
The problem was that loosening the cravat didn't relieve the suffocating feeling. Byleon undid two buttons on his shirt.
‘Still not enough.’
He frantically unfastened the third and fourth buttons before moving his hands to his vest. Byleon barely managed to stop himself there. He didn't want to startle Marien.
He heard the sound of running water in the distance. Marien must be in the bathroom. Was she washing her face?
Marien, who had hovered over him with worry while preparing a wet towel. The image of his lover’s sky-blue eyes, filled with concern, pricked his conscience.
‘This is the absolute worst.’
He had acted so cool, volunteering to be her white knight, yet here he was, making a total spectacle of himself.
The penalty drink he’d downed earlier was undeniably potent, but Byleon himself was certainly a lightweight. Chloe could likely hold her liquor better than her own brother.
‘How much time has passed? Did I fall asleep for a moment? I need to pull myself together within at least two hours.’
Even lying flat with his head resting on the mattress, he felt dizzy. It was as if someone were violently stirring the inside of his skull with a large ladle.
When he turned his head slightly to the right, his heavy, pudding-like brain seemed to tilt to the right, followed by a sickening sensation of it rolling around the back of his skull and settling to the left.
‘And my body still feels so constricted.’
An intense desire to strip off his clothes urged Byleon on.
*Take them off. Take them off. Take them off. No. Take them off. Strip. Just strip. I said no.*
Then, as a compromise, what about just taking off the vest and shirt?
‘That’s not….’
Byleon’s hand, which had been resting neatly on the bed, twitched. The idea of removing only his top—the vest and shirt—sounded incredibly tempting.
A noble man should not expose his bare skin to the opposite sex unless he is with his spouse.
That was how Byleon had been taught, and that was how he had lived. He had even refused the bathing services of maids—something other noblemen considered a standard exception—a prudishness that had earned him no small amount of mockery behind his back.
Yet, today, was he going to break his strict rules in front of Marien just because of a drunken habit?
‘But I belong to Marien anyway.’
Byleon’s hand moved stealthily. With every button of his leather vest he undid, he felt as if he could finally breathe. The vest that had been gripping his body tightly soon fell wide open.
*‘I swear, ever since I let Marien into my heart, it has only been her. I have never considered anyone other than her as my future spouse. And if you count the time she accidentally saw me in a bathrobe, Marien is the woman who has seen the most of my bare skin.’*
*‘If I just consider this as bringing our wedding night forward just a little bit….’*
Stop.
Byleon hurriedly lowered his hand and gripped the bedsheets instead of his clothes. He couldn't even steady his own body, yet he was busy justifying his impulses.
And what was this nonsense about a wedding night? It was embarrassing enough to have a drunken habit of undressing; he felt deeply ashamed of himself for crossing the line to actually do it.
“Sir Biers, are you still… Eek!”
Just then, Marien, who had returned to the bed, let out a startled scream. Byleon couldn't bring himself to open his eyes.
To think this would happen while she was in the bathroom for just a moment. How embarrassed must Marien be? How disappointed must she be?
His lover’s words—that she liked Sir Biers for his consideration and upright nature—flashed through his mind, deepening Byleon’s sense of shame.
“C-c-crazy.”
Marien stammered. The discomfort of breathing was no longer the issue. He just wished he would stop breathing altogether. Byleon genuinely wanted to vanish right in front of his lover.
“Wh-why are your clothes… No, all the vest buttons are undone. And when did you open your shirt so wide….”
Marien’s voice grew closer. She sounded as if she couldn't believe the situation unfolding before her. Then, a sudden, heavy silence followed.
Byleon thought everything was over now.
‘She saw it.’
*Wedding night.* He never should have thought that. It would have been better if he had just taken off his top without that kind of ludicrous self-justification.
Marien didn't even make a sound, perhaps paralyzed by shock.
He desperately wanted her to say something, anything. She could curse him, but he couldn't bear this silence, which felt like a punishment.
“Chest.”
Marien muttered in a horrified voice.
“My goodness, what is this? More than me… No, how can it be this thick?”
A slurping sound followed. What on earth was that sound?
“And the skin is so smooth….”
Listening with bated breath, he felt a bit confused. Marien’s voice was clearly filled with shock, but the content of her words was strange.
*Is she not disgusted by me? Is Marien really okay after seeing me like this?*
Suddenly, a sharp slap echoed in the room. Byleon flinched.
That’s right. He deserved to be hit. He wished Marien would beat him soundly. He thought maybe he’d come to his senses if he were hit.
But strangely, he felt no pain after the slapping sound. Byleon assumed this, too, was because his physical senses were dulled by the alcohol.
That was, until he heard Marien’s next words.
“You pervert, Marien Didi. Just how deep into your own lustful fantasies were you that you stripped Byleon and don't even remember it?”
Another sharp slap echoed.
“You shameless woman! Pervert! Lustful demon! And after coming back, you’re even harassing him by staring at his pectoral muscles. You still haven't come to your senses.”
Byleon thought to himself.
*No, Marien. This wasn't you.*
Slap!
*It was me.*
Slap!
*Stop hitting yourself.*
Slap!
*You're going to bruise.*
“Uwaaaah! This is too much. Why such a trial for me! I’d rather be told to beat up a villain with my bare hands!”
Marien, having stopped self-flagellating, began to pound the mattress with her fists.
“Wake up, Byleon. Your purity is in danger. If you don’t open your eyes soon, I might strip you like peeling candy. Ugh, look at this. You’ve already undone your shirt buttons.”
*I was the one who undid those buttons.*
“Are you really okay with me eating you up like this?”
On that point, Byleon had no objections.
It was doubtful whether Marien could really ‘eat him up.’ But if she wanted to, and if she were to put it into action, he would gladly give her everything.
‘Ah, no. Again….’
He had to stop thinking. If that was too hard, he should think of something ridiculous. If even that was difficult, he should at least try to think of something solemn and serious.
Byleon began to sing the national anthem in his head. Even after singing the anthem, his dizzy heart wouldn't settle, so he sang the Imperial Academy’s school song.
Fortunately, by the time he reached the chorus of the school song, the heat in his body had subsided somewhat.
“Sob, what do I do? I can’t leave this spot!”
Marien was still blaming herself. She didn't know what had happened while her consciousness was fading. Why had she gone to the bathroom in the first place? Many questions flooded Byleon’s mind at once.
“Hut.”
Now was the time to open his eyes. Ever since Marien had screamed, his heart had been pounding like crazy, and his tension had skyrocketed. Thanks to that, it seemed he was finally fully sober.
“Marien….”
“Oh, thank goodness. Byleon. A-ah, no, Sir Biers.”
Marien, who had been slumped over the edge of the bed like a tragic heroine, brightened up instantly.
“Are you feeling a bit better?”
“Yes.”
Byleon rubbed his temple and sat up. A faint headache remained. Marien quickly supported him.
“Shall I get you a glass of water?”
“Ah… I’d be grateful if you would.”
“Yes, just a moment!”
Marien’s face was brighter than ever as she brought a glass of cold water with a thin slice of lemon floating in it.
Byleon took the glass and asked for the current time. Marien answered him.
Byleon was inwardly surprised by the answer. Even though he couldn't steady his body due to the dizziness, he thought he had been awake the whole time, but she said he had slept for over an hour and a half.
“I’m sorry. You must have been alone for too long because of me.”
“It’s because you drank the penalty drink for me.”
“Even so.”
“Oh, come on. I told you I’m really fine. I’m so fine that I even ordered this and that through room service while you were out. I don’t know how much a bottle of wine costs… but since it’s a vintage, it was incredibly expensive.”
Marien clapped her hands as if she remembered something and ran to the table. When she returned to the bed, she was holding a hangover cure.
“Take this.”
“Thank you.”
It was a welcome item for Byleon as well. He opened the cap of the medicine bottle he had been handed.
And when one opens the cap of an object, one’s gaze naturally tends to drift downward.
Byleon’s eyes landed on his own exposed chest.
“This is….”
“That is…!”
Both of them spoke at the exact same time and then fell silent.
Byleon was human, so he was tempted to just gloss over it and move on. After all, Byleon Viers was no exception to the desire to show only his best side to his lover.
But he couldn't let Marien blame herself just to protect his own image.
“I did it. It’s not that you don’t remember, Marien; my drunken habit is like this.”
“Sir Biers did it?”
Marien’s voice rose. Byleon tried to ignore the feeling of his ears burning.
“Yes, when I’m drunk, my clothes feel so suffocating that I… I end up taking them off without realizing it. I’m sorry.”
“So it wasn't something I did!”
“No, it wasn't.”
“I am a lustful demon, but I was at least a person who kept to the minimum code of conduct.”
Watching the dramatic change in Marien’s expression, Byleon realized what extreme relief felt like. He thought it was the right thing to say after all.
Even though his own face was flushed red and looked a complete sight. Marien burst into a wide smile.
“Oh, what is this? Talk about unexpected charm!”
“Charm…?”
Byleon asked cautiously.
“You don’t… dislike it?”
“What? What? What? Why would I?”
“It’s very different from my usual self. A drunken habit like that… it seems a bit… dissolute.”
Marien burst into a peal of laughter. She told him not to use such heart-fluttering expressions. To Byleon, Marien seemed to be in a state of over-excitement, laughing at even the most trivial things.
It was likely because she had just set down a heavy burden from her heart.
‘Regardless, if Marien doesn’t dislike it, then that’s enough…….’
Byleon silently tilted the medicine bottle to shake the pills into his palm, then buttoned his shirt all the way to his collar.
For some reason, it sounded as if someone beside him was smacking their lips in regret.
0 Comments