Chapter 29.
If I Ask You to Come with Me to the Bedroom
“Honestly, how much do I know about you, and yet you still dare to act up?”
I muttered to myself while walking down the central staircase alone.
After rereading the original story multiple times, I had practically memorized all the details.
Seeing Camilla’s pale, terrified face just now, I felt glad I’d made sure to collect evidence of her affair ahead of time.
Because of this, Camilla would have no choice but to keep her sharp claws hidden in front of me for the time being.
‘But since she’s such a sly creature, even if she holds back now, she’ll just bide her time and wait for a chance to get back at me later.’
That chance would likely come after Camilla divorced Count Dmitri.
Until then, she couldn’t recklessly pick a fight with me, the one holding proof of her infidelity.
What’s more, I planned to snatch away Henry’s massive investment fortune. If that happened, Camilla’s divorce would take even longer than in the original story.
‘By then, I’ll probably have already announced my own divorce and left the North.’
Feeling lighter, I descended the stairs, and just as I reached the second-floor lobby—
There, beyond the lobby, I caught sight of a figure standing on the terrace.
‘Huh? That person is…’
I walked closer, uncertain, and soon confirmed it.
A man leaned against the terrace railing, holding a half-filled crystal glass of champagne.
It was Adrian.
Eyes closed, he was savoring the night breeze. Pale moonlight rested across his face.
The shadows cast beneath his tall nose, the lips that occasionally let out a faint sigh.
His long honey-blond hair swayed softly in the pleasant wind.
Framed by the night sky, he looked like a figure straight out of a painting.
I unconsciously held my breath as I watched him.
“Your Grace?”
Adrian opened his eyes and, seeing me, smiled warmly.
“…Adrian.”
A sheepish smile slipped from my lips.
Adrian opened the glass door between us and welcomed me without hesitation.
“Would you like to step outside, Your Grace? The night breeze is truly refreshing.”
He extended his hand politely.
After only a brief hesitation, I took his hand and walked out onto the terrace.
The cool yet crisp wind brushed against my cheeks.
Smiling at the invigorating feeling, I brushed my hair back and turned toward Adrian.
“Adrian, how is your father doing now?”
He returned a faint smile.
“My eldest brother has been taking good care of him, but… if another crisis comes, I doubt he’ll survive it.”
“…I’m truly sorry, Adrian.”
I gently patted his shoulder, moved by how stoic he appeared.
Adrian stared quietly at my hand resting on his shoulder with an unreadable expression.
“…I’ll be fine. It’s my brother and the retainers who are burdened. They’ll have to decide the succession.”
“If succession is being discussed… then aren’t you a strong candidate, Adrian?”
I recalled something Mina had told me earlier.
In the demon realm, ability mattered more than birth order when choosing heirs.
That was why most of House Monter’s retainers wanted Adrian, the second son with greater magical power than his elder brother, to become head of the family.
House Monter was one of the demon realm’s most powerful families.
The thought of Adrian possibly becoming its head was something worth sincerely congratulating.
‘Of course, if that happens… I won’t be able to stay by his side anymore.’
I forced a smile to hide my regret.
“Adrian, head of a great house—it’s hard to imagine.”
“Haha, I feel the same. I never had much interest in becoming head of house.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. The world is wide, and there are people like me. Honestly, I’ve never had much desire for anything, not even the headship.”
“…”
“At least… not until very recently.”
Adrian murmured softly, eyes lifted toward the night sky.
I found myself silently watching his profile.
After a moment, I tucked back some hair tousled by the wind and changed the subject.
“But Adrian, why are you out here all alone? This is supposed to be social time.”
He leaned leisurely against the railing, smiling.
“Haha, then why are you here alone, Your Grace? This is social time, after all.”
Just then, fireworks burst across the night sky behind him, dazzling and bright.
“…Perhaps because no one here truly wants to spend much time talking with me.”
“Why? Earlier I noticed several young noble ladies stealing glances at you.”
“Their parents will keep them on a tight leash.”
Adrian chuckled self-mockingly, then added:
“If their precious daughters were rumored to be involved with a half-demon like me, it would be disastrous.”
“…”
“Unless the man were someone with power equal to a Grand Duke, of course.”
Though six years had passed since ties with the demon realm had reopened, discrimination against half-demons in the Western Empire still lingered, if quietly.
Adrian’s face looked quietly forlorn as he gazed at the sky.
Then his smooth baritone voice brushed my ear.
“All my life, I’ve never truly desired anything, nor envied anyone.”
“…”
“Even the mistreatment I received here in the human realm—I found it curious, since it was my first time experiencing such things. I kept myself detached, never taking real interest in anything.”
A faint smile touched his lips before he spoke again, slowly.
“But strangely, tonight…”
“…”
“I caught myself… envying you, Your Grace.”
Red and blue fireworks bloomed and vanished on the black canvas of the sky.
In the glow of that fleeting backdrop, a vivid new light sparked in his violet eyes.
“For the first time in my life… I’ve begun to feel desire.”
On the way back, Cedric kept watching Rebecca as though studying her.
She still leaned her head against the carriage window, eyes fixed on the scenery outside.
He couldn’t tell if she was truly absorbed in the passing view, or simply lost in thought.
Occasionally, a sigh slipped through her lips.
Each time, Cedric had to quickly avert his gaze.
Because whenever his eyes fell on her lips, he kept recalling their softness, and the way her touch had lingered on him.
And disturbingly, the memory stirred no disgust.
Instead, it only made him long for her more.
‘Once, I would have found it unbearable…’
Even Cedric was shocked by how much he had changed.
For instance—two years into their marriage, Rebecca had once tried to force a kiss on him.
He had, of course, rejected her fiercely, and the mere fact their lips had almost touched left him so repulsed he couldn’t sleep.
And now? Tonight, Cedric knew he would once again lie awake.
But this time, for a reason entirely opposite from before.
“We’ve arrived, Rebecca.”
The carriage had stopped before the Garden of Darkness.
Cedric softly called her again, watching her still deep in thought.
“Rebecca.”
At last, she glanced around vaguely and murmured,
“Ah… we’re already here.”
It was late at night, and silence blanketed the estate.
Hearing nothing else around them, it seemed Bianca and Adrian’s carriage had yet to return.
Cedric disembarked first, then reached to steady Rebecca as she stepped down.
“What were you thinking about? You’ve been uncharacteristically quiet this whole way.”
Rebecca lifted her gaze to him.
Then Cedric noticed her eyes lingering on his lips.
Unconsciously, he ran his tongue across them, trying to wet the dryness.
“…It’s something you wouldn’t like to hear.”
Leaving only that cryptic reply, Rebecca walked ahead.
Cedric paused to mull over her words before following.
“You’re walking me all the way to the front door?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
His immediate answer made Rebecca smile faintly.
“I’ll never get used to this. You never used to do things like this.”
“…”
“You didn’t care whether I went back to the Grand Duchess’s quarters or not.”
“That was when we still lived under the same roof. Were you really that upset?”
Rebecca only smiled gently in response.
Her face glowed under the moonlight.
Cedric found himself staring, then slowly said,
“I could walk you all the way to your chambers now, if you want.”
“…”
“If you… still desire it.”
At that moment, Rebecca stopped walking in front of the door.
Cedric halted as well, puzzled, until he saw her looking up at him with mischievous eyes.
“You sound as though you’d do anything for me now, Cedric.”
Cedric, usually unflappable, found himself strangely tongue-tied whenever faced with Rebecca these days.
Even now, he could only swallow hard, unable to answer.
Rebecca chuckled at his reaction and stepped closer.
Finally, they were near enough to feel each other’s breath.
Her red lips parted, teasingly sweet.
“If I were to ask you to come to my bedroom tonight… would you grant me that, too?”
Cedric’s Adam’s apple bobbed visibly.
Rebecca’s smile widened knowingly—she could tell his reaction was completely unlike before.
Meanwhile, Cedric desperately tried to regain his composure.
‘No. I can’t let Rebecca imprint on me again after our divorce.’
He had no right to keep her if she chose to leave.
Without a proper reason, he couldn’t bind her to him any longer.
‘If I let this bond form, and then after the divorce is announced she leaves… I’ll lose my mind with obsession.’
But soon he realized—his hesitation wasn’t from any dislike of her.
Rather, it was because his heart itself was unsteady, swaying uncontrollably like a reed in the wind.
The revelation shook him.
As Cedric struggled between reason and instinct, Rebecca’s slender fingers traced down the buttons of his shirt.
They finally stopped at his pounding chest.
Then she leaned closer, whispering against his ear.
“Cedric.”
Her alluring voice, her breath brushing his earlobe—
It shattered the last fragments of restraint he had been clinging to.
“This may well be… the last chance you’ll ever get.”
