Chapter 67

Parched with thirst, Ramona reached out in her sleep. After gulping down the bedside water, she knit her brows at the muscle pain that made her feel as though her entire body had been trampled.

“Ugh… Did someone stomp all over me? My head hurts, too.”

The throbbing at the top of her head made her want to just fall back asleep rather than look for medicine, but then her eyes snapped open. At first, she was too dazed to notice, but a familiar scent lingered on the duvet. The scenery before her was familiar, yet it was absolutely not her own room.

Only then did Ramona realize she had fallen asleep in Adrian’s room while drinking chicken and beer the previous night. A faint memory of a dream—one she couldn’t possibly describe to anyone else—surfaced, and she let out a long sigh.

“Am I… frustrated?”

Recalling the dream, which had featured a feast of dangerously high intensity, a flush spread across her face. Remembering that frantic night, she realized she had felt surprisingly good. In the dream, she had used a predator’s paw to pin down the wings of a trembling, sobbing, gentle bird to prevent its escape. Then, she had claimed it with dizzying passion.

“Me, sleeping with Raon’s dad? That’s impossible…”

The mere thought made her head spin. Then, the memory of her being the one to seduce Adrian first flashed through her mind.

“If you don’t want to sleep with me, blink once. If you give me permission, blink twice. Just so you know, once you blink twice, I’m not stopping.”

Adrian, heated and flushed with embarrassment, couldn’t even speak properly and just blinked twice. In that instant, Ramona had charged ahead without a signal. Adrian had repeatedly groaned and told her “no,” but Ramona hadn’t listened. Instead, she told him not to be coy as she toyed with his “instincts,” which were swelling in a way that was anything but dainty. At first, she had intended to stop after one round. But since it was a dream, she went for a second and a third time—until the moon began to set.

And then, her memory cut off.

The dream was so vivid that Ramona wiped her face with her hands and tried to pull the duvet toward her. However, the blanket wouldn’t budge, as if it were weighted down by something heavy. Sensing something strange, she cautiously looked behind her.

“A-Adrian?”

“…”

At her call, Adrian, who had been huddled with his face buried in his knees while wrapped in the duvet, slowly lifted his head. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen, and his neck and chest were adorned with “red flowers” scattered here and there. Seeing this, Ramona jumped up in shock. Fortunately, she was still dressed, but Adrian held onto the duvet for dear life and hung his head low.

“How could you do this to me? I clearly begged you to stop.”

“…”

“You told me not to worry because you’d take responsibility if we had a baby… hic.”

“I-if you hated it that much, you should have pushed me away. You could have easily overpowered me if you tried.”

“Are you blaming me, the victim, for not being able to escape?”

“N-no, that’s not it! Really. I thought it was all consensual… you definitely blinked twice.”

As what she thought was a dream turned out to be reality, Ramona argued that the acts were consensual. She had no desire to ruin the life of a fine man just because she’d slept with him.

“A speck of dust got in my eye, so I just blinked! But then you suddenly… you just…!”

She didn’t need to hear the rest to know exactly what had happened. Knowing she was guilty of “devouring” him for hours, Ramona apologized quickly.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. I thought you gave permission, so I… I should have asked a second and third time.”

Upon hearing her apology, Adrian tentatively lifted his head. Looking at him, another wave of guilt washed over her.

“Then… are you going to take responsibility? You said you’d take responsibility…”

“Well, that’s…”

“Then you were planning to just eat and run? Was I just a one-night stand? I’m disappointed. Leave! I have nothing more to say.”

With a deeply confused expression, Ramona had to leave as Adrian dismissed her. On her way out, she ran into Adiel, who was just arriving, and let out a long sigh.

“My hangovers are so bad today that I don’t think I can eat. Then…”

Adiel, who had concluded that the two had shared a drink in Adrian’s room, gave a pleasant smile and bowed. Passing him by, Ramona hurried back to her own room.

“Sister, where did you sleep? You’re still wearing yesterday’s clothes.”

Since she didn’t look like she had just gone for an early morning walk, a corner of Anna’s mouth curled upward. At a glance, history had clearly been made, but Ramona’s eyes were filled with a complicated mix of emotions. She squeezed them shut as if to avoid reality altogether, her mind now a tangled knot that would be difficult to untie.

“Oh, it seems you’ve been drinking. I can smell it. Did you have a drink with the Young Duke? You couldn’t have had a drink alone outside his room.”

As Anna helped her undress, she asked as if to test the waters.

“A-actually, I did have a drink with Raon’s dad… whew. I need to wash up and sleep. My mind just snapped back to reality and now it’s about to go out again.”

Struggling to hold onto her sanity, Ramona rushed into the bathroom, washed up quickly, and lay down on her bed, refusing even to eat. Anna watched her with a meaningful smile.

***

“What? Ramona came out of Rian’s room? Just now?”

“Yes! I just saw her myself. She definitely came out of the Young Duke’s room. In her clothes from yesterday, no less. She looked quite disheveled and said she couldn’t eat because of a hangover.”

Adolf, receiving Adiel’s report, jumped up from his seat. There was no way a man and a woman would drink together in a single room and stay apart. If the hangover was that severe, something history-making must have happened while they were out of their minds.

Adolf hurried to Adrian’s room and cleared his throat at the sight of his son, who had already washed up and put on a shirt.

“I think you should cover your neck, my boy.”

Looking at the mirror where his father was pointing, Adrian’s face instantly flushed a bright red, and he quickly covered the spot with his hand.

“I won’t ask what happened last night. But… did you cry much? Your eyes are still red.”

Even if he was his own son, it was the first time Adolf had seen him cry, and he looked thoroughly intrigued.

“It’s none of your concern, Father,” Adrian said firmly, not wanting the affairs between him and Ramona to be on everyone’s lips.

“Then I’ll ask just one thing. Was there anything between you and Ramona that requires taking responsibility?”

“Ms. Ramona… she definitely said she’d take responsibility. If I got pregnant…”

“You can’t get pregnant, you fool! Why would you set such a condition? You should have just told her to take responsibility.”

“I didn’t set it; Ms. Ramona did. And I’m uncomfortable talking about this with you, Father.”

“Good grief! With that handsome face and toned body, you couldn’t even manage a proper seduction? I worked so hard to raise you, only for you to grow up into a fool who doesn’t know how to use what he has!”

Though he spoke like this, Adolf wore a satisfied smile at the thought of his son suddenly leaping ten steps ahead. A good start was half the battle, and since he had jumped more than halfway in a single night, things seemed to be going well. But reality always has a way of turning out differently than expected.

***

The two of them, who used to chat and laugh whenever they met, had become increasingly silent since that day. Or rather, they were avoiding each other. Adolf felt as if he would die of frustration watching them avoid even a single moment of eye contact. Whatever the reason, they had spent the night together, only to become more distant than before.

Leaving them behind, Adolf struck his chest in frustration as he headed toward Eclipse. At this rate, things would go nowhere, yet he couldn’t just come out and tell them to get married since they had slept together. It was trendy these days to have a light one-night stand and then part ways, so he couldn’t force a marriage based on that alone.

“In my day, I thought if we slept together, marriage was mandatory.”

During a short break in the middle of a meeting, Adolf muttered to himself as Sir Baston entered from the hallway and spoke in a low voice.

“We have a problem, Duke. I hear Duke Lepid has just arrived.”

“Where? At the townhouse?”

“Adiel called to say he’s at the estate manor.”

“Ugh.”

Thinking of Duke Lepid, who had deliberately raided the manor while he was away, Adolf ground his teeth. His heart twisted at the thought of the smug look the man would have after a successful ambush.