I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 64

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 64
“Ah…!”
It wasn’t her first time being touched like this.
Luciana flinched, her shoulders beginning to tremble.
Her heart had been hammering against her ribs ever since they’d begun—her nerves wound as tight as her anticipation, threatening to break free.
Perhaps it was because of the realization she’d just come to that made it worse.
‘He doesn’t… hate this.’
Edward hadn’t hesitated because he was reluctant.
The chill that had seized her stomach at the thought that his feelings might have changed now gave way to heat, building and roiling inside her.
‘What do I—what do I do?’
He was only kissing her back, and yet it felt as though something momentous was happening to her.
A strange, overwhelming fear and tension seized her all at once—as if he might bite through her nape at any second.
“Shh.”
However he interpreted the trembling of her shoulders—
Edward murmured low and finally, carefully unfastened the remaining buttons of the Wedding Dress, most of which had already come undone.
Soft rustle.
All the buttons at the back of the Wedding Dress came free, and even as her wrapped arms barely managed to keep the dress from sliding away entirely—
‘Such a waste.’
Edward thought this, and swallowed a sigh without realizing.
Just moments ago, he’d been helplessly aroused by the temptation of this little mouse offering to undress for him.
But even now, thinking it through, she was far too precious to simply devour in one bite.
And besides.
‘…Still too thin.’
Edward’s brow furrowed the entire time he pressed his lips to the delicate ridge of her spine.
Luciana had indeed gained weight and grown healthier, but to Edward’s eyes, she looked nothing of the sort.
Her back was still lean enough that each vertebra showed plainly, and the nape of her neck, now visible as she lowered her head, was the same.
He could have sworn he’d been feeding her properly, fattening her up.
He’d even had her do morning exercises in the short time since their marriage, and the servants had reported just recently that she’d been looking much healthier.
Yet now, peeling away layer after layer, she still seemed to fall short.
“Tch.”
Edward clicked his tongue softly.
For the past few weeks leading up to this, he’d barely managed to restrain himself, even deliberately avoiding her gaze for fear his resolve might crumble.
He’d endured so much—knowing that this little mouse adored his face, refraining from showing it, holding back from looking at what he longed to see.
‘…I’ll take my time.’
And so, after eagerly tearing at the buttons, what emerged was a touch that was excruciatingly gentle.
“Shhh…”
The moment his fingertips brushed against her bare waist, he saw her shoulders flushed a vivid red.
As he kissed that spot again and again, the wild impulses and almost violent desire began to ebb, just slightly.
‘Perhaps—’
Perhaps it was the Purification he’d received when he kissed her before, and the Holy Power flowing gently now through their joined skin, that was slowly dissolving the Corruption that had built up over these past weeks.
‘Just a little more.’
Just a little longer to savor this small warmth, and then it wouldn’t be too late to claim her.
But for Luciana, this was agony.
‘Why again?!’
She’d thought he didn’t hate it, and now she was certain he’d finally undress her.
And yet Edward was drawing it out again, which was absolutely maddening.
Or rather, she was burning with such impatience she could hardly bear it anymore.
‘It tickles…’
Every time Edward’s lips caressed and licked her back, a strange sensation kept washing over her.
As if hundreds of feathers were tickling her stomach, threatening to make her sneeze.
It felt like she was floating on clouds, drifting weightlessly.
‘This is strange.’
The kisses falling on her back, the touch of his hands—they felt as though he were cherishing her, truly treasuring her.
And suddenly, she remembered the look in his eyes from just a moment ago.
The eyes that met hers when he lifted the veil. The rippling light swimming in his gaze as he looked at her.
After he’d feigned a True Mate before others, the affectionate, playful way he looked at her—as though he were an young boy sharing a conspiracy with his accomplice.
Just moments before, she’d even worried anew that perhaps he now disliked what they were doing.
But his gaze, his actions now—
Thinking of all the unexpected tenderness he’d shown her until now, it was clear—
‘I…’
…but it seemed like something she did enjoy.
Even if that emotion wasn’t romantic love but something closer to friendship or affection.
And so she’d anticipated this wedding night more eagerly, and kept wanting to push further.
…Because she didn’t dislike Edward either.
“I have value. I’m useful.”
Edward had been the first person to acknowledge her worth.
But that wasn’t all.
He’d shown her consideration all along without letting it show, protected her with a proposal of marriage, and….
Now he’d even deceived his own retinue to fabricate a false True Mate claim.
He’d need to clarify it later, but there was something strangely moving about that fact.
‘For me.’
That Edward would do such a thing without hesitation, for her sake.
That since her sisters disappeared, he was the first person to do so much for her.
Perhaps that was why.
Luciana found herself anticipating contact with him at some point.
Beyond mere curiosity about acts of a sexual nature—she wanted contact with Edward, not with anyone else.
‘With this man.’
It felt like she could do such things with him.
Those acts that couldn’t be done with just anyone, that felt better when done with someone you liked.
Yet even as she thought this, she’d hesitate moment by moment….
Because the words Edward had coldly spat at the Priest before kept drifting through her mind.
“I never said I did it because I liked it.”
“It was nothing but Purification.”
When she recalled that moment, there were times she thought this too might be nothing but Purification.
Perhaps his tenderness was merely a side of his nature she hadn’t known about.
In any case, there was much about Edward that Luciana didn’t know.
That thought had come to her since she saw that room in the West Annex.
‘Reading it in the work several times over wasn’t enough.’
The man here was alive.
But now….
‘I don’t want to think about it too deeply.’
All the doubts that had surfaced slipped away into the distance.
‘I want to.’
The lingering warmth of the emotion she’d felt kissing Edward just moments before still consumed her.
The lingering desire to touch him more, to be closer.
So Luciana decided not to hold back.
“D-Duke.”
Swish.
Luciana carefully turned around.
Edward, looking displeased that his lips had been torn from her back, froze when he met her eyes directly.
Soon his Adam’s apple moved slowly.
And no wonder—Luciana was clutching the Wedding Dress with crossed arms as though it might slip away at any moment.
“Luciana.”
Edward slowly reached out to hold her dress in place for her.
Whisper.
With her lower lip caught gently between her teeth, Luciana suddenly released her arms.
…!
The half-torn Wedding Dress fluttered downward, following her released arms.
Her pale body, hidden until now, was laid bare.
Edward stood frozen in place, unable to tear his eyes from her form.
Luciana slowly raised the arms she had just lowered.
Arms trembling like aspen leaves—proof that she was summoning every last ounce of her courage.
“P-Please hold me.”
….
“Please… hold me.”
At her whispered plea, Edward mumbled incomprehensible words in his mouth, grinding them as if unable to make sense of what he was hearing.
And then.
“…Ah!”
Edward drew close to her, deeply.
The thread of reason that Luciana had barely been holding onto grew thinner and thinner.
‘What am I going to do…’
Even as the thought crossed her mind, all she could do was grip Edward’s hair—soft and fine between her fingers—as he pressed against her with desperate hunger.
‘God, I want to…’
Edward was teetering on the edge of losing all reason as well.
The moment Luciana first undressed, it felt as though he’d been struck in the head with a hammer.
Reality was nothing like what he’d imagined.
Her body was so much more delicate, so much more beautiful than in the vague dreams he’d woven—it stole his sight entirely.
He’d thought her too thin just moments before, but now that she stood bare before him, now that he could truly see her…
All those weeks of careful feeding had borne their fruit after all.
Edward’s throat constricted.
‘I want to devour her.’
To swallow her whole.
But as the raw, primal hunger roared through him like wildfire, another desire chafed against it in frustration and spite.
The wish to gaze upon Luciana’s body more gently, as one might admire a work of art.
To understand what differed between her and his dreams. To examine her piece by piece, to savor the sight of her trembling with shame under his gaze.
Yet his instinct roared even louder than that.
It mocked him for even considering such restraint, raging at the very thought.
Caught between impulse and paralysis, he froze—until Luciana’s dark eyes blazed with light and she whispered for him to hold her.
After that, he had no choice but to cling to her, desperate and unthinking.
Soon her form came into sharp focus.
The flush that spread across her taut, tension-stricken skin. The high color blooming in her cheeks.
“Ah… mmm…”
Each soft moan that escaped her when he moved his tongue—the helpless sounds she made—captivated him utterly.
‘Run away.’
Splash.
Somehow, they had slipped into the bathhouse waters.
The realization only deepened Edward’s satisfaction.
‘Last time…’
Luciana had lost consciousness in his arms before they could go any further.
But now, remarkably, she kept her wits about her.
‘Her stamina has improved.’
Pleased with this observation, Edward drew Luciana close and consumed her.
“Ah…”
She parted her lips and met him in kind.
Soon the air, thick with steam, enfolded them both.
* * *
Bang!
A sharp explosion shook the building, nestled deep underground and kept from the world.
The blast was large enough to rattle a structure protected by layers of magical wards.
The researchers who had been absorbed in their work lifted their eyes toward the source of the sound.
Upon seeing the name written on the door, they shook their heads as if it were nothing unusual.
“There he goes again.”
“With such a bright future ahead, he certainly seems to think he can run wild on nothing but the Pope’s favor.”
Each added their own comment to the chorus.
Bang, crash!
The sound erupted from behind the closed door once more.
The researchers’ faces darkened with irritation as they prepared to return to their own experiments.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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