Chapter 33
***
The priest happily pronounced the marriage.
Louise stood at the podium as the few guests cheered, dazed by the shower of petals.
When she turned around after the meaningless ceremony was over, her mindless walk through the crowd stopped dead in its tracks.
"..................?"
The Smiths had been spotted in the crowd of mostly hired help.
"Louise, no, now that you're a countess, I shouldn't call you by your first name, should I?"
Mrs. Smith asked, her face all smiles.
"You know, after all the accidents that happened, this happened for a reason!”
Behind Mrs. Smith's excited back, a grim-faced Pietro could be seen.
"Congratulations..................Your Excellency, and, Madam."
"Thank you..................."
"I."
Pietro lowered his voice to a whisper.
"I won't trouble you with any more uncomfortable correspondence, I'm sorry, My lady."
Louise's eyes wavered as she looked at him. She had never received a letter from Pietro.
All she'd ever received was a letter from Viscount Engel telling her he was in prison.
Then a heavy weight fell on her shoulders, accompanied by the familiar smell of cigars.
"Make yourself comfortable and enjoy it, so you'll feel less sorry for this man."
Louise looked up at Caius, her eyes blank.
It was a pity that the man hadn't realized she was as unhappy as she was breathing, that he had gone to such great lengths to make this insignificant man (Pietro) so unhappy.
Caius would not tolerate Louise's perverse gaze for a moment; his lips brushed against hers, and he whispered a frosty warning in her ear.
"Smile, Louise."
Louise burst into sudden laughter, as if stung by a needle. And yet, no one seemed to find it strange. They thought he was telling a funny joke.
Her laughter wafted over the garden like a graveyard of flowers.
***
"Are you nervous, my lady?"
Louise frowned inwardly at Pauline's call of her new title. But the faithful maid, pulling a loose nightgown over her well-curled hair, probably wasn't looking for answers.
Instead, she watched her new master's every move, and she shook her head solemnly.
"You have nothing to worry about, my lady, for it is no secret in Burg that my lord has taken a fancy to you."
Pauline's eyes twinkled like a child believing in a fairy tale.
If only she could do the same. Louise envied the naive maid.
In fact, until just a few days ago, so had she. She thought she had finally found a place to put her feet in her mediocre life.
Not realizing that no matter how deep she descended, she would still find herself in a quagmire, her feet still flailing in the air as she clawed at the doorway with eager anticipation.
"You've had a hard day, Pauline."
Louise consoled her, careful not to spoil the girl's fairy tale.
Pauline whined, her healthy cheeks flushed bright red.
"As for the hardships, how can you speak so bitterly on such a happy day as this, when you have done me a favor I can never repay by choosing me to be your maid."
Pauline gave the bed a final tidy up and said goodnight.
"I hope you have a restful night, my lady."
Louise nodded coolly, pretending not to see the expectation that was readily apparent in the curved lips.
Left alone, she looked around the unfamiliar room. The unlit chandelier, the cloth draped over the large bed, felt like a stranglehold on her throat.
Louise turned toward the window, unable to sit down, unable to stand.
It was an unusually bright moonlit night. The lanterns that dotted the garden flickered in the bright moonlight.
The heat of the day was shyly erased from the grass as the hired hands who remained to clean up shuffled in every direction.
The manor was bubbling with the joy of the wedding, and only the master of the château was late.
The silence felt like death to Louise. Her keen ears could even hear the sound of candlelight flowing, but no one had visited the chamber in a long time.
The night would soon be over.
It was only when her tense shoulders were as stiff as statues that the door opened with a slight chuckle.
"Ah, madam."
Louise took a deep breath and looked away. The intoxicating scent of whiskey and cigars drifted in from the distance.
Caius slammed the glass of whiskey he carried down on the table with a soft clink.
"You've been waiting for me all this time?"
The sarcasm was evident in his smooth mouth.
It wasn't as if she'd been waiting for him, not with pleasure, not with anticipation.
The man's sharp tongue cut through Louise with ease today. It made her look shabby, insignificant.
Her shoulders chilled with the lingering breeze.
She grabbed her mother's shawl and pulled it on, trying to look nonchalant. She didn't realize how cold she was getting as she stood tensely waiting for him.
"If you're drunk, you can go to bed."
With those words, Louise turned to leave the room, but was grabbed roughly by the wrist.
The man's cheek, still hot from his drunkenness, rubbed against the cool nape of her neck. Her mother's barely worn brush fell off and crumpled on the bedding.
Louise sucked in a soundless breath, but she couldn't push him away like she had the day before.
Because he was her husband. Because she was his wife.
The tip of the man's hard nose poked painfully into the delicate flesh at the nape of her neck. His humid breath rose and fell over her collarbone, and she bit her lower lip to keep from letting out a ragged gasp.
"I didn't realize you were so quiet."
He burst out laughing.
"Did you really think I wanted to hold you?"
This time, she felt her face heat up.
A careless hand slipped around her slender waist. She didn't feel any heat beyond drunkenness or curiosity as it groped its way through her skin-thin nightgown.
Her cold heart grew uneasy. It was only when the wandering hand in her nightgown was removed that she could breathe properly.
Louise looked up at the man for the first time since he had entered the room.
If he had only come to hurt her, she could have given him her bare body. It would be quicker that way.
But when their gazes met, there was a clear flash of anger in the golden eyes, and he smirked, reaching out with one hand to grab Louise's face.
"Louise. Louise, daughter of Elizabeth."
Insults flashed through her at the sound of her mother's name. His broad palm cupped her cheek in a childlike pat.
"You inherited nothing from Elizabeth but this arrogant temper, haha."
Caius repeated, as if he couldn't get over the ridiculousness.
"To think you thought I wanted to hold you."
She didn't know why tears were welling up in her eyes.
This was the same man who had tried to force himself on her the day before, and Pauline was still sweating today to cover the marks he'd made.
If he didn't want her anymore than he had the day before, she was lucky, and that was all that mattered.
Louise firmly grasped the man's rude hand, which was pressed against her cold cheek.
"I apologize for my mistaken identity."
She looked up into his mocking golden eyes and spoke each word clearly.
"Never again, I promise."
But Caius did not let Louise turn and walk away.
His strong arms wrapped around her slender waist in an instant. As simply as a snake shedding its eggs, but as tightly as a door trap, it held its prey.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She shuddered at the sound of the man's voice, thick in her ears, his body scent choking her, as he spoke to the immobilized Louise in a joking tone.
"A margrave who falls in love with a mere tutor and proposes to her after only a month, has no dignity if he falls asleep this early on the first night."
Louise looked down at the man's arm around her waist.
A complete prison, with no warmth, no modicum of decency, no place to escape, no time to weep alone.
The man could create such a prison with a mere swing of one arm.
The next moment, he leaned down and bit into Louise's chemise with his front teeth, ripping the thin material apart with a loud tear before she had a chance to feel what was happening.
***
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Seayon (Wednesday, 21 August 2024 12:28)
Oh, Louise my baby ㅠㅠ