Chapter 3

Sometime in the middle of the night, Luke seemed to come back.

But my mind had gone soft and foggy. I was crying too loudly to know for sure, and if he really did return, then I must have driven him away again.

The next morning, Luke was the one heating water for me to wash.

I held my aching waist and greeted him weakly.

“When did you come back?”

He did not answer.

He tossed a towel soaked in hot water into the basin, turned, and went back into the kitchen.

The floating words were laughing themselves sick.

The little guard has a cold face, but he’s heating water and washing things.

The older brother just got his way, and now the younger one looks like he wants to die.

She passed out halfway through and doesn’t even know who heated the water afterward.

I felt embarrassed.

So he really had come back last night.

And he had seen everything.

After dinner, his temper seemed to ease a little, but he still did not speak to me properly for days.

Even through the black cloth over his face, I could tell he was in a terrible mood.

I did not care.

Because things between Logan and me had become sweeter than honey.

He had always been gentle, but now he spoiled me so openly that even I felt a little shy.

At the edge of the village, Old Miller from the liquor shack had a chicken that kept escaping. I caught it for him, and because he stayed drunk from dawn to dusk, he had no idea my husband was supposed to be dead.

He rummaged around his house and gave me half a jug of wine.

“Take this back to your sickly husband,” he said with a grin. “Good for strength. Good for the kidneys. Maybe you’ll get a fat baby soon.”

I had meant to refuse.

Then I remembered that I truly did have men in my house now.

And turning down something free would have made me the fool.

So I carried the wine home.

Luke backed away the second he smelled it.

“It stinks.”

Logan thought for a moment and said softly, “Leave it there. I’ll drink it later.”

I sighed.

We had become real husband and wife now, but he still would not show me his face.

The brothers never ate with me either. They always took their meals separately.

Moonlight spilled into the little yard.

I looked up at the crescent moon and suddenly felt sad.

The Lantern Festival was close.

Last year, under a full moon just like that, my husband and I had first shared a bed.

He had been frail, distant, never very eager to be close to me, but at least he had sat down and eaten with me.

Unlike now.

Even with two men in my house, it still did not feel like a home.

Maybe the moonlight was too cold.

Maybe the silence was too heavy.

Whatever the reason, I lifted the wine and drank.

I had never really had alcohol before.

After just two cups, my head was light.

Someone crouched beside me and spoke in a voice as gentle as water.

“Chloe, you’re drunk. Let’s go inside, all right?”

All the grief in my chest flooded upward at once.

My tongue went clumsy.

“Then tonight,” I slurred, “I want to be on top. I want to ride.”

In the dim moonlight, someone’s ears turned a shocking red.

“All right,” Logan said softly. “You can ride.”

Luke nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Logan! Have you been drinking too? Do you even remember what we do for a living? We finally found our chance against that man, and now you’re here playing house!”

Logan’s voice stayed calm.

“My business is not yours. If you can’t stand it, then go finish the mission yourself.”

Luke was so angry he almost shook.

“You’re bewitched by this terrible woman. What’s so good about her?”

“He’s too loud,” I muttered.

I pushed myself up from the table and staggered over.

The two of them were still arguing when I threw myself straight into Luke’s arms.

Silence crashed down.

Luke went stiff as a startled cat and instantly tried to shove me away.

“Chloe Brooks, you little fox! Those tricks may work on my brother, but not on me. I’ve seen plenty of women.”

“Too noisy,” I said, my ears ringing.

The black veil over his face had started to blur in my drunken sight.

Annoyed, I reached up and yanked it off.

Luke sucked in a sharp breath.

I stared.

Then stared harder.

The floating words nearly lost their minds.

Finally!

He’s even more handsome than the older brother.

That face—how is he just a guard?

I don’t care who the official hero is anymore. I pick this one.

He was dazzling.

Not gentle like Logan. Not refined like my dead husband.

He had the kind of beauty that was almost dangerous—bright, proud, sharp, and wicked.

I sobered for half a heartbeat just from looking at him.

Then I saw his mouth move.

His lips were red and soft.

My courage rose right back up.

I tiptoed and kissed him.

The hard-mouthed ones always had the softest lips.

I kissed him messily, without any skill.

Luke froze solid.

His breathing turned ragged. His lashes trembled as if his legs could barely hold him up. He kept stumbling backward while I chased after him.

Then, with a crash, he hit the edge of the table.

The wine jug shattered all over the floor.

That sound seemed to jolt him awake.

He shoved me away.

I was so unsteady I nearly fell, but Logan caught me at once.

Luke pointed at me, red from face to neck.

“You—you—you! Why did you kiss me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”

My head was still spinning from the wine and the kiss. I had to think for two whole seconds before I could answer.

“You’re my man,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I kiss you?”

That answer silenced him.

The wine had burned away nearly all of my timidness.

Leaning into Logan’s arms, I turned and poked Luke’s discarded veil.

“I want to see your brother’s face too.”

After a brief silence, Logan lifted a hand and gently removed his own veil.

The floating words erupted again.

No way.

The older brother is handsome too?

What kind of curse is this?

How can one woman have two men like this in her bed?

I swallowed hard.

The next second, Luke yanked me away from Logan.

He glared at me furiously.

“You fickle woman. Did you just want to kiss my brother too?”

I felt a little embarrassed.

“Was it that obvious?”

Luke looked ready to faint from rage.

“You just kissed me and then wanted to kiss him! That’s no different than kissing both of us!”

The floating words were speechless.

What is this kid even saying?

Isn’t the older brother the proper husband here?

I rubbed my forehead.

“Then what should I do? Tonight when he warms my blankets, I won’t be able to help it.”

Luke’s teeth ground together again, but his face only got redder.

“Then… then don’t let him do it. Since you kissed me today, you can only kiss me now. You’re not allowed to kiss my brother. It’s just warming the bed, right? I—I can do that too.”

The floating words filled with question marks.

So after all that, he just wanted to climb into the bed himself.

Luke looked up.

“Brother, Chloe said I’m her man too. Tonight should be your turn to stand watch.”

By then my head was pounding so badly that I could barely hear them anymore.

All I remembered from the rest of that night was crying until my throat hurt and leaving nail marks across the back of the man above me.

He would not listen no matter what I said.

At some point, I was lifted into his arms, and his burning breath fell against my ear.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to ride?” he whispered hoarsely. “My brother let you. So will I.”

The next morning, I nearly rolled off the bed in shock.

Whose man was lying in my bed?

Before I could tumble to the floor, an arm wrapped around my waist and hauled me back against a solid chest.

“There’s still time,” a rough sleepy voice muttered. “Go back to sleep.”

He buried his head against my neck.

I froze.

That voice…

It sounded awfully familiar.

The floating words were howling.

She doesn’t recognize faces, but surely she recognizes bodies and voices?

Those abs, that chest, those arms—how many men like that do you think exist in your village?

Luke folded in one night flat.

Yesterday he was shouting he’d kill her, and last night he was gasping that she was going to kill him.

I sucked in a breath and threw back the blanket.

There lay Luke, his face uncovered, looking far too beautiful for his own good.

I nearly bit my tongue.

“How did you end up in my bed?”

Luke frowned and looked up at me.

The instant he saw my expression, the lingering affection in his eyes darkened.

“Chloe Brooks, why are you yelling first thing in the morning? Don’t tell me you’re trying to avoid taking responsibility.”

I was completely dumbfounded.

His face grew uglier by the second.

“You treated me like that last night. You said I was your man. What is that look on your face? Are you regretting it now?”

Seeing him on the verge of blowing up again, I waved both hands quickly, blushing hot.

“No, no. I get it. I understand.”

He said nothing.

He only looked at me with hurt hidden under the anger.

“What do you mean, you understand? When my brother sleeps with you, you never shout. But when you see me, you make that face. Have you forgotten how good you felt last night? Look what you did to me. And this too.”

He pointed at the red marks across his chest, wronged as a child.

The floating words trembled with laughter.

No pride left at all.

He’s competing so hard he forgot how to act tough.

By then I had mostly recovered.

Then Logan came in carrying water, and the moment I saw his face, I nearly lost my senses all over again.

From then on, my bed stayed warm every night.

One man on the left, one on the right.

Truly just warming it, nothing more.

Because Luke had been too wild the first night and bruised my waist badly.

Still, life became sweeter than I had ever dreamed.

Until the woman next door told me she thought she had seen my husband.

“Chloe,” she said in a low voice, “last time you said your husband became some kind of immortal, I didn’t believe it. But now I’m starting to.”

She looked genuinely frightened.

“This morning, before you were up, I saw a man standing outside your gate. I peeked over and nearly died of shock. It was your husband. I was about to run, but when I looked back, he was gone. Then I thought… maybe he really became immortal. Ghosts can’t walk around in broad daylight, right? And the clothes he was wearing—Lord, I can’t even describe them, but they were nothing like our rough cloth. Smooth as water.”

I stopped hearing her.

Because the floating words had already begun racing across my eyes again.

The hero came back this morning?

The capital is far from here. He must have traveled through the night.

He probably came to see if she’d decided to go to the capital.

He’s been careful this whole time, even had people listen near his fake grave so he’d know if she found out.

But she hasn’t gone lately, so he came to check.

Wait—if the timing’s right, isn’t this when he’s supposed to marry the princess?

This is around the time the side character goes to the capital and gets her tongue cut out.

I widened my eyes and slapped both hands over my mouth.

Get my tongue cut out?

Just how much would that hurt?

With a heavy heart, I decided I needed to go to my husband’s grave one more time.

I had to make myself clear.

I was not going to the capital.

Surely they could not cut out my tongue if I stayed right here.