Chapter 3
After the wedding rituals ended, Adrian was taken away to wash and change.
One of the palace matrons helped remove my bridal jewelry. As she unpinned the final hair ornament, she spoke in a low, careful voice.
“His Highness may be simple now, but his heart is pure. If Your Highness is willing to treat him sincerely, it will surely bring good fortune.”
I heard the meaning hidden beneath her words and turned to look at her.
She reached into a lacquered box and drew out a thick illustrated booklet, then placed it in my hands.
“His Highness likes the princess and is willing to be close to her. But because of his condition, some things between husband and wife may require the princess to take the lead.”
Her expression remained perfectly composed.
“The Dowager Empress is very eager for the royal family to have heirs.”
My face went hot at once.
Before entering the palace, older women had already instructed me in the duties of a wife. I had long understood that my marriage to Adrian would not remain a name only.
I just had not expected the pressure to come this quickly.
I lowered my eyes and accepted the booklet. “I understand.”
When I was finally alone again, I sat at the edge of the bed and opened it.
I had barely turned two pages before my entire body was on fire.
No one had told me there could be so many variations to marital life.
“Wife, what are you looking at?”
His voice came from behind me so suddenly that I nearly threw the booklet into the air.
I slammed it shut and shoved it beneath the pillow in one frantic movement.
Adrian had returned from bathing. His hair was still slightly damp, his robe loose at the collar. Clean and warm from the bath, he leaned in close enough that I could smell the faint sandalwood soap on his skin.
He smiled brightly.
“Wife.”
I swallowed.
Just half an hour ago, he had been calling me fairy lady and lake sister. Now suddenly I was wife.
“You changed what you call me very quickly,” I said before I could stop myself.
His expression turned proud at once.
“Aiden told me.”
Aiden was his personal guard, the one who had grown up with him.
“He said after bowing in the wedding hall, you’re not fairy lady anymore. You’re my wife. My closest person.”
He moved closer as he spoke, bracing one hand on the bed.
He was only leaning in a little, but he was large enough that the shift still made my breath catch. Other than the day I dragged him from the lake, I had never been this close to a grown man before.
Instinctively, I edged backward.
Then the matron’s words flashed through my mind.
Take the lead.
Be proactive.
I took a breath, gathered every ounce of courage I had, and moved toward him instead. My hand trembled as I placed it against his chest.
“Did Aiden also tell Your Highness what a husband and wife do on their wedding night?”
He thought about it with ridiculous seriousness.
Then he shook his head.
His gaze was so clean, so guileless, that an absurd tenderness rose in me.
I leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.
“You do this,” I whispered. “Do you like it?”
He blinked. Then, with perfect sincerity, he asked, “Are you saving me again? Like at the lake?”
I froze in humiliation.
That day, when he was drowning, I had given him breath to revive him.
Was he really this innocent? Or did he somehow remember everything?
I had no idea how to explain the difference between a life-saving breath and a kiss between husband and wife, so I did the only thing I could.
I kissed him again.
This time my lips lingered. I brushed the tip of my tongue against his mouth, then pulled back just enough to murmur, “You don’t do this to save someone. You only do it with your wife. Understand?”
He did not answer.
He simply leaned in and copied me.
At first, he was clumsy, softly pressing his cool lips to mine. Then, in a matter of moments, he was no longer clumsy at all. He learned too quickly. His mouth grew sure. Curious. Clever. He kissed like someone studying and mastering a lesson in real time, until heat spread through every inch of me.
My whole body went soft.
My courage rose with it. I was just about to push him down onto the bed and keep going when he suddenly pulled away, shoved me back gently, and dove under the quilt.
Only his eyes showed above the blanket.
“Adrian is going to sleep now,” he announced. “Wife should sleep too.”
And that was the end of our wedding night.