Chapter 27
Without thinking, Kyrie brushed the Grand Duke’s bangs aside, as if she were about to kiss him, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Only then did Dominique smile, as though something had finally pleased him.
“What was it you wanted again?”
Though his eyes carried their usual cool, inorganic color, they now burned with a heat unlike anything she’d seen before, focused directly on her.
Under the high bridge of his nose, his lips, normally pale, were flushed with color. Even through the uniform, the tension in his body was unmistakable.
That smile, so obviously entertained in a moment like this, made clear just how twisted he was on the inside.
Without taking her eyes off Lexion, who stood across the room, glaring at her with seething rage, Kyrie opened her mouth.
“What I want…”
“Yes?”
The Grand Duke, for once, didn’t carry his usual arrogance. He listened as if her words were the only thing that existed in the world.
Kyrie spoke absentmindedly.
“Isn’t this what you want, Your Grace?”
He laughed quietly.
His strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close, so suddenly that it felt like he might seize the back of her neck at any moment.
“Aren’t what you want and what I want… essentially the same?”
The moment she heard that, Kyrie’s body moved instinctively. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him in.
Her dress rode up, the delicate stockings shifting out of place. The garter had already been undone by Dominique’s hand earlier.
Even though she understood that what she was doing was dangerously close to crossing a line, perhaps one that couldn’t be uncrossed, she didn’t stop.
There was no time to push him away, no opening to reject the temptation.
“Then go ahead. Right now.”
“Go ahead with what?”
He pressed again, clearly unwilling to proceed until she said it aloud. His persistence, really, was terrible.
But Kyrie did not back down.
“In front of the man I once begged for.”
Her voice was low, quiet, like someone shackling their own ankles before throwing themselves into the sea.
“I’m telling you to take me. However you want.”
The last words came out thick with heat. And once they did, the smile on Dominique’s face twisted again.
It was the kind of smile a predator wears after cornering its prey.
“A good answer.”
“……”
“And a smart one, too.”
With that, Dominique reached for his tightly knotted cravat and slowly loosened it. As the fabric fell away, the edges of his well-toned physique showed beneath his pristine shirt.
“Yes. That’s why I chose you.”
His hand moved boldly, without hesitation. He reached under the folds of her dress and let his fingers wander with intent.
“And since you’re already surrendering in front of him, why not go all the way?”
“Ah…”
“While you’re at it, would you give me a child, too?”
“……”
The question was harsh, but the way he asked it was strangely gentle, low and warm against her ear.
“A child marked by disgrace, born to a mad dog.”
Though his words were cruel, his voice betrayed something darker, something far more intimate.
Kyrie’s breath hitched. When she closed her eyes, the sound of her own breathing echoed in her ears.
Bang!
Outside, the Crown Prince, unable to contain himself, slammed the door.
“Tch. My cousin is always so sensitive.”
Dominique murmured with mild disappointment, but his hands didn’t stop. It surprised her, she had thought this was just for provocation. Just to rile Lexion up.
But now, even after Lexion had left, Dominique showed no signs of stopping.
That made something inside her twist.
This wasn’t just for show.
He truly desired her.
“Still… that doesn’t mean we need to stop what we’re doing.”
“Your Grace, !”
“We need a child anyway.”
‘So that’s what this is really about.’
He began to tug at her clothes, careless in his movements. Fabric slipped and tangled at her feet.
His hands roamed deliberately. Kyrie could only brace herself, feeling the intensity in his movements rise.
“Ah…”
“Not a bad reaction, Lady Kyrie.”
Despite everything, Dominique’s voice remained unshaken. His tone was steady and matter-of-fact, even while everything he did conveyed something more heated.
It was disorienting. He was touching her with clear desire, yet speaking like he was reading a report.
She bit her lower lip.
Dominique said nothing more, he simply looked down at her.
Like a hunter watching prey before going in for the kill.
His gaze, heavy and layered, grew harder to bear by the second.
At last, Kyrie opened her mouth.
“Your Grace, maybe, ah!”
Before she could finish, Dominique’s grip shifted, drawing a gasp from her.
To be honest, Dominique hadn’t planned to draw this out. What had begun as a moment of curiosity had quickly turned into something more possessive.
Ever since the night he saw her in the Crown Prince’s room, those pale legs, those daring eyes glaring back at him, he had felt this strange impulse.
He wanted to know what Kyrie Ehrenberg would do when she was touched.
What kind of look she’d give him. What kind of voice she’d make.
Would she glare back, full of defiance? Or would she avert her eyes in shame?
That curiosity had grown stronger the night he washed her wounds.
She had looked so soft in the bath, relaxed and vulnerable. The robe he’d wrapped around her hadn’t covered much. Her skin, fair and sensitive, had drawn his gaze repeatedly.
She bruised easily, just a light touch left a mark.
The blood he had wiped away from her shoulder had left red streaks across her white skin, and he had swallowed hard at the sight.
‘Still, playing nurse like that was ridiculous.’
He had muttered the words under his breath, but he didn’t regret it. Not really.
Her body was soft and sensitive, the kind that responded to even the faintest touch. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of traces she’d carry if he truly pressed her.
‘She bruises this easily already…’
He frowned, spotting faint blue marks here and there.
As he carefully wiped her down, he checked to see if there were more serious injuries. But she simply breathed quietly, mouth parted slightly in a daze.
Her soft breaths lingered in his ears long after.
But even so, no matter that they were engaged, he hadn’t touched her then.
That’s why he rushed the marriage.
Once they were wed, there’d be no more need for hesitation.
‘And from then on, I’ll do exactly what I must.’
His condition had been clear from the start, he wanted a child from her.
And he knew what had to be done to make that happen.
He hadn’t cared about the ceremony’s formality or the capital’s gossip.
Let the nobility mock their wedding as disgraceful. Let the rumors spread. That noise only served to draw attention away from what he was really doing behind the scenes.
‘The louder the scandal, the easier it is to move in secret.’
While tongues wagged, Dominique began putting everything into place.
Not just Kyrie, he had also arranged for new “actors” to enter the stage.
The chaos was a cover, and his real work unfolded behind it.
And now, here she was, entirely in his grasp.
‘Her body doesn’t match her name.’
The infamous Mad Dog of Ehrenberg was, in fact, remarkably soft.
The thought stirred something deeper in him.
He reached for his belt,
“Wait, “
Kyrie’s eyes widened. She reached out in alarm, but it was already too late.
“Ah!”
She cried out, her hands gripping his shoulders for support.
Her fingernails scraped against his back as she clung to him.
Everything around her felt overwhelmingly intense, too much. Even the texture of the wooden platform beneath her felt vivid.
The creaking beneath them mixed with her gasping breaths.
Who might hear?
What rumors would follow?
It didn’t matter.
The only thing that remained was the sound of her breathing, his voice, the suffocating heat between them.
“Ah…”
Her lips parted as their mouths met again.
‘Can’t breathe…’
She bit him.
Their eyes met.
Even while kissing her, he didn’t close his eyes. He watched her, stared at her with that same maddening calm.
It was so like him.
The impulse struck again. She bit harder.
A faint metallic taste bloomed on her tongue.
He didn’t flinch.
Instead, his eyes burned hotter.
In the end, she was the one who looked away first.
Dominique’s lips curled in a faint smirk.
“Ah…”
And then he whispered against her ear,
“It’d be better if we conceived quickly.”
“……”
“Once we have an heir, people will finally stop paying attention to us.”
“……”
“Just as planned. A successor born from scandal.”
Kyrie let her body go limp at those words.
She didn’t hear the footsteps of someone fleeing the hallway just beyond the door.
