Chapter 33 | Spark (2)

translator/editor: astralmech | editor: ghost

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Rienne waited in silence for his next words.

[Black] “I don’t know if you’re too cunning for your own good or if you’re just ridiculously innocent.”

[Rienne] “……..Neither of those sound like compliments.”

[Black] “Is it because you know I can’t say no when it comes to you, Princess?”

[Rienne] “Is…..that what you think?”

[Black] “You understand what happened today.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

She knew exactly what he was doing. He kept talking about the price she needed to pay for what happened, but by the looks of it, he didn’t seem like he had any intentions of actually taking it.

[Black] “But that won’t last forever…..”

Black reached out and took the wet cloth from Rienne.

[Black] “You should leave. While I’m still pretending to be a decent person.”

Her hands were empty now. Rienne stared at her hands as the he lifted the cloth from her and took it back.

If she left like this, nothing would change.

This man would continue to misunderstand what had happened and her heart would be left to wallow in distress. She didn’t want things to be like that.

[Rienne] “I know you’re more than just a ‘decent person’, Lord Tiwakan.”

I’m not afraid. Not of him.

[Rienne] “So please, allow me to stay here. I want to take care of my fiancé however I can.”

[Black] “. . .”

She could see the muscles in Black’s face twitch, but this time it didn’t seem like he found her words unpleasant.

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Completely cleaning all his wounds took quite awhile. Though, once Rienne had insisted on helping him wash his hair, the evening passed by quickly after that.

Black tried to draw the line by telling her she needn’t bother, but she couldn’t trust him to wash his hair properly after he tried ignoring his injuries.

By the time everything was done, Rienne was exhausted once she left the bathroom.

But for some reason, Black seemed far more tired than she, which was a bit peculiar.

After making several requests for one of his subordinates to help him apply the medicine, Rienne returned to her room. Her arms felt so heavy she needed Mrs. Flambard’s help changing into her nightgown.

Once she had finally managed to convince Mrs. Flambard to leave and get herself some dinner, Rienne immediately dropped herself into her bed.

It’s been such a long day.

All she wanted to do was close her eyes and fall asleep but the moment she laid down, her back ached intensely.

[Rienne] “Oh….. why….must you hurt now…?”

She forced herself to lie down. The only thing that brought her respite from the pain was lying on her stomach, and even that only helped briefly and barely.

[Rienne] “Did I hurt my back too…..? I thought my bruises were on my side.”

She felt so much pain after receiving a couple of bruises, but what about him? That man’s been in a near constant state of harm since arriving.

It was a pattern started by Rafit, who shot that arrow in the first place.

This was all his fault. All because his temperament was worse than a five-year-old child. Why couldn’t he understand that they were already long since done?

Although, I never did ask what happened to Rafit.

That man said to lock him up somewhere, so that was probably where he was now.

Things are going to be such a mess tomorrow.

Linden Kleinfelder would likely try and destroy her for this one. He’ll probably send Lord Maslow to try and squeeze something out of her. And what was her plan to deal with that when it happened?

….Hah…..Let’s just stop thinking about this right now.

She’ll think about it when tomorrow comes.

It wasn’t a good idea to think about the people of that family right before she went to sleep. She’d only have nightmares if she did.

Focus on feeling better. Just forget how much your back hurts.

What should she…….

But what suddenly came to mind was Black’s low and deep voice from earlier.

[Black] –‘You should leave. While I’m still pretending to be a decent person.’

Suddenly, she felt goosebumps forming alongside her face and she felt a chill being sent down her neck.

Why did she feel so strange about that? His words were straightforward, so what was confusing her was the emotion behind them.

Black sounded as kind as he always did, but somehow hearing him speak, she felt like she was in danger. It was like standing in front of a wild animal, bare without a weapon, while also knowing the beast would never do anything to hurt you.

……What kind of insanity is that?

Keeping her face down, Rienne shook her head.

It didn’t make sense, but for Black, it was perfectly logical. Ever since she met him, she found him to be a man filled with contradictions.

Just go to sleep.

Rienne forced her eyes shut.

At least I won’t have nightmares tonight.

Her back still hurt but if she fell asleep, she wouldn’t notice the pain. It would be for the best if she just faded away into exhaustion.

[Rienne] “……?”

But the day hadn’t ended yet.

Squeak, thud.

She thought she was hearing wrong, but she wasn’t. Someone was opening her door.

[Rienne] “Who……?”

As she struggled to sit up, Rienne saw Black standing at her door, looking her way.

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Why……why is he here?

No…he can’t….

[Black] “I’m here for my payment.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

Rienne heard the sound of clothing being rustled—the sound of her unconsciously grabbing the fabric of her nightgown.

[Rienne] “But I thought…..I thought you said…..”

Her throat sounded so choked, it was like she was trying to speak with a voice that wasn’t her own.

Black walked slowly towards her. Amidst the silence of that dark room, the light blue eyes that stared at her seemed to be shouting out all around her.

[Black] “You did exactly as you pleased, Princess.”

[Rienne] “I……”

[Black] “I have something I want to do, too. So be a princess and just endure it.”

[Rienne] “What….do you want…..t..?”

[Black] “I won’t let you say no.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

But what he wanted from her didn’t seem to be what she feared. Looking at him closely, Rienne noticed Black was holding something in his hand.

[Rienne] “What….is that?”

[Black] “It’s medicine. Turn around.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

Rienne hesitated for a moment, but then did as he asked, staying seated and turning her back to him. She felt the weight of the bed shift as he sat down.

He wasn’t sitting close to her, but he wasn’t far away either—his voice low as it hit Rienne’s back.

[Black] “I won’t ask you to take your clothes off.”

……What is he planning on doing?

[Black] “So just bear with it. Even if it tickles.

…….?

Slip.

Again she heard the sound of her clothes rustling.

[Rienne] “What…..?”

Rienne turned her head in embarrassment. Right then, their eyes met, but Black’s hand continued to make its way under her nightgown.

[Rienne] “Wait, hold on.”

She immediately turned and grabbed his wrist, but the pain hit her just as quickly. Rienne winced, her voice softly ebbing out.

[Black] “You should sit up straight. You’ll only make the pain worse if you sit wrong.”

[Rienne] “What are you going to do?”

[Black] “I’m going to take care of my fiancée. She won’t take care of herself and yet she’ll nag others for doing the same.”

[Rienne] “No, I can….. I can reach it myself. I’m perfectly capable of putting on medicine on my own.”

[Black] “Isn’t that what I said?”

[Rienne] “That’s…..”

[Black] “Turn around. Or you can keep looking at me.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

Black didn’t seem like he was in the mood the listen or stop. Even if Rienne grabbed his wrist as tightly as she could, he would still be able to move with ease.

[Rienne] “Didn’t you say you came here to get your payment?”

Rienne’s voice was quiet.

[Black] “Would it be better if I said I replaced it with this?”

…..I can’t say that.

Black was giving her a choice but not really.

She wasn’t about to say with her own mouth that she’d rather sleep together than have him apply medicine for her. She actually felt more comfortable like this instead. ⁽¹⁾

But this…..This is a little strange.

Instead of getting paid himself….. he was just doing something for her.

[Rienne] “What made you change your mind?”

Eventually, Rienne turned her head away. She felt her face redden with each passing second, so she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, hiding her face away.

[Black] “What do you mean?”

[Rienne] “The medicine.”

[Black] “I didn’t think you’d do it yourself.”

[Rienne] “If you just gave it to me, then….”

[Black] “Then I wouldn’t be able to touch you.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

[Black] “And the bruises looked like they were in a place you wouldn’t be able to reach on your own.”

How does he know that….? Ah, he must’ve seen it.

Rienne felt the embarrassment settling in. She wasn’t sure how much he’d seen of her.

It didn’t make sense…..Rienne had seen him shirtless before, but for some reason she felt like dying out of shame right now.

[Rienne] “A, Are there bruises on my back, too?”

Rienne asked, vainly trying to cover her embarrassment with a cough. All the while, Black’s hand was now freely roaming around underneath her nightgown.

[Black] “Yeah.”

She felt his finger press the medicine against the middle of her back.

It was such a small touch, but it was terrifyingly acute. So much so that Rienne had to hold back a cry.

[Black] “Does it hurt here?”

[Rienne] “A… a little….”

That was a lie. She was afraid that his touch would only become more intense if she told him she was okay.

But it was suspicious. It was very odd how little pain she was in. The sensation felt numbing, if not a little ticklish.

Though it wasn’t a tickle that needed to be scratched. It was a weird sense of wanting to turn around to hug the person who was caring for her wounds so kindly.

[Black] “I’m doing it as gently as I can.”

Rienne knew that.

The problem was that he was doing it too slowly.

[Rienne] “Please….hurry.”

That weird tickly sensation would only go away once he took his hands off of her.

[Black] “I don’t want to.”

[Rienne] “…….What?”

But Black wasn’t taking her words.

[Black] “I want to touch you for as long as I can, so I’ll be taking my time.”

Releasing her clenched teeth, Rienne spoke up.

[Rienne] “That’s….not very proper for someone applying medicine to the injured.” ⁽²⁾

[Black] “I know. But I don’t care about coming across as ‘proper’ right now.”

His hand was slow as it began to travel down along her spine, reaching somewhere that Rienne knew—a place that was much more sensitive than just her back.

Unable to bear it any longer, Rienne twisted her body.

[Rienne] “S, stop it…..”

[Black] “Bear with it. Just like I did.”

Black started spreading the medicine across her side.

Something was different about him today. In comparison to his usual self, he seemed affectionate yet strangely assertive.

Is this what he meant when he said he didn’t care about acting proper?

But why?

[Rienne] “Why don’t you care about appearing decent?”

[Black] “I don’t think there’s any point.”

[Rienne] “No point?”

[Black] “I already have you, Princess.”

[Rienne] “……..That’s not how things work. There’s no woman in the world who likes a man who doesn’t act polite.”

After giving it some thought, Rienne spoke her mind. But after Black’s response, she couldn’t find any more words to say.

[Black] “I might’ve acted and stayed decent if you didn’t have another man.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

[Black] “I thought I’d wait until you forgot about him yourself, Princess……. But after today, I don’t think that’ll happen, so I changed my mind.”

As he applied the medicine, his hand stopped moving but he kept it in place under Rienne’s nightgown—gently wrapped around her bruised waist.

[Rienne] “I……..I told you before, I never cheated.”

[Black] “And like I said, I don’t believe you.”

[Rienne] “For him…. Not for even a moment have I……”

Have I ever loved him.

They were technically ‘together’, but she could never treat their relationship as being real. Acting as Rafit’s lover, her life felt like it was being spent on a tightrope.

But the words got caught in her throat.

Rienne was supposed to be having a child with Rafit. Even if she told Black that she didn’t love him, he would only think she was giving him another cheap lie to escape the situation.

[Rienne] “……I’ve already accepted everything as it is. I only told him that I would be marrying you and that you would be the father of my child in the future, Lord Tiwakan. Nothing else happened.”

[Black] “Seeing you, Princess, I realize there’s a difference between accepting things as they are and cutting something out of your heart entirely.”

[Rienne] “. . .”

Black wasn’t talking about physical infidelity.

He believed Rienne still hadn’t forgotten about her former lover.

[Rienne] “I…..will do…. my best.”

She couldn’t say anything else.

[Black] “Yeah. Do everything you can.”

Black’s fingers tapped against Rienne’s bare skin, but it didn’t hurt.

It wasn’t as though he was trying to cause her pain. The hands that held her felt like they were filled with impatience and anxiety.

[Black] “Until I can trust you, Princess.”

Black tilted his head towards her. He was so close to her now that she could feel his breath on the top of her head.

[Black] “I’m going to kiss you.”

He didn’t ask for permission this time.

[Black] “Here.”

He took his other hand and brushed it against the back of her neck which was covered by her long hair. Keeping one hand on her bare waist, he took all her hair and gathered to the side over one of her shoulders, revealing her pale neck.

Rienne wasn’t sure how white the back of her neck was, or how it might look from Black’s perspective.

[Rienne] “. . .”

His fingers touched her before his lips did. Rienne’s shoulders shivered at the small touch that made her hair stand up.

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T/N: (1) She’s saying she’s not going to argue the point if he’s changing his mind.

(2) She means it’s ‘inappropriate’ for someone to take advantage of a situation where they’re caring for someone who is injured.