What list?

It was the kind of thing a mistress would say to the wife.

As ridiculous of a line it was, it was definitely effective in getting the twins to settle down a bit.

Rendered utterly speechless, Cheryl and Ethan’s urge to attack dissipated into thin air.

Unfazed, Zahid continued the conversation, his face blooming into a smile.

After what felt like a lifetime, the lunch was finally over, and I escaped with my siblings.

Surprisingly, Zahid didn’t say anything or order me to stay.

He didn’t come to visit during the afternoon, either.

I was beginning to delight in the thought that this was what it would be like from now on.

I couldn’t be more wrong.

Zahid’s reasoning was quite simple.

The reason Zahid had let me go was that I was leashed in the first place.

I was deep into bookkeeping just as Dymon taught me to do earlier when a maid entered the room.

“I will be accompanying you to the main wing, Madam.”

She said as she reminded me of the fact that I would be sharing Zahid’s bedroom from today onwards.

I got up, my head drizzling with deep misery.

I had to maintain a straight face in front of the maids. However, in their eyes, I was on my way to meet my dear husband.

Doing so with much difficulty, the maids and I set off to the main wing.

The beautifully decorated garden was lit with lamps.

The twinkling lamps on every corner made it look like a scene from a dream, but none of it caught my eye.

All I could think of was how cursedly short the distance was from the annex wing to the main wing.

Upon arriving at the main wing bedroom, I was utterly relieved to find that Zahid hadn’t arrived yet.

The maids drew a bath and topped it off with a bucket of fragrant flower petals.

I could feel the delicate floral scent seep into my skin.

But for some reason, I couldn’t get rid of the impression that I was being seasoned so that I could be feasted on later.

To top the ridiculousness off, the nightgowns they prepared for the newlywed couple were so sheer that they didn’t seem to serve many purposes in being worn.

I found a tiny slip to wear under the gown.

It didn’t cover much, but having it on underneath gave me peace of mind.

After getting ready, I was left alone in the large bedroom.

I crawled into bed and wrapped myself up in the thick blankets as if it was armor when laughter tickled my ears.

“Sire……”

Zahid had been leaning by the door laughing.

“I’ve seen many waiting on the bed naked, but you’re definitely the first to present yourself as a human cocoon.”

He said in an amused voice.

I squinted my eyes at him.

“You seem like you’re having fun.”

“Mhm, pretty much all the time these days. Thanks to you.”

He sat down at the edge of the bed.

“I see you’ve made friends with the blanket.”

“Yes, sire. I get cold easily.”

“I thought married couples were supposed to share things like blankets.”

That would be the case for people who can’t afford two blankets.

Why would I share when he could summon a fortress of bedding with the flick of his hand?

“You know, it’s warmer if we stick together.”

Zahid tugged on the blanket I was wrapped in.

I watched my futile attempt to bundle myself up dissipate as he stripped away the layers.

“It’s like unwrapping a gift.”

“I’m not a gift, sire.”

“Well, to me you are.”

There we were, sitting on the same bed, face to face.

He leaned in and took me by my waist, wrapping it with his sturdy arms.

“You can call me by my name when it’s just the two of us, you know.”

He whispered, flirtatiously showing off his smile lines.

“I like the sound of my name in your voice.”

His voice, both smooth and provocative, tickled my ears.

Our gazes interlocked, and after a brief moment of thick silence, he curtly murmured.

“You smell nice.”

The translucent blue veins on the back of his hands began to throb.

He went on to lift me from the pillows, gently seating me on his lap.

There his face was, close enough to feel his breath.

Though I leaned as far back as I could, there wasn’t much room for escape.

Zahid slowly came in closer and buried his face in my neck.

The moment his skin touched mine, a shooting electric sensation spread through my nerves.

In a state of extreme tension, I was barely managing to keep breathing.

His sharp, cold nose brushed up against my neck, caressing the baby hair that stood from our encounter earlier.

With the tingling sensation spreading to my scalp, I flinched inwards.

A large pair of hands grazed my back.

“What’s wrong, Aerta?”

He whispered in a deep, sunken voice.

“You’re acting as if I’ll prey on you.”

That’s actually exactly what I was thinking.

The only difference was that his metaphor was sexual and mine…… well, mine wasn’t a metaphor at all.

I was still traumatized by the fact that he might tear me apart and feast on my flesh like a beast.

Zahid, who had been burying his face in the back of my neck, threw me a question.

“Would I get slapped if I told you that I would like to sniff your bare body?”

I felt the tension drain out my body at his naughty question.

“I would do much more than just a slap.”

I spat as I hastily pushed him away, and firmly drew the line.

“I don’t recall anything about a sexual obligation on our contract.”

“...... Yes, it did.”

He narrowed his long eyes.

The reason he hadn’t put that on the contract was simple.

He thought that he would be able to seduce me without a clause like that.

The women in this novel constantly threw themselves at him left and right, and Zahid was more than adept at using his sensuality in getting things that he wanted.

As I was scooching towards the other corner of the bed, Zahid grabbed me and pulled me in.

Holding me in his tight embrace, he held my chin so I couldn’t look away.

Everything about this man was screaming that he was indeed the protagonist of an erotic novel.

His skin had a musky scent to it.

He must have just gotten out of his bath; a couple of strands of his wet, pitch-black hair clung to his forehead.

His eyes were smoky with blindingly vivid purple irises, which had been slightly covered by his thick eyelashes.

That was when I came to the realization that the word ‘sensual’ was a word made to describe situations like these.

I looked down, as it was very difficult to maintain eye contact with him

“Hm…… That’s odd.”

Zahid muttered, slightly tilting his head.

“Usually they’d be all over me by now……”

It wouldn’t even take this long, to be honest.

Resisting his seduction would be difficult for anyone with eyes.

Even I, who was fully aware of his true nature, was having the most difficult time trying to resist him.

Noticing that I was trying to avoid him, Zahid grinned cheekily.

“Are you not interested in men? Women perhaps?”

He asked.

Knocking people out with a single question was also one of his talents, I guess.

I firmly gave my answer.

“No.”

“Then why are you like that?”

He slowly ran his fingers across my shoulder, then down my arm.

As his skin traveled across mine, it left a trail of goosebumps.

I dragged my bum away from him.

Zahid scooched in as much as I backed away and looked into my eyes.

“Don’t you like me?”

When I couldn’t answer his pellucidly voiced question right away, he playfully grabbed my ankles.

“That’s going to be a problem.”

His sturdy hands softly grazed my ankles as his lips stretched into a smile and whispered once again.

“How can I get you to fall for me, Aerta?”

Beaming like an angel, he awaited my response.

I swallowed my anxiety.

The truth was that the contract held no real power.

I am the only Purifier currently in existence.

There was no way Zahid was going to let me go, no matter what I did.

Knowing all of this, I still put my sovereignty in his hands.

What other choice did I have?

The Divine had abandoned me, and this was the only door left.

This was the best I could do.

That was why I had planned to lay low till my siblings became wizards, but……

Zahid just wouldn’t leave me alone.

He dug deep under my skin, tempting me; bending my will in his favor before I even noticed.

He lured me in in such a cunning manner, that I was falling for him without realizing it.

It was as if I had become a moth, lured into his flame.

Perhaps he was instinctively aware that I had been planning on running away from him.

“Let’s just……”

I cleared my throat.

“Stick to the contract, shall we?”

Zahid lifted his eyebrows distastefully.

“You don’t have to do all of this to keep me by your side. I can’t run away from you anyway.”

Before Cheryl and Ethan manifest into wizards, that is.

I swallowed the second part of the sentence and instead posed him a question.

“What’s with all of this unnecessary nonsense?”

“Unnecessary nonsense?”

“I understand you playing your role in front of others, but what’s the point of all of this when it’s just you and me?”

“Has it ever crossed your mind that I could actually be interested in you?”

His shameless response made me detest him even more.

Especially since I was aware of his dark side.

I clenched the blanket, so hard that my knuckles turned pale.

“No. Because you are incapable of love.”

In that brief moment, I saw a crack run through his smiling facade as his lips twisted into a smirk.

His almond-shaped eyes thinned out, then curled like crescent moons.

“So, you were aware of all of that as well, Aerta?”

“I am, so I’m saying there’s no need for all of this.”

I responded dryly.

Zahid’s gaze deepened.

A sudden chill went down my arms.

The moment I sensed danger and began to pull back, he pinned me down onto the bed.

My hair messily decorated the bed, and my wrists were bound by a firm grasp.

Zahid gracefully posed a question as he looked down at me.

“I’m curious. Exactly how much do you know about me?”

The moment I show weakness would be my last.

I put on a fake smile, putting on an act of audacious indifference.

“I told you that I can read into the future, remember?”

“Indeed……”

The corners of Zahid’s smirk drove deeper into his cheeks.

“You drive me crazy.”

I stared straight into his lewdly glistening purple eyes.

“You can have my body, but don’t try to covet my heart. Isn’t my body enough……”

My voice broke at the end, almost sounding like I was begging.

His gaze slowly brushed my body, making it hard to breathe.

My chest fluttered like a small bird at the rhythm of my breath.

“Surely…… You’re mine.”

He said endearingly.

“But Aerta, darling. I like to keep things foolproof.”

I immediately understood what he was referring to.

The most foolproof way to keep me leashed by his side.

My heart constricted in fear.

Maybe it wasn’t the worst idea to pretend to be in love with him.

After all, it would be better than getting eaten alive.

Panicked thoughts filled my head, when something unexpected happened.

Zahid pecked a kiss on my frozen forehead.

“I guess I’ll just have to try harder.”

Harder? How far was he going to go?

Zahid let out a chuckle at the sight of my widening eyes.

“Aren’t you tired? Perhaps we should get to sleep now. Or you could stay awake and entertain me, if you want.”

He whispered, pulling his body closer to mine.

He was most definitely referring to entertaining him in the adults’ way.

I briskly turned my back against him.

“I’m really tired. Good night, Zahid.”

As I shut my eyes tightly and pretended to sleep, I heard Zahid laugh behind my back.

He gently spooned me, holding me in his soft embrace.

He even went on to put his chin on my head and fool around a bit.

A faint whisper brushed against my ears.

“You make things interesting……”

I closed my eyes without a single word of response.

***

I woke up a bit early the next morning.

It was before dawn, and still quite dark outside.

Something was wrapped around my body, weighing me down into the bed.

“......?”

Still intoxicated with sleep, I gasped to find out what it was.

Zahid, who had lost his pajama top for some reason, had his arms around me.

Though I tried to keep my eyes away, I couldn’t get his body out of my sight.

His neck was long and slender, decorated with an Adam’s apple. My gaze trickled down to his perfectly chiseled collarbones, then down to his delicate, yet dense, muscles.

It was so taut that I had a growing urge to poke it.

Alas, I was never brave enough to carry it out.

I struggled carefully, trying to escape his grasp when his large hands pulled me in once more.

It must have been a reflex of his, as he grabbed first and opened his eyes afterwards.

With half-open eyes, Zahid opened his lips, from which a drowsy, sunken voice seeped through.

“Aerta……”

His beauty was incredible, even though he had just wakened up.

While I was busy admiring his face, Zahid brushed himself out of bed.

When I tried to get up too, he sat me down by my shoulders and told me his schedule - which was entirely uncalled for, by the way.

“Sleep a bit more. I’m only getting up to get to my morning training session……”

It had been mentioned multiple times in the book that he would run through training routines with his knights every day early in the morning.

I quietly stared at Zahid, to which he responded with a grin.

“I could use your help with practicing sorcery later today, though.”

I nodded, and he ran his fingers through my hair.

“We’ll be heading to the Holy City after I’m done with my morning schedule.”

I had been told so by a maid yesterday.

Then he left the bedroom, telling me he’ll see me in the afternoon.

I flopped back onto the bed.

My body felt tense, especially because I had fallen asleep under a lot of stress.

Zahid was to blame for a part of it, but it was mostly because of the visit to the Holy City we had scheduled for today.

I traced back what the Pope was supposed to be like in the original novel.

Unlike his divine appearance, Pope Zenoxius was capable of some of the most brutal things possible.

He detested heresies and idolatry more than anything else.

Thus, he had a hobby of murdering and torturing pagans.

I remember tensing up every time I read about the Pope due to the graphic illustrations of the torture scenes, as well as the frequent random murders.

Every time the novel was getting murderous, I skipped the part.

I probably should have read those parts in more detail……

Despite the regrets, there was nothing much I could do unless I was to go back in time.

The problem was the fact that the Pope regretted not being able to kill the Purifier with his own hands.

It was because Zahid wouldn’t have been able to freely use his sorcery without the Purifier.

There was one of each elemental wizard per generation.

But there was only one purifier.

I assumed that he wouldn’t be able to tell that I was the Purifier given that only Wizards could do so, but……

The Pope was just as messed up as Zahid was, so I couldn’t say for sure what was going to happen.

Even with all of these worries aside, simply meeting the Pope itself wasn’t the most entertaining thing to do.

I spent a while letting my mind run loose, till I decided to get out of bed early.

After summoning the maids for a quick dress-up, I began to take care of my morning schedule.

There was a lot to do, especially because of our wedding.

I was to meet the head merchants of various merchant guilds after my visit to the Holy City.

I also had to also send polite declines to the pouring invitations to tea parties and other high society get-togethers with the excuse of being too busy with the wedding preparations.

After the wedding, however, I would have no choice but to attend such events.

How horrendous.

After quickly getting through my list of things to do, I headed to my siblings.

They should be done with their morning classes, so I was thinking we could have lunch together.

Besides, I was curious what the new governess was like.

I was almost at the doors of the annex library when the doors flung open.

On the other side of the doors was an old woman with a monocle on one eye, lifting her brows at the sight of me.

I fished up her name from my memories and approached her.

“......Countess Magellin, am I correct?”

“Yes, madam.”

She answered in a nasally voice as she scanned me with her eyes.

This wasn’t a good start.

I looked behind her shoulders to find Cheryl and Ethan watching with enlarged eyes.

Was the class too draining?

They seemed limp for some reason.

“I am Aerta Arlez Carnoire.”

“Ah……”

She let out a sound that one could barely accept as a proper response.

I knit my brows.

I didn’t think the nobles would welcome a slum-dog Duchess with open arms, but I didn’t expect them to be this honest about their disapproval, either.

I thought noblewomen would be more sophisticated in throwing shade……

Unlike my groundless expectations, she was rather crude with her expressions.

I guess your status really doesn’t say much about you, after all.

“Aerta.”

I turned around to the sound of my name to find Zahid walking my way, fully dressed in formal attire for our visit to the Holy City.

His long coat fluttered through the air with each step.

“Your Grace!”

A bright smile bloomed on the Governess’s face.

She walked straight past me and ran to Zahid, greeting him in the most excited and amicable manner.

“It has been such a long time since I have last seen you, Your Grace. It is so hard to meet you these days! You have no idea how much everyone is waiting for you to attend social events……”

Zahid completely ignored her blabbering and walked straight past the woman.

He gave me a brief hug and asked me in a sharp tone.

“Did this woman disrespect you?”

I responded with nothing but the truth.

“Yes, and to be quite honest, she ruined my appetite.”

“Well, that won’t do. Why are you putting up with this?”

“I was thinking of how to deal with it.”

“Listen, Aerta. I can grant you……”

Zahid brushed the loose strands of my hair behind my ears, brought his lips close to my ears, and whispered.

“The permission to slap a countess across the face, at the least.”