"Here it is..."
The rain had ceased by daybreak that signaled the beginning of a new day
The couple silently entered the carriage as he observed the ever-changing landscape.
After a while, they arrived at the destination – The Azelia clothing store.
The clothes worn by the mannequins displayed at the entrance were mesmerizing.
Even Euphemia, who grew up in the isolated province of Louerg, heard about the reputation that precedes Azelia.
"I already have enough clothes...."
"..."
Euphemia grasped the helm of Ferzen's clothes as she spoke, but the man was silent.
At his indifference towards her, Euphemia smiled bitterly and bowed her head.
If her husband wanted to dress her up...
Then, as his doll, she would have no choice but to go along with it.
"Oh, young master…..Or should I call you Lord Louerg now?"
"It's been a while, Madam."
"What brings you to my humble establishment?"
"Is there any other reason for someone to come to Azelia? I'd like to order a dress for my beloved wife today."
"Wonderful. My lady, should we get your measurements? And then we can discuss what type of dress you wish for..."
"I shall decide that."
"Hm..."
The madam looked at the couple as she noticed the subtle meaning behind their relationship, but after regaining her bearings, she instructed some of her subordinates to guide Euphemia towards the measuring room as she settled down at the table along with Ferzen.
"Do you have any requests for this specific dress?"
"Yes, there are two things I want you to fulfill. One is that the dress must make my wife stand out from the crowd, but it shouldn't be overly extravagant, and as for the second request..."
The madam listened to Ferzen's demands attentively...
'What?'
But she soon was confused by the nature of his request.
'Aren't they married already...?'
Why would he order a wedding dress?
Although she was confused, the madam maintained her business smile without letting her doubts show.
Because Azelia never questioned their prized customers' requests.
* * * * *
After their brief trip in the morning, Euphemia returned to the mansion and sat in her bed while supporting her chin on her knees.
"..."
Three months have passed since that fateful night.
And with the incident at the Imperial Academy, her job as an assistant professor has been delayed...
And with nothing left to do, Euphemia had no choice but to waste her days away.
But the funny thing was that she wasn't even bothered by it anymore.
She became accustomed to the dullness of her routine.
Euphemia came to know the real feeling of helplessness.
The constant cycle of sleeping, bathing, eating the same meals, and being embraced by Ferzen...
Became her world.
Creak!
"..."
The door slowly opened.
Ferzen, who was finally diagnosed by their private doctor with a full recovery, entered the room without the cast on his arms.
Pop...
After stretching his sore muscles from the lack of usage, he came to her and naturally nestled the young woman in his arms.
The act which has always felt uncomfortable for her...
Now brought the young woman peace.
"Ah..."
Ferzen's large hands gently coursed through her body as he then patted her navel.
A lot of things happened in this period of three months, so Euphemia didn't even have it in her to say anything to Ferzen...
The young woman could already interpret the meaning of his actions.
But she wasn't happy at all.
Grabbing the helm of her skirt and pulling it up, she revealed her smooth belly alongside her underwear...
Even though three months had passed, she was still ashamed of performing this act.
But, she still received a small amount of consolation that Ferzen wasn't the one doing this, but since this act could be linked to a show of submission towards him, she still felt embarrassed no matter how many times she had done it.
'Aren't men usually obsessed with a woman's…..chest?'
This sudden thought came into her mind as she continued to hold her skirt up.
Had Ferzen been obsessed with her bosom, he would harass her nipples constantly.
And for Euphemia, that would've been...
"Ouch!"
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Euphemia let out a painful moan as she rubbed her face against his firm chest.
Since both of her hands were occupied, this was the only thing Euphemia could do.
"When will you grant me a child?"
"It hurts..."
Tears welled up in Euphemia's eyes as Ferzen continued to relieve his ire by pressing down on her womb.
Even if a woman was in her fertile period, the probability of getting pregnant was around 20%.
On average, a healthy woman should be able to get pregnant in about 6 months if she was constantly intimate with a man.
There were also cases where they had gotten pregnant in the first time, but those were the exceptions.
However, Ferzen has been feeding Euphemia ridiculous amounts of foods that should stimulate her ovaries, and he has constantly bathed her womb with his seed, but even then...
Therefore, his anger and anxiety were intense.
Since Euphemia was the main heroine in the novel, there was no way she was infertile, but what about Ferzen?
This could possibly be a sort of safety net the author introduced so he could save the novel from the stigma of 'NTR.'
"Maybe...You have a problem then..."
Despite knowing that pregnancy was no laughing matter, Euphemia still said those words to Ferzen as a way to get back at him.
"..."
Ferzen's brows furrowed.
He had already considered this possibility, but for him to hear it from another person...
She didn't know that it wasn't the right time to say that.
"Ah..."
As the atmosphere in the room became icy, Euphemia trembled and opened her mouth with a frightened tone.
"Ah…..I'm sorry….."
"..."
"I'm sorry...for wasting your seed..."
"..."
She racked her brain, trying to come up with a reasonable way to redeem herself, but Ferzen remained silent.
Then, in an act of desperation, Euphemia reached out with her trembling hands, grabbed Ferzen's arms, and pressed them on her stomach.
"Ah! Ugh...!"
Before he could punish her for the slip of tongue, the young woman took the initiative to do it herself.
"...There."
Although it was slightly distasteful for him when Euphemia took away his initiative in punishing her, his resentment soon disappeared.
Shouldn't the master be proud if the dog surrenders itself without even being given the order to do so?
Wiping the tears in her eyes, Ferzen grabbed her hands and fixed her skirt.
"Hm, I admit I was greedy. Either way, we have all the time in the world. We'll just have to work a little harder."
Ferzen then gently kissed her forehead.
In response to this, Euphemia hugged his chest and nestled herself against him in order to hold on to this rare moment of kindness for a little longer.
"I….Too….Will work harder….."
"Hah..."
Her unexpected words shocked Ferzen as he sneered slightly.
"You shouldn't say something you don't mean."
"I'm serious..."
"Then should I embrace you even when you aren't in your fertile period?"
"….."
"See?"
Looking down at a speechless Euphemia, Ferzen moved a little closer and playfully bit her ear.
"Hnng…..!"
"Didn't I already warn you about lying to me, Euphemia? You can't fool me."
"Ah….Hmnn…."
As punishment, Ferzen continued to tease her.
Knock.
After a while, a single knock was heard, so Ferzen stopped teasing her and allowed the maids to come inside.
"If you would excuse us, Master."
The maids didn't look at them as they carefully entered the room.
Euphemia suddenly remembered the moment when she was ordered to humiliate herself in the presence of the maids...
But fortunately, that incident didn't repeat again.
"Here it is, Master..."
"You may go."
After the maids left a silver tray next to the bed, they silently left the room.
Once they were alone in the bedroom, Ferzen opened the tray and laid down a dessert in front of Euphemia.
"Do you know what this is?"
"I don't know….."
Euphemia, who remained nestled in his arms, looked at the desert and shook her head in response to his question.
"It's called Luvé."
Because of Seo-jin's memory, he recognized this Luvé as this world's version of pudding.
Something that has become quite popular among the aristocrats in the Capital.
"Try it."
"..."
When Ferzen took a spoonful of Luvé and brought it to her lips, Euphemia hesitated for a moment, but soon opened her mouth and ate it.
"Hmm….."
The sweet flavors of sugar and strawberry spread through Euphemia's taste buds.
Gulp...
Euphemia, who swallowed the spoonful, soon licked her lips like a man who found an oasis in the middle of a desert.
Since Louerg was such a poor territory, she never had the opportunity to taste something like this.
And after seeing her reaction, Ferzen continued to feed Euphemia.
"Ah..."
After a while, Euphemia sighed in regret, as there was no more Luvé on the plate.
But when she realized that she had eaten both hers and Ferzen's share, her face turned bright red.
"Did you like it?"
"Yes..."
She responded with a shy and uneven tone.
"Sorry..."
"There's no need to apologize. Besides, I'm not very fond of sweets like these."
Ferzen then grabbed Euphemia's chin and licked the remains of Luvé in the corner of her lips.
"Hm, this should be enough for me. Since you liked it so much, I shall buy more of it."
"..."
Euphemia pretended to not care about his words, but her excitement won in the end as she gently nodded her head.
Though she tried to mask her joy, Ferzen noticed it instantly.