Fanqia's lack of stamina and proper skill made for plenty of opportunities, allowing Edrick to get very close to her and lay hands on areas she wouldn't have normally liked to be touched, but through the lens of helping, Anoteros was quickly able to break down that barrier and begin to show acts of intimacy whenever he saw fit.
But he still kept it low, prioritising prolonged contact only under the circumstance of their exercises, and thus, as she slowly improved and reduced the amount of occasions for this sort of proximity in between the two of them, Fanqia felt a certain level of frustration, she knew it wasn't proper, that it wasn't right to think this way, but the stay within the lord's residence had been one nothing but utter enjoyment, complete pleasure.
And there had been nothing quite as good as the sensation of his big hands and fingers softly brushing up against her skin, gently massaging the inner thighs in search of the particular muscle acting up, always so close to somewhere else…
But as Fanqia was as inexperienced as one could be, she was too shy to directly bring up that longing to Anoteros, this might make her pass off as a lascivious woman, and not feeling ready for anything beyond just yet, she needed to come up with an idea.
Something that could be passed off as somewhat innocent, and it did not take long for her to find it.
One morning, as Edrick was demonstrating how to do some basic self-defence, fixing her posture and poise as per usual, his hands just barely moved past her breasts as he did so, how she wished that his movements were not always so precise…
Heart beating fast, face visibly flushed red, she waited for the end to speak up.
"Hum… Lord Anoteros?"
"Yes?"
Shuffling and bending around, it was so awfully obvious to anyone with eyes that she was deeply embarrassed.
"I was wondering if- If you know… Since we are going to be married and all… That maybe we could start sleeping in the same bed, the two of us… Alone…" it was a bold demand, but Fanqia figured that he had first put her in the guest so that she wouldn't find it off-putting to suddenly have to share the same bed as a man, meaning that surely, if she made the first step, he wouldn't mind.
"Are you certain?" he asked, that damned smile etched across his face, that thing was definitely abnormal, a mixture of benevolence and predatory intent, every time it appeared, without fault, it would look like that, no matter the subject, no matter the situation.
The betrothed girl was wholly smitten however and saw nothing weird with Edrick anymore, all notions once held concerning him, all knowledge of what he had done, not quite erased, but ignored.
Who cared that a beast devoured people, if that beast was also your benefactor?
And so, they spent the night together, Anoteros most certainly could have made a move right here and there to consummate his marriage before it even occurred, but no, he further reinforced the vision she held of him, letting Fanqia get closer and closer to the edge all on her own.
It only took the second night for her to cuddle up to him and stick to his body like glue, clearly, Fanqia was loving it, in this way, Edrick could run his hands all over her, when doing so, all that would be done on her part was clutch and press herself harder against him.
Now, both during the day and night, they were always together, always close, even closer than before as she followed him around like a puppy, holding on his arm and hand, it was rather cute, Anoteros did not remember any other woman being so incredibly infatuated with him, and there had been many, some of which had clearly required clinical treatment to get rid of it.
For Fanqia however, she just seemed exceptionally receptive, perhaps it was because she truly knew nothing of the opposite sex, of intimate relationship, maybe it was due to Edrick having basically pulled her out of poverty and into luxury.
In any case, even as exceptionally patient as Edrick Lucien Anoteros may be, having this adorable and alluring girl rubbing up against him and vying for his attention twenty-four hours a day, seven days out of the week.
Even a skilled man like him remained a man, and he was seriously feeling the need to commemorate this relationship.
The stage needed to be set beforehand however, and Anoteros had to focus, the very first time would be the most important, the final dose of the intangible toxin that was this courtship parade, it had to be intoxicating.
So, early in the morning of the fateful day, Edrick kneeled down to her height and grabbed her hand.
"So, Fanqia, would you be my wife?" he asked, once again, leaving the situation open to a rejection, which expectedly, did not occur.
"I do- But do you really want a lowly peasant like me to bear your name?" she was crying a strange mixture of tears of joy and sadness, the latter quickly going away as he flashed a smile at her, the sort that would make a mass murderer step back, but that seemed to only excite Fanqia.
"Oh, but you aren't a lowly peasant… You are my little Fanqia" a bit corny, but if it worked, it worked.
She let him slide the ring onto her finger, which he had gotten as a reward from his system a little while ago.
For some reason, Linmin was also crying like a girl in the back.
The rest of the day went about as usual, until it was time to go to bed, he knew it, she also knew it.
Today was the big day, he already slipped her one of those purifying little boluses from his system to be sure all was well, he just needed to honour this relationship.
Edrick may be vile, but now that he had claimed her as his, Fanqia would remain as such until one of them died, the seduction was but the first step, this night together would be its finale and the grand debut of the second phase, as he educated his wife to serve her husband well when it came to matters of intimacy.
But considering her inexperience, Anoteros would have to be slow and gentle, back in his former body, he might have allowed himself a little bit of roughness, but in this one, things were a bit more complicated.
Unless he wanted to split Fanqia in half or render everything inside to mush, things would have to be precise and calculated- She wasn't a random piece of meat like before, he had claimed ownership, and Edrick was very careful with his personal belongings.
Truly, Zixuan Elt had been a fool.
With such equipment, how could one remain idle?