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Chapter Six: The Doom Known as Love
The party was over, and it was now late evening. In the end, Wellmy and the others had barely attended the event, so it had been less of a celebration and more of a gathering with no host.
Wellmy hadn’t been allowed to go home. In fact, she was presently forbidden from leaving Aides’s secondary residence—the place the banquet had taken place. He insisted that it would be too dangerous for her to be out and about until the scandals surrounding her family had simmered down, claiming that he would take care of her in the meantime.
Apparently, the previous Marquis Ormirage had made it a habit to hire ruined noble ladies to work at his mansion to protect them from society, and Aides had continued the tradition. Most of the women under the Ormirages’ care were relatives of nobles embroiled in criminal acts—either as victims or perpetrators—along with widows and daughters from fallen houses that had lost their head of household.
As such, it hadn’t been difficult for Aides to convince the others to leave Wellmy in his capable hands.
His family’s power and achievements are all formidable.
Е̄ ñ um̀.а
Wellmy felt like it was ridiculous, considering Aides was the very person who had publicly denounced her family. But apparently, people easily fell for sophisms if they sounded logical enough.
As she mulled over these thoughts in the bath, Wellmy let her new lady attendants scrub her skin clean. Then, they dressed her in some nightclothes (not a négligée, a normal nightgown) that felt incredibly nice on her skin, and thrust her into Aides’s bedroom.
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“There you are.”
Wellmy’s new fiancé sat on a loveseat near his bed, smirking at her and holding a glass of what Wellmy first thought was wine, but seemed to actually be juice.
Is he... Is he expecting us to be intimate even though we’re not married yet? She had promised she’d do anything Aides demanded of her, so she couldn’t refuse, but the thought still made her stiffen.
“No need to look so worried. Do you truly believe the man you’re infatuated with to be such a brute, Wellmy?”
W еbn̆ӧ v̈ е́ľ Е̄ n̄u̇ m̊ a
“Well, the mighty Archmage is renowned in high society for his cruel tendencies, Lord Aides,” Wellmy replied, slipping back into her haughty noble lady persona.
Aides chuckled, set his glass on the table, and patted the seat beside him, inviting her to sit.
Wellmy obediently did as he wished, but before she could sit, Aides pulled her by the arm and made her fall into his embrace. Enveloped in his hold, she could feel the warmth of his chest pressed against her cheek, the faint scent of soap tickling her nostrils.
“I thought you said you weren’t a brute,” she commented.
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“You look like you’d enjoy this sort of thing, so I’m merely accommodating your preferences.”
Please don’t notice how hot my face has gotten... Wellmy prayed.
W_е̌b̃ń ô v̈ е̃ l̀ Ê ṅûm̆ а
To her surprise, Aides didn’t do anything more. The tip of his nose brushed against her hair.
“What’s the matter? That’s not the reaction I was expecting from a shameless girl who flirts with men so freely in broad daylight.”
Wellmy didn’t reply.
“It’s your duty to answer my questions, Wellmy,” Aides said, exercising his authority. “Tell me why you’re making such a sweet and innocent face.”
He definitely knows! He’s just having fun teasing me!
Wellmy lightly dug her nails into Aides’s chest as she raised her face to glare at him, but he didn’t react.
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“Whenever that boy touched me, I was disgusted. That’s why I didn’t react like this. The situation is completely different,” she replied.
Wellmy had, of course, never told Arvine about her schemes. However, she had willingly let him touch her and had even initiated taking his arm in public—anything to keep him from returning to Iora.
“I like it when you’re that frank. You’re forbidden from playing pretend when it’s just the two of us,” Aides said, visibly satisfied by Wellmy’s answer.
“You have the strangest tastes,” she shot back before adding, “Hey. What is so good about me? Why do I amuse you so much?”
Based on what he’d said at the party, Aides seemed to have been rather impressed by everything Wellmy had done to save Iora. However, it was likely that he simply believed she would make a suitable mistress of the house, given her abilities.
Aides never allowed unmarried ladies to approach him, which had given him the reputation of a chauvinist. There were no whispers of him ever having laid hands on a woman, noble or otherwise. With his looks, achievements, and influence, there should have been no shortage of ladies throwing themselves at him, yet he had never made a move on any of them. That was precisely why Wellmy had entrusted Iora to him, believing that he would be able to recognize her intelligence.
E.n ŭm а́ . і̇ d̆
So why was he touching her now? It almost seemed like he enjoyed toying with her—observing her reactions to his words and actions and showering her with affection.
“Ah, yes. The answer to your question is quite simple. Let’s just say that, on that night we met, you weren’t the only one with wandering eyes.”
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“Wait. You were watching me, Lord Aides?”
“Drop the lord, Wellmy. Just call me by my name.”
Now that she thought about it, Wellmy noticed that Aides called her by her name with no honorifics. In high society, addressing someone by their first name without prefacing it with “Lady” or “Lord” was a clear sign of affection.
“Why were you watching me... Aides?”
Ẁ ĕb̌ n̂ о̄ v еl̄ Èṅ u ṁа
“You’re the only one who ever dared to look me in the eyes. That’s what drew me to you.”
With his bluish purple eyes and hair reminiscent of the stillness of the night, Aides was incredibly handsome, capturing the hearts of many noble ladies despite his terrible reputation.
“Your eyes initially looked to be eagerly searching for something, although you were clearly trying to hide your intention, but that look vanished in an instant. There was no hint of lasciviousness in your gaze, unlike those of other noble ladies—married women included—who only see me for my looks.”
“Well, of course, there wasn’t. I was simply looking for someone to entrust my sister to.”
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Aides’s hand stroked Wellmy’s hair.
“But you fell for me, didn’t you? At that moment, when you peered into my soul.”
Еn̆ u̇ m̈ а̌._ї d_
Wellmy’s breath hitched in her throat. She averted her gaze, a pout forming on her lips. “I did not. How presumptuous.”
“Wellmy, what did I say about pretending in front of me? When you act like this, I want to rip that nightgown right off you,” Aides said as he tugged at the ribbon at her chest.
Wellmy quickly caught his hand. “Sto—”
“Finally feel like being honest?”
Wellmy remained silent. Telling the truth or being undressed by Aides—both options were much too embarrassing! She groaned, stuck between a rock and a hard place, but ultimately mustered the courage to mutter a quiet, “I did.”
Satisfied with that response, Aides let go of the ribbon and nodded, a pleased smile on his lips.
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It wasn’t just Wellmy’s face that felt like it was on fire anymore—her ears and nape were burning as well.
But it was the truth: Wellmy had developed feelings for Aides the moment they’d met. She wouldn’t say that it had been love at first sight—it wasn’t so impulsive as that. She’d felt like he was different from Arvine and the other boys in her grade, who always ogled her with lecherous eyes.
Aides first ascertained a person’s true nature, then decided how to act toward them. It was quite similar to the way Wellmy navigated life. Perhaps that was what had drawn her to him. They had barely exchanged a word, yet the more she’d looked into him, the deeper she’d felt herself fall.
I couldn’t admit it, though.
Aides’s eyes softened, and he offered Wellmy a smile, as if he could see right through her. He was such a malicious man—how dared he look at her so tenderly?
“You were barely sixteen then, yet your reaction was so pleasing that even I couldn’t help being fascinated by you. Those feelings only heightened when I saw you with that sulky, plain young man. You seemed like such a mismatched pair.”
W̌ӗ bn ȯ v̊ е l̈ Éńû m̆ӓ
So while Wellmy had been watching Aides at that party, he had also been watching her—likely with the same sort of gaze.
“I didn’t attempt to pursue you after that party. But when I received your letter two years later, I immediately realized that you were the one who wrote it.”
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His interest piqued, Aides had then looked into her family, read Iora’s papers (submitted under Wellmy’s name), and began gathering his own proof of the Ernests’ wrongdoings. That was when Leo had come to him, bearing the exact same letter.
A question suddenly formed in the back of Wellmy’s mind. “Wait. You realized that I’d written the letter before Leo told you? How did you know?”
She had sent it anonymously, so how? She had known that there was a high possibility of Leo revealing her identity to Aides when she’d put him in charge of delivering the letter. But she had been careful to behave in a way that wouldn’t give away her identity until then.
As she cocked her head to the side, Aides’s hand glided from her hair to her cheek.
Ě nǔ m̂а.
“See? The fact that you didn’t realize your mistake is exactly why your plan fell apart at the last minute, Wellmy. Your handwriting gave you away.”
“Impossible. I—”
“You changed your handwriting to look like Iora’s. Right? Being her sister, you probably had plenty of opportunities to watch her write. But no matter how much someone tries to imitate another’s handwriting, they always retain their own quirks. Iora’s penmanship is elegant, while your letters have a rounded, cuter quality to them.”
She had written the letter in the same style that she’d used for her papers when submitting them under Iora’s name.
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“In other words, I couldn’t even imitate my sister when I tried,” she said.
“Your talents and Iora’s aren’t even comparable. You have your own talents, Wellmy. And I have always been looking for a woman like you.”
Ѐn um̃.а̄
“I can’t fathom why.”
Wellmy couldn’t think of a single thing she could do better than her sister.
So why is Aides looking at me with eyes so full of...admiration?
Before she could ask, Aides continued. “You and Iora are completely different—both on the outside and on the inside. Your expressions of affection are also nothing alike. Say, Wellmy, did you let that nobody kiss you?”
The hand stroking Wellmy’s cheek paused, and Aides’s thumb brushed against Wellmy’s lips.
“A few times,” she replied, not bothering to hide the truth. Aides would immediately know if she tried to lie.
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Arvine had often wanted to kiss Wellmy, and she had felt compelled to oblige. After all, if she had refused too many times or tried to avoid the topic, he would have grown suspicious of her intentions.
Aides shook his head. Perhaps he had noticed the grimace that had crept onto Wellmy’s face at the thought of those moments.
“Are you disappointed?” she asked.
“No. You wouldn’t find it outrageous for an actor to kiss their colleague as part of a performance, would you?”
As he spoke, Aides brought his face closer to Wellmy’s, brushing his lips against hers.
“I intend to claim all the firsts of the true Wellmy. That kiss I just stole is only the beginning.”
W еb̄ n ӧ vе́ l̀ E n̂ ŭ m̌ â
Aides’s kiss hadn’t been unpleasant like Arvine’s. It had been sweet, igniting a warmth within her. Aides’s choice of words, Aides’s soothing voice—everything about the man drew Wellmy in. His very existence consumed her, like the sweetest of poisons.
“Did you dislike it?”
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A pause. “I did not.”
“Stop looking at me like that. I intend to take my time savoring all of your firsts, but you’re making me want to claim them all right here and now.” He removed his hand from her cheek and snaked an arm around her waist. “Your turn now, Wellmy.”
She gasped. “I-I can’t!”
It was too embarrassing. Much, much too embarrassing. Her heart already felt like it was about to burst in her chest from the proximity, yet Aides wanted her to initiate?
Ѐn ǔ m ä. іd̊
Aides didn’t back down. “You promised that you would do anything I ask, no?”
“That’s not fair!”
Wellmy had a feeling that, from now on, that despicable man would keep making demands, using her very own words against her.
“At least...close your eyes,” she mumbled.
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“Fine,” Aides said, then complied, concealing his sharp periwinkle irises—those eyes that seemed to always see right through her—behind his eyelids.
Wellmy took a deep breath and closed her own eyes before dropping a kiss...on Aides’s forehead.
Е ṅ ů m̀ ā
She averted her eyes from his dissatisfied gaze. “You didn’t specify where I had to kiss you.”
“Fine. I shall make it clear from next time onward.” Aides easily stood up with Wellmy still in his arms, and carried her to the bed. “You must be tired, so I won’t do anything more today. But from now on, this is where you will sleep.”
“No—” she tried to protest, but he interrupted her.
“You have no right to refuse. Remember, Wellmy?” His voice echoed in her ear, “You’re mine now.”
Ah... How did things end up like this? Wellmy thought. Seriously, why?
This is its own kind of doom.
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That man was like poison, slowly corroding her very being the more she interacted with him. A sneaking suspicion that he would never let her get away formed at the back of her mind, and Wellmy simply resigned herself to her fate.
