Wicked Husband-Chapter 117 - 116

Ornella’s eyes narrowed slightly at her response. With a dismissive smile, she adjusted her dress and stepped into her carriage.

Eileen watched the carriage disappear into the distance, her heart racing, before she turned and headed back inside the mansion.

Sonio greeted her with a wide smile, offering words of praise for the successful tea party. Noticing Eileen’s exhaustion and the way she sagged with fatigue, he expertly guided her to the dressing room. With the help of the servants, she removed her jewelry and dress, changing into something more comfortable.

Once dressed in casual clothes, Eileen headed straight to her laboratory.

As she fiddled with her lab equipment, she felt her energy begin to return. It was clear she preferred repeating the same experiments a thousand times over to dealing with the complexities of social interactions.

Her gaze fell on a flowerpot by the window. The poppies she had once grown in a second-floor inn room were thriving here in the grand ducal estate as well, their vibrant colors reminding her of simpler times.

"Thinking you can live however you want—now that’s abnormal." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Ornella’s words from before the tea party resurfaced in Eileen’s mind, along with the fleeting sense of kinship she had felt with her for a moment.

Eileen stayed holed up in the lab until dinner. After indulging in various treats during the tea party, she settled for a light bowl of porridge. With a new scholarly journal in hand, she made her way to the bedroom.

She had planned to read in bed until she fell asleep. However, as she entered the bedroom absentmindedly, her eyes widened in surprise. Cesare was sitting on the bed.

Leaning against the headboard while reading some documents, he smiled wordlessly and beckoned her over. Eileen hesitated for a moment but eventually approached him.

Cesare pulled her close by the waist and kissed her cheek, wrapping her in his arms. She found herself sitting on the bed, leaning against his chest. Still clutching her journal, Eileen looked up at him.

His crimson eyes were alarmingly close, and his firm arms loosely encircled her waist.

"Cesare..."

Normally, Eileen would have excitedly recounted everything that had happened that day. She had so many questions for Cesare—whether it was alright that she had decided about the hunting festival on her own, or why he had come to the tea party in the first place.

But for some reason, perhaps due to the intimacy of their position, she found herself unable to speak. The warmth of his body against her back made her heart race, leaving her mind in a state of disarray.

Eileen absentmindedly fidgeted with the corner of her journal. Cesare noticed and casually remarked, "Weren’t you planning to read?"

With no other choice, she opened the journal. Once her eyes focused on the text, she quickly became absorbed. A fascinating study detailed in this issue captured her attention completely, and she was soon engrossed in the experiment it described.

Without realizing it, Eileen relaxed against Cesare, her focus entirely on the journal. She didn’t even notice him gently playing with her hair, nor did she realize he was stroking the very spot that Ornella had touched earlier.

As Eileen immersed herself in the scholarly journal, her tightly closed lips gradually softened. She wanted to share the fascinating discovery she had just made with Cesare.

Careful not to overwhelm him with too much complex academic terminology, she began explaining what she was reading.

"Cesare, this journal I’m reading is about herbal medicine derived from plants. Herbal medicine means that the plant isn’t chemically extracted but is used as it is, or processed just enough so that its properties aren’t altered. In this paper, they discuss crude drugs, which refers to the whole plant, and, um, the term ’crude drug’ means..."

However, Eileen’s words slowed as she lifted her gaze from the journal and met Cesare’s eyes.

She had expected him to be reading his documents, but instead, he had been watching her intently, amusement dancing in his gaze.

With a smile, he remarked, "In the military, the foremost outpost is called a ’crude post.’"

"Oh..."

Eileen made a vague sound, her eyes dropping to the arms encircling her waist. She murmured softly, "The crude I’m talking about refers to the whole plant."

"I see," Cesare replied, resting his head on her shoulder. He placed a soft kiss on her collarbone, exposed between the loose fabric, and asked, "Did you enjoy the tea party?"

His question snapped Eileen back to her senses, and she seized the moment to express her gratitude.

"Yes, um, thank you so much for coming today," she said earnestly.

"How much?" he teased, a playful glint in his eyes.

Caught off guard by his unexpected question, Eileen hesitated before stammering, "A lot... I mean, I was really happy. And the cake—it was something I’d been wanting to try."

As she brought up the cake, she subtly probed if he had planned to attend the tea party all along.

"It was your first social gathering as my wife, so of course, I had to do that much," Cesare replied, his hand slowly tracing along her waist. A faint tickling sensation spread wherever he touched, causing Eileen to shiver slightly.

"No one troubled you, did they?" he asked, half-joking.

Eileen couldn’t help but smile, imagining him reprimanding the noblewomen if she said yes. "No, no one did. But it made me realize that social gatherings are not easy. Everyone treated me kindly, but I could tell they were evaluating me. I was so nervous about whether I was acting properly as the Grand Duchess... Even though you came to help me, I’m not sure if they all saw me in a good light. Oh, and by the way—"

Excitedly sharing her experiences from the tea party, she finally addressed what had been weighing on her mind. "About the hunting festival... I feel like I made the decision without asking you..."

Her voice trembled slightly, but not entirely out of anxiety. It was more due to the way Cesare pressed his lips firmly to the nape of her neck, leaving a distinct sound as he briefly sucked on her skin before letting go.