Night 1

The Wedding Night

Today, a man and woman were married.

The husband’s full name was Theobald Sloug. As the first son and heir of the Sloug knight family, as well as the commanding officer of the elite first knight corps, he was depicted as a man proficient with both pen and sword. His black hair and eyes, excellent physique, and fierce expression gifted him with an intimidating aura. He was sometimes excessively straight-laced, but his honest character led men and women of all ages to yearn for him. It would be no exaggeration to say that one could not count the women who shed tears at the news of his marriage.

The one to become this Theobald’s wife was Francesca, third daughter of the Rosette family. With golden hair inherited from her mother and blue eyes as clear as the sky, her beautiful smile gave off a youthful charm. That smile and the gentle shake of her hair would brighten the world around her, and any men who saw her would release a hot breath of desire. The appearance of her admiring a pet cat upon her lap was like the grandest of portraits, and before the announcement of her engagement, it seemed the Rosette household received a bouquet of flowers for her every day.

An awkward but honest knight, and a gentle, beautiful lady. The two looked, to a word, well-matched. Lined up before the priest for their vows, the scene seemed like an instant from a dream. At that, everyone congratulated the two on their departure for a new life, wishing from the bottom of their hearts that the couple and their families would find prosperity in the future.

The surrounding people felt all that even though the pair only met for the first time today at the altar. Before that moment, the two had never exchanged words, and only knew each other by the faces of their portraits. Things like the feelings in their chests or their anxiety over the marriage, they held no connection to the people sending them off to their wedding night. For nobles, this was simply how things went.

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With that, the wedding night arrived. Even if they had only just met, the married couple must do what married couples do… Or that was the expectation. Francesca at least held that intention, and bought a new, thin night dress and dabbed perfume around her body. She even considered maybe sleeping nude and lighting incense to build a warm atmosphere, and, not sure to what extent they would be raising their voices, she had everyone clear out of the area. She had certainly made every preparation one could think of.

Of course, that enthusiasm for preparation naturally didn’t extend to her husband, and atop the bed Francesca wrapped herself in the covers while she waited for him. She was the very image of ‘a wife nervous before her first night’, and certainly, who wouldn’t think she was kneading and pulling her hands?

Francesca was most definitely nervous. Even after all her preparations, each piece a tidbit of advice from her seniors, in the end it was still an act she had never been through herself. On the contrary, as a genuine maiden, Francesca had never even kissed a member of the opposite sex. It would be impossible for her to not be nervous.

For this reason, she wanted to entrust the lead entirely to her husband… That was the primary plan she considered. She felt it wouldn’t matter if her husband turned out to be unskillful, thinking “I’ll simply do my utmost to love a clumsy man” as her chest throbbed again.

Nevertheless.

Ah, despite all of that.

When her husband Theobald slumped into bed, he turned his back to her and said only “sleep”.

Francesca’s eyes went wide, and then, momentarily tilting her head to the right, then to the left, and back up again, the question marks popping from her crown were nearly audible. Finally, she let out a soft “huh…?”, and throughout it all, Theobald’s back did not so much as twitch.

“Um, Sir Theobald…”

“I think the ceremony today was quite tiring. It would be good for you to rest too.”

“No, well, since this is our wedding night…”

Saying that much, Francesca softly extended her fingers towards Theobald’s back, intending to shake his shoulder… But quickly withdrew her hand when he sent her a chilly sidelong glance over his shoulder. As her arm retreated, she had to stop her body from pulling back as well, from trying to escape that glare.

No matter how you interpreted it, that was not a look one directed towards their wife, especially not on their wedding night.

“Sir Theobald, because you and I are now married…”

“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of embracing you. If you do not wish to share a bed with me, I shall sleep on the sofa.”

“… Pardon?”

What kind of circumstance is this? Francesca thought as she turned her eyes to his back once more.

“Then… Perhaps, you are reluctant of this marriage?”

“No, I don’t mean to imply that.”

“Is it because you have put aside your heart for another?”

“There is no other on my mind.”

“Am I simply unworthy of being embraced?”

“No, no, that’s not it.”

“In that case, for what reason will you not confer me your embrace?”

When the direct request for his reason finally came, Theobald’s responses halted. Was there some other reason, or else was it only because he, for no reason, did not wish to sleep with her? As it was their first conversation since their marriage and their connection was still tenuous, Francesca could not gauge his thoughts, and tears collected in her eyes.

It’s a pitiful thing when a woman isn’t embraced on her wedding night, she had once heard at a tea party.

Even if marriages were arranged to benefit families, even if the purpose of the marriage was to create children, even if there was no love between a man and woman when they are drawn together in matrimony, they should carry through with the acts of the wedding night. That was how it should be, and love would naturally grow from the act, Francesca’s seniors had informed her.

“On my first night, I was a little bundle of nerves, but my husband was exceedingly gentle.”

“My husband was quite forceful in our nightly activities from the start, so I quickly grew accustomed to things. However, that first night he told me ‘from today onwards, you are the only woman in my eyes’.”

“As for mine, we were both so nervous that we blundered our way through the night quite dreadfully. Even now, I still laugh when I remember it.“

Her girlfriends spoke of their wedding nights as, altogether, a happiness, their stories so pleasant she couldn’t believe they had met their husbands on the day of their marriage. As such, she also felt that once she grew accustomed to him, she would hopefully be able to grow her love with the honest knight. In Francesca’s view of the future, this happy life all started with the first step that was the wedding night.

For her to be rejected this way, was it not wretchedly pitiful?

Unbidden tears crowded her eyes, and she quietly wiped them away with a finger.

Theobald had long since turned his back to her again, and as it was, there was no sign of him turning around once more. There was no sign that he noticed her tears, or that he intended to comfort her, just as he still showed no indication that he would embrace her. If anything, he only looked like he would soon be asleep.

Seeing his back like that, Francesca clenched the hand to her chest, the thin night dress she had prepared for tonight wrinkling in the grip of her fingers. At the start, she had wanted it to be blue, but at her seniors’ advice that ‘a bright colour will make your skin look better‘, she had chosen a pink one instead. She wished he would think of her as beautiful. She wanted him to think of her as important. Even if she didn’t know his tastes, she could at least… with that, she had the night dress made.

Only a few hours ago, she had laughed with the maid, saying ‘being dressed up for the sake of being stripped down is quite strange, no?‘

It was all ruined.

If he was going to openly ridicule all her hopes and expectations for her wedding night by sleeping like this…

“Understood. In that case, here and now, please allow me to crush that dick of yours.”

In that moment, Francesca clenched her fist, and the room grew deathly silent.

As one might expect, Theobald finally sat up at that, though his face was slightly pale.

“… Francesca?” he asked, finally, for the first time that night, calling his wife by name.

From his stiff face, while it seemed he clearly heard her, it was uncertain whether he didn’t believe her or if his mind was having trouble parsing her words. However, Francesca had no intention of deducing which was the case, and merely spoke once more.

“Please allow me to crush that dick of yours.”

She requested.

And just to be sure, she said it once more.

“Please allow me to crush that dick of yours.”

She requested.

“F-francesca… What…”

“A woman who passes a lifetime as a virgin despite having a healthy husband is nothing but pathetic. Therefore, for the sake of my honor, please part with your penis. If my husband does not possess the necessary functions, I will gain a reason to keep my virginity through my life.”

“W-what on earth are you saying…”

“Come now, quickly spread your legs! Since I shall kindly crush it with one strike!”

“Wait! Please, wait!”

Theobald, his face pale, drew back as though to escape from Francesca’s brandished fist. At any rate, Francesca’s eyes were sincerity incarnate. Those eyes he had thought gentle when he saw her portrait were now filled with what he could only call fighting spirit. This decorated commander who had long been acquainted with fear felt a cold sweat creep down his back.

“F-francesca… Calm down.”

“What reason is there to hesitate? It is fine, I shall call for a doctor immediately afterwards. You are a splendid man Sir Theobald, so you will definitely be able to endure it.”

“… Lady Francesca, please calm yourself down.”

“A husband’s disgrace is a wife’s disgrace, so let us both surmount this disgrace together!”

“Lady Francesca, I am begging you, just please calm down!”

Met with the sight of Theobald vigorously prostrating himself before her, Francesca finally returned to herself. Between her ‘immodest appearance’ and his disgrace, she quickly grew embarrassed by the situation. Did she truly come right out and say something like ‘dick’? With a ‘poof’, her face grew flushed and she looked once more like a lovely young woman.

… As her hand was still firmly clenched however, Theobald made sure not to get motivated just yet.

But still, having both recovered their composure to an extent, they sat facing each other on the bed.

“Ultimately, you still do not intend to sleep with me, correct, Sir Theobold…?”

“Y-yes, that’s right… And you still keep your hand that way following my request.”

“I assume there is some reason?”

“… A reason?  It is impossible to say… No, since I will definitely say it eventually, don’t one sidedly decide on the situation between my legs.”

“Eventually, is it?”

“Please; for now, it’s still…”

Theobald’s voice was small as he hung his head, his appearance frail to the point one would doubt this was a commander and a respected man. Her partner, a man who would fight without fear, was now averting his eyes as though he wished to escape after only a few questions. As it was, she could only imagine what sort of reasons could possibly make him act like this. That he was unable to tell her his thoughts only once again reinforced her judgement that she was a miserable wife, and Francesca threw a robe over her shoulders, gripping it tightly.

If it seemed cold, he could have offered his own robe. At this point, Francesca couldn’t help worrying herself over even this apparently blatant lack of affection.

Whose fault was it that she was cold in the first place?

Murmuring the wisps on her mind, her thoughts returned to how she pictured herself between his arms, how she had expected to feel his warmth, and she bit her lower lip.

How wretched.

Nevertheless, she softly presented her fist before him. Needless to say, Theobald flinched at the movement and swiftly defended his groin with a hand.

“… At least, a hand.”

“A-a hand?”

“If you can say you do not hate me, Sir Theobald, can you not at least take my hand while we sleep?”

“R-right, I see.”

Sensing he wouldn’t be crushed, Theobald let out a small sigh of relief and took Francesca’s hand. He had firm, manly joints, and when his large hand enveloped hers, Francesca’s eyes softened just a bit as they climbed into bed.

Of course, simply sleeping wouldn’t be enough. However, sleeping was all there would be.

Bed | Dawn