Grand Ducal Couple’S After Marriage Love Story

CH 5 A Disgraceful Wedding night

The Marquess was extremely angry throughout the wedding ceremony. He had safely brought her here in one piece, but instead of being grateful, her behavior had gone south. Now that she is a Grand Duke, does she think she can act as she wants? he fumed inwardly.

He had thought that the little princess would forever stay meek, but here she was already trying to oppose him. He felt embarrassed. He had believed that while he would rule Hessenguard on behalf of Erna, she would merely sit still like a doll and follow whatever he instructed, obediently. So, Marquess Canavan called for a maid on his way back from the wedding ceremony.

“It seems Grand Duke has drunk something bad during our short time here. I don’t understand why a person who used to be so well-behaved and listened to everyone in the Haband Kingdom suddenly acted like that at the wedding…”

The maid was a quick-witted person. Even though Marquess Canavan had said it in a roundabout manner, she understood what he wanted at once. The Marquess was indirectly talking about breaking Erna’s spirit.

“Don’t worry too much about it, my lord. Today, after experiencing the wedding night, Grand Duke will very well understand what responsibilities she bears.”

Marquess Canawan smirked, “Alright, is there any better way?”

The maid looked around and whispered in his ear.

Marquess Canavan listened to the sound coming from inside. Erna’s voice, which was initially shouting “no” and “go away,” gradually became smaller and soon turned into low sniffles and cries. Marquess Canavan nodded with a satisfied look.

This was only the beginning. Until tomorrow morning, Erna would continue to be humiliated. It didn’t matter even if she was a Grand Duke. After all, she was merely an immature kid who didn’t even know how to properly hold power.

Seeing the satisfaction in Marquess Canavan’s face, the maid continued in a small voice, wanting to show off her skills.

“I purposely prepared some completely see-through clothes. Miss Erna is sixteen years old. She’s old enough to be sensitive to the gazes of the people around her. But now she has to walk in front of everyone wearing those clothes… and then spend the night with the other Grand Duke in that state; it’s going to put a lot of pressure on her weak mind.”

“Yes, that will hurt her a lot. So, you and I need to work hard to take good care of her.”

“Of course, my lord.”

Both of them knew very well that Erna was ashamed of her fat and unkempt appearance. Didn’t she react sensitively to people laughing at her at the wedding?

The maid spoke again, “By the way, will she really meet the requirements of the Aether Kingdom?” Her face, which had been talking excitedly with the Marquess until a while ago, subtly darkened. “We should reject them because it’s very insulting…”

“Oh, you mean, that. We decided to accept it for now and also ask for something similar in return. Apparently, the Grand Duke of Aether was not very cooperative.”

Initially, both sides demanded that before the wedding night, the royal family members from each kingdom should undergo a very old type of physical examination. Both sides knew very well that it could put a lot of pressure on the young royalties involved, but they still raised this demand to insult each other.

However, it seemed to be too much, and before anyone knew it, the matter fizzled out. Eventually, it was decided that the examination shouldn’t be performed. However, Aether came forward and brought it up again.

Marquess Canavan realized that the situation on Aether’s side was no different from theirs. The gaze of the young prince crossed his mind. Even though Kalion looked like an emancipated dead body, his eyes were fierce when he was glaring at everyone. It was as if he was saying that if his body had been healthy, he would have knocked down everything and left the wedding.

His thoughts were shortly interrupted by Erna’s cries from inside. Marquess Canavan smiled satisfactorily and said to the maid, “I hope the wedding night ends well today.”

* * *

The sound of the door closing brought Erna back to her senses. At the same time, she recalled what she had just been through and realized the state she was in now.

Before coming here, Erna had to meet the maids from the Aether Kingdom. They told Erna to position herself comfortably on a small bed, informing her that they would be confirming whether she had any problem in producing an heir. Erna refused, appalled. But they tried to grab her legs and forcibly spread them apart. Erna screamed and desperately rebelled, but they continued to examine her body, their cold gazes upon her nakedness. The maids said she ought to obediently accept her duty as a Grand Duke. It was not long after a cold silver rod was put in the gap between her legs.

A cry slipped from Erna’s lips. This was the first time in her life that she had faced such humiliation and misery. It was nothing compared to what she felt when she was being whipped by the other queens in Haband, with her head low.

Erna looked around the room tremblingly. While she was struggling, her thin clothes were tugged here and there. With so many hands on her body, her clothes were crumpled and even torn. She recalled the looks of the maids and knights on her way. She had walked like this in front of them.

Her hands were shaking and her mind had become blank. She staggered and tried to find something in the room that she could use to cover herself. Her eyes darted to the bed in the middle of the room. Fortunately, a thin blanket was lying on the mattress. Erna frantically ran towards it, wrapped it around her body, and crouched in the corner of the room.

“Mom…” Erna called her mother, whose face she had never seen. This place was very scary. The only person Erna could call for help was her mother, who had already passed away. She knew no one else would take her side.

Fearing that someone would see her like this, she tried to tightly wrap the blanket around her body.

Just then, the door swung open. At the sound of the creak, Erna looked up in surprise. Only then did she realize that there was a door on the wall opposite from where she came in. They said that this was the Grand Ducal couple’s bedroom, she thought.

Located at the center of the Grand Duke’s castle, it was said to be the most extravagant room in the castle. The couple was supposed to sleep here together. In this large room, there were additionally two more rooms on the left and right, which were supposed to be used by the Ducal couple for their individual purposes. Erna had been assigned the room on the left. And if it was the door on the other side of her room, that meant…

The moment she saw a person entering the room, Erna almost screamed. Just as she expected, it was Kalion who had come in. It was no wonder that he would be here. After all, this was the bedroom of the Grand Ducal couple, and she had married him today.

But what really surprised Erna was not his arrival — it was his appearance.

Even though she was wearing a dress that was too thin, at least she was wearing something. But Kalion on the other hand was wearing nothing. His body, as he entered the room, staggered as if he had been pushed inside. Straightening his posture, he then turned around and shouted at the closed door.

“I’ll keep what happened today in my mind! And each and every one of you who was in that room!”

Kalion’s voice sounded so loud and furious that Erna wondered where in that skinny body of his was such power coming from. Erna hid beside the bed and held her breath while cowering. She didn’t want to see the state he was in now. But she couldn’t believe she was in the same room with him at the moment.

In the face of his naked figure, Erna understood the purpose of those people for bringing them into the room: to produce an heir.

Before coming, the maids had given her a brief explanation of how to make a child. While Erna was washing herself, she was embarrassed by the graphic names of the parts she had never seen before, but the process to make a child confused her even more. As she turned red with embarrassment, the maids laughed as if they were having fun and explained everything without holding back.

I’m supposed to do that with him? she questioned in disgust and disbelief. She felt as if she was being strangled by the blanket wrapped around her body. No way! It’s never going to happen. It was already terrible to see someone like this now, but she thought she would rather die than take off her dress in front of Kalion.

As Erna shuddered and cringed, Kalion, who felt her presence, turned his head. When he noticed Erna, he screamed and tried to hide himself desperately. Just as he yelled at Erna– asking her why she was here– he immediately shut his mouth. Come to think of it, it would have been more strange if it had been someone else other than Erna.

Kalion approached the other side of the bed and slumped down. He pulled the sheet that was left on the bed, from where Erna had taken the blanket. However, his slim arms were not strong enough to take off the sheets that were firmly pressed under the mattress. After several attempts, he gave a wry smile and eventually gave up. Compared to him, Erna was way more on the edge of madness.

She was still rattled by what happened before she came here, and now that she was with a naked man in a room, she was so surprised that she unknowingly stopped crying. Instead, all her attention was focused on Kalion. Even if he moved a little, Erna couldn’t help but be startled and jump in fright.

Figuring she couldn’t stay still like this, Erna reached across the bed and yanked the sheet that Kalion couldn’t take off. She then threw the sheet at Kalion, who was looking at her as if asking what the hell she was doing.