Under the Oak Tree Novel - Chapter 234

234 Side Story Chapter 40

The nobles of the east sipped wine while they darted glances at Riftan from behind the duke. Clenching his jaw, Riftan approached the stairs. He did not look back even as Ursuline called his name.

His heart felt as though it would burst from his chest with each step. He told himself it was the humiliation that was causing his trembling. Despite attempts to convince himself otherwise, the urge to flee was undeniable. He slowed to a stop as he reached the bridal chamber and took a deep breath.

“You should go in,” said the guard stationed nearby.

Riftan leveled a menacing glare at the man before grabbing the handle. Firelight streamed into the walkway as the door creaked open. He swallowed past his parched throat before swinging it open further and stepping through.

On a bed swathed in golden hangings, Maximilian sat perched at the end, wearing only a shockingly thin dress.

Riftan shut the door behind him. As he traced his eyes down her voluptuous figure limned in candlelight, the intense heat that coursed through him almost made him stagger back.

To his dismay, he felt his groin stiffening. He grimaced in disgust. Try as he might, he could not look anywhere else. Her loose curls gleamed in an array of colors under the firelight, and a titillatingly rose sheen suffused her usually pale skin.

After staring at her full lips, Riftan’s eyes dropped to the plunging neckline of her dress. Her creamy breasts lay bare beneath the sheer linen, leaving little to the imagination. Riftan hastily looked up. Heat rose in his face, and his throat burned with thirst.

Not knowing how he should proceed, he waited for her to speak. A moment of silence passed. His nerves getting the better of him, he strode over to the table laid with goblets of wine. As he approached, the once-immobilized Maximilian began to quiver like a terrified bird.

…..
He felt doused in ice water. Her gray eyes seemed to hold desperate prayers for him to disappear. A dagger to the heart would not have been as painful.

To hide his hurt, Riftan picked up a goblet and turned away. He tried to compose himself as he gulped down the wine. It would be better for them both to get this ordeal over with as quickly as possible.

Wiping all emotion from his face, he said calmly, “Take off your clothes.”

He threw off his tunic and glanced back, furrowing his brow when he found Maximilian blinking in confusion.

During his time as a mercenary, most of the prostitutes who had slinked into his room had removed their own clothes. Stark naked, they would sneak into his bed and try to undress him as well. Prying these women off made up the entirety of his experience with females in bed.

He turned back to Maximilian. “Must I remove them myself?”

She gasped in shock. In a terrified daze, her eyes swept over his body illuminated in the candlelight. It was quite evident that she was not impressed by what she saw. In fact, she appeared to be on the verge of fainting. He felt as though he had morphed into a hideous ogre.

“You’re looking at me as if you’ve seen a monster. Do you find me so undesirable?” he asked scathingly, hoping she would at least pretend to deny it.

Growing flustered, Maximilian stammered, “Ah… I-I…”

She did not say any more. Riftan gave a bitter smirk. Why was he disappointed? Had he not known all along that she found him repulsive? Had it not been for the duke, she would never have agreed to be in this position.

“How could I, a lowly knight, expect to please the proud daughter of a duke?” Riftan said, attempting self-deprecation.

He grimaced. The words came out scathing, as if he was not concerned about her opinion of him.

“Take that off,” he hastily added. “Fulfill your marital duties.”

Maximilian was stone-still, her eyes fixed to the floor. Riftan walked over and gently raised her chin. The only other time he had touched her was when he had saved her after the monster incident. His fingers tingled against her petal-soft skin.

“A marriage is annulled if it is not consummated,” he said brusquely in an effort to mask his feelings. “Do you wish to leave me?”

Anguish rose in her shining, silvery eyes. An urge to comfort this pitifully trembling woman surged through him.

Resisting, Riftan said coldly, “Speak now if you want me to dress and leave. I won’t stop once we begin.”

With his brash statement hanging in the air, Maximilian bit her lip and began to unclasp her belt with trembling fingers. He watched with bated breath as she removed her jewelry one by one and set them next to the bed. She then fiddled with the straps of her dress for what seemed like an eternity. By the time the linen slipped off, suffusing her milky white back and shoulders in a candlelit glow, Riftan was almost suffocating. She clutched the material to her chest, unwilling to expose herself further.

The tension inside him was close to bursting. Finally giving in, Riftan yanked her dress down. It was an unbearable situation for them both. He hated seeing her trembling like a prisoner awaiting a death sentence, and he felt revulsed at the way his body burned for her all the while. He simply wanted it to end.

“W-Wait.”

Her dress now bunched at her waist, Maximilian held her arms over her breasts.

Riftan stared down at her. “Keep your hands away.”

“W-Why a-are you p-pulling…”

Seeing the confusion on her face, Riftan abruptly let go. Could it be that nobles performed their marital duties fully dressed? While he had witnessed the more debaucherous mercenaries push women against the wall, skirts held aloft, to fornicate with them, he was not blind to the fact that women were not particularly fond of it.

Growing impatient, he pressed, “Do you want me to leave? Make up your mind.”

She resignedly lowered her arms. Riftan froze, his mind going blank at the breathtaking sight.

Though he was nauseatingly familiar with the female form thanks to years of being hounded by women, the vision of Maximilian standing naked before him sent his head spinning. He gulped.

An inferno burned beneath his skin. Had he been alighted with a real fire, he doubted he would have noticed. He slowly lowered his eyes over her round breasts, flat belly, and slender calves. A choked moan involuntarily burst from his throat. There was truly no turning back now. He was not certain he even wanted to.

Mumbling to himself in a daze, Riftan caressed her with trembling hands. Every bone in his body melted like butter on a summer’s day. He had to remind himself of his stepfather’s hellish suffering and the life-threatening danger facing his knights. The only one getting a taste of heaven was him.

Lowering his head, Riftan hungrily poured kisses over her. The woman who had lived in his dreams for so long was finally in his arms. It was absurd to think he could contain himself. This was possibly the last time he would touch her. Once the night was over, he might never lay eyes on her again.

Overcome with desperate desire, he entered her and found himself in a paradise wrought with fire, euphoric and painful all at once. His whole body convulsed. Though he tried to give her time to acclimate, the taste of the otherworldly pleasure made it impossible to hold back.

He began to move inside her like a horse freed from its tethers. A passion he had kept deeply buried swelled to a tidal wave, washing away the last of his self-control. Overwhelmed with intense thirst, Riftan hungrily pushed his tongue into her mouth.

Her moan sent a tickle down his throat, melting his insides. Her slender limbs, soft skin, and sweet scent robbed him of his senses. He would swallow her whole at this rate, leaving not a strand of hair behind.

“Hic…”

He was lost in pleasure until Maximilian’s sobs cut through the haze. He abruptly looked up and saw tears streaking her flushed cheeks.

“Why are you crying?”

Maximilian tried to avoid his gaze. Cupping her face, Riftan turned her head toward him.

“Don’t look away from me.”

Her misty eyes betrayed confusion, mortification, and loss. His face falling, Riftan wiped the tears from her cheeks. Shame washed over him. He held her tightly, stewing in a mixture of sadness and bitter frustration.

Memories of his youth soon began to surface. He recalled how he had longed to hold the little girl who had seemed so painfully lonely. To protect her from harm. Yet, by his own two hands, he had ruined the very thing he had carried in his heart for all those years. It was inconceivable.

Riftan tightened his arms around her. He pressed his lips to her temple, damp with sweat and tears.

“You’re now my wife,” he mumbled in a hollow voice. “There’s no turning back, whether you like it or not.”

Though everything lay in ruins, they were bound to each other for life. He kissed her lips. The future no longer mattered. After tonight, it was unlikely she would ever want anything to do with him. But, if fortune was on his side, he would at least be allowed to die her husband.

Burrowing into her, the guilt made him turn his gaze away. While this night was bound to become a horrifying memory for her, reliving it would get him through his remaining time on this earth. He shuddered at the prescient thought.