?

　　“I don’t think that is an appropriate question to be asking.” I told him, holding my composure as long as I could.

　　“Hm.” He lazily hummed before shifting in his position. He still held my hand down on the bed but I could then feel his other hand ghosting the silk nightgown I wore, hovering above my torso and heading downward. “Is that your answer?”

　　“That’s…” my words trailed off when I felt his icy hand on my thigh, pulling the skirt of the gown higher. My grip on his shift tightened by reflex, the urge to push him away was all I could think about.? “W-Why do you even want to know why I choose you first?” I blurted, once again trying to distract him so I could have time to prepare myself for this.

　　“Why? Out of curiosity.” He admitted. “You never showed any interest in me hence is it wrong for me to find this choice of yours to be rather…erratic.” He said, hand slowly inching higher.

　　“I don’t have interest in any of you! This is just… a part of the concord! We had verbal confirmation during our meetings!”

　　Augustus stopped moving his hand, eyes boring into my own. “I thought you were bluffing.”

　　“W-What? Why would I—”

　　“Even though you do not have the slightest interest in us, you are willing to share a bed for the sake of this fake marriage?” he asked, voice incredibly deep that it was starting to have a strange effect on me.

　　“Yes. I do not think highly of intercourse since it is just a means to reproduce.”

　　“Interesting that you say that and yet you were like a scared little kitten at my approaches.” He said, pulling back away from me and pointing down at where my hand still clung against his shirt. I quickly dropped my hand to my side. “How can you confidently say that intercourse means nothing to you when you are so afraid to proceed.”

　　“Th-That’s only natural since this is…will be my first time.”

　　“Your first time? Ah. You are a vir—”

　　“Yes! I am! Is that a problem?” I huffed, getting offended that he even had to repeat it aloud.

　　“I did not say that it was.” He said as he fully pulled away from me. The spot where his hands touched my skin felt tingly, as though it was craving more. I propped myself up on your elbows and looked at him, wondering where he moved away. “But unfortunately, princess, you picked the wrong partner to share your first time with.”

　　“What do you mean…?”

　　“I mean, I have no interest in consummating with you.” He admitted. “Not at this moment.” He added.

　　I blinked once, twice as I tried to process his words. He did not wait for me to respond as he stood up and went to the bedside table where he poured himself a glass of water. I watched as he drank, his Adam’s apple bobbing when he swallowed the liquid. He then lazily looked over to me as though to ask what I was still doing on his bed.

　　I pulled myself into a seated position, wondering what I was supposed to do now. If I leave his room, people are bound to speak of it and start rumours and I came all this way to avoid that in the first place. I then glanced over to the window, wondering if it was possible for me to sneak out from outside and head back to my room.

　　“You can spend the night here.” Augustus said. “It’s late and it would be a shame if you were to run into trouble by walking around unattended.”

　　“…I’m not a child.”

　　“You certainly act like one sometimes.” He casually said while getting comfortable on the bed, back propped up against the headrest while he reached for his book that was laying on the bedside table.

　　I decided to ignore his words in favour of figuring out where I was going to sleep tonight. I looked over at the sofa and thought that it looked comfortable enough for me to rest on it for the night although it was not very…becoming if I did. I then got up from the bed and made my way to the sofa.

　　“Where are you going?” Augustus asked, not missing a beat. I froze immediately, as if I was caught doing something wrong. I slowly turned back to look at him.

　　“I’ll sleep on the sofa…”

　　Augustus raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

　　“W-What do you mean why…? I won’t bother you if that’s what you are worried about and I’ll leave in the morning.”

　　“I’m asking you why you are planning to sleep on the sofa when you can sleep here.”

　　“Here? You mean on the bed…with you?”

　　“Is there a problem with that? Are you afraid that I will attack you in your sleep?” he asked and I stared at him for a moment, trying to see if that was his attempt at a joke but of course, his expression did not move an inch.

　　It was true that I would not be fully able to rest as I would overthink about my safety alone with Augustus and him saying things like that out in the open was not helping ease my worries.

　　“…I just don’t want to be an inconvenience to you.” I said instead.

　　“It’ll be an inconvenience to me if you get hurt or get sick sleeping out in the open like that. But do as you please, I am not here to take care of you.” He said, gaze returning to the pages of his book.

　　I stood there dumbfoundedly for a moment before making my way to the empty spot next to Augustus. The bed was large and there would be a good distance between our bodies. I slowly pulled the edge of the thick duvet up and quickly went under it. I adjusted my position in the bed as I stared blankly at the ceiling.

　　This was definitely not how I was expecting to spend my wedding night, next to a man who clearly had no interest in me and would rather be reading instead but then again, I would want to do the same. I envied that he had something to do while all I had was my own company to keep me entertained. I could not even sleep because the adrenaline from before had not died down yet.

　　I turned my head to the side slowly to look over at Augustus. His stoic expression was indeed beautiful, his eyelashes were long and matched the silver of his hair. Translucent eyes flickered from word to word and I found myself tempted to talk to him but from his tone earlier, it would seem that he had no interest in talking to me. I held my tongue, not wanting to risk getting kicked out of his room if he found me irritating.

　　“I can feel you staring.” Augustus spoke, eyes meeting mine before I had the chance to look away. “What do you want?”

　　“Um… I was just curious about what book you were reading…” I don’t recognise the cover.

　　“It’s a history book about the boy who became king for one day in the Eastern Kingdom.”

　　I rolled my body to the side, intrigued to hear more. “Did that really happen?”

　　Augustus nodded once. “It was a complicated case of that time when the royal family were all power hungry and would do anything to claim the throne. According to historians, the royal family had killed each other and a peasant boy who was believed to be the bastard child of the oldest sibling became emperor.”

　　I always found it intriguing that Augustus was incredibly talkative when it came to books but that still did not change his asocial personality trait. “But he was only king for one day?”

　　“Yes.”

　　“What happened to him?”

　　“I haven’t finished the book yet.”

　　“Oh…right…” I muttered. The silence then continued and instead of being strange and watching him read, I attempted to sleep as I closed my eyes. It was rather calming to hear the sound of the paper being turned by his fingers but even with the still environment, I found it hard to fully be at ease in his room.

　　“Could I ask you a question?” I opened my eyes and blurted out as a different worry came to mind to keep me awake.

　　“Hm?”

　　“Is there a way for people to know if someone had intercourse or not?” I asked shamelessly, now thinking about the consequence if anyone were to find out that Augustus and I did not do anything but sleep in the same bed under the dim light.

　　Augustus rested the book on his lap before turning to look at me. “This is what you are worrying about?”

　　“One of many worries, yes.” He then placed the book to the side and I watched as he leaned over to me. I tensed as I felt him roll my body onto my back. “Augustus?! What are you doing” I called out in a panic when I found myself in the same position I was in before.

　　“Leaving evidence of our…consummation.” He said as his teeth grazed my neck.

　　“W-Wait! Don’t mark me!” I cried as I could feel him opening his mouth wider.