Whispers of Jade

Chapter 15

Warning; slightly mature (nothing explicit, but slightly mature themes)

Seventh Day of the Seventh Month in the 114th Year Renę

Impotent? He was impotent? That wasn't what the report had said. Was it all a ruse to hide his impotence? Or did he suspect her enough to lie? Yieun was too stunned to reply as Chiyou fluttered around asking her questions.

"Well-" Yieun had just begun to gather her thoughts, when Bang! The door flew open, and her heart jumped to her throat. Naevren stormed in, jaw clenched and eyes cold. Yieun knew he was angry.

"Everyone out." His voice was barely above a whisper, but all the servants scurried away, closing the door behind them, leaving Yieun alone with him.

"I lied, I'm not impotent." Yieun's eyes were wide, and her heart still raced when Naevren walked over to her and picked her up, her arms wrapping around his neck to maintain balance. With brisk steps, he walked towards the bed. Yieun's stomach tightened.

Naevren let go when Yieun was half a foot above the bed, causing her to bounce slightly. Then his hands went to remove her outer coat. Yieun reciprocated, tugging at his belt. No sooner had she managed to untie it, that Naevren grabbed her calves and pulled her knees towards himself. This removed her hands from his clothes, so she looked into his eyes, confused. Her body immediately froze, the hair on her neck standing up. His eyes didn't hold lust, they held restrained anger. Before she could question him, he turned her over to look at her back. Unable to get a clear view, he pulled away the sheer inner robe Yieun had put on, exposing her skin to the cool air. Yieun shivered.

After a few seconds, Yieun straightened herself to face him. Just in her undergarments in front of an almost fully dressed man, she resisted the urge to pull the blanket to cover herself. She looked at his face, aggrieved.

"Wha-"

"Why do you want to consummate our marriage, really?" Naevren interrupted.

"You're my husband, isn't it natural for us to consummate our marriage?" Yieun's eyelids fluttered, holding tears back. She was ready to do many things, but suffering this kind of humiliation was too much even for her. He had simply torn away her clothes to look at her wounds; old as they were, they were still not completely gone. She had mistakenly thought he actually desired her.

"Did you think I would treat you poorly if we don't?" Naevren's eyes narrowed.

"No, you have treated me much better than I deserved since the start." Yieun couldn't meet his eyes anymore, choosing to bore holes into the bedding instead. "I did not think you would do that, but I am sure the world would waste no time in doing that. Only a failure of a wife is unable to serve her husband." Yieun's hands clenched the bed sheets, her knuckles white.

Naevren considered her words. She was right. He would be able to stop people from demeaning her only as far as his power extended. In the capital, amongst the royal family, they would be free to disparage her as they wished. She had yet to send them her nuptial bed sheets with her virgin blood after all.

He had kept his distance, afraid to scare his wife who probably didn't want to marry him. Even as she had initiated, he was scared to hurt her when she only tried out of a sense of duty. But she had actively tried to marry him.

"Do you really wish for me to embrace you just because of that?"

"No, I also wish to get close to you." Yieun had shed her mask by now, a wry smile on her face.

"This is not-"

"Don't say that this isn't the way," Yieun interrupted. "Haven't you learnt more about me tonight than any other day?" Naevren's brows furrowed.

Yieun pushed herself off the bed, getting a bottle of wine off the table. "I will have a drink, will you?" She asked, only two parts of her body covered with scanty, red flower embroidered cloth.

***

"Will she be alright?" Cailin implored Chiyou. Her mistress' marriage had been consummated, His Highness had only left in the early morning, instructing them to not disturb her sleep. She didn't know anything about the matters between men and women, but Chiyou did.

"It depends." She was worried about her mistress too.

"On what?" Cailin pushed.

"On what kind of man His Highness is. If he's a gentle man, then she'll be alright. If he's a normal man, she will be in some pain. If he's a rough man... she will be in a lot of pain."

Cailin gulped, before carefully whispering her question. "And what kind of man do you think he is?" They were alone in the garden, but she didn't want to risk getting caught gossiping about her masters.

"It's hard to say, it's not like I know anything about him." Chiyou pressed her lips.

"But?"

"But, men like him tend to be the rough kind." Cailin's heart sank.

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