Free Web NovelChapter 4: My wedding night
I walked over to my bed and lay down. I glanced at my wife, who was lying beside me. Her face had regained its color and health, unlike before.
Now, she looked even more stunningly beautiful, combined with light sleepwear that accentuated her graceful curves. Any man would surely fall for her, except me. She stared at the ceiling, her hands clasped together over her belly.
Could this be my wedding night with her? Maybe.
But I didn’t care; I already had a few plans in mind. First, I needed to rest. I had gone without proper sleep for many days since reincarnating into this world, just to keep the monster inside me under control. Yet for some reason, I could finally sleep now with my wife lying next to me.
I guessed it came from her resemblance to my girlfriend....no, ex-girlfriend.
Just like that, I fell asleep without realizing it, yet my senses remained heightened, ready to detect any suspicious movement outside. I was asleep, but a lingering awareness still surrounded me. It had always been like this – a kind of mental illness.I only ever fell into a truly deep sleep if I was knocked unconscious, sedated, or held in my ex-girlfriend’s embrace in bed.
"Better than nothing."
3:00 AM.
I woke up.
My eyes flashed coldly as I sensed footsteps in the corridor outside my room. I got out of bed and changed my clothes.
I glanced at my wife, who was still gazing at the ceiling like before. It seemed she had noticed my stare – the first time she had spoken to me properly.
"You should just die."
I said,
"Why don’t you go to sleep?"
She sighed, annoyed.
"I couldn’t sleep."
Ting!
[Mission: Make her sleep.]
[Support Level: Low (She has too many thoughts in her mind, causing insomnia).]
[Warning: You need to patiently talk with her.]
[Suggestion: Hold her and lull her to sleep.]
I squinted as I stared at the virtual text in front of me. I walked to the door and opened it. Before leaving, I spoke to my wife.
"Just wait, okay? I’m an expert at that."
***
I walked across the corridor, waiting for the assassin to appear. Just a few minutes later, a girl suddenly stood in front of me.
I didn’t even know how she had appeared here – whether it was a speed-type skill or something related to shadows. If she attacked me by surprise, she would have killed me.
I wondered if she would ever do something that reckless. Ah... I remembered it. I was nothing more than trash in her eyes.
I scratched the back of my head, thinking that this was one of the only advantages old Henry had left me.
Luna, dressed in black clothing, stared at me silently.
"You should have gone to sleep. That way, your death would have been less painful. Although they wanted to give you a painless death, it’s hard for me after everything you did to the princess."
The next moment, she suddenly charged at me at high speed, driving her knife straight toward my heart.
Her intention was to kill me in a single blow.
I could barely perceive her speed with my [F–] Rank body, but thanks to [Close-Combat Art], I instinctively knew what to do against an opponent I couldn’t track..
I hunched my back, narrowly dodging the strike, before unleashing a brutal uppercut to her chin, sending her tumbling across the ground several times.
"Wow." I stared at my fist before turning to Luna, who was struggling to stand up. In that moment, we both shared the same emotion – bewilderment and shock.
I never thought that I would perform that technique smoothly as if I had acted a hundred times, not the one just luckily.
Luna clenched her jaw in anger, clearly refusing to believe what had just happened. She charged at me again, this time with calculated movements and flexible footwork.
She moved like a dancer to a silent death song, her knife cutting through the air. Meanwhile, I simply caught her wrist by a single move before slamming her to the ground, the impact echoing with a sharp clash.
She lay motionless on the floor, with no will to fight at that moment.
Her eyes were filled with utter shock.
She had given up.
Then she spoke.
"Why are you hiding your true strength?"
"I’m hiding my true strength?" Well, I understood her mindset. It was quite strange for someone like me to possess that kind of power.
But I didn’t want to waste time explaining myself to her. I just needed information.
I asked,
"Did my father send you here to kill me?"
She replied,
"No. I come from the Royal Pendragon Family. My mission is to protect my princess from you."
I almost laughed at that moment.
Protect her from me?
What a joke.
Then why had they left her with me and even arranged this marriage in the first place?
I rolled my eyes in annoyance. I had always hated these kinds of troubles. For some reason, the monster inside me was urging me to kill.
I sighed.
"Is there a reason behind all this?"
She answered,
"Because of a promise. The King promised your father that one of his daughters would marry into your family to repay the losses your father made during the Holy War.’’
My eyes remained emotionless at that moment. I knew this was only the tip of the iceberg.
However, I didn’t want to hear any more.
Being treated like a pawn was extremely irritating.
[POV: Luna]
I never thought the Third Young Master of the Albert Family could be hiding such power.
But I could understand why. It was because of the struggle for the position of Family Head. His brothers were all geniuses at Dawnreach Academy. So, he had no choice but to hide his strength and grow in the shadows.
He possessed combat skills that were on par with even the princes and princesses.
As for why I gave up, the answer was simple. I never stood a chance against him.
I had failed to kill him, but I wasn’t worried. If I died, the next assassin sent after him would only be stronger.
If he was as wise as I believed, he would keep me alive and extract information from me.
But my pupils widened when he suddenly grabbed my throat. He lifted me off the ground, staring at me with cold, deathly eyes.
He was going to kill me.
Something was wrong.
"D-Don’t kill me... I can be useful to you."
But no, he remained silent, utterly emotionless. He looked at me as if I were already dead.
I could barely breathe.
[POV: Henry]
I tossed the corpse aside and uttered a cold sentence.
"I’ll hire another maid."
