The Reason for Marriage - Chapter 18.2

Daniel spoke again after a moment. “Well, he wasn’t directly opposed to the idea.”

Of course, he would not directly oppose, thought Iveca. After all, it was made by his daughter who was now the Queen. However, judging by how there was no mention of support, Esselburn’s intentions were clear. It occurred to Iveca that Daniel must want to gain acknowledgement from Count Esselburn too, not just for her sake. His kingdom, his life, could be on the line. He needed as much help as he could get. Iveca felt the hand stroking his hair stop without her input. Daniel opened his eyes and looked up at her in confusion. Iveca’s lips shook as she spewed out her words.

“…I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“My father… he… I’m sorry. I thought, maybe he would take my side.”

“What on earth for?”

He sat up and sat next to her, looking into her eyes. Iveca couldn’t bear to look at him and shifted her eyes downward.

“You may not know, but there have been…. rumours… that I may not be my father’s biological daughter.”

Iveca found her shaky voice pathetic, but she couldn’t keep the tone from creeping in. Daniel was a king who knew even about her first love, Anriq, so she believed that he could be aware of this issue too. But in case he was not aware, she believed telling him herself was the right thing to do. If Daniel wanted an alliance with Ewil Esselburn, now had to be the time to make this known.

“That’s why… father will not be on our side… If that is the reason why you chose to marry me, then I deeply apologize.”

Daniel sighed as Iveca’s voice diminished.

“I knew everything, Iveca. From the start. There’s very little I do not know about you.” He held her cheek in his hand. Her breath seemed to stop. “Iveca, from now on, do not ever tell me that you are sorry. For whatever reason. You can be as open and honest with me as you want.”

“But your reason for marrying me…”

Daniel cut off her hesitant words with a bright smile.

“I married you because I want to become old, and play line ball with you. It’s my only dream.”

Iveca attempted a smile but found it wouldn’t come to her lips. Daniel sighed, and shifted closer to her.

“I know it will be hard. Walking on eggshells for all this time must have been hard. But if you keep telling me you are sorry…” Daniel paused and gazed at her, his eyes softening, “It’s just, I feel sad. I feel as if I brought you here for nothing, only giving you a hard time. If you keep apologizing, I mean.”

With those words, rather than feeling gratitude, she felt fear. Perhaps she should not have whined. She, who had never been part of a family, became nervous at his negative reaction, immediately fearing the worst. Daniel stroked her hair once and softly pressed his lips to hers.

“You look tired tonight. I will leave now, Iveca. Don’t worry about your father, Iveca. The more I talk to people, the more I see how much thought you put into those clauses.” Daniel smiled once more. “You are doing a very good job.”

He stopped himself, then continued, “You are doing well, but you are allowed to do badly. Is that how I should word it?”

Daniel’s words didn’t even reach Iveca’s ears. This was the first time he was leaving without an embrace. Perhaps he was disappointed in something and no longer wanted children with her? Maybe it was because Roseley’s careless words from earlier, “my child may not be perfect” might come to be true? Daniel smiled and kissed her cheek and Iveca unknowingly grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving.

“What’s wrong?” Daniel opened his eyes thinly and lowered his head. Iveca moved closer to him and wordlessly tightened her grip on his sleeve. “I can’t help myself if you look at me like that, Iveca…”

With a gentle smile, he pulled her into an embrace. He slowly licked her ear, and Iveca’s body shook, feeling his tongue moving down towards her mouth. It took just a moment for his eyes to turn from pure and affectionate, to cloudy with desire. And it took only that same moment, where she noticed the change in his gaze, to feel a strange sense of relief. Between the clothes that were falling from their bodies, their bare skin greeted each other. The air on their skin was cold, but the hands that touched each other felt hotter than anything. She placed her hand on his firmness and gently stroked it, feeling it stiffen even further under her touch.

“Ah…”

She heard his low voice as he tried to suppress his moans and she put her lips on his neck. Before she knew it, his fingers were on her cl*toris, caressing it slowly. The heat from their faces and the sound of their moans mixed as they touched each other. Both of them knew the pleasure that was to come, and so with the same expression of restraint and slight frustration, they focused on each other’s senses amidst the tension in the air. As their hands became rougher, all laughter disappeared, and their bodies began to move faster. As one.

Daniel lifted her up and quickly sat her on his knees. In an instant, he entered into her, as his hands grabbed her chest and his breath dispersed on her shoulder. She became dizzy from the way his lips wrapped around her peaks and moaned loudly from on top of him. His pushing backwards and forward inside her caused her to tense and shudder, and she could feel her climax coming within a few, exquisite moments.