Chapter 215

After parting ways with Marquess Marco, Yelena made her way to the training arena.

She had been informed of her husband's schedule for the day earlier in the morning.

'He has morning training with the knights.'

As she came closer to the training arena, she could hear the sound of weapons clashing against each other.

"Hyah!"

"Hyat!"

A few moments later, Yelena could see two knights fiercely clashing their swords.

"Stop."

Kaywhin effortlessly stepped in between the sparring knights. After he blocked the knights' swords with his own crudely-crafted wooden sword, he calmly critiqued each person.

"Kisan, you put too much strength in your left foot when you use your sword. It's imbalanced. Dion, when you try to knock your opponent's sword away, your wrist..."

Yelena stared at her husband with a dreamy look.

'He's so cool.'

Yelena's cheeks burned. She had started to think that her husband looked cool in everything he did the moment she woke up this morning.

"Thank you for your guidance!"

"Thank you!"

It seemed as though the two knights were the last pair who needed to be trained. After their sparring finished, no one else came to swordfight. Yelena scanned her surroundings and then swiftly approached Kaywhin.

"Kaywhin."

"Yelena."

"You worked hard training the knights."

"No, not at all."

"Hm..."

Yelena scanned Kaywhin closely as she stood in front of him. Then, she lowered her voice to a whisper and wagged her hand.

"Darling, lower your head towards me."

"I'm sorry?"

"Quickly."

Kaywhin was confused, but nonetheless, compliantly lowered his head, thinking that maybe Yelena wanted to tell him a secret.

At that moment, Yelena quickly pressed her lips against Kaywhin's and then pulled away.

"...!"

"Hehe."

"Wife."

"...What?"

Her husband sounded serious, which startled Yelena. She looked up at him. Maybe she shouldn't have kissed him outside, even though she was trying her best to control herself.

"Are you angry...?"

"Let's hurry inside."

"Huh?"

"It's hard to hold back."

"..."

Yelena blinked. Then, her voice came out, shy, but unable to hide her brimming anticipation.

"...Very well."

***

They say that late bloomers have a lot to catch up on. These past few days, Yelena has felt like that saying was created to be about her.

'Kissing... is truly... wonderful.'

To think that kissing was such a wonderful thing.

Yelena made small splashes as she tread water in her bathtub.

It was only now that she understood the romance novels she had read in the past. She understood why the female leads became so ecstatic just from interlocking lips with the male leads, why their legs went weak, and why they even fainted(!).

'No, I think they fainted from doing something else, not from kissing...'

Yelena recalled the wide range of romance novels she had read and hesitated.

'But... is it really that good, to the point that you'd faint?'

The thing that came after kissing?

"...There's no way. The novels must be romanticizing it. I heard that it's painful in real life..."

"Madam, do you need anything?"

The maids who were attending to Yelena in the bathroom reacted to the sound of Yelena's low murmurs.

"Ah, no. It's nothing."

"By the way, Madam, your hair is so luscious," the maid who had massaged Yelena's hair with fragrant oil commented.

"It was always luscious, but these days, it feels like silk."

"My thoughts exactly. And your skin has become so soft."

"How are you becoming even more beautiful as the days go on?"

"...Is that so?"

While the maids could have just been flattering her due to the nature of their jobs, for some reason, Yelena could feel that they truly meant what they said.

'Come to think of it, Abbie and Merry have also said similar things.'

Yelena had been hearing about her dramatic beautification often these days.

'What's going on? I haven't changed the cosmetics that I use... The only thing that's changed is that I kissed my husband.'

Obviously, there was no way that kissing her husband was the reason.

'They say you turn beautiful when you fall in love. Is this an optical illusion that resulted from how happy I look these days?'

That seemed plausible. Nonetheless, hearing people tell her how beautiful she was wasn't a bad thing at all.

Yelena subtly stroked her skin. Perhaps because she had just been complimented on it, her skin felt more supple than usual.

After her bath, Yelena walked through the corridor of the ducal castle. Since she had spent such a long time in the warm bath, she was now craving an iced drink garnished with a lemon slice. She was planning on going to the kitchen to request it from the chef directly. Yelena moved with light steps.

It was at that very moment.

[...Excuse me.]