Chapter 8

At the unexpected words she heard from him, Judith hurriedly took off her hand from her lips. Only after doing so did the word 'opportunity' reach her ears.

"An opportunity for me?"

"I'm talking about the opportunity to have a successor."

At that moment, Judith's mind became blank. Perhaps it was obvious on her expression as Vinsen, who was looking at her while calmly sipping on his tea, added.

"Why are you so surprised? Judith, isn't this something that you are also longing for?"

"That... That is so, but..."

There was one thing that troubled Judith when her husband died —the absence of a successor. It was true that they did not use the same bedroom and that they had not held each other's hands ever since their wedding ceremony. Still, she felt empty, despite knowing that it wasn't something worth wishing for.

Even if an aristocratic young lady would marry into another family and would become the Lady of that family, one could say that her existence couldn't remain in that family forever. Because they were in a relationship where they would become strangers with just a divorce anytime.

The only way a lady could fully belong to the family was to have a successor who was born with the family's blood. This was to establish the foundation of blood ties in the family and solidify her position.

In fact, during Derrick's funeral, people consoled her mostly on the fact that she had not given a successor. It was a testament that the other aristocrats in the capital were deeply concerned about that aspect.

"Why don't you give it a try once more?"

Vinsen was also aware of the fact that the relationship between them was not that good. As such, his voice that had whispered to her of taking advantage of Derrick's amnesia made her feel lightheaded, as if the temptation of the devil was awaiting her.

T/N: Dear author, I love your prelude here.

But could that task be really easy? Derrick had lost his own memories, but wouldn't Judith remember all that had happened between them as a married couple?

Even though it was obvious that Derrick had become a completely different person from before he had died, she would still feel anger and other such emotions once in a while when she saw his face, and her mind would recall the past where things didn't go well. But, be that as it may, she couldn't pour that anger out on her husband who didn't remember anything at the moment, so she continuously calmed herself.

'Sleeping together......'

After ending their brief conversation and sending Vinsen off to return home, Judith was lost in her own thoughts and was concerned as she entered the mansion by herself.

It was natural for a married couple to share a single bedroom together, especially when they had the intention to have a successor. Of course, it wasn't just sharing the same bedroom, but also the same bed. And they would need to have intercourse often until she would become pregnant. She felt embarrassed for no reason, even if everything she had just thought of was something learnt through theory.

'Now is the perfect time.'

The thing that she was most anxious of was his womanizing ways that could have made another woman pregnant and she wouldn't know. Fortunately, whether there was a thing that had happened, he must have controlled himself as no such thing had occurred during their two years of marriage. Still, she couldn't put her agitated mind to rest.

And if anything, the constant meeting of her husband and Silvia Wirell increased her anxiety. If Silvia Wirell was planning to conceive his child by any chance, Judith's position was something that could be easily taken away. With Silvia Wirell in her mind, her heart became impatient for no reason. While being worried about this, something she would regret later might truly happen. At that thought, Judith was able to put an end to her worries.

* * *

Two hours after Vinsen had left, Judith came down to the dining room for supper, checked to see that the opposite chair from hers was vacant for some reason, and tilted her head.

"Where's my husband?"

She asked before sitting on her chair, and the maid, who was serving the food, quickly responded.

"I had informed him that the meal had been prepared, but there had been no answer from him."

'Strange.'

It was something odd. Not once did he avoid their meals during the past week, and he would usually be the first to come down and wait for her, with a shameless smile on his face. Judith looked at the empty seat with a vacant look and then turned her feet towards the entrance of the dining room.

"I'll go to his room and see him by myself, so finish up preparing the food for us."

"Yes, Madame."

She left the dining room and gulped down her saliva as she headed to the second floor. Judith had just made the decision regarding their coupling in the bedroom, which he kept bringing up quite often. She was also aware of the fact that they needed to sleep together one way or another for the sake of having a successor.

But after she had sent Vinsen off, she was unable to meet with him. It was because she didn't have the courage to face him as the impact of their first kiss lingered strongly. Whenever she recalled the sensation of that peculiar kiss, she couldn't handle herself as her heart would pound vigorously.

Outside the window, the orange-coloured sky had already disappeared, and the surroundings were becoming dim. The lamps that hung on the walls of the corridor lit up the interior of the mansion, which had become considerably dark. As she walked along the corridor that was barely visible, she remembered her husband's red eyes, sending a cold shiver down her spine for no reason.

'Come to think of it, what in the world was that?'

Now it was seen clearly to the point she was unable to consider it as an 'illusion.' Those irises had changed to a deep crimson colour. She should have just asked him one more time when he avoided answering her question. She didn't have any time to do so as things happened so suddenly in such a short time.

'We will go down to the dining room together and I should ask him indirectly,' she secretly planned.

Arriving in front of his study, she knocked carefully at the door. As the maid had said, she didn't hear any response from inside.

"Derrick."

She knocked one more time, but still, no response came to her. If she was a maid, she would have walked away, but Judith was the Mistress of the House, and she had no hesitation to hold and turn the doorknob as she was his wife.

"I am coming in."

After announcing in a quiet-like manner, she carefully opened the door. She spotted a single lamp lit inside his office, but she didn't feel any presence in the room. The dark room gave an ambience that was somewhat bleak.

Judith entered, closed the door behind her, and looked at her surroundings. Although it was possible to distinguish things to an extent with a dim light, there was no one inside the study. Her feet unconsciously headed toward his bedroom, which was connected to his office.

'What should I do if, by any chance, he's not there?' Judith agonized as she opened the large bedroom door.

His bedroom was darker, compared to the study. The only source of light was the lamp hanging outside the window. Somehow, the inside of the room felt cold. Not being able to see clearly inside, she frowned until she spotted someone sitting on the floor, with his back against the bed.

"Derrick?"

There was only one person who could do that in this bedroom. Her own husband. Despite hesitantly calling him, she was very convinced it was him, so Judith walked to where he was. Then her foot stepped on something, and she heard a crack.

'What's this?'

She couldn't see very well with the dark surroundings, so she bent her body and fumbled around the floor. She discovered a sharp object, a fragment from a shattered picture frame.

"Why is this..."

Judith, whose eyes had become accustomed to the dark, was startled out of her wits. Like the glass, many pieces were scattered nearly everywhere on the floor. It was an appalling sight, as though a typhoon had come and rampaged throughout the room. Judith put down the pieces of the picture frame and quickly approached him.

"Are you alright? What in the world...kya!"

The moment she looked back to the chaos around her, she screamed in surprise at the strength that had grabbed and pulled her wrist.

Thud.

Only after she had tumbled down did she realize that she had fallen on top of his bed. Judith, whose body was still agitated, became pale at the sight of the black silhouette that had pinned her down.

The face, which was revealed by the dim light soon after, belonged to her husband, Derrick. But he looked different from his usual self in some way. His eyes seemed to have lost its focus, and it made her heart pound relentlessly with uneasiness.

"Mm!"

Her anxiety was never groundless. His shaking eyes felt like it was gradually getting closer to her, and soon after, he devoured her lips in one fell swoop. Judith was startled and began struggling, but he grasped both of her wrists and pinned them on the bed. He was so strong that she had thought she had been caught by a strong metal.

"Uhg! Der —rick! What are...... Haa!"

As soon as she opened her mouth to let out her protests, his slick tongue went inside. Judith was at a loss for words and clenched her fingers as his tongue swept over her teeth and scoured the roof of her mouth as though he was tickling it.

"Sto —stop......!"

Judith tried her best to escape but was startled by an unknown sensation stealthily rising from the tip of her toes. Then. Then, an arousing feeling incomprehensible to her mind began to ignite heat in her body.

Her rationality quickly left her as her body was slowly enveloped by pleasure. It felt as if her mind and body were acting separately. Judith thought that what had happened in his study earlier was being repeated, and felt chills course through her spine.

He, who was completely gnawing on her lips as though he was chewing food, turned her head and began to descend. Judith became completely stiff at his behaviour as he licked her neck and bit her collarbone. Despite her stone-like state, Derrick kept going down further without any pause. Before long, his hair tickled Judith's chest. At that moment, she was suddenly seized by fear, and she completely forgot how to breathe.

".......Ah!"

Derrick bit a nipple that was conspicuous over her clothes. He then buried his face over her chest and put his tongue out, circling around her nipple. And it was only her nipple that stood sharply, that was completely drenched by his saliva.

"Uu...... hhhh."

Her vision turned completely white from the electrifying sensation that she was experiencing for the first time in her life that was different, perhaps even more so, after their kiss. Her legs that had been spread and placed between his were writhing here and there. The skirt of her dress had been rolled up from his movements to the point that her calves were shown, but Judith didn't notice as her focus was entirely on the sensation coming from her chest that had become sensitive.

Derrick licked her nipples by teasing it with his tongue that was as persistent as his gaze and gently touched them. Judith felt the stimulation from the edge of her skirt and felt goosebumps all over her body. Of course, these goosebumps were more of pleasure rather than discomfort.

"Ahhg, hold, on...!"

Only

He put his hands directly on the upper part of her dress and touched her over her clothes, feeling dissatisfied. Seeing that, Judith removed his hands and hastily pushed him away.

"Ha, stop... Why in the world are you being like this?!"

"I told you, it would've been better if we had slept together earlier when we were talking about it."

"What are you saying?"

Barely able to put a stop on his lips that was about to kiss her as he pleased, Judith checked his pupils and saw that they were out of focus. Somehow his condition was strange. She, who was having a sense of crisis, realized that it wasn't the right time to do this, so she moved to get out of bed and turned her body.

But before she could, he caught her waist and she was once again placed back to the same place where she laid.

"Derrick!"

Judith's voice, whether it was filled with pleading or with reprimanding, reverberated in the cool bedroom.