Duke of the Beast and the Vicarious Bride - Chapter 34 - IV.

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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

`IV.`

The path out of the stone chamber was as arduous as the way in. Strength continuously failed her trembling legs, and her sweat-drenched garments clung to her, causing her to stumble and fall repeatedly.

Shivering from a body chilled by the cold rising from the earth, she had just managed to walk to the place where Jayden had shoved her to the ground earlier.

A faint light appeared in the distance, and then a large shadow flickered along the walls of the stairway. She knew without asking. It was that bastard.

“Oh my, Your Highness. You have not managed a single step. More fearful than I thought, are you?”

Mistaking her immobility for fear rather than exhaustion, he murmured with a voice dripping with mockery.

“Had I known you would remain here like this, I would have come earlier. I have committed a grave discourtesy…”

But when he lifted his torch to examine her state, Jayden fell silent.

His sunken, blue eyes thoroughly surveyed her dishevelled clothing, her general condition, and her strangely flushed face. At the same moment, the smirk that had lingered on his handsome features vanished, replaced by bewilderment and fury.

“You—what.”

With a face that had turned savage in an instant, Jayden seized her by the collar. His expression betrayed severe agitation.

“Did you…?”

It was less a question than an attempt to confirm while denying reality. Fiona did not know, but to Jayden it was unmistakable. The beast’s scent radiating from her body paralysed his reason.

“You truly did? With that beast?”

Watching Jayden grow so worked over his own questions, Fiona found herself somewhat dumbfounded. He was a creature whose mind she could never fathom.

“You told me to.”

Embracing her arms against the cold that was seeping into her very bones, Fiona retorted sharply. He had commanded her to properly consummate the marriage, yet now, after she had endured hell to do so, he questioned her as if she had committed some unforgivable act. Irritation flared within her.

“Ha, haha. So you actually managed it?”

His tone suggested he had hoped, perhaps even expected, her to fail.

But he was the one who had commanded her to produce an heir? Fiona grew confused by his attitude, so at odds with the Count’s orders.

She had no chance to question this contradiction, however. In the next moment, a furious Jayden twisted her arm painfully.

When she struggled to free herself, he used his strength to subdue her and began to move. Dragged by his unyielding force, she could only stumble along.

“Have you lost your mind? Let go, it hurts!”

“Silence and follow, Fiona Troyes.”

She attempted to resist with words as well, but it was futile against a madman. Rather, it was Fiona who found herself dumbfounded by his response.

Since when had he ever treated her as family, that he should so naturally affix the Troyes name to her? It was laughable. Moreover, strictly speaking, she was no longer a Troyes.

In any case, judging by the present situation alone, Jayden was acting like a devoted older brother disciplining a wayward younger sister who had played wantonly with a man. A scenario that was nauseating even to imagine.

But whether Fiona retched or vomited her innards made no difference to Jayden. He dragged her all the way to her chamber and practically threw her onto the bed. Then, without even giving her a moment to catch her breath, he summoned physicians and maids.

Before she could even comprehend what was happening, Fiona found herself surrounded by maids.

“Confirm that the Grand Duchess has properly consummated the marriage.”

At Jayden’s command, the remaining maids brought screens to block his view and hastily set them up.

Only when the wizened old woman—more midwife than physician—began to part her knees did Fiona realize what was about to happen.

She finally grasped the situation and tried to escape, but it was already too late. Rough-handed maids seized her limbs, and she could not avoid the fingers that rummaged freely through her most private place.

“Surely this is not necessary, you mad bastard!”

Struggling was useless. Like a pig laid upon a slaughterhouse table, Fiona could only yield her body helplessly.