Duke of the Beast and the Vicarious Bride - Chapter 83

Volumes 1 - 3 of DOTBATVB are available uncensored on ko-fi!

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

Did she dislike it that much? Jayden’s words returned to him—that females naturally abhorred this act. He had tried to prolong the moment, but it seemed tonight he must release her.

After a while, Fiona heard Caligo withdraw and slowly leave the room.

Her limbs, drained of all strength, lay scattered helplessly. Her body was so weary she felt she might sink into deep sleep at once.

Yet her spirit felt clearer than ever. Perhaps tonight had been the last time they would share their bodies without her knowing his face.

Tomorrow morning, she would finally see Caligo’s face. At the thought, even in her dreams, Fiona’s heart fluttered.

* * *

It was still the dim hour before dawn.

Though spring had arrived, the air held a chill. Fiona, bundled securely in her outer garments, waited at the side door of the kitchen in the clearing where the food stores were stacked, watching for the one she had promised to meet.

Fortunately, the soldier did not leave her waiting. He arrived at the appointed hour to fetch her—or rather, to fetch the provisions.

Fiona had volunteered to accompany Morin to the encampment today. Forgetting her weariness, she had risen early and busied herself for some time.

Marie had pleaded with her mistress, had even lost her temper trying to dissuade her, but the mistress she had chosen to serve in the north possessed a will threaded with iron sinew.

“Do not worry. I shall only watch from afar. Surely you understand—it is too cruel. Five months have passed since the wedding, and still I remain a new bride who does not know her husband’s face.”

At Fiona’s final words, Marie had at last raised the white flag. And so Fiona had made her way safely to the kitchen, where she now stood before the young soldier.

“You truly came,” he said, greeting her with something between surprise and welcome. Had it not been for the lust clouding his eyes, she might have taken him for nothing more than an amiable, good-natured youth. A pity.

The soldier spoke briefly to his companions who had driven the supply wagon, then helped Fiona and Morin onto the cargo bed.

As the wagon lurched into motion, her heart stirred with a strange anticipation, a buoyant lightness. At last, she would face Caligo—the one with whom she had only ever joined in darkness. Today, she would learn the features she had traced only with her fingertips, the eyes she had conjured endlessly in her imagination.

What thought would come to her first upon seeing him? She could not guess. What if he proved far more grotesque and hideous than she had imagined? Would she be disappointed?

Neither Jayden nor the soldier had spoken of Caligo’s appearance, so she had no notion what to expect. Yet surely, now, even if his looks proved homely, the affection she held for him as family would not waver.

Would she recognize him at once from a distance? If Caligo could see her, would he know her? And if he did, how would he respond? What response ought she to give in return?

These tangled thoughts chased one another only briefly before Fiona set aside her reverie.

She must not be discovered by Jayden. Today, she intended only to observe from afar—to glimpse Caligo’s true form and see how he passed his days. Which meant Caligo would not be in a position to see her at all.

Soon, the wagon passed through the firmly closed gates and began to jolt along an unpaved road.

Since coming north, this was her first time beyond the castle walls. The very fact of it sent a thrill through her, as though she had breached some great taboo.

As they passed through the gates, the landscape she had scarcely glimpsed behind the high stone walls rushed forth to meet her all at once.

The still-imposing mountain range and the sweeping open plain looked exactly as they had when she first arrived. Only a faint verdure seeping into the scene quietly announced the changing season.

And yet, this remained a land of isolation, where nothing existed save majestic nature.

Jayden had clearly never imagined that Fiona might flee or cause trouble in such a place. Otherwise, he would never have left her so free, without a single watchful eye.