Epilogue 2
"....
Eye drops?"
"It's time for my eye drops right now!"
While Killian hesitated, Rowina pushed him away, stood up awkwardly, and rummaged through the nightstand drawer.
"Here it is. Sit down."
At Rowina's instruction, Killian let out a short sigh and obediently sat on the edge of the bed.
"Look up at me. Don't blink."
Relieved inwardly by the changed atmosphere, Rowina stood before him and made him tilt his head back. Just as she was trying to drop one or two drops into each of his eyes, she froze at the hand that sneakily wrapped around her waist.
"Wh-what are you doing? It'll all spill."
"Still, try to endure it. I'm enduring too."
She couldn't bring herself to ask what he was enduring. From their reunion until they had confirmed each other's feelings, and until they returned home and formally married, Killian had merely tempted her without forcing intimacy unless Rowina wanted it. But with the gradually deepening physical contact and his persistent advances, she found herself breathless every time. It wasn't that she disliked it, but it had been so long that she felt shy and awkward.
"....
Don't move."
In the end, the resigned Rowina fixed his chin with one hand, angling it upward, then carefully tilted the eye drops with the other. His blue eyes followed her persistently, as if unwilling to miss her for even a moment. At that gaze, Rowina swallowed dryly.
Docile as he was, following her lead, he seemed no different from a sacrifice offering its body upon the altar, and yet when he looked at her with those eyes that seemed ready to devour her, he was like a beast in the bushes waiting for the right moment to cut off its prey's breath.
"....
Done."
After a moment where even breathing was careful, Rowina, having put drops in his left eye, turned his head slightly to the left to put drops in the other eye.
Killian blinked and turned his head following her hand. Perhaps she had unknowingly dropped more than one or two drops, for as he blinked, the remaining liquid rolled down his cheek in a stream. Flowing over his flawless, marble-like cheek, it looked just like a tear. Flustered, Rowina let go of his chin.
"Sorry. Just a moment...."
She tried to wipe his cheek with a handkerchief, but her wrist was caught. As she blinked blankly, a thunderbolt-like word reached her ears.
"Lick it."
"....
What?"
"It's fine. It's harmless to the human body."
"No, that's not...."
Wasn't that not the problem? Though she doubted her ears for a moment, this time it was Rowina's face that was caught. Hauling her face toward his own, Killian urged.
"Hurry."
"....
Whenever things turned intimate, Jeremy would burst in, and because he had been needling Killian relentlessly these past few days, Killian had been in a foul mood the entire time. He tried to hide his feelings from her, but there was no way she could be unaware of the frost-like atmosphere pervading the duke's residence.
Taking a deep breath, Rowina stuck out her tongue as if having made up her mind. When she licked his smooth cheek, she felt a tasteless liquid like water. Having barely licked the eye drops, Rowina drew her face back.
"....
It's don— ah."
Before she could finish speaking, lips approached. Rowina jerked her body back and covered his lips with both hands.
"No."
"....
"....
After we finish the eye drops."
She wasn't the only one feeling both regretful and expectant. With a flushed face, Rowina lowered her gaze and whispered softly.
"With all the curtains drawn, of course...."
"....
I will."
Answering in a choked voice, Killian withdrew the hand he had reached out to grab her. Rowina approached again, grasped his cheek, and tilted the eye drops over his right eye. At the drops falling steadily, Killian blinked several times. A bit of eye drops that couldn't be absorbed beneath his fan-like spread eyelashes flowed down just like before. Wiping it away with her sleeve, Rowina murmured thoughtlessly.
"Didn't you cry before?"
"....
The hot liquid that had fallen on his face. At the time, she had been too flustered to think about what it was, but thinking about it now, it was surely tears. Completely unfitting for Killian Maximilian Devonshire. It was an unimaginable sight, but seeing him just now, it had suddenly come to mind.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"It definitely...."
"More importantly."
Cutting off Rowina's words, Killian grabbed her waist with both hands and plopped her down beneath him. Lying on the bed again in an instant, Rowina covered her face with both hands. As she tried to turn her body away like that, her shoulder was caught and she was made to lie facing upward again.
"The curtains... we have to close them."
"Instead, I'll close the bed curtains."
"What if someone comes in?"
"A perceptive butler will lock the door."
"....
Anything else?"
Cool fingertips brushed down her neck. Heat rose on every patch of skin he touched. It felt like she would be scorched by his low breath. Bowing his head, Killian whispered into the ear of the restless Rowina.
"Then move your hands."
It was a command, yet in a gentle tone. Taking a deep breath, Rowina revealed her bright red face.
Killian had kept his promise on the train she had desperately caught up to. After returning home, from trivial matters to important ones, he mostly followed her opinion and acted centered around her so much that the people in the castle rubbed their eyes in disbelief. The only moment this man, who behaved like such a tamed beast, took off his collar was at times exactly like this.
She couldn't let him steal the initiative again like this. After all, it was a collar she had finally gotten into her hands.
"....
Rowina."
"Just a moment."
Killian kissed her nape and caressed her exposed collarbone. As his lips gradually moved lower, the resolute Rowina twisted her body sharply and escaped from beneath him.
"Don't grab me."
And she commanded Killian, who was trying to pin her beneath him again.
"I'm on top."
"....
Rowina grabbed his shoulders and made him lie looking at the ceiling, just as she had been lying moments before. Facing the blue eyes looking up at her with a strange light, she straddled his stomach. She fiercely swatted away the hand that Killian quietly tried to touch her waist with.
"Don't touch. Stay still."
"I'm going mad."
"The moment you grab me, I'm leaving the bed."
Killian snorted at her brazen words and bared his teeth slightly.
"And if I don't let you go?"
"You will. Unless you plan to abstain forever."
"....
Your eyes aren't fully healed yet. So I'll lead."
It was his complete defeat. Raising both palms, Killian declared his surrender. Patting his cheek once as if soothing him, Rowina unfastened his collar buttons one by one with trembling hands. It was when she had unfastened about the third button in her nervousness.
"I think it'll take an hour just to undress you."
Provoked by the sneer, Rowina stuck her hand under his shirt without realizing it. At the same time, her palm felt firm, chiseled abs. Killian furrowed his brows and exhaled a pained breath. Then he provoked the flustered Rowina, who was trying to withdraw her hand.
"Like a deer."
"....
What did you say?"
"I said you're like a deer that gets startled by a bird flying far away and runs off."
Her surge of emotion lasted only a moment. The worked-up Rowina was about to say something when she suddenly noticed his firmly sealed lips. His jaw was clenched too. At the same time, she felt something heavy below her hips. Having realized, Rowina narrowed her eyes and smiled.
"I get it. You're deliberately provoking me right now, aren't you?"
"....
So you can get out of this situation and take the lead, right?"
Having struck a nerve, Killian glared at her instead of answering.
"It won't work."
Responding clearly and firmly, Rowina leaned her body down. Her long golden hair fell like a waterfall and brushed his cheek. Killian turned his head sharply, as if he'd rather not look at all, avoiding her gaze. Feeling mischievous, Rowina suddenly demanded.
"Try asking me to kiss you."
"....
What?"
His darting eyes captured her gaze as if to devour her. If it had been before, she would have lost her nerve and either backed down or surrendered by now, but not anymore. Smiling, Rowina whispered back leisurely.
"Beg me to kiss you. Like how you kissed my foot last time."
Taut gazes met in the air. In the deathly silence of the spacious bedroom, it was the moment Killian opened his mouth to say something.
A knock from outside the door shattered the silence. Coming to her senses belatedly, Rowina tried to hurriedly get off him, but there was no chance of that. Embracing his wife's shoulder tightly, Killian laughed as if counterattacking. Chills shot through her as Rowina pushed him with all her might.
But the opponent, who she thought would move away without reacting, was surprisingly strong.
"Mom!"
"....
Damian?"
The tension that had felt ready to burst at any second collapsed helplessly. Taking advantage of the loosened grip, Rowina quickly got up from the bed and turned the doorknob, flinging the door open as if fleeing. At the same time, Damian ran in and hugged Rowina's waist tightly.
"Mom!"
Damian, smiling brightly, spotted the bed.
"Father?"
Alternating his gaze between the two, Damian soon tilted his head. And asking cautiously.
"Mo... I mean, Mother, why is your face so red?"
The fact that Damian, who used to speak casually, had started speaking respectfully was the result of Killian's strict discipline.
"Ah."
Rowina fanned her face with her hand to cool the heat.
"It's nothing. Anyway, what is it?"
"Did you forget? We promised to go buy a rabbit together."
"That's right! We did. I forgot. Sorry."
Eyes widening at the suddenly remembered promise, Rowina grabbed her son's shoulder and turned him toward the hallway.
"Let's go quickly."
"Yeah."
Damian nodded and cast a glance toward the room just before the door closed. The father and son exchanged a strange look when their eyes met.