“The newlyweds look like they’re in a hurry. Are they going to do it right before the reception?”

Lucy and Lily opened their mouths at the same time. The first to come to her senses was Mrs. Bailey, a veteran maid. She urged the servants with a stern voice. “Don’t let anyone step in front of the lady’s bedroom. Tell that to every servant you encounter. Everyone must scatter here and there to prepare for the reception.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Mrs. Bailey looked up the stairs with perplexed eyes as if to estimate when they would come down.

“It will take time for all the guests to arrive at the banquet hall, but if the lord and the lady do not show up by then, we must fill that out even if the band performance has to play in advance. Got it?”

“We’ll keep that in mind, ma’am.”

Now guests were arriving one by one to enjoy the reception, another flower of the ceremony. The servants shook off the shock they had just witnessed and hurriedly prepared to welcome the guests.

***

Cade, who came up to the third floor just once this month, opened Cherryl’s bedroom door with a bolt. He laid down Cherryl carefully on the bench at the end of the bed. He knelt down and hurriedly examined her countenance. Like a woman who just entered and left the water, Cherryl appeared exhausted from breathing. She wasn’t like this when she came back in a carriage. From her unstable breathing alone, her lack of oxygen seemed to have worsened.

“I must call a doctor.”

Cade, who judged it to be out of his hands, immediately rose. Cherryl seized the hem of his suit.

“Just…wait….”

She managed to come up with a word. Cade, who didn’t understand the badly disturbed voice, hurriedly put his hand on Cherryl’s lap.

“What can I do for you?”

Cherryl groaned as if she broke her arm while touching her back. Seeing that, Cáde also noticed that her clothes were the problem.

“The dress is uncomfortable.”

“That’s not it————”

Before she could continue, there was a sound of the cloth tearing on her back. Cade tore the top of her wedding dress mercilessly to save her half-dead bride. Dozens of jewels fell to the floor, making a clear sound, and the fine silk fabric fluttered in pieces. Stunned, Cherryl put her hand on her forehead. Her problem was the corset, so it couldn’t have gotten any better. Cade examined her face.

“Are you all right now?”

“I—-I can’t breathe.”

As she was still looking pale, Cade rubbed his face with impatience. “What the hell is wrong with you, Cherryl?”

Cherryl could barely open her mouth, amused that she might have a funeral on her wedding day. “Please take off my underwear, My Lord.”

Cade, who was about to turn his head again to check on Cherryl’s back, stopped his hand. She could feel him hardening like a stone statue behind her. After pausing for a few seconds, he stared at her with shaky eyes as if he couldn’t believe what he just heard.

“N-Now?” His tone was uncharacteristically agitated.

“That’s not what I meant!” Cherryl quickly shook her hands in front of him and explained. “It’s the corset. The corrective underwear. Just pull the strings behind my back and release me!” As she cried out faintly, Cade returned his gaze to her back. It wasn’t bare skin that was exposed under the ragged dress, but a strange garment that seemed to spread out to the flat of her boots.

“What are you wearing underneath?”

Cáde stopped just above her tailbone as he flicked down the crossed strings with his fingers. Then, he pulled the knots tied in butterfly shapes. As the lower part of the corset expanded due to his violent hand movements, Cherryl breathed in reflexively. She narrowed her brows and turned her head.

“My Lord!”

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Couldn’t you have been more gentle?”

“You must be fine already, seeing that you’re annoyed.”

He retorted, slightly pushing Cherryl’s head as if to look ahead. Soon, a softer gesture loosened the straps. As her compressed upper body became loose, a warm feeling spread throughout her body as if her blood had finally started circulating. Cherryl repeated her deep, slow breathing, her chest was greatly agitated. Only then did she feel like she was going to live with a breakthrough.

“Don’t wear any clothes that are hard to peel.” Seeing that he had used some harsh words that were different from usual, he seemed to have been very nervous. Cherryl burst into a shallow laugh.

“I didn’t want to wear it either.”

“I thought something was wrong with you.” With a sigh of relief, he completely released the corset that had been tied tightly with strings. Finally, the frustration of something squeezing her chest area had disappeared and her whole back felt hollow. Cherryl put her hand on her chest and shrugged her shoulders.

“It must have hurt a lot.”

Cade, who murmured to himself, reached out. A cool body temperature reached Cherryl’s left shoulder bone. It was where the wire that had stuck out had poked her. It must have been very painful for him to see the light flesh with tangled reds. This may be the reason why she reacted as if she had been stabbed by a needle earlier.

“…….”

Suddenly, Cherryl realized that she was being caressed because she didn’t have enough as she showed her back to him.

Perhaps he had the same thought because his fingers, which were carefully examining his shoulder bones, seemed to hesitate.