The reception was over.

Tired of talking and dealing with people during the reception, I made an effort to remove the necklace around my neck.

If it were original, the maids would have done it for me, but today was the first day of the wedding. Meyer and I were alone in the new room.

I tried many times, but could not get it to go as I wished. I gave up immediately and plopped down on the sofa. My heart wanted to get rid of it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, considering the price.

Meyer came up to me, lifted my hair, and took off the necklace.

His big, thick fingertips grazed the back of my neck. Meyer’s whispering tongue tickled my side.

“You should’ve told me in advance.”

“I’m a little embarrassed.”

“Why are you embarrassed about taking off your necklace?”

“…”

It was kind of like an omen to take off my clothes.

But I just couldn’t say it that way, my throat was blocked.

I’m worried about Sevi’s saying that he was checking the number of holy water…

What on earth is there to drink holy water on your wedding night? If I’m going to drink holy water, I’m going to drink it, and what the hell am I going to do with it?

I swallowed my spit.

It wasn’t that I never thought about the first night. I’ve prepared my own mind… It was a good idea to take measures just in case.

‘I think it’s too much, but… As expected, there’s no need to worry.’

A tension I was not aware of until the reception tightened around my neck.

He wandered on my bare skin, wondering if he realized the reason why I was ashamed, and Meyer’s hand, which took off my necklace, hesitated what to do after that.

I moistened my dry lips with my tongue. My nerves were on edge as I concentrated on his hand on my back.

Did he accept my silence as permission? Gathering his courage, his hand went cautiously to the strings that tied my dress. The dress, which I could not put a price on the layers, fell to the bottom like a scattering of peony petals one by one.

His hot breath on my neck. His breathing, which was somewhat rough, perhaps from nervousness, sounded particularly loud in my ears.

I tried to stay as calm as possible, but it was not easy. Meyer couldn’t stand it either, and he just laid me down on the sofa and draped himself over me. We’re in trouble here. I said in a panic.

“L-let’s go to the bed.”

As soon as my words fell, Meyer lifted me up and took me to bed. The view went round and round.

“Jun…”

Meyer came up on top of me, trapping me in. It was dark for a moment as his huge body blocked me on all sides.

“Finally… I can hardly believe it.”

Meyer rubbed his lips lightly on my cheek several times and murmured softly. He was so moved that his voice, speaking alone, was full of emotion.

Meyer’s hand carefully touched my hip. I could feel from his fingertips that he was concerned that if he put the slightest pressure on his hand that it would break, as if thin glass.

The hand that reached me was hot. I let out a breath.

My head felt foggy. I wanted to throw reason away like sand being swept away by a wave, but that was not possible.

I finally opened my mouth before I could think rationally any longer.

“Meyer, I know it’s obvious, but I’m just asking, just in case… It’s your first time, right?”

Meyer’s body stiffened. He had been clinging to me, but he raised his body and frowned. The look in his eyes was full of frustration.

“… Do you think it’s not my first time? That comment just now was very unpleasant.”

“I know, but I asked just in case.”

“But why are you asking me that?”

“Um…”

I muffled my words with an awkward laugh. Meyer sighed, and then he raised his body, raising his dark eyebrows as if he really had to say a word.

“Like when you kissed me the first time, you keep making people…”

Click.

The sound of a metal lock closing snapped off Meyer’s words with a light heart.

“Phew.”

The handcuffs hidden behind the pillow were safely put on Meyer.

Given his ridiculous stats, it was impossible with my reflexes in the first place. I only hoped that Meyer was caught off guard since it was the first night, but fortunately, it flowed as expected.

I crossed one of the big mountains first, still breathing out and wiping the sweat off my face. Meyer, who had no idea why looked at me in a daze.

“Jun? What the hell is this…”

“In fact, I thought I might die if the Commander went crazy.”

“But to handcuff a person!”

Meyer angrily tugged at his hands. I was worried that it might break for a moment, but the chain was stronger than I thought.

If it had been a mediocre chain, it would have snapped like a piece of thread at once, but knowing Meyer’s power figures, there was no way I could have found such a crude device.

I asked Vince to raid the secret warehouse of Grand Duke Knox and barely saved a flail artifact for the cavalry.

The blacksmith separated the long chain part and asked a master craftsman to modify it, which made it quite well made, even with a meticulous eye.

‘It even became a new artifact, and there was a status debuff effect.’

Strength stats reduced by 20%. Meyer’s 20% reduction in power does not change the fact that he is the strongest of mankind, but I don’t know how pleased he would be with that numerical adjustment.

The master craftsman was frustrated for a while that the first artifact he created was a handcuff, not a sword, spear, or shield, but he quickly recovered his spirits positively, wondering how many blacksmiths would try to create even one artifact in their lifetime.

Of course, even though it was an amazing artifact, it should not be a job for Meyer to break the chain if he wanted to.

But he chose to seek my consent.

“Undo this, Jun. I had everything in my mind.”

I shook my head firmly at the words handed with a sigh.

“Mind? Preparing holy water? How on earth were you going to overwork me!”

“It’s not for you!”

Meyer countered. Recently, he changed the title to you[1], but when he got a little excited, the old title came out automatically.

“Then what were you going to use it for?”

“…”

Meyer did not answer easily and kept his mouth shut. He was not a man who would lie to absolve himself of a situation, so perhaps the story that he wasn’t trying to use it for me is true…

“I know my strength and stamina. I also have in mind the possibility that I may not have the self-control to protect my reason. So…”

Meyer mumbled.

No way. I recalled one hypothesis that had crossed my mind. The reason I didn’t think of this first was because I thought, “No way,” even though it was our wedding night.

I exclaimed in surprise.

“Don’t tell me you were going to self-harm?!”

“Self-harm, you’re exaggerating. It’s just proper physical control…”

“Proper! I don’t want to spend the first night on a bloody sheet!”

“Is it okay to have the first night in a chain?”

“It’s okay because it’s included in a kind of fetish.”

“You’re making no sense!”

Meyer shouted loudly. As such, we remained facing each other for a while.

On the other hand, I was concerned about his body temperature, which was touching me all the time. It was hot, as if his warmth had burned into my body.

First of all… We can’t just keep doing this for now.

From the looks of it, it doesn’t look like he’s trying to force the handcuffs off…

I’ll try to coax him a little bit more. I climbed up on top of Meyer’s body with a sly smile on my face. As I did so, I whispered a small kiss on his cheek, just as he had done earlier.

“Just hang in there. I’ll do my best.”

“Why are you being nice to me… Wait, Jun Liteitia. Why do you look so used to it…”

“Come on, that’s not the point.”

“What do you mean that’s not the…”

I closed my mouth around Meyer’s chattering lips. His complaints, which he had spouted earlier, quieted like a demon.

I kissed him, rubbed my firm body against his and put my hand down.

I think he’s around here somewhere. But I didn’t catch him where I thought he was.

Then something heavy and thick arrived in my hand. I traced it again and again.

Meanwhile, Meyer gasped and gritted his teeth, looking at me as if to swallow me with eyes full of lust and jealousy.

“You must tell me at the end of the day. You surely had other men in your life besides me, didn’t you? You keep avoiding my words…!”

But his words entered one ear and slipped out the other. It was because I was so embarrassed by what I said that I didn’t have time to concentrate on what Meyer said.

It was only then that I could see why Meyer had to defend his right-hand leg so far.

So… I was embarrassed.

‘The bottom of the final boss is also the final boss…’

I swallowed a groan that I didn’t know whether it was sighing or exclamation.

But it was a multi-tiered, no, a gigantic-tiered.

Isn’t it the same as shouting that there’s nothing good about growing up, that’s sour grapes?

‘Self-justification of someone who hasn’t had a big one.’

… Maybe it’s me who is self-justifying.

However, a woman has pride, and she has stepped forward confidently, and she can’t bite the bullet now after having embarked on a confident ride.

Okay. The day would never come in this lifetime that I would face anything other than Meyer anyway. Not wanting to cause an innocent death, I was determined to do so.

The time for another battle awaited me.

1. (T/N: Meyer calls Jun 그대, he used to call her 자네. Both translate to “you” in English so it’s difficult to properly express. 자네 is used by older both men and women (50 years old and above usually, and mostly men) towards younger people, mostly men. 그대 is often used poetically and in song lyrics used towards an intimate subject (for example one’s girlfriend.)