101st Confession

After the reception, the wedding finally ended.

Lucia, visibly flushed, leaned over to Herwin and laughed.

“Come on, let’s go, we’re going to drink again!”

“Get the carriage right now!”

Behind Lucia and Herwin, their friends and Lucas appeared in a line.

Tensions were high because they’d all had just the right amount of wine and champagne at the reception, and that included Lucia.

Herwin had declared sobriety a week ago, so he was still sober.

His eyebrows wiggled as his clueless friends tried to interrupt them, inconsiderate of the fact that they were finally married.

“Hey, you guys are drunk, stop what you’re doing and go home.”

“We’re not going anywhere! It’s a great day, we should stay until the end! Don’t you think?”

“That’s right! We can’t leave like this!”

“If you don’t go, I’ll lie down here!”

The drunks didn’t see Herwin’s angry expression in his eyes. Instead, they burst out laughing and insisted on moving on.

“Let’s go to the mansion!”

Lucia poured oil on the still-burning flames. Their friends were quick to agree, climbing into the wagon one by one.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll take Ethan with me.”

Hella, the only sober one, apologized profusely to a frozen Herwin. She tried to pull Ethan away, but her slender frame was no match for his strength.

“Hah… No, since it’s come to this, you should come with us.”

“What? Ha, but…….”

“It’s just that I don’t think I can handle them by myself.”

Her gaze followed Herwin’s finger and she saw their friends partying wildly in the carriage, and when she saw her lover tangled up with them, Hella nodded.

“I see, then, if you’ll excuse me.”

Hella climbed into the carriage and calmed Ethan, Brian, and Christine down. Herwin slammed the carriage door shut and ordered the coachman to take them to the Phoenaeus mansion.

His friends’ carriage left first, and Herwin climbed into his own.

In the carriage were Lucia, Lucas, Arista, and Henry. They were just as excited as the others.

“I wish I could get them taxidermied so I could keep them around.”

Henry, still a student and not drinking, laughed at the three of them singing in unison.

If he had a crystal ball in his hand, he would have taxidermied them just like that.

Herwin sighed deeply and brought Lucia from between Arista and Lucas.

“Aaaa~ Why are you taking Lucia!”

“She’s going to be yours for the rest of her life, just give in for today!”

Lucas and Arista joined forces and began to whine for him to return Lucia. Henry burst out laughing when he saw Herwin swallowing his anger with a smile on his face.

“Heh, Herwin, look at you. I’m so popular, aren’t I?”

Lucia, who didn’t even know Herwin’s heart, was only happy that she was popular.

Her smiling face was too cute to be offended. Instead of compromising by kissing Lucia on the forehead, Herwin nudged Lucas, forcing him to close the distance between him and Arista.

Once they were close enough to each other, they shut up of their own accord.

Henry’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight.

“What the hell is this?”

“It’s just that they are.”

“So, are they dating?”

“No, not really, just a mutual attraction.”

“Aha.”

The carriage fell silent for a moment as the two spoke. Still, Lucia’s chattering mouth remained.

“Baby, are you offended?”

Lucia wasn’t that drunk, but the others’ excitement had increased the tension.

Still, she was drunk enough to be a little sloppy, so she tried to be more affectionate than usual to make him feel better.

Naturally, Herwin took it in stride.

“I’m not offended, it’s just not my day.”

“I’m glad. It’s just that they said we’d never get together like this again unless it was today, so I thought you’d understand.”

“Yeah, of course. Doesn’t that make you sick to your stomach?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little disoriented.”

“Come here.”

Herwin gently wrapped his arms around Lucia’s head and tucked her against his shoulder. Lucia giggled and hugged his arms tightly.

Everyone in the carriage watched as Herwin lovingly stroked Lucia’s hair.

Henry was especially disgusted as if he’d seen something he shouldn’t have.

“What are you looking at?”

“Ugh- I can’t get used to you being like that. Since when do you think you’re so cute…….”

“You should get a girlfriend someday. You don’t think you’ll ever do that?”

“But you’re too much. You don’t usually laugh very much.”

“Still, it’s better now than it was then, right?”

“Whatever.”

Henry scoffed at his self-consciousness. While the Phoenaeus brothers were bickering, they arrived at their destination.

It was the familiar Phoenaeus mansion.

His friends, who had arrived earlier, got out of the carriage and started talking loudly.

“Wow! Guys!”

Lucia exclaimed, excited to be outside again. Herwin grabbed her to keep her from falling and stepped out of the carriage.

He glanced around the carriage and saw Arista leaning her head on Lucas’ shoulder.

‘When did she do that?’

He blinked, wondering if he’d seen the wrong thing, and Arista’s head slid off his shoulder.

“Herwin, what are you doing?”

Lucas asked in a more nuanced tone, forcing Herwin to move out of the way.

“Uh, sorry…….”

‘Did I see it wrong?’

Herwin watched Lucas and Arista, who had now joined the others.

As he thought about them, Lucia began to stumble. Herwin picked her up and led the drunken foals into the house.

Before he knew it, they were gone from his mind.

* * *

“Poohhhh!”

“Why do you keep laughing?”

“I don’t know, I just keep laughing!”

Herwin grinned and looked down at Lucia, who was sleeping peacefully in his arms.

The current time was two in the morning.

After a night of partying that bordered on insanity, the group of friends had finally tired themselves out and thrown themselves one by one into random rooms.

They didn’t have a room for them in the capital yet, as they’d be heading up north immediately after their honeymoon.

Still, the bedding and curtains had been changed to suit Lucia’s tastes, and the room was much nicer than Herwin’s.

“Wow. It’s so different from before.”

“I didn’t touch the furniture, just the bedding and decor. Do you like it?”

“Yes! Absolutely!”

Lucia slid out of Herwin’s arms and looked around the room, her legs already tired from running with her friends until 2 a.m., let alone a wedding.

Just as she was about to fall forward, Herwin caught her in a quick hug.

Lucia burst out laughing and clung to his neck. He felt her breath and hair tickling his neck and smiled deeply.

Carefully, Herwin laid Lucia down on the bed. Lucia’s face flushed red and she giggled.

“You’re so fluffy, I feel like I’m on a cloud.”

“You’re really drunk. Saying all these things you don’t normally say.”

“But it’s true-“

Lucia’s habit when she’s drunk. She started to ramble. Thinking of Lucia’s cute childhood, Herwin began to undress one by one.

He was frustrated that he was still wearing the same clothes from the reception.

When he was down to a t-shirt and pants, he moved on to Lucia’s clothes.

“Hahaha, it tickles-!”

Lucia burst out laughing at the tickling sensation. Despite her giggles, he didn’t stop touching her.

He couldn’t say he had any naughty thoughts, but he realized that it would be uncomfortable to sleep in her reception dress as it was.

His hands began to undo the ribbons and buttons on her dress, one by one. It was winter, and she wore many layers.

Lucia’s laughter died down as each piece of clothing was removed.

When the corset was finally revealed, both Lucia and Herwin bit their lips. They were both in a sticky, breathless tug-of-war.

“……I’ll untie it.”

“Yes…….”

With nervous fingers, Herwin untied the ribbons that held the corset together. As he tried to remove the corset, Lucia spontaneously lifted her waist.

Now she wore only one thing: a thin inner dress.

Herwin carefully placed his hand on the thin garment, which showed every curve of her body. A hot breath escaped Lucia’s mouth.

“Lucia.”

Herwin was on top of her, his hands brushing her face.

Burying her face in his big, hot hands, Lucia looked up at him, her lashes fluttering at his call.

He hadn’t started anything yet, and she felt heat rising inside her.

“Herwin-“

Lucia trailed off, throwing her arms around his neck. Their eyes met, and after a few moments of silence, they closed their eyes and kissed.

What began as a bird’s-eye kiss gradually turned into a full-blown tongue tangle as their mouths opened, and the atmosphere became so thick that it was hard to breathe.

Their hot breathing echoed in their ears.

When the kiss ended, deep and brief, he opened his eyes to find himself inside the moistened walls. Herwin could hold out no longer.

He pressed his lips to Lucia’s plump lips once more, then moved directly downward.

He started at her jaw, moved down her neck, and stroked her trim waist.

Then he heard a sharp intake of breath, which he thought was a nice sound, and he could smell the sweet scent of her nape.

He sucked in the delicate flesh and nibbled gently, just as he had when he first kissed Lucia.

A moment later, Lucia’s white nape blossomed into a pretty crimson flower. Herwin looked at it with satisfaction and flicked it away with his fingers.

“Lucia, is it okay…….”

He was about to ask Lucia if she was okay when he froze.

Kuhh–

Lucia had fallen asleep. Herwin didn’t understand what was happening.

No, he couldn’t be the only one who was excited, how could she fall asleep in less than three minutes….…

“Mmm, Herwin-“

Lucia tossed and turned in her sleep, and Herwin smelled the sweet scent of wine. She drank more than she should have, and then she fell asleep.

Herwin looked down at Lucia’s mouth in disbelief, then leaned his head back.

“Ha, ha, ha…….”

It was so ridiculous that all he could do was laugh. In a fit of hysterical laughter, Herwin slid off Lucia’s top and wiped her dry face.

“I never thought I’d end up sucking a finger on our first night.”

Where did he go wrong? In not stopping Lucia when she kept drinking, in not calming their excited friends?

“I shouldn’t have brought them in the first place……!”

No matter how he look at it, the root of it all was their friends insisting on going to the second round.

Herwin was seething and wondering how to get back at them.

“Yeah… it’s cold…….”

At that moment, Lucia burrowed into his waist and whined. Herwin carefully wrapped a thick blanket around her, making sure no chill could get in.

Only then did her frowns open. Herwin, who was smiling at it, slowly lowered his head.

“……What should I do with this?”

He sighed heavily and went into the bathroom alone.

He vowed to make up for this on their honeymoon tomorrow.