Celia thought her words had been cautious enough, but they only served to darken the man's expression on the sofa to its extreme.
His gaze felt like it could pierce right through her.
He lowered his voice, his tone cold and hard.
"Celia, do you have any idea what you're saying?"
"I... I do."
Celia's voice was weak, her confidence instantly draining away.
She hadn't done anything wrong, yet seeing her husband's icy demeanor, she had only wanted to say something comforting, to make him less distant.
And it had resulted in this... being scolded.
It's not fair...
"While I've been preoccupied with my recovery, have you grown so impatient for my attention that you're now resorting to taunts?"
"How could I be... unsatisfied? I just hoped that you, Husband..."
Her face flushed slightly as she hurriedly waved her hands.
"Oh, so that's not it?"
"Huh?"
She hadn't expected him to believe it so readily.
She simply looked up in bewilderment, her eyes a well of confusion tinged with a hollow disorientation.
Well... there was an element of truth to that accusation of frustration...
"Heh heh heh..."
Liam let out a low, deep chuckle, the sound laced with sarcasm and something darker.
Then, he grabbed the girl's wrist and yanked her back forcefully!
Instantly, Celia stumbled and fell into the man's embrace.
"So you look down on me, is that it? My dear Princess Celia."
"No... How could I?"
Celia immediately scrambled up, struggling to steady her swaying form.
She bowed her head, pretending to know nothing.
Her wrist was still held tightly by the man, sending waves of pain.
She truly didn't know anything.
She didn't understand why her husband was angry.
Though she had gotten up, the warmth from the man's body still lingered.
"You just said... a mere five minutes?"
Celia nodded with a meek little nod, doing her very best to look the picture of obedience.
She even felt a faint sense of anticipation, which she knew was improper.
Right!
A sudden realization.
From Liam's tone, she finally understood why he was angry!
"No.. not 'mere', Husband, I misspoke. It's an impressive five minutes... very impressive. Five minutes... is also quite long..."
But Liam looked even angrier!
"Fine, Celia."
He gritted his teeth, spitting out the words one by one, his tone laced with unmistakable threat.
His large hand pressed down hard on the girl's soft, pale hand, the force so great that the skin beneath his fingertips quickly bloomed an angry red.
"Perhaps I've been too good to you lately, too gentle."
"Really treating you like a princess, spoiling you, making you forget many things, to the point where you think—five minutes is terrible?"
"Wah..."
"It's time to deal with you the way I did last month. Think back to the first time, you were lying there wailing, and in the end, I, your contractor, had to comfort you."
"But now that you're so confident, Celia, I won't hold back either. I'll let you cry your fill, how about that?"
Hearing the man's words, Celia hurriedly shook her head like a rattle-drum.
A tear squeezed from the corner of her eye.
The half-anticipation and half-shyness that had just begun to surface on her face instantly transformed into pallor and hurt.
The first time...?
That terrifying Liam...
Back then, it was probably because she was carrying the child of the elf clan, not his—
That scene was less like intimacy and more accurately described by the word "venting anger."
Celia, who had just become a girl, understood nothing, had experienced nothing, hadn't even seen anything,was tormented nearly to death by that man until she begged for mercy through her tears.
If Liam hadn't softened immediately back then, she might have truly been broken...
"Husband, I was wrong..."
Better apologize first.
That kind of thing...
Wasn't happy at all.
It wasn't what she wanted...
"No. It's too late."
His expression unchanged, he violently pulled the standing, crying girl back into his embrace.
She let out a gasp, full of alarm.
Liam gripped her delicate face with both hands, forcing her to look at him.
"Since Her Highness refuses to admit she's feeling unsatisfied, and would rather mock her husband instead..."
"No matter what, you must receive some punishment."
"Husband, don't!"
"I said, it's too late."
.........
Five minutes.
Not a second less.
The backlash from the natural mana was more like a curse.
Outside the window, the warm noon light was long gone, replaced by the crimson glow of the evening sunset, falling softly on their faces.
Liam was covered in cold sweat.
Even with his strong endurance, he was now breathing heavily.
Celia, sitting on the man's lap, was in an even worse state.
Her face was deathly pale, the corners of her eyes red and swollen, brimming with tears.
She whimpered pitifully, a truly wretched sight, her head resting limply against the man's shoulder like a discarded scrap of cloth.
Her head rested limply against the man's shoulder, her whole person like a piece of crumpled, discarded cloth.
This strange contest of wills stirred by Liam... he had won, but it seemed nothing had really changed.
"Was your wish fulfilled?"
"Should we go for another round after ten minutes?"
"Wah... alright..."
Liam: ?
After the bath.
Midnight.
It seemed something had changed after all.
This failure had boosted her husband's confidence considerably.
At least he was willing to hold her while sleeping now.
But unlike before, his every movement was unusually rough, devoid of any tenderness a husband ought to show the mother of his child.
When his arm encircled her waist, it was suffocating;
When he gripped her wrist, he squeezed until her blood flow felt blocked, her bones seeming on the verge of snapping;
When he entangled her, the whole elf, the oppressive force made her feel like she was being molded into a literal figurine;
The girl buried herself in that warm, hard, secure chest.
He held her very tightly, even to the point where it hurt. Yet, she wept softly.
Celia felt deeply hurt by his attitude...
Her voice trembled.
"Wah.. H-Husband, what's wrong exactly?"
That day, after Liam told her to call him 'Husband,' Celia had never reverted.
By now... she was pretty much used to it.
"What's wrong?"
Liam's voice rose, laced with cold skepticism as he gave her soft cheek a sharp pinch.
"I've been desperately searching for a solution, experimenting too much with natural mana, leaving me exhausted all day."
"And in the mind of a cat in heat like you, it feels like distance?"
"Then... why didn't you hold me while sleeping?"
"I am holding you. Do you want another taste of what happened earlier?"
"You should know my patience is limited. To have me struggle for five minutes with no gain..."
"That kind of result is unacceptable to me."
"Actually, it's okay..."