The bedchamber was a far cry from the brightness of before, now wrapped in dim, gentle light.
Beeswax candles flickered, casting faint shadows on the walls.
The magnificent canopy suspended overhead gave the room the air of a royal bedchamber, and an otherworldly mystery seemed to drift through the entire space.
The bed itself was unbelievably large, wide enough for five people to sleep in with room to spare.
Huh? Why is it this huge?
Overwhelmed by its size, Yuri was momentarily speechless.
To someone who had been living in a cramped, plain room in the annex, this lavish bedchamber felt utterly unreal, almost dreamlike.
His heart gave a heavy thud, and the tension in his chest began to build, slow and steady.
He could feel it instinctively—this was the stage that was about to change his fate forever.
"Come, my lord husband. This way."
As Yuri stood there in bewilderment, he suddenly felt a soft warmth against his arm.
Celine had slipped herself gently against him, clinging to his arm as she coaxed him forward in a sweet, tender voice.
Guided by her warmth, Yuri slowly made his way toward the bed.
This is bad...
The tension inside his chest surged all at once, and he felt the blood rush straight to his head.
His heart pounded as if it were about to explode, and heat flooded his skull.
His hands and feet trembled, sweat streamed down him, and yet even that seemed to evaporate into haze from the heat.
"Come now, Liese—and you too, dear Ophelia."
Turning back with effortless grace, Celine called to Lieselotte and Ophelia.
Each time she moved, the soft sensation pressing against Yuri's arm grew stronger.
As though keeping time with that motion, Yuri's reason began to erode little by little.
Then Celine's body suddenly pressed flush against him, and the instant that softness enveloped him completely, his mind went blank.
Heat burst out of his entire body, and he sucked in a breath.
His heart hammered faster still, like a frantic drum, and he could feel his reason collapsing.
What is this... this feeling...?
A shock struck him like his blood was rushing the wrong way, and it spread through his body like a jolt of electricity.
A sweet fragrance filled his nose and slowly spread through him, numbing his brain.
From behind him, he could feel two more presences pressing in, little by little.
The instant all of that tension overlapped, something burst inside Yuri's chest.
"Bwah!"
All at once, a mist of blood burst from Yuri's nose with the force of a ruptured dam.
He reflexively threw a hand over his face, but it was already too late, and a red haze spread out before him.
This is impossible...
All strength drained from him in an instant, and it felt as if the ground beneath his feet had suddenly turned weightless.
With all power gone from his body, Yuri toppled onto the bed as though gravity itself were pulling him down.
The moment his head sank into the pillow, thought itself slipped away.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next morning.
Soft light streamed into the bedchamber, and as though the violent events of the previous night had all been an illusion, the room was wrapped in silence.
Still groggy, Yuri stared blankly at the stains of his own nosebleed spread across the bed.
The vivid scenes of the night before came rushing back with startling clarity.
He had collapsed after losing blood through his nose, but thanks to the robust health he had gained, the blood he had lost had already been replenished in no time.
Did all of that really happen last night...?
He tried sitting up, but everything still felt strangely unreal, as though he were trapped inside a dream.
Beside him lay Celine, sleeping with a calm expression, as if nothing at all had happened.
Her face was serene—astonishingly beautiful.
The wild side of her that had overwhelmed him the night before seemed like a lie; now she was simply sleeping in peace.
So it really was real...
Still a little at a loss, Yuri shifted his gaze toward the corner of the room.
There, Lieselotte and Ophelia were sleeping huddled together, their hands clasped tight.
Their peaceful sleeping faces cast such a tranquil, gentle air that it almost made the ferocity of the night before seem unreal.
But the memories of that night rose clearly once more in Yuri's mind.
The moment Celine had changed—
and the terrified looks on the faces of those two—
Lieselotte had gone pale, trembling as if she were staring at something truly horrifying.
"M-Mother, wait! Please, wait just a little! If you do any more, Lord Yuri is going to die!"
Her voice had gone hoarse, and though her gaze shook, it never left Celine.
Lieselotte gripped Ophelia's hand even tighter.
Ophelia, too, had lost her usual composure and whispered in a hushed voice.
"A beast... a calamity-class beast indeed...
Lord Yuri is being devoured, and he has not the slightest means of resistance..."
The two of them had clung to one another and gone rigid, like prey frozen before a predator.
"Please, Goddess... protect Lord Yuri."
Lieselotte had laid her trembling hand over Ophelia's, holding back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she prayed to the heavens in a shaking voice.
Yuri shook his head hard, trying to drive the memory away.
He could not help hoping that, if at all possible, the two of them had somehow forgotten what had happened last night.
...What if it left them traumatized...?
As he sat there with his head in his hands, worrying over it, Celine slowly opened her eyes and quietly sat up.
The moment she noticed his gaze, she smiled at him with effortless grace.
"Good morning, my lord husband.
How was last night?"
For an instant, Yuri was at a loss for words.
He searched desperately for the right answer.
"...It was incredible. Honestly, I... still don't think I've fully made sense of it yet..."
Celine opened her eyes in surprise for a moment, then smiled again.
"My lord husband, whatever are you saying?
Were you not the remarkable one?
I did nothing but let myself be swept along. And yet,
thanks to you, I was able to feel your love so deeply that my heart is full.
You were so intense... I truly thought I might break..."
At those words, Yuri's face turned bright red all at once.
"I-I'm so sorry!"
Flustered, he instinctively dropped into a full prostration atop the bed.
The mattress creaked loudly the moment he bowed his head.
At the sight of that, Celine looked surprised, yet there was amusement dancing at the corners of her smile.
"Still, perhaps it was a little too stimulating for those two?"
Celine turned her gaze toward Lieselotte and Ophelia and smiled with teasing lightness.
"Better that they know than remain ignorant. It will help them steel themselves.
So let us call it a good result."
The instant Celine finished that elegant remark, Lieselotte and Ophelia bolted upright as if flung from sleep, and shouted in perfect unison.
""Not at all!"""
Their voices rang out, charged with equal parts outrage and disbelief.
Lieselotte had gone pale again, while Ophelia's eyes were wide with shock.
Seeing their reaction, Yuri and Celine glanced at each other and could only offer awkward smiles.
"Only two days remain of the ritual. Let us do our best again today."
At Celine's urging, Lieselotte—still reeling from the shock—murmured weakly under her breath.
"Mother... you certainly seem lively..."
"Now that you mention it, you may be right.
My shoulders are usually far stiffer than this...
Perhaps it is because my lord husband bestowed his love upon me."
Tilting her head slightly, Celine brushed a hand lightly over her shoulder.
She looked genuinely puzzled as she did.
"How strange. This morning it isn't only my shoulders.
My whole body feels lighter... almost as if I've grown younger."
She narrowed her eyes and turned them toward Yuri.
A soft smile rested on her lips, but there was a glint in her eyes that suggested she was probing for something.
Wait... could this be because of my...?
Yuri's heart lurched.
After all, he had a pretty good idea what might have caused Celine's condition to improve.
Kokuyou's words flashed through his mind.
Oh no... don't tell me my divinity affected Celia too...?
Yuri tried desperately to keep himself composed, but sweat slowly began to bead across his brow.
"I-is that so..."
Lieselotte let out a sigh and, after exchanging a glance with Ophelia, reluctantly got to her feet.
Even as Yuri felt a flicker of relief at the sight, cold sweat was running down his back.
Is this really my fault...?
What do I do? I should tell them, shouldn't I...?
No, if I say anything, it might make things even worse...
Celine seemed as though she had noticed something, but after a gentle smile she simply rolled her shoulders with innocent ease.
"Well, whatever the reason, I am happy to feel so well."
Just then, there came a knock at the door. Celine granted permission for the visitor to enter, and Aina stepped lightly into the bedchamber.
"Good morning."
Aina let her gaze drift over Celine, Lieselotte, and the others with the composed air of someone who had seen through every last detail of the night before.
Then, at last, she turned her eyes to Yuri and dipped her head with the faintest hint of a smile at her lips.
"It seems you enjoyed yourself last night."
At those words, Yuri could only stand there, dumbfounded.
For a moment, an awkward silence hung in the air—but it was quickly wrapped up in a warmth that felt almost like family.
Lieselotte puffed out her cheeks a little in discontent, while Ophelia looked thoroughly exasperated.
Celine still wore her usual calm smile.
Looking at the scene before him, Yuri suddenly let slip the thought that had welled up in his chest.
"For all that... this life might not be so bad after all."
"Hm? My lord husband, did you say something?"
Celine turned toward him and tilted her head adorably to one side.
"No, nothing.
Come on. Let us finish the rest of the ceremony and head for the Reberk Barony."
Celine's soft smile,
Lieselotte's sulky face,
Ophelia's exasperated expression,
Aina's cool, composed smile—
As Yuri looked over all of them, his own face softened before he even realized it.