HFMD - Chapter 5 < I Like It >




Where are you going? 

Randall and Sylvia blinked together in puzzlement. Then the knights exchanged glances among themselves and pushed them out of the infirmary with determined faces.

“We will be guarding this place, so go back and rest quickly.”

"That's right. Today is your wedding day.”

“Don’t you know Chief Maid Thelma’s personality? She's the one who’s going to be crying and complaining about wasting 30 minutes on your sacred wedding day because of some knight.”

“Go quickly!”

Even Jeffrey helped out. Randall and Sylvia said, “Oh,” and then came out of the infirmary as if they were being kicked out. Standing outside the door, they blinked side by side, looked at each other once, and then looked forward again. 

Employees were waiting in line outside the infirmary. Even their sideburns were angled as if they were resolving their resentment for not being able to greet the owner and his wife according to procedure due to Jeffrey's injury earlier. The butler and the head maid who were standing in front of the servants bowed respectfully.

“Nice to meet you, Ma’am. My name is Wilcott, the butler.”

"Nice to see you. My name is Thelma, the head maid, Ma’am.”

Wilcott and Thelma bowed in perfect etiquette and straightened their backs.

“Thank you, Ma’am!”

“Welcome, Ma’am!”

Next, the workers lined up and greeted Sylvia in loud voices without any error.

'I did it!'

'I did it!'

Their faces were full of pride, like a puppy waiting for praise after catching a ball thrown by its owner. Randall, standing in front of them, covered his face with both hands for a moment out of embarrassment.

'It's all good, but what are they doing in front of the infirmary?'

Was it really necessary to do this in front of the infirmary? Couldn't they have waited until he could go alone with Sylvia? 

Somehow, it seemed that the Duchy of Belfort was filled with only people who traded a little bit of patience for naivety. Fortunately, Sylvia had lived through all of the troubles, so she was not embarrassed and smiled.

“Silvia Florette Belfort. Please take care of me in the future.”

Wilcott and Thelma were impressed by Sylvia, who was neither arrogant nor condescending, showing the attitude of an exemplary owner. However, they soon erased any signs of emotion and stood in front of Randl and Sylvia, respectively, with straight faces.

“It took longer than originally planned. Please hurry.”

“Let’s go.”

Randall and Sylvia were led by their hands and torn apart into separate rooms without even having time to say goodbye. As Jeffrey had expected, the head maid, Thelma, opened the door after lamenting, 

"You're wasting this precious wedding day because of a knight like that. This is where you will be staying from now on. The previous Duchess also used this room.”

Sylvia looked around the room carefully while listening to Thelma's explanation. The overall room had a bright and warm atmosphere as if it was the previous Duchess' taste. 

Sylvia, who thought that it would seem very tragic to die in a room like this, got her eyes fixed on one place. Thelma, who was quick-witted, spoke quietly.

“This is a portrait of the previous Duke and Duchess and the current Duke. Now I have to draw new portraits of my Master and his wife and hang them up.”

The delicately brushed portrait showed the gentle-looking former Duke and Duchess and the young Randall smiling shyly. Thelma thought that Sylvia had been distracted by Randall's appearance, and she smiled happily, saying, 'My master was kind of cute.' In fact, Randall when he was young was so cute that you wanted to bite him, unlike now where he is like a big beast. 

But Sylvia's gaze was fixed on the faces of the former Duke and Duchess the whole time. She had an unexpected expression on her face.

'These people are the Duke and Duchess?'

Although she may not be able to tell others, Sylvia had a close connection with the previous Duke and Duchess. More precisely, she was in her previous life.

Are you okay there?

In the life just before she was born as 'Sylvia Florette', Sylvia was a fugitive wandering around.

-Wow, it’s a monster!

Tired of repeated reincarnations, she constantly attempted suicide in each life, even though she knew it would not work. The problem was that others accidentally discovered it. People who saw Sylvia come back to life when her life should have ended, called her a monster and tried to kill her. 

At first, she tried to kill herself in case she was caught. But she came back to life again. As fate would have it, Sylvia meant that it was not yet time for her to die. Even if she died, she would come back to life if it was an undesirable death, but even the pain of her death did not go away. Silvia could not bear the pain of being killed over and over again by those people, so she escaped and was chased all the way to the North. 

Back then, in a remote forest, she helped a couple who were surrounded by monsters that came out of nowhere.

Wait! Just tell me your name!

Don’t tell other people that you saw me for no reason.

- For a moment...!

Although they were outnumbered, these men and women had extraordinary sword skills. Her clothes were shabby, but she clearly remembered her face. Sylvia asked Thelma just in case.

“Did the previous Duke and Duchess enjoy their outing?”

“Oh my, how did you know? They said that it is not good for one's emotions to spend time in a place where blood is splashed every day, and they often went out on outings to nearby areas. I was always so anxious because they were going around without even an escort.”

Thelma clicked her tongue. This convinced Sylvia that the couple she had helped in her previous life were Randall's parents, and Sylvia was struck by a strange feeling. 

She is about to die. Randall Belfort, now her own husband. If it was God's prank, it was bad, and if it was a coincidence, there was nothing like this. 

Sylvia shook her head and headed to her bathroom, saying that she had lived a long time and that she had all sorts of things to do. When she immersed her overworked body in warm water for the first time in her life, the tension in places like her shoulders and her waist, which had been tensed whether she knew it or not, relaxed. 

Several of the maids, including Thelma, were busy praising her, easing her tense muscles with her perfumed hands.

“You are so beautiful, Ma’am...”

“Seriously. Actually, when I first saw you, I thought you were more beautiful than a succubus.”

The relatively younger maids looked at Sylvia dreamily with their cheeks stained red. As expected, their praise was not empty words. As they were the people of the North, they were people who quite often encountered demons that charmed humans, including succubuses. 

However, Sylvia's appearance was nothing compared to that of a succubus. Long white silver hair. Clear and transparent gold eyes. Pure white skin and green-like features. To be honest, Sylvia was such a beauty that it was natural to be spellbound when you first met her. 

Moreover, as the North is a place where survival is important, both men and women were of good appearance. In that place, Sylvia's body looked particularly delicate. They exaggerated a bit and said she looked like a dandelion seed. She has a slender body and a dreamy appearance. These, combined with Sylvia's own gentle personality, gave her a strange aura. 

Sylvia smiled and said to the maids as if joking.

“Shall I give it to you?”

“Oh my, Ma’am. Even jokes!”

“I wish I could live with that face even just for a day.”

The maids giggled as if they had heard a funny joke and then focused on their work again. Sylvia rolled her eyes.

'I was serious.'

She was also aware of the fact that she was strikingly beautiful. She just wasn't interested. It was a joke she made because she thought she was going to die anyway, so it might be beneficial for someone who will live longer than her to write it.

'Ah. No.'

When she thought about it, it seemed like a good thing for Randall that they would be a couple for a short time. As long as Sylvia lived for Randall, she decided to work a little harder on this look.

'But being a pervert in bed... Probably not.'

Sylvia made a serious face at the possibility that suddenly occurred to her. Among the people she had met throughout her many lives, there were people who appeared perfect on the outside but were actually perverted in bed. 

Judging from what she had seen of Randall's words and actions and the reputation of the employees, there was a high possibility that he would not be like that...

‘Well, if I have to, I’ll beat him up... From then on, I just don't have to go to bed. Wouldn't it seem weirder if I got along with ny pervert husband?

Oh, maybe that will save her some trouble? 

Sylvia thought it would be okay even if Randall was a pervert. She would have wailed if he had known. Eventually, Thelma and the maids dried Sylvia's body and dressed her in a black silk gown.

 ‘Please understand even if my Master acts like a stone. It’s because he has never met a woman except his wife.’

 After listening to Thelma’s concerns, she came to her senses and found herself in front of the couple’s bedroom.

“Then we’ll just...”

Thelma and the maids left her in front of the couple's bedroom and walked away. Sylvia blinked once, her eyelids heavy from drowsiness. Her entire body was melted by the massage given by the skillful massage therapists. She wanted to lie down and sleep like this, but the high point was right in front of her nose.

'I'll finish it within an hour and then go to sleep.'

For the first time in her life, a very faint thing called 'motivation' appeared in Sylvia's eyes. If Count and Countess Florette had known, it was a sight that would have made them collapse in tears. 

Without much hesitation, Sylvia opened the door and went inside. The room was dark, lit only by faint candlelight. There was a large bed in the center and a small sofa on one side.

“Randall?”

Sylvia tilted her head when she saw a shadow procrastinating in one corner of the sofa. The large shadow trembled at the call.

“...Sylvia.”

Randall was wearing the same black silk gown that Sylvia was wearing. His toned body was glimpsed through the gap in his gown in the soft candlelight.

'I feel good.'

She thought he had a really nice body even when he was dressed in formal attire, but his outline was revealed even more clearly when he was wearing only a thin gown like that. Sylvia stared at Randall's body visible through the gown without realizing it. 

It was an instinctive action. Randall, who felt her gaze, hurriedly wrapped his gown tightly with a flushed face. And he opened his mouth seriously.

"Ma'am."

"Yes."

"That... I have something to talk about for a moment. Is that okay?”

"Great. Why don’t we sit down and talk?”

Sylvia sat down on the bed in a nonchalant manner and motioned to the seat next to her. Randall, who seemed to hesitate for a moment, eventually sat down next to Sylvia at a distance. He took a small deep breath.

'I went through something like that today, so I guess it's right to give it a rest.'

Normally, he would have had a night out tonight, but he was worried about Sylvia, who was attacked by monsters as soon as she entered the Duchy of Belfort during the day. Moreover, even if the marriage was done according to the King's orders, Randall wanted to have a first-night wedding when he and she truly wanted each other, like his late parents. 

He said he gave up his wish to protect his territory as a lord, but that was a belief that Randall had not yet given up. Besides, he hasn't completely gotten rid of all his doubts yet...  

Even working is impossible. He spoke a few times before opening his lips with difficulty.

“Sylvia.”

“Yes, please tell me.”

"I am... No, wait. What are you doing now?”

While Randall was speaking, he was startled by the feeling of the gown slipping down his shoulders and holding on to his collar. Silvia, who was undoing the straps of Randall gown with her skillful hands, tilted her head with her innocent face.

"Please speak. I’ll take it off.”

“No, what do you mean to take off?”

“...? It’s clothes, right?”

“So why are you wearing clothes?”

“Isn’t it a married couple’s duty?”

In response to the nonchalant reply, Randall touched his forehead and groaned. He said, avoiding Sylvia's hands that were steadily trying to dig into his gown, and moving back towards the head of the bed.

“Sylvia, wait a moment. I am so weighed down by the words that you are a duty... I don’t want to do this.”

“I wasn’t crushed. I just think it’s the right thing to do.”

“So that’s the problem. You don’t even like me.”

"I like you."

Randall, who was retorting, stopped breathing for a moment. But, taking advantage of that brief moment, he was startled by Sylvia climbing on top of him and grabbed his hand.

“Sylvia!”

“It’s late. If I waste more stamina than this, I might collapse and fall asleep. Oh my, there’s music playing right now.”

“No, what is this... Wilcott!”

To make matters worse, Randall screamed at the soft sound of the orchestra outside the room.

For some reason, he felt like she was rushing to return home, saying 'it was late', but maybe it was for this reason? 

Right now, he could see the faces of Thelma and Wilcott in the distance, rubbing under their noses and smiling proudly.



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