18 Kiss

After a month of visiting her chambers every night, Arabella was relieved when Ferdinand finally decided to stop.

[It had been a month. If no news of pregnancy comes soon, the ministers would be suspicious. If they think Arabella cannot bear children, they will ask me to take a second wife or get concubines. It's too much trouble. But if I stay away from her, we could use it to explain why she was not pregnant yet.]

From his thoughts, Arabella learned Ferdinand decided to head for the borders and stay there for a while. There had been conflicts at the western borders to the point of skirmishes occurring every now and then.

"I will be heading to the western borders tomorrow since the Trelia Kingdom is becoming aggressive."

After two days, Ferdinand finally informed her about his plan when he visited her chambers at night.

"How long will you be gone?" Arabella pretended not to know.

"I will stay there for a while so probably two months or more. I'll be back before we head to Medeus."

"I see."

Arabella was delighted he would be gone for long. Her bed would be hers alone for a while! It was a cause for celebration on her side. But she kept a poker face so her husband wouldn't notice.

[That's all she would say?] Ferdinand was dissatisfied with her response.

Arabella almost frowned right in front of him. 'What does he want me to say?'

She raised a brow when she understood. She acted all nice and said, "I pray for your safety, Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty?" Ferdinand suddenly looked irritated. "That is not what you called me before?"

'He prefers Dear?! What is he, someone romantic?'

"Then, can I continue calling you Dear?"

"Yes. Since when did I forbid you?" Ferdinand replied with slightly reddened ears.

'Did he always react this way when I called him Dear before?' She decided to experiment since she had only called him dear about three to five times since she was reborn.

"Dear," Arabella said, and the redness of Ferdinand's ears worsened. His face still looked neutral but if she looks closer, his eyes looked different.

'He really likes it?!'

[ . . . ]

'Huh? Why is he getting closer?'

Arabella took several steps back but she soon hit the wall. Her husband's long arms reached out to her and she could not escape as he trapped her. An arm wrapped around her waist while one cupped her face.

'Is he angry? He was the one who asked me to call him Dear. Why is he suddenly-'

She was wide-eyed when Ferdinand bent down and kissed her.

It was their first kiss since she was reborn and the second since their wedding. They had to kiss in front of everybody during their wedding ceremony.

But to Arabella who had memories of the past, this was just one of the many kisses she had experienced before.

This peck was nothing compared to the arduous kisses she had experienced.

Before the attack on Valeria happened, she had slept with Icarus for the last time since she planned to kill herself once the war was over. It was her little gift to Icarus who enjoyed it so much because he loved her body.

Call her a slut or whatever, but Arabella did think Icarus was so much better than Ferdinand in bed.

But then again, Ferdinand only touched her when they were younger so she didn't know if he ever changed.

However, Icarus cherished every inched of her like she something so precious to him. Something he cannot live without. She realized she enjoyed her affair with Icarus much more than she thought.

If Arabella was made to choose between Ferdinand and Icarus, she would choose Icarus without a second thought.

If she had met Icarus first, she would have married him instead of Ferdinand. She would have fallen in love with Icarus instead of Ferdinand who would ignore her for the rest of their marriage anyway after he got what he wanted.

She wouldn't have had to suffer and Icarus wouldn't have had to be her victim.

'Still, why the hell is Ferdinand not yet pulling away?! How long does he plan to make this kiss last?!'

Arabella once loved Ferdinand's touch and kisses. She used to be so taken with the fire in his cold green eyes which usually looked so bored with everything, but comes to life when he was doing something to her. She used to give in to his every touch. But such time had long gone.

She was not all taken by this kiss.

But were Ferdinand's lips always this soft?

Didn't a cold man like him with a rock-hard body and stone-cold appearance like an ice wall in winter have a cold hard lips?

Oh, right. It had been too long since she last felt it so she almost forgot.

It was also soft and warm.

Ferdinand finally pulled away and Arabella almost sighed in relief, but couldn't because his face was still so close to hers and their lips were almost touching.

He was staring at her so closely, looking so mesmerized as if she had used a spell to bewitch him.

[So beautiful. My wife is so beautiful no matter how many times I look at her.]

Ferdinand gazed into her eyes so closely. Arabella was wide-eyed but she couldn't pull away from how he was staring at her.

[Her amber eyes are so gorgeous. It's like the sun in Estrella or one of the golden flower fields of the elven race. I'd love to show her those places one day.]

'Estrella? Elven race? What is he talking about?'

Arabella had never once heard of those. Estrella seems to be a place but there was no such thing in Valeria nor the entire continent for that matter. She had done her studies well. The elven race was also said to have gone extinct.

But before she could think further, Ferdinand caressed her lips with his thumb and distracted her thoughts.

[Her lips are so soft. I want these lips to be mine for all eternity.]

'Eternity my ass! You only paid attention to me for a bit. When you were sure I was pregnant, you never touched me nor did you ever kiss me again.'

Arabella could only be irritated by such possessive thoughts from him since she knew just how short his attention would last.