Not Even a Husband - Chapter 1.7

“Oh no! It’s a real, real proposal.” I guess I’m really getting married!

The winter banquet was grand and perfect.

Isabel’s necklace was undoubtedly the biggest topic, heating up the atmosphere.

“Oh my, Isabel! Good heavens!”

“Is that perhaps a gift from the Lord…?”

For this banquet, to celebrate the Lord’s return, almost everyone attended, including noble ladies and young ladies from vassal families who usually didn’t. They all recognized the pale pink pearl on Isabel’s neck and offered subtle congratulations.

“The date isn’t set yet, is it? Isabel, you’ve waited this long, so don’t make us wait too much longer from now on.”

The noble ladies threw playful teasing remarks, but Isabel was happy with any of them.

“Hmm, then how about tomorrow? You’ve prepared the gifts, right?”

As Isabel responded with a bright smile, the noble ladies burst into laughter. And as they gleamed with eyes ready to throw more embarrassing teasing, this time, close young ladies from vassal families took Isabel away.

“To think this day would finally come! Congratulations!”

Overflowing congratulations continued. Especially the young ladies who had gone to see the pearls together were all excited and congratulated her as if it were their own matter.

“Isabel will be the first among us to go. That’s wonderful.”

“The date isn’t set yet. Sabina might go before me?”

Isabel winked at the young lady from Baron Vetelante’s family, who often exchanged glances with Lord Kore Youngsik. Then, the surrounding young ladies burst into laughter.

Isabel blinked, looking back and forth at the young ladies.

“Why? Aren’t you getting married soon? It seems like you’ve been seeing each other for quite a while.”

“Naive Isabel.”

Sabina Vetelante emptied her wine and sighed playfully. Isabel, who had thought she was secretly meeting a lover behind her rather rigid father’s back, blinked.

“Seeing each other doesn’t mean you’ll get married.”

“What do you mean.”

“You need to get to know each other well enough to see if you’re compatible for marriage, and enjoy yourselves. Now, even in the North, love marriages are the trend.”

“So, you’re seeing Lord Kore Youngsik, aren’t you?”

Isabel’s crimson eyes were clouded with bewilderment. Sabina whispered with a mischievous face.

“Now that Isabel is also getting married soon, I’ll tell you.”

Whatever it was, judging by the atmosphere, it seemed everyone else already knew except her. Her close friends suppressed their laughter and drank their wine.

Sabina whispered into Isabel’s bewildered ear.

“You’re just enjoying each other’s bodies.”

“What?”

“You’re just sleeping together.”

Sabina added with a smile.

“You enjoy each other, and if you’re not compatible, you break up. If you are compatible, you become lovers.”

Not even lovers, just sleeping together?

Isabel’s jaw dropped. Come to think of it, she vaguely remembered hearing that some people in the capital did that. But she never imagined it would be possible in the conservative North, not in the open-minded capital’s social circles.

Isabel’s flustered neck turned bright red.

Seeing that, the young ladies burst into giggles. Sabina, who Isabel thought would be as strict as her conservative father, whispered boldly.

“Don’t be too surprised, Isabel. Some couples get married when their hearts match as well as their bodies.”

Sabina gestured towards Lady Flora and Lord Reig Youngsik, who had gotten engaged last month. They were known for being quiet and dignified, and Isabel felt a jolt.

‘What on earth has been happening without my knowledge all this time?’

They had said those two got together because Lord Reig Youngsik had desperately loved her!

As Isabel stood there, a mix of betrayal and shock swirling within her, Sabina sighed nonchalantly.

“I met Lord Kore Youngsik last night, and I’m still feeling it. It feels like two days of soreness.”

“Ah, come on. Isabel, don’t react!”

“There she goes bragging again.”

The young ladies waved their hands in disgust. Isabel unconsciously asked back.

“Why is that bragging?”

Even though she’d been told she was naive for not knowing the circumstances, she understood things. She had received education about male-female relationships when she became an adult.

‘That clearly means sleeping with Lord Kore Youngsik was difficult for her.’

Isabel was certain.

According to the common sense she was taught, it was inevitable for intercourse to be difficult if there was a significant difference in physical size between a man and a woman. However, it was also said that if they tried hard enough, they could both feel good.

So, if she said intercourse was difficult, wasn’t she pitiful? Why was that bragging?

“Are you alright? If it hurts a lot, I can arrange for you to use the medicinal herb storage.”

Isabel offered with a worried expression. A brief silence fell among the group.

“Ahahaha!”

“Kuhuk, Sabina. Don’t tease the naive madam!”

Then, the young ladies simultaneously clutched their stomachs and burst into laughter. Sabina even shed tears from laughing so hard.

“Ah, it does hurt. But I don’t need herbs, hihik!”

“Why, why are you doing this?”

In the midst of the burst of laughter, Isabel stood alone.

After laughing amongst themselves for a while, the young ladies closed their lips like clams, as if they had promised each other, saying they would tell her after she got married.

“Tell me, I want to know too.”

“Heh, it’s no fun if you know beforehand.”

“Isabel, you must keep that exact thought. Don’t change it, okay?”

“No, why on earth?”

She felt like an ignorant child, her crimson eyes widened and wandering.

Aside from such trivial matters, the winter banquet was enjoyable and lively.

As the banquet reached its peak, something amusing happened.

The rigid Baron Vetelante drank three bottles of wine by himself, and the rumor spread through the banquet hall. When the retainers swarmed, the embarrassed Baron hid the wine glass he was about to drink behind his back and feigned ignorance.

But behind the Baron, a decorative mirror was placed. As his act of hiding the alcohol behind his back was fully revealed, laughter erupted in the hall. The embarrassed Baron, deciding to hell with it, drank directly from the wine bottle, causing even greater laughter in the hall.

It was the first time the atmosphere had been so good before the harsh winter. Everyone’s bodies and minds were warmed thanks to the returned Lord.

The grandest banquet in the warm North continued to mature. After a quadrille danced by four couples, the final waltz began, concluding the long banquet.

Everyone paired up with their spouses or fiancés, or began new relationships by confessing their feelings.

Isabel, slightly flushed, took in every couple one by one. Originally, she had only paid attention to the existence of couples, but today, every action between lovers caught her eye.

It was curious and wondrous. Do lovers always laugh endlessly just by looking at each other’s faces? The newly formed couples seemed tense, conscious of each other, but how could they hold hands so tightly?

Gasp. Then, Isabel instinctively covered her mouth with her hand. She had witnessed Kore Youngsik pulling Sabina into an embrace so close that their chests were almost touching.

‘Wow.’

Her heart pounded, even though it wasn’t her business. If they embraced that tightly, she felt like she could hear their breathing, but how could they be so unreserved? Does such close contact become natural when one becomes lovers?

Isabel’s crimson eyes were filled with envy.

‘I want to try that with Jerod too.’

Hugging tightly, whispering, sharing secrets only they knew, and laughing that kind of sweet affection!

Just imagining it made her heart race and feel like it would burst.

Isabel blushed, secretly vowing that she would definitely try it with Jerod soon. Then, with eyes full of anticipation, she diligently watched the lovers as if rehearsing, and finally, when the time came, she secretly left the banquet hall and headed to their meeting place.

Click!

It was very quiet around. Isabel took a deep breath, closed the balcony door, and meticulously drew the curtains before turning around.

She saw a man gazing at her against the backdrop of the black night sky.

“Isabel.”

Jerod sat with a bottle of wine and two glasses before him.

Wine on such a quiet night, with the waltz music softly playing. Such a romantic night, was it a dream?

“Come and sit.”