The Unlikely Imprint of the Villainess and the Male Lead - Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Translator: Yonnee
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“Since your mana has been properly recognized, no one but you can use it. Keep that in mind.”
Richt continued to relay more instructions, but only one word echoed in Luciana’s ears.
“Wait a moment. Bedroom? Your Grace, I must have misheard you, right?”
“No. You heard correctly.”
“……!”
His voice was firm, like delivering a sentence.
Even though it was winter, she felt a cold sweat run down her back.
There was no need to ask what would happen in the bedroom. The mere mention of ‘mating season’ was enough to suggest what was bound to unfold.
‘But still… does this really mean we have to actually… sleep together?’
It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, but agreeing to spend another long night like that wasn’t something she could easily accept.
‘What if he acts like a wild animal?’
The concept of a heat or rut wasn’t unfamiliar.
In romance novels featuring male leads with wolf blood, like Richt, this trope always appeared.
But the word ‘mating’ itself carried an unsettling and uncomfortable tone.
Luciana was gripped with fear at the thought that Richt might lose himself to his instincts and attack her.
And unlike the previous night, when she had been drunk, this time she would be facing the duke completely sober.
‘Why did it have to be winter?’
Her mind was filled with lamentations, but there was no time to sit back and wallow in despair.
A night with the male lead, the imprint, and the resulting rut cycle.
How many blows had her sense of reason taken today?
With eyes filled with disbelief, Luciana asked sharply,
“What if I don’t comply with that?”
“…I wouldn’t recommend that.”
“Ah!”
Richt reached out silently and gently brushed her lightly swaying hair with his fingers. His warm touch slid down her cheek and softly held her chin.
“Whether you like it or not, when someone enters their heat or rut, they must spend the night with their mate.”
“……!”
“For a day or two, I can endure. But if it goes on longer than that… I might lose my mind and storm into your bedroom.”
By then, I’ll truly be like a wild beast, so you’d do well to accept it willingly.
“Ah…”
Was there truly no other way?
As his slow, creeping voice filled her mind, Luciana clutched the magical artifact Richt had given her with a face as pale as a sheet.
It was a feeling of helplessness she hadn’t even experienced when she first realized she had been reborn as the villainess in the original story.
* * *
Richt left the still-bustling imperial palace, which was filled with the aftereffects of the ball, and boarded the carriage his servant had prepared in advance.
After sitting down, he knocked on the ceiling. The coachman, hearing the signal, expertly flicked the reins and the carriage began to move.
“What if I don’t comply with that?”
As the steady sound of hooves reached his ears, Richt closed his eyes for a moment, recalling Luciana’s shaky voice as she refused.
Her tense lips, her trembling fingertips, and her eyes filled with fear.
Every part of her had twisted in horror at what was soon to come.
“Hah.”
He understood that it was only natural for her to feel it was all too much. After all, he, too, wanted to tear the current situation apart.
Richt himself was crumbling under the reality of having to spend the night with a woman he felt no affection for.
But what choice did he have? The wolf blood running through his veins made him destructive.
The reason he had practically forced Luciana to comply was because of that very blood. It was the lesser of two evils for them both.
In the end, even if it was torture, enduring it together would be better than the alternative.
“……”
Richt thought back to what had happened on the balcony, his expression utterly devoid of humor.
Though his mind had regained its composure, his nature, now bound to his mate, had not.
Somewhere deep inside, a small piece of him, hidden away, writhed in agony, as if Luciana’s refusal had inflicted a deep wound.
For now, it was just a small part of him that he could suppress with reason, but…
He knew that over time, it would inevitably grow, consume him completely, and drag him into an abyss of despair.
Hadn’t he already found himself foolishly stirred by just the sight of her earlier?
She had done nothing more than dress up for the ball, and yet he had been shaken.
No matter his feelings, the cursed imprint had already taken root deep in his unconscious mind.
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