"I swear if you hurt Ver again I'll murder you and you can't stop me from doing that because Ver will be sad and will hate you for killing me for the rest of your life. Can you take that?"
"…I've no interest in hurting anyone. Therefore, there is no chance for Nica to hate me." Arthur grabbed his wife's hand and added, "She said she would love me despite who I was."
Next, he glanced at his wife. "Isn't this right, darling?"
"…" Veronica bit her tongue. She completely forgot her promise to her husband before they got married.
'It's not that I don't love him for who he is. Sometimes, he is just unreasonable. I have to point them out. If I don't, he would let women touch him without being bothered. I'm not forcing him to do anything…'
She cleared her throat and responded, "Yes, definitely I will love you for who you are. But cheating was never an option."
"I swear by my name and status, I never cheated on you." Arthur pointed at Ovior and said, "This guy is a venomous rattlesnake."
Ovior dropped the door he was holding. His eyebrows creased. "You are one to talk, viper!"
"You are a catfish"
"You are a king venom snake."
"Brown recluse!"
"Lionfish!"
"Black widow spider!"
"You are the ugliest stonefish."
"Cobra!"
"Scorpion!"
"Excuse me?"
Arthur: "…"
"Ovior: "…"
Sparks flew in each of their directions as the silent war kept going.
Catherine dumbly stared at them. 'Wow! Are they cursing each other or having a competition to see who is better at memorizing all venomous species on earth?'
Veronica rubbed her forehead. 'I can't believe they are arguing like children.'
Darius bit on a piece of potato fry and thought, 'Oh? It's been a while they are bickering at each other. This is fun!'
"…" Ironin stared at the lake, not bothered with some low-level adults.
Those would have continued if a resort staff didn't find them. He was a twelve year old boy. He carried a basket of food.
"Vincent told me to bring this meal to you in case you are hungry." That's what he said.
'Oh, thank goodness someone came.' Relieved, Catherine grabbed the basket. She smiled brightly at the boy. "Thank you, child. Can you thank Vincent for me?"
The boy shyly nodded. He didn't leave right away.
After fidgeting for a while, he asked, "Are you going to marry Vincent? Will you take care of us?"
Some amount of blood rushed at Catherine's face. Her face gradually became hot. She nervously smiled and then replied, "Why don't you ask Vincent? He can give you the proper answer."
"All right!" Afterward, he turned around and left.
"The child is sharp." Veronica snickered.
Catherine could barely look at her friend. "Oh, please. I think he guessed something wrong."
Veronica was surprised. She suddenly stood up and pulled her friend with her.
Catherine reluctantly stood up as well. After that, she was dragged away further from the male group.
Veronica continued, "What? Aren't you going to marry? I thought that was your plan."
Catherine lowered her head. "Yes, that was my plan. But he said nothing. I don't want to push him for marriage. He still doesn't know where I work. I'm keeping so many secrets from him."
"Then take the initiative and tell him one by one," Veronica advised her.
"What do you guys do whenever you meet? What about when you write letters? If you don't talk about each other, what else can you do?"
One by one, she kept asking questions, making her friend's check even redder.
"All right, stop it now. I can't tell you what we do." Catherine bashfully looked away.
"Even if you don't tell me, I know well," Veronica smirked. "Don't let him take advantage of you, Cathy. If he cherishes you, let him take you after you are married."
After a pause, she added, "Even in Tybu, no matter how forward a woman is, if she loses her virginity, she loses everything. But for a man, it doesn't matter."
Catherine dropped her shoulders. "I know. But I can't stop him. It just… feels too good. It's hard to resist."
"Then talk to him about it before he starts touching you" Veronica suggested. "Nothing can be more important than your decision. The last thing I want is for you to get shunned by society."
"I know, Ver. Don't even mention it. Whenever I think of it, I feel scared," Catherine shuddered just imagining it. "But when he touches me, I forget everything. I can't think straight."
Veronica couldn't argue with it when she is the same. "That's what sexual pleasure means. In any case, if you want him to love and cherish you, let him respect your wishes.
"Many men don't see their lovers as an individual after getting married to them. For them, they own their wives. They force their wives to do things the women don't want to.
"When I was away for a few months, I saw many things that made me tremble in fear and anger. Many men use their wives as nothing but sex dolls and baby-making machines.
"Those guys abuse their wives and daughters. Sometimes they sell their wives' and daughters' bodies to other men to get enough money to gamble or get drunk.
"Whenever I think about it, it gives me chills. I thank Goddess Juvena every day for giving me a wonderful husband and a wonderful married life.
"No married life is perfect. Our married life is imperfectly perfect. If Arthur didn't cherish me, no matter what I said, he wouldn't listen to me. That is the reason why I still stayed in the tower.
"In your case, you have to tell Vincent what you want. We don't even know if he is ever going to marry you. Don't let him play with your body and leave you after that."
Catherine finally opened her mouth, "I don't think Vincent is like that. He is quite a gentleman. Moreover, he never forces on me and always respects my wishes. That's why I'm always at ease."
Veronica was relieved. "Then I guess there is nothing to fear. If you get married to a good man, no one will be happier than me."
"I know. I can only rely on you." Catherine smiled at her friend.
Later at noon, they had lunch and after that, they went back to each other's cottage.
Veronica went to the bathroom and took off her clothes. After dropping the last layer of cloth, she dived in the bathtub.
The hot water warmed her body. She relaxed her shoulders and closed her eyes after letting out a sigh of contentment.
'This is good. Who doesn't want a vacation where no one will remind you of work and you can do whatever you want without checking the time?'
She was relaxing when she heard a voice. "Enjoying much?"
Veronica abruptly opened her eyes and saw him standing beside the door with his stark-naked body.
Her eyes trailed down from his abs to his lower abdomen. She gulped nervously when she spotted his huge cock already standing up.
Arthur smirked when he noticed where his wife's innocent eyes were glued at. "Like what you see?"
Veronica's face flushed in embarrassment. "Don't talk nonsense."
Arthur chuckled and strode forward. He sat on the stone floor at the edge of the bathtub and sank his legs in the warm water.
He smelled something sweet in the water and asked his wife, "Did you add anything in the water?"
"Yes?" Veronica blinked. "Oh, I added medicinal herbs. I heard these are good for health."
Arthur scornfully smiled. "Good for health indeed. It's for those who can't get it up properly."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Veronica tilted her head, confused by his words.
Arthur's face steadily turned red. He helplessly covered his face and asked his wife, "Nica, don't you feel anything?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? What should I feel…" Veronica paused.
Now that her husband mentioned it, she felt something itching in her nether region. She subconsciously rubbed her thighs together.
Realizing what she had just done, her face instantly dyed in several shades of red.
"Wha…t? Why….?" Flustered, she inquired.
"This cottage is for a couple, is it not? It's not abnormal that the staff kept herbs like that to increase the potency of the couple. Very thoughtful indeed." Arthur clicked his tongue.
Panicked, Veronica desperately looked at him. "What… what should we do?"
Observing how flushed her face was, Arthur stated, "You should have gotten out of the water when you noticed how my cock was standing up. It's too late now. The herb is good. It has already started working."
"How am I supposed to understand that? You were already… when you were at the door." Veronica was unable to focus as her eyes secretly landed on his dick.
The corner of Arthur's lips lifted. "Well, yes. I'm always 'hard' for my beautiful princess."
"Shut up and tell me what we should do now. We can't let this go on!"