CH 32

When Elena approached Giggs with the ointment in her hand, Giggs crept back as if he was afraid. At that moment, Elena felt as if she were floating in the air when her body was lifted. She yelped in surprise and dropped the ointment, causing it to roll on the ground. Regardless, Gareth made his way into the forest with Elena slung over his shoulder like luggage. Dry branches constantly poked into her face and shoulders. Gareth trekked up a hill in silence for a while, then set her down on the ground.

Elena soon stiffened. Their miserable first night, which she had been struggling to forget, unfolded vividly in front of her eyes again as she backed away in fear.

“Do you really intend to act like the lady of a household, even here?” Gareth interrogated.

Elena stopped stepping back at that moment. She could instinctively feel that she was standing at the crossroads. She didn’t know what Gareth wanted to hear, so she firmly clasped her trembling hands together and held her ground. “I am the lady of this household,” she stated firmly. ‘

“You’re so arrogant. Is it because you’re the daughter of a count?”

“Not anymore. I’m your wife,” she quickly shot back.

Elena had already spent a night with Gareth, which meant that she was his wife. She couldn’t understand why he was thinking that she was acting arrogant when all she wanted to do was simply take care of a wound. “I worked hard to make this medicine since lots of people back home constantly suffered from skin diseases as well. It’s definitely effective,” she insisted.

Gareth recalled that Elena had mentioned her medicines when she had asked to negotiate. He barked out a cold laugh at her haughtiness. Gareth did not allow his subordinates to use any other medicines than his own. There was an incident where a man who had claimed to be a doctor used poisonous herbs as medicine for his subordinates, causing them to fall severely ill for several days. Ever since then, Gareth did not trust things others gave him and only allowed his men to use the ones he proved to be effective. Although he had become ill a few times while testing new medicines, his men were unaware of this.

“Get over yourself, Elena. It’s useless,” Gareth scoffed insultingly.

“Why don’t you stop treating me with prejudice? You’ve seen me back home at Townsend estate. I’ve done everything I could there since I was responsible for taking care of the castle and the land.”

However, Gareth ignored her and growled, “Don’t even think about approaching my men. Acting like the lady of a household is over for you, Elena. You’re in my possession now.”

The word “possession” terrified Elena. It made her feel like livestock, like a pig or a chicken, rather than a human being. “I’m your wife,” Elena fought back without giving up, speaking in a firm voice as she straightened her back. “I’m your wife, the wife of a mercenary. What’s so wrong about trying to treat a wound—”

At that moment, Gareth roughly grabbed Elena’s neck, causing her to fall backwards. His body pushed down on hers as soon as she landed on the ground.

“Don’t talk back and make me angry, Elena. I don’t want to have to slap you,” he warned.

Elena was shocked. ‘Is this man… really human? If that’s the case, I don’t even know why he brought me here.’

“There’s only one thing I want from you, Elena,” Gareth continued as he forcefully tugged up her skirt.

Elena struggled to get away from him. One time was enough. She had already used about multiple years’ worth of energy her first time. Doubtful that she could handle a second time, Elena felt as if she was on the verge of having a mental breakdown. Nevertheless, she continued to attempt to push Gareth away with all her strength. To her surprise, the man didn’t even budge. Instead, he effortlessly grabbed her wrists with one hand and pinned them down.

“Gareth. Gareth, please,” Elena ended up begging again. His fingers skimmed through the soft skin between her legs, causing her to almost lose her mind as she stiffened with fright. His actions caused her to become scared and ashamed; she didn’t know which emotion overpowered the other. At that moment, Elena let out a gasp as Gareth’s finger dug into her tender flesh, which was still throbbing from last night. She let go of her pride and whispered desperately to him. “It hurts so much. Please, it hurts.”

Gareth stopped fumbling around her inner walls and stared down at Elena’s face. ‘It hurts?’ It was the first time he had ever heard someone say such a thing. ‘Didn’t women rather like this kind of stuff?’ His experience so far had only told him this.

“I’ll get used to you. But please be a little, just a little gentle with me,” Elena pleaded with a trembling voice. Her brave, arrogant face from before was nowhere to be seen as she was now beseeching with tears in her eyes. The night sky was void of any clouds as the full moon shone brightly. Gareth looked at Elena’s tears reflecting the moonlight, then lifted himself off of her. He had given up being human, but never took women by force. He had only excreted himself into one when both he and the other party wanted it. He could vividly remember the terrible pleasure he had experienced from holding Elena last night, but…

When Gareth stood up and turned around, Elena hurriedly followed after him and hugged him from behind. “Teach me, please. Tell me how to live as your wife. You’re the only one I can rely on, Gareth.”

Gareth tried to shake Elena’s hands off, but she rubbed her forehead against his back and wept as she choked out, “It’s because I’m scared. It’s not because I hate you, it’s because I’m scared.”

Gareth suddenly halted his attempts to shake her off and decided to leave Elena’s hands where they were. He was somewhat uncomfortable again after hearing her words of fright and how he was the only one she could rely on.