Chapter 31: Special Side Story Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

Alto returned just as dawn began to break. As he set down his dew-dampened cloak at the door, he heard a voice from above, one he wasn’t supposed to hear.

“So, you’ve finally come back?”

“Viviana.”

Startled, Alto lifted his head. Viviana was peeking out from the staircase railing. Alto hurriedly climbed the stairs in long strides. Just as he was about to embrace Viviana, clad in a thin nightgown, he stopped, worried that his own body might be too cold. Then, with an awkward smile, he spoke.

“I sent a messenger telling you to go to bed first…”

“How could I sleep peacefully when my husband is working so hard outside?”

"But you have such a weak constitution..."

Alto’s eyes were filled with only worry and concern. Viviana, who had been seething with anger, felt her heart soften a little at that look.

She reached out first and took his hand. His large hand was icy cold, as if he’d been outside the whole time.

‘Just what was he doing out there?’

It was odd. If it had truly been official business, why hadn’t he taken any attendants? Viviana tilted her head.

“Why didn’t you come home last night? What happened?”

“There were urgent repairs needed on the castle walls, so I went to take care of them.”

“I see. You must be tired.” 

Alto lowered his eyes and gently withdrew his hand from Viviana’s grasp.

“I need to wash up first.”

“Alright…”

Watching Alto retreat as if fleeing, Viviana bit her lip.

If it were about repairing the castle walls, even his cold, chilled body would make sense.

‘But there was no such thing yesterday.’

If it were true, the castle walls would have been brightly lit. She couldn’t have missed it. After all, Viviana had been staring out the window all night.

In the end, all Viviana could confirm was that Alto had left the mansion on the full moon with an absurd excuse. The reason was clear.

‘If we were intimate on a full moon, a child would be conceived. And Alto knew that, so he avoided it.’

One mystery was solved, only for another to appear. Viviana furrowed her brow.

‘Why is he avoiding having a child?’

Wouldn’t an heir be necessary, even if only to pass down the Fortuna Dukedom? From the very beginning, Viviana had become Alto’s fiancée only after a physician confirmed she could bear a healthy heir. Alto was a high-ranking noble, and Viviana already understood how important a successor was.

‘Then why was he using contraception?’ 

Viviana remained lost in thought. Even after a sleepless night spent searching for answers, she still couldn’t fall asleep.

‘Does he dislike children? Or does he simply not want to pass on his own bloodline?’

Either reason was understandable. After all, Alto had endured unimaginable abuse and spent his childhood in misery.

But Viviana was different from his mother, and wasn’t he also different from his father and grandfather?

‘If he doesn’t want it, he could just tell me. I don’t understand why he won’t say anything.’

While Viviana was agonising over it, the butler delivered a message that Alto wished to dine with her. Viviana went down to the dining room.

A freshly washed Alto greeted her warmly.

“Viviana.”

"...”

Lost in thought, Viviana sat down without answering, and Alto’s face fell. He stole cautious glances at her, trying to read her mood. Meanwhile, Viviana mechanically lifted her fork and brought a piece of egg to her mouth. She couldn’t taste a thing.

‘Is it because he’s afraid a child might take after me?’

Even self-critical thoughts she hadn’t entertained in a long time began to creep in. She sank into a brief gloom, then quickly shook her head.

She already knew from past experience that if she only brooded, things would only get more complicated.

‘That’s right! Instead of agonising alone and coming to strange conclusions, I’ll just ask Alto directly.’

Viviana went straight to the point and asked Alto.

“Alto, isn’t it about time we had a child?”

“Cough!”

Alto, who had been cautiously sipping his water while reading Viviana’s expression, suddenly choked.

“Cough!, Cough!”

At first, Viviana was worried, asking if he was alright, but his over-the-top reaction soon made her frown.

“...Surely, you’re not doing this because you don’t want to have a child, are you?” 

Could it be that he was reacting so strongly simply because he didn’t even want this topic to come up in conversation?

In response to Viviana’s words, Alto quickly waved his hand and answered.

“Th-that’s impossible. It’s absolutely not like that. I was just flustered…” 

“What a relief. I thought you didn’t want to have a child.”

She also…

It was true that she had never seriously thought about having a child, but at the same time, she had also never considered life without one. For Viviana, the idea of a family with Alto and a child came completely naturally, and she already had a firm image of it in her mind.

‘So, Alto isn’t completely against having a child after all.’

Alto’s expression was subtle and complex as he watched Viviana let out a sigh of relief. After chewing on his lower lip for a moment, he spoke to her in a roundabout way, his voice low.

"I think it might still be too early for us to plan for children."

He explained that these days, the trend was to get married, postpone plans for children for a while, and just enjoy the newlywed life as a couple.

Viviana, who had been listening attentively, widened her eyes and tilted her head.

"It’s already been several years since we got married. By now, a happily married couple would have had at least one child. Many of my friends have children already, too."

“I was the first among my friends to get married, too,” Viviana added this, wondering why she hadn’t thought about having children until now.

'By now, enough time has passed that even among the retainers, talk would probably have started.'

Regardless, it was fortunate that she was thinking about it, even if only now.

Viviana continued in a cheerful tone.

"We can start making plans from now on. So, Alto, tell me what you think."

“I…”

Alto whispered in a low voice.

“I still want to have more time for just the two of us.”

Alto rose from his seat. At the sharp scrape of the chair dragging across the floor, Viviana's shoulders tensed for no reason. She looked at Alto approaching her with wide, rabbit-like eyes.

Alto came closer to her, set his knees on the floor and knelt at her feet. She barely had time to wonder why he was kneeling there before his large hand grasped her calf.

“Al-Alto?!”

He lifted her leg and placed it over the armrest. As the hem of her negligee naturally rolled up, her legs spread wide.

The inner side of her thighs, soft like white bread, was a pale peach colour. It was a shade that made one’s mouth water just from looking at it. Alto’s red tongue swept over his lips before retreating into his mouth.

“There’s still so much of you that I don’t know yet.”

“I-I’m still eating… ahh!”

Just as he had in the carriage, he began eagerly licking her inner thighs. His pointed tongue traced the slit, then this time he persistently sucked at her clitoris.

Viviana’s face turned bright red in an instant. With trembling eyes, she glanced around the dining room. It seemed that the servants had already left; only the two of them remained.

‘Did they leave while I was lost in thought?’

When exactly? How did they even get the hint?

‘Everyone’s going to find out we had sex in the dining room first thing this morning.’

Ah, how embarrassing.

But at the same time, she couldn’t deny how thrilling it was. The very act of spreading her legs in the sunlit dining room was unbearably arousing.

As his sharp fangs bit her clitoris, fresh, tangy arousal flowed from deep inside. Alto slid in two fingers. Even though they hadn’t been intimate since yesterday, her already-narrowed inner walls were filled completely by his two fingers.

Alto pressed his nose against her thigh as he thrust deep inside her, the wet squelching sounds echoing.

“Your body gives off a sweet scent.” 

“A sweet scent? Ah, yesterday…”

“Yesterday?”

Viviana’s eyes, dazed from the pleasure he was giving her, regained their focus. She shot him a reproachful, slightly pouting glance.

“I waited for you all night. I even poured on my treasured perfume oil.”

“So that’s why you’re trembling like this.” 

“Ah.”

Alto bit her thigh, made smooth by the perfume. Leaving a red mark on the inner side, rarely seen by others, the act exuded intense possessiveness.

Squelch, squelch. 

Even as he did that, the hand buried inside her never paused, clawing through the ridged folds of her inner walls. Only when her arousal spilled over, drenching the area beneath her hips, did he finally withdraw his fingers.

Viviana, her eyes hazy, watched his slick fingers glisten with her fluids. Alto licked the tip of one as if tasting it. The sight was so lewd that her face flushed again.

Just as Viviana had come in wearing only a thin negligee and a cardigan, Alto, too, had washed up and was wearing only a robe over his pyjama bottoms. When he untied the front, the pants dropped with a soft thud, revealing a body sculpted with large, bulging muscles.

Alto, inheriting the blood of a werewolf, was naturally muscular even without setting aside time to train. When aroused, the veins along his collarbone and Adam’s apple stood out a purplish blue

Without realising it, Viviana wet her lips as her eyes roamed over his sculpted body.

The moment Viviana’s lust-drenched gaze met Alto’s…

As if he could no longer hold back, Alto lifted her body. Then, with a sharp upward thrust, he drove her onto his rigid member, as though impaling her.

His thick glans pierced through her slackened inner walls and thrust straight to her cervix in a single motion.

“Hng!”

Overwhelmed by intense pleasure, Viviana’s waist tensed, and her body arched backward as if skewered.

Her legs flailed, and, seemingly afraid of falling, she clutched his neck tightly with both arms, as if he were her only support. Pleased by the sight, Alto let out a low, rumbling laugh from deep in his throat.

After holding her close for a moment, her inner walls began to grind against his cock, as if asking why he wasn’t moving. Alto grabbed her hips firmly with both hands and started thrusting upward with forceful, pounding motions.

“Ahnng! Aah!”

His thick, rigid member, aided by gravity, plunged forcefully into her deepest depths. Viviana’s lips parted on their own. The uneasy sensation of being suspended in midair tensed her stomach, making her opening grip even tighter. And that was enough to shatter Alto’s patience.

He pulled back until only his glans remained, then drove it all the way in with a single, forceful thrust. The wet, squelching sounds of her inner walls echoed through the otherwise empty dining room.

“Ahh! Nngh!”

Even as Viviana climaxed, releasing clear fluid, Alto showed no sign of stopping. Instead, he held her writhing body tightly and thrust into her even faster.

It was unclear how many times she took his dark-red member all the way to the hilt just like that.

Alto let out a low moan as he came deep inside her.

Too exhausted to even move a finger, Viviana slumped against him, resting her forehead on his shoulder and panting in short, ragged breaths.

Alto carefully helped her sit back in the chair. Brushing aside the sweat-dampened strands of hair clinging to her forehead, he whispered in a gentle voice.

“Next time, I’ll send word sooner. I’m worried that waiting for me might harm your health.” 

“...”

But why, she wondered...? Even while receiving his overflowing love, Viviana felt a hollow emptiness lingering in a corner of her heart.

✦ ✦ ✦

Outwardly, the days passed with little change.

But once a crack had formed, it only grew deeper. Viviana rested her chin on her hand and let out a long sigh.

“It seems he doesn’t want to have children.”

Beside her, Leta, who had been knitting, widened her eyes.

“Did His Grace say that?”

“He didn’t say he didn’t want one. He just thinks it’s too soon… But to me, it sounded like a polite refusal.”

Alto never lied. But he didn’t tell the whole truth either. In fact, he was so patient and stubborn that once he chose to keep his mouth shut, he wouldn’t speak under any circumstances. 

In the end, she had to read his emotions from the few words he let slip. For someone as straightforward and simple-hearted as Viviana, it was no easy task.

As Viviana kept sighing, Leta, who had been watching her with sympathetic eyes, clapped her hands.

"Maybe he’s afraid of becoming a father?"

“Afraid of becoming a father?”

"It’s a problem that can arise in a man with a strong sense of responsibility. He believes that the environment necessary for raising a child depends entirely on his own abilities. Even the presence of people who will love and cherish the child."

At Leta’s words, Viviana couldn’t help but think of Alto. Perhaps Alto’s hesitation about children was because he wondered whether he could love the child completely.

‘Could it be because of his own wounds?’

Of course, if Viviana’s mother had made a poor choice and called her a beast the moment she was born, it would have left a lifelong trauma as well. 

‘Even if the baby has soft, fluffy fur, it would still be cute. I’m confident I could love it with all my heart.’

However, wasn’t the current ducal couple different from the tragedy of the previous generations? 

‘Why won’t he ask me? If he did, I could answer him with certainty.’

Viviana felt hurt that Alto wouldn’t share those worries with her, even though she knew it was because his wounds ran that deep.

In the end, the only person Viviana could confide in was Leta.

“It’s frustrating, Leta.”

Pushing aside her knitting basket, Leta earnestly helped Viviana think through what could be done.

"First, I think we should ease the Duke’s tension. It seems like the weight of responsibility is keeping him from hearing what you’re saying."

“Tension…”

That’s right. People were sometimes oppressed by memories of the past and couldn’t see reality. Even someone as strong as Alto could experience such a problem.

‘To help him relax, it would probably be best to use herbal candles or herbal tea to promote both mental and physical calm, right?’

People usually drank chamomile tea, but… Alto was a beastman, so wouldn’t that be different?

"Leta, which herbs should I use to help a dog relax?"

"Why a dog, all of a sudden?"

Because a wolf was a canine.

Though Leta was puzzled, she diligently shared the information she knew with Viviana.

“I’ve heard that dogs like the scent of catnip and valerian root.”

Catnip. Valerian root.

Viviana asked her to get either one. With her fists clenched, she made a firm resolve.

‘On the next full moon, I’ll use herbs to help ease Alto’s tension. And I’ll talk to him seriously.’

If he wanted to postpone it, until when, and how long was she supposed to wait?

And if he was only postponing things vaguely because of anxiety…

‘I want to reassure him and tell him not to worry.’

If it could put Alto’s mind at ease, Viviana was willing to do anything.

'Might as well just use it all, I guess. Burn it as incense, brew it as tea, even mix it into wine…'

Back then, she never imagined that the herb would have such an effect. She simply wanted to talk with Alto. Truly, purely!

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Translator's Corner:

Thanks for your patience with me again~ There are two more chapters left of this before it's officially the end of TWDS. My goal is to finish translating and post them by the end of this week, so please stay tuned! (Those chapters will be the bonus chapter since my Kofi goal was met~ Thank you again to Jinari for your Kofi support 💗)

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