Chapter 11

Ruan Tang used gauze to bandage the wound on Seth's face. When he went downstairs, he ran into the butler, who looked at Seth with great surprise.

As if surprised that Seth actually had gauze on his face.

'Master Andre... the wound on my face was bandaged by Her Grace.' The young man, having been stared at by the butler, seemed frightened and quickly explained, 'I served Her Grace well this morning, I swear. If you don't believe me, ask Her Grace... I did not break the mansion's rules on my own.'

Seeing how frightened he was, Ruan Tang immediately said to the butler in a gentle voice, 'That's right. The wound on his face really was unsightly, so I told him to bandage it... If the Duke asks about it, you can just let him come to me. No need to blame him.'

He didn't know what the mansion's rules were like, nor did he know whether his husband, the legendary bloodthirsty and volatile duke, could only find pleasure in seeing servants bloodied and mutilated.

Nor did he know whether having the young man walk around with such a face was a command from him.

But seeing the young man like this, Ruan Tang's heart couldn't bear it, so he spoke up to help him out of the predicament.

Ruan Tang thought, at least he was also a master of this ducal mansion, and the mad duke couldn't do anything to him anyway... If there were any trouble, he was willing to take it on for these poor people.

Hearing Ruan Tang say this, the butler immediately restrained his expression, shot a deep look at Seth, and ordered, 'In that case... you serve Her Grace well.'

The young man nodded in agreement and obediently led Ruan Tang on a tour of the entire Auston Ducal Palace.

This ducal mansion covered a large area, with luxurious and vintage decor; every spot was exquisitely lavish to the extreme.

But due to the owner's preferences, this lavish estate never saw a ray of sunlight; it was perpetually in eternal night, giving an indescribable feeling of gloom and oppression.

The two walked through the empty corridors as if wandering in hell.

They encountered others along the way, perhaps because Duke Auston's oppressive aura was too strong, so these servants didn't dare to even lift their heads when meeting their masters.

Some even held their breath and began to tremble slightly when they came before Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang felt somewhat uncomfortable about this, but he could do nothing. After wandering about casually, he felt it wasn't very interesting.

'Your Grace, are you bored?' Seth seemed to have perceived his lack of interest and immediately asked, 'There's also a beast garden in the mansion, where the Duke keeps many venomous snakes and ferocious beasts. There are performances every day. Would you like to go see?'

Ruan Tang said uninterestedly, 'What kind of performances?'

'Swallowing live fowl, beasts tearing each other apart, tigers hunting...' Seth answered.

Ruan Tang had already been uninterested in the so-called animal performances of this mansion. Upon hearing the content, he felt it indeed matched the tastes of his legendary husband—cruel, murderous, and fond of bloodshed.

Therefore, he wasn't surprised at all.

Ruan Tang gently shook his head and said, 'No need. I hate blood and gore, so I won't go.'

'...Apologies, Your Grace.' Seth was somewhat surprised, but still said, 'The Duke likes these very much. I thought Your Grace might also be interested in learning about them.'

Because the Duke favored blood and gore, no one in this mansion had dared to say they detested it.

Ruan Tang certainly knew what he was thinking. Every Omega would want to understand and get close to their Alpha's hobbies in hopes of gaining his favor. He didn't like bloody and violent things, but the Duke did. So the people around him all hoped he would also understand, even if he had to pretend to like them, to share a common interest with Duke Auston.

Develop feelings to achieve the goal of this political marriage—

Being marked by Duke Auston and having a child with him as soon as possible.

But Ruan Tang didn't want to do this. He didn't want to understand Duke Auston, nor did he want to pretend to have the same interests as him.

Under the premise of peace, he only hoped to stay as far away from him as possible.

'I'm tired. Let's go back.' But Ruan Tang couldn't say these things to others; he said to Seth casually with a tired expression.

Without a word, Seth immediately led him back via another route.

The Auston Ducal Palace was huge; Ruan Tang took nearly a full day to see a good part of it. After dinner, he went back to wash up and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

What he didn't know was that the moment he fell asleep, the male servant who had been humble and courteous in his room changed completely the moment he stepped out.

He took the elevator straight to the master bedroom of the ducal mansion.

As soon as the butler and Aaron saw him, they carefully approached. One helped him take off his clothes, shoes, and hat, while the other carefully pushed a wheelchair over.

The young man tilted his head back, downed the Ceylon black tea presented by a servant in one gulp, and sat down in the wheelchair. Aaron then carefully attended to him as he changed his trousers.

When he took off his trousers, what was revealed was not a pair of human legs—

But two prosthetic limbs made of metal alloy.

'Master, why...?' The butler looked at him in confusion, truly unable to understand what his master had been doing all day.

The young man was none other than the master of this gloomy mansion, Duke Auston.

Auston suffered from severe insomnia. Restless and unable to sleep no matter how he tossed and turned, he saw that Ruan Tang was sleeping soundly. Out of curiosity, he went to his room to stare at him as he slept, planning to scare the Omega when he woke up. But Ruan Tang mistook him for a male servant of the mansion.

Auston didn't know what came over him or where this interest came from. He happened to know a bit about voice-changing, and since he usually wore a mask and sat in a wheelchair anyway, he went along with the pretense and played along with the roleplay.

'Very interesting...' Auston didn't answer the butler's question, but touched the gauze on his own face, recalling his interactions with Ruan Tang today, and muttered to himself, 'This Omega is very interesting.'

The butler had intended to say a few good words for Ruan Tang and help bring the two masters of the ducal palace together, but then he remembered the outcomes of his previous two attempts at matchmaking.

He obediently shut his mouth, chose to give up, and decided to let them develop naturally.

Auston was both crazy and rebellious, and he loved to go against the Empress. Now that he himself had taken an interest in Ruan Tang, that was a good thing. If the people around him said too much, it might provoke his rebellious side, which would not be beneficial.

…

Ruan Tang knew nothing of this. When he woke up the next day, he didn't see the male servant Seth who had served him yesterday. Instead, he saw his newlywed husband—Duke Auston—in front of his bed.

Auston was just as he had been at their first meeting: sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a mask on his face, looking at him silently and gloomily, his whole person exuding a creepy aura.

Ruan Tang was startled, but remembering the Duke's capricious nature, he held back and took the initiative to speak to him: '…Your Grace.'

'Why are you here?'

He was actually quite afraid that this madman would hit him at the slightest disagreement.

If he got beaten by a madman, such domestic violence—he would have nowhere to complain.

However, looking at the wheelchair under Auston, Ruan Tang silently felt relieved in his heart. Luckily, he had married a madman who was crippled in both legs and had limited mobility.

No matter how violent, as long as he didn't use mental attacks, he couldn't seriously hurt him.

This was also why Ruan Tang had agreed so readily to marry him.

If it actually came to blows, Auston might not win against him.

Besides, he could run...

'I heard that I am supposedly your husband?' Auston's voice was hoarse and eerie, like a ghostly sound from hell.

Ruan Tang's mind went blank, completely unable to understand what he wanted to do, but still answered, 'Of course.'

Legally speaking, this Alpha in front of him was definitely his husband...

Auston said nothing, directly controlling his wheelchair to glide toward where Ruan Tang was.

Ruan Tang, sitting on the bed, was stunned. For a while, he didn't understand what Auston meant, until Auston's wheelchair stopped in front of the bed, close enough to be within inches.

Only then did Ruan Tang belatedly realize that this Alpha in front of him seemed to be his newlywed husband...

So, did his coming to his room early in the morning and bringing up the fact that he was his husband mean he wanted to sleep together?

To be honest, since he had decided to marry, Ruan Tang didn't actually reject the idea of sleeping with Duke Auston; he even had prepared for it. But looking at this gloomy man in the wheelchair in front of him, Ruan Tang couldn't help his thoughts wandering: Has he done this before? Does he even know how?

He heard that he liked blood and violence; would his marking be very bloody and violent?

'No, he's a cripple, maybe he can't move...'

So, if they were together, would he have to take the initiative a bit?

But he had no experience either; how should an Omega take the initiative in this kind of thing?

Ruan Tang fell into deep thought.

Auston reached him and had already stretched out a hand to touch Ruan Tang's neck. His hand was ice-cold; being touched by him felt like being coiled by a cold poisonous snake.

Ruan Tang took a deep breath, shivered, but didn't dodge.

He kept his body stiff and straight, allowing him to touch.

Auston, with Ruan Tang awake, finally touched the temperature he had long coveted. It was indeed as smooth and warm as he had imagined, like milk or warm jade...

It was a superior collectible. (Review note: clearly touched the neck)

Feeling his hand pause on his body, Ruan Tang bit his lower lip. Recalling the general steps in such situations from the TV shows he had watched, he immediately took the initiative to lean close to the Alpha and offered his snow-white, slender nape to Auston's mouth. (Note again: it's just letting him bite the neck; he hasn't bitten.)

An Omega's nape contains the gland that emits pheromone scent. An Alpha's teeth touching the Omega's gland to inject his pheromone is the first step in starting a marking bond between an Alpha and Omega.