When the Villains Unite - Chapter 19: Marriage (1)

To think I’d faint.

I had thought I might lose my mind in the overwhelming pleasure, but I didn’t expect to actually pass out. And before it was even midnight, no less. Though I’d fallen asleep during intimate moments before, fainting was an extremely rare occurrence.

When I woke up, I couldn’t open my eyes right away out of sheer embarrassment. But knowing Damian was a Sword Master, it was clear that such efforts would be futile.

“Sis, if you’re awake, you should say something. Open your eyes.”

“……”

“You passed out like that last night, so I was really worri—”

“No!”

I shot up at his words, looking utterly distressed.

The dull ache in my lower regions, where his impossibly large… ahem… things had been mercilessly thrust, hinted that I might’ve overdone it. But it had been so good… no, wait… cough cough.

“Are you okay, Rose?”

There was no way I wouldn’t be. After all, whenever Belhark got a little too intense during our time together, he immediately used healing magic afterward. Thanks to that, my waist, which should have been sore, was completely fine.

When I shook my head, Damian gently pulled me into his embrace, wrapping his arms around my head.

“I pushed you too hard yesterday. Should we just stay home today?”

“…Okay.”

Though I wanted to escape his embrace out of embarrassment, the concern he showed didn’t feel so bad, so I let it slide. Damian stared at me intently for a moment, then flopped down, resting his head on my lap with a sulky expression. His mood softened the instant my fingers naturally began running through his hair.

“Why did you stay quiet all this time?”

If I were to tell the truth, the Orca brothers had grown used to a life confined indoors during their childhood. Ironically, during vacation, they would eagerly spend their time outside sightseeing. After exhausting themselves exploring every nook and cranny, they would finally return to the villa.

That, in itself, seemed suspicious to me. No matter how novel the location might be, there’s no way anyone wouldn’t get bored of a small island by the third day.

Moreover, it didn’t suit their laid-back personalities to meticulously plan such a packed itinerary. And knowing their interests as well as I did, it wasn’t hard to tell that the two were pushing themselves unnecessarily.

“……”

When I asked them why they had avoided intimacy for so long, they remained silent. I didn’t want to press them too hard about something they were reluctant to discuss, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that behind their seemingly harmless expressions, they were hiding some profound reasoning.

“Do you remember what you said in the carriage last time?”

What did I say?

Seeing Damian exhale deeply as if preparing for a serious conversation, I couldn’t help but tense up alongside him. But the question he asked next was completely unexpected.

On the way to the Vidos estate, I had talked almost exclusively about the travel itinerary and the crown prince’s upcoming wedding to Aria after the vacation. Had I said something else to them?

When I tilted my head in confusion, they seemed even more flustered by my reaction.

“Don’t you remember what you said as we passed through the Hilary Mountains two days before arriving at the estate?”

Belhark straightened up, met my gaze, and asked the question earnestly, but I couldn’t recall it at all. All I remembered was being completely exhausted from the long journey.

As I remained silent, they both sighed heavily and looked at each other as if unsure how to proceed.

“You don’t remember saying that you’d marry the one who becomes the father of your first child?”

“What?!”

Did I say something that reckless?!

Now that I think about it, I might have muttered something like that half-asleep… but they actually took that seriously?!

My face filled with disbelief, and they began explaining in earnest. They told me that regardless of whether or not I had a child, they had been taking magical contraceptive pills. However, those pills were laced with a type of poison.

That revelation left me utterly bewildered. I never imagined they’d been ingesting something toxic just to prevent pregnancy. Thinking back to yesterday, it seemed like they’d taken those pills again…

Noticing my expression darken, they hurriedly tried to reassure me.

“It’s okay. The poison naturally neutralizes over time in the body, though it’s a slow process.”

But they explained that because they’d been taking the pills consistently for months, it would take at least a year for the poison to fully clear from their systems. Furthermore, they revealed that having a child during this period could result in complications for the baby.

Only then did I understand why they had been refraining from intimacy all this time.

I finally understood why they, who couldn’t keep their hands off me even at the lightest brush, would step outside every evening or avoid staying in the villa for too long. Even as they voluntarily kept their distance, their expressions betrayed how unhappy they were about it.

Carefully, I broke the silence.

“I’m not ready to have children yet… and I don’t like the idea of deciding something as serious as marriage through a gamble like that.”

“If you’re still not ready a year from now, of course, we won’t pressure you to have children,” Belhark said.
“But if, under imperial law, you must choose just one person to marry, this is as clear a standard as any,” Damian added.

To be honest, I’d long dreamed of building a family with them someday. Especially when I saw Aria, glowing with happiness as she talked about her future with Cain, those feelings grew even stronger.

While I had the right to choose between the two, being forced to pick either Belhark or Damian felt like an impossible dilemma. Choosing one felt as if I would be abandoning the other, and just the thought of that broke my heart.

“So how were you planning to get through the year?” I asked.

“We were going to discuss it after His Highness’s wedding,” Damian started, “but there was an unexpected variable…”

“Don’t. I think I already know what you’re going to say, so spare me the details.”

I was already aware of how hard they’d tried to avoid me yesterday. Despite their efforts, I had ended up seducing them anyway, leading them to lose control and resort to taking their contraceptive pills again as they gave in to their desires. They had probably tried to resist as much as they could, but it must have been excruciating.

“Rose, tell us what you want. What do you want to do?”

His question seemed to carry a promise: that no matter who I chose, they would accept it.

While the idea of deciding my future based on the father of my first child felt absurd, I couldn’t help but wonder—was there any such thing as “normal” between me and them? Truthfully, if it were just a formal marriage, it didn’t matter much to me whether it was Belhark or Damian.

As I mulled it over, Damian stared intently at my lips, barely blinking, and Belhark’s stiff expression showed he was no less tense. Their reactions made me chuckle softly as I relaxed.

When I noticed Belhark’s hands trembling slightly on my shoulders, I became even more conscious of him and instinctively crossed my arms.

“Well, I guess you’ll have to hold out for a year, then.”

“……”

“And how exactly do you plan to endure that?”

“Somehow… Wait a minute, Sis, does that mean…?”

I smiled at Damian. Still holding onto me, he pulled me into his arms, wrapping his hands around my waist. Then, with a deep sigh, he looked at me.
“Ha… I never thought waiting for an answer could be this terrifying.”

“You’re actually scared of something?”

“I’m human too, Sis…”

“If the people of the Empire heard that, I wonder what they’d say,” Belhark interjected mockingly, clearly agreeing with my skepticism.

As the tension melted away, the Orca brothers began bickering lightly, as they often did. Watching them, I flopped down between them with a soft laugh.

When I did, both of them looked down at me, their gazes meeting mine. Slowly, I met their eyes in turn and spoke in a low voice.

“So, I guess there are about two weeks left before the contraceptives stop working?”

Then, I flashed them a playful, knowing smile—a smile that was both sweet and deliberately provocative.

It wasn’t just me who would have to endure a nun-like life for the next year. The idea of wasting the remaining two weeks we had felt unbearable for all of us, given how much we were all yearning.

And just like that, the two of them shed their previously unsure, anxious expressions.

That day turned out to be a long one. Until the end of the vacation, none of us bothered stepping out of the villa, as if we’d all silently agreed on it.

* * *