I will be the perfect wife this time

Matthias took a heavy breath, the sound of his strained lungs cutting through the silence of the room. "That bitch... do you think I’ve forgotten?" He tilted his head, his eyes locked onto her with a gaze devoid of mercy. "I’ll do it. I’ll make her beg for me to end it. I’m going to pay her back for every second of pain she caused—slowly—until she realizes that death is a luxury she doesn’t deserve."

A short, dry laugh escaped Olivia’s lips, sounding like an old joke that had lost its flavor long ago.

"What’s so funny?" Matthias asked, his voice sharp.

She turned slowly, facing him with a coldness that felt like stone. "Hmm... I didn’t expect to hear you talk like that. I didn’t know you were capable of such... malice."

He took a step toward her, his body swaying slightly from the alcohol, but his eyes remained dead steady. "Then wait until you see me execute it. You won’t be laughing then. You’ll realize I wasn’t joking."

Suddenly, the trace of amusement vanished from Olivia’s face, replaced by a seriousness as sharp as a blade. "I’m meeting Elvira soon."

Matthias went still. "What?" he growled, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous vibration. "How? When?"

Matthias took a heavy breath, the sound of his strained lungs cutting through the silence of the room. "That bitch... do you think I’ve forgotten?" He tilted his head, his eyes locked onto her with a gaze devoid of mercy. "I’ll do it. I’ll make her beg for me to end it. I’m going to pay her back for every second of pain she caused—slowly—until she realizes that death is a luxury she doesn’t deserve."

A short, dry laugh escaped Olivia’s lips, sounding like an old joke that had lost its flavor long ago.

"What’s so funny?" Matthias asked, his voice sharp.

She turned slowly, facing him with a coldness that felt like stone. "Hmm... I didn’t expect to hear you talk like that. I didn’t know you were capable of such... malice."

He took a step toward her, his body swaying slightly from the alcohol, but his eyes remained dead steady. "Then wait until you see me execute it. You won’t be laughing then. You’ll realize I wasn’t joking."

Suddenly, the trace of amusement vanished from Olivia’s face, replaced by a seriousness as sharp as a blade. "I’m meeting Elvira soon."

Matthias went still. "What?" he growled, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous vibration. "How? When?"

"What has gotten into me? Have you lost your mind?" he yelled at her, the veins in his neck bulging from pure rage. "Are you really going to walk into your own death? Do you think I’m just going to stand by and watch while you step into that snake’s trap?"

She turned her head away, trying to escape his eyes that were rebuking her with raw sincerity, but Matthias left her no way out. He cupped her face with both hands, gripping firmly but gently enough to force her to look directly at him.

"Olivia... we are in this together. That was the deal, wasn’t it?" His voice dropped, becoming sharper and more dangerous. "If you’re going to see her, I’m going with you. Or were you just informing me like I’m some bystander? Olivia, that bitch killed my son... *my* son. She hurt you, my wife! There is no way I’m letting her go unpunished, and there is absolutely no way I’m letting her lay a finger on you. So, I am involving myself in every step you take, in every drop of blood you spill... do you understand?"

In that moment, Olivia felt something strange wash over her. She, who was used to fighting alone—who knew nothing but her family’s betrayals and Elvira’s poisoned help—felt as if cold water had been poured down her throat to extinguish years of burning loneliness. A sense of relief, heavy and comforting, flooded her heart. She wasn’t alone in this pit anymore.

She leaned in, closing the small gap between them, and pressed a light kiss—a silent, eternal promise—onto his blood-stained lips. "You’re right," she whispered against his mouth. "We are in this together... from now on."

"Yes. Together."

Her words and that fleeting kiss were the green light that shattered the last of Matthias’s restraint. There was no more room for caution or hesitation. He grabbed her face with both hands, his fingers pressing into her jaw to pull her closer, and their lips met with a violent force. It was a succession of kisses, frantic and feverish, lacking mercy or a pause for breath, as if each was trying to drain the very soul from the other before morning came.

When their lips finally parted, Olivia was panting, her chest heaving wildly, while Matthias’s dark eyes seemed to devour her features.

"You really... don’t have a shred of patience," Olivia whispered through her ragged breaths.

A muffled, rough laugh bubbled up from deep within Matthias. "Patience? What kind of patience could stand a chance against you? Oh, no... none at all." He glanced briefly at the plush bed behind her, then locked his gaze back onto her lips, swollen from his kisses. "Anyway, shall we move to the bed?"

Olivia didn’t say a word. She just looked at him with a silent challenge that set his blood on fire even more. Matthias didn’t wait a second. He leaned down and lifted her with one powerful arm, and her legs quickly wrapped around his waist to steady herself.

"I’ll take that as a yes," he growled, heading toward the bed with her in his arms.

He laid her down on the plush mattress with a slow deliberate pace that carried a hint of cruelty. In one motion, he ripped off his blood-stained shirt and tossed it aside, revealing the taut muscles of his chest.

His rough hands began to trace the curves of her body with a haunting precision, as if he were redrawing the map of his property. He leaned down and pressed a searing kiss just above her knee, then looked up at her, whispering, "It seems it’s going to be a very long night for you, Olivia."

"Stop talking like a pervert," she snapped.

Matthias laughed—a sound that carried all his madness and his poisoned love for her. "Fine... I’ll focus on the work instead of the talk, my Duchess."

Olivia gave him no verbal answer. Instead, she grabbed him by the hair and pulled him down to meet her lips with equal violence, a kiss that served as her definitive reply. With every moment that passed in that heavy darkness, the alliance between them grew stronger. They wove together the threads of a merciless fate amidst ragged breaths and silent promises that the blood to be spilled tomorrow would be the price for this indescribable pleasure.

It was indeed a long night, one where there was no room for nobility or laws; there were only two bodies burning with the fires of revenge and desire.

Matthias woke up to the sound of hammers pounding inside his skull from the alcohol. He moved slowly, finding the room drowned in the pale dawn light that revealed the chaos of the previous night. He turned to his side, and his eyes locked onto Olivia. She was sleeping peacefully, but her upper body was a canvas of purple and red marks he had left behind—royal seals that had shown no mercy to her pale skin.

The memories of the night before hit him like a series of slaps: his rough voice, his confession of poisoned love, and how he had let his desire lead him into a madness he had never known before.

Olivia slowly opened her eyes, fixing him with a look that didn’t lack mockery despite her exhaustion.

"Do you have any idea how much of a pervert you become when you’re drunk?" she asked, her voice rasping.

Matthias froze for a moment, rubbing his temple in pain. "Me?"

"No, me... are you kidding me?" She pulled the covers back slightly to reveal her shoulder, littered with marks. "Look, my entire body is covered in spots."

He felt a sting of guilt mixed with pleasure, reaching out his hand to touch her skin gently this time. "Sorry... it seems I got a bit carried away."

A brief silence followed, as Matthias regained his military seriousness. He sat up, his eyes narrowing. "By the way, I still remember our talk about Elvira. What are you actually planning?"

Olivia smiled—a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, born from a dark place in her memory. "First, we’ll need to see Sylvester."

"Sylvester?" Matthias knit his brows. "Who is that?"

"One of Elvira’s favorites," she said, her tone dripping with venom. "Favorite enough that she might even be considered ’in love’ with him... or so she thinks."

"And what are you going to do with him?" Matthias asked, his voice dropping lower, more dangerous.

"I hate him," she replied, a single word that cut through everything. "I have filthy memories with him, so I think I’ll take care of him in a way no one would ever imagine."

Matthias’s body went rigid. The jealousy he thought he had buried yesterday ignited again like embers under ash. "What do you mean, you have ’filthy memories’ with him?"

She didn’t give him the answer that would put him at ease. Instead, she sat up in bed and began gathering her scattered hair. "I’ll tell you when we find him. For now, let’s get up. We won’t achieve anything by staying here. I have a lot to do."

Matthias watched her for a long time, then let out a sigh of desperation mixed with a blind obedience he never thought he’d offer a woman. "Fine... you command, and I execute. Let’s see where these plans of yours take us this time, my Duchess."