Ferdinand's eyes looked so cold as he threatened her to forget about Andrew.
Arabella could tell he was furious. His aura was suddenly so scary again, much worse than usual.
But she was not even thinking about Andrew.
For Arabella who was reborn, Andrew was no longer an important person. Andrew does not even cross her mind if not for Ferdinand thinking about the former as his rival.
Therefore, it's not her thinking about Andrew.
It's Ferdinand. He was the one reminding her of her first love. And yet, he dares to threaten her to forget about the latter.
But then again, she was still thinking of another man.
Icarus.
Ferdinand would get even madder if he knew she was reminiscing about his nemesis. He would probably go crazy if he knew she had memories of sleeping with Icarus.
"I, I will do my best to forget about him. But please give me some time. It doesn't happen overnight," Arabella acted as meekly as she could. She would play the part of a pitiful and weak bunny for now.
"Fine. I will just kiss you. You need to start thinking about me instead of him. Remember my kisses, not his. Think of me," Ferdinand demanded, his green eyes darkening.
And once again, his lips came crashing down on hers.
He did just keep kissing her. But he was on top of her and he kept pressing his body against her.
Arabella gulped when she felt his arousal. She gasped when he began rubbing it on her belly. He was huge. But she could perfectly recall he was not that good at using it.
"Can you feel it? This is what you do to me. This is how my body responds to you. Have you accepted this part of your former lover inside of you before? How can you accept his, but not mine? It drives me crazy. I want to touch all the places he has touched before. I want to replace all of it with mine. Why won't you let me touch you? Won't you forget about him quicker if I replace your memories of his touch with mine?"
Arabella froze as Ferdinand's eyes gleamed with lust and longing.
He had never been this talkative before too. He never told her what he was feeling. He never let her get a peek of what he was thinking either.
Unfortunately, she could hear his thoughts loud and clear now. She could even see his perverted thoughts if she gazes deep into his eyes.
And who would have thought, most of the time, when he was with her, the terrifying and poker-faced Ferdinand's thoughts, were often naughty?
It was almost unbelievable that such a person would only pay attention to his wife until she was pregnant and never touch her again.
This time though, Ferdinand was expressing himself so much more compared to her previous life when he didn't say much even as they did all kinds of things in bed.
'But what the hell is he even saying? I am the Princess of Lobelius. Did he think I would just give my chastity to Andrew just because I love him? I was taught strictly in the palace, so at this age, I was supposed to be young and innocent. I am not crazy enough to just let Andrew take me when we are not even married. I did run away with him but we only shared kisses and held hands.'
Andrew did try to make advances on her, but Arabella refused and promised him they would only do it after they get wed by a priest. Any priest would do since they were on the run. As such, they were supposed to get wed by a priest in the town they stayed in. But they were caught by her parents' people before their plan was achieved.
"Stop thinking about him," Ferdinand growled, and Arabella gasped as he bit her shoulder. She felt his teeth sink into her skin.
'Why is he even acting like this because of a man he never met?'
As far as she knew, Ferdinand had only seen Andrew's portrait. He didn't lose to Andrew in looks, body, or status. There was no reason for him to be insecure.
It was true Arabella loved Andrew before. But now, she was already married to Ferdinand. There was no reason for him to be acting like this.
It's not like he had feelings for her. And he fully knew she could not run away from him in this vast empire.
"I won't think of him anymore," Arabella quickly said and Ferdinand finally stopped.
'This bastard! Just wait! I'll poison you to death again!'
She wanted to glare at him but closed her eyes instead to avoid showing him how she felt.
When she opened her eyes, she acted like his pitiful victim who had no room for escape.
"How could you bite me? This will leave a mark," she sniffed, pretending she was just barely holding back her tears.
[She's so cute! I want to devour her even more. But if I give in, she would think I'm a pushover. I have to be strict.]
"That's exactly why I did it. If you keep thinking about him while I kiss you, I'll bite," Ferdinand warned and he looked serious. "Are you thinking about me now?"
'This crazy bastard! Just wait until Alwin's not by your side anymore.'
"Yes," she replied weakly and docilely despite her hateful thoughts.
That night, Ferdinand did keep his word to just kiss her. But he tortured her with his lustful and needy kisses until she almost passed out feeling all warm and tingly and dizzy from the intensity of his thoughts and kisses.
. . .
Arabella woke up in the morning at the sound of someone knocking on her door. She was alone in her bed. The space beside her was cold, so Ferdinand had left for a while.
'Maybe he was already on the way to the border.'
"Your Majesty? Milady, are you awake? His Majesty would depart soon. I am here to help you get dressed." It was Aletha.
'Right. He won't just teleport with Alwin this time.'
Arabella sighed as she understood. She had to get dressed to see him off because Ferdinand would be leaving with a lot of knights so they would parade through the city like it was a festival.
"You may enter," Arabella replied as she stretch on the bed one last time before getting up.
It was her duty as Ferdinand's wife and as the Empress to see everyone off when they are departing for a journey.
Ferdinand often went wherever there was war, so in her previous life, it was rather tiresome to see him off all the time.
The people enjoyed being able to see their powerful Emperor though so they crowd the side of the roads Ferdinand and the knights would pass through.
After all, he hates carriages, so Ferdinand rides his huge war horse if Alwin won't teleport him where he was going.