Reborn as the General's Useless Daughter-Chapter 48: The Wedding Night

The moment those words fell, his tone had already shifted into unmistakable ambiguity.

A faint warmth crept up Zora’s cheeks. Even if she had lived two lifetimes, she naturally understood what ordinary newlyweds would do on a night like this.

"Yes," she nodded calmly after a moment, "if it’s this late, it is indeed time to rest."

A glitter flashed instantly through Prince Kael’s eyes. He looked at her with clear anticipation, already turning toward the bed with clear intent.

"The lady is right," he said seriously. "A proper rest tonight is indeed very important."

He deliberately emphasized the words "proper rest," the meaning behind them impossible to miss.

However, in the very next moment, two soft quilts flew straight at him without warning.

Prince Kael instinctively caught them, momentarily stunned.

Zora had already turned over gracefully onto the bed, her movements smooth and decisive. The corner of her lips lifted into a calm, elegant smile as she said in an unhurried tone, "You’ve worked very hard tonight. It’s best that you sleep on the floor and rest well, Your Highness."

The meaning could not have been clearer.

Prince Kael stared at the two quilts in his arms, then glanced at the slender figure already curled comfortably on the bed.

The expression on his face froze for a moment before finally melting into helpless laughter mixed with undeniable indulgence.

"So heartless," he murmured, but his eyes carried no trace of anger.

He obediently spread the quilt on the floor and lay down without further protest. Seeing that he truly did as he was told, Zora finally relaxed her breathing slightly.

Even across two lifetimes, she still had no experience with such matters. Tonight was already chaotic enough. A quiet night of separation was precisely what she needed.

Yet lying upon the soft, unfamiliar bed, sleep did not come as easily as she expected.

Perhaps it was because she had grown accustomed to the hard wooden bed of the small courtyard in the past. Or perhaps it was because, for the first time, there was another man’s presence quietly breathing in the same room.

After a while;

"The lady can’t fall asleep... is the candle too bright?" Prince Kael’s low voice drifted up from the floor, carrying a trace of quiet concern.

Zora paused for a moment before answering, her tone steady. "The candle is indeed too bright. I’m not used to it."

Only she herself knew how thin that excuse truly was. With another person in the room, with his breathing clearly within reach, how could she possibly sleep peacefully?

The room fell silent for a breath.

Then a soft sound followed as the flame was gently extinguished. Darkness instantly swallowed the crimson glow, and the world inside the bridal chamber quieted into shadow and moonlight.

"The lady can rest now," Prince Kael said softly.

"Thank you," Zora replied.

Silence returned once more.

Yet no matter how she tried to slow her breathing, sleep stubbornly refused to come. Her senses felt too alert, too awake, as if every thread of air in the room carried a faint awareness of the other presence beneath this same roof.

Just as her thoughts drifted restlessly, her ears suddenly twitched.

Footsteps.

Extremely light. Carefully controlled. Almost soundless.

But to her sharpened senses, they were unmistakable.

Someone was outside the door.

Before she could even shift her body to rise and investigate, a shadow suddenly loomed over her. A firm weight pressed her back against the mattress, swift and soundless. One hand covered her lips before a single startled breath could escape.

Zora’s heart lurched.

Then she heard his breath by her ear, swift and restrained.

"There’s someone listening outside."

At once, she understood.

The tension in her body eased slightly, her earlier alarm turning into sharp clarity. So these people had come to spy. Given Prince Kael’s unusual status and secrecy, this was hardly surprising.

She had always suspected that his true identity was far from simple. Whatever rumors circulated outside, she no longer believed a single word of them.

She lifted her hand and gently pressed against his shoulder, signaling him to move back.

This position was... far too close.

Prince Kael did not immediately withdraw.

Instead, he looked down at her in the dim glow of moonlight spilling through the window lattice, his breathing faintly uneven. His voice dropped, low and hoarse.

"Darling... you’re so beautiful."

Her heartbeat skipped uncontrollably.

In the soft silver light, her features were hazy yet vivid, like porcelain shaped by moonlight. His face was close enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath brushing faintly against her skin, stirring a restless shiver along her nerves.

Those deep eyes of his shimmered quietly, brighter than the stars outside.

For a fleeting moment, the danger outside the door seemed to vanish entirely from their awareness.

Inside the silent chamber, only two breaths intertwined.

Her fingers curled unconsciously into the bedsheets.

She could hear her own heartbeat thundering far too loudly in the stillness, disrupting the composure she so carefully maintained in everyday life.

Just outside the wall, whispered voices drifted faintly.

"In my opinion, how could there be any problem with the Prince? Could a man miss such a beauty on the wedding night?"

"Exactly... then why hasn’t there been any movement?"

Their words were muffled but distinct.

Prince Kael’s lips curved slightly. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He lifted a hand and deliberately knocked twice against the edge of the bed with a faint, rhythmic sound, neither too loud nor too soft.

Outside, the two eavesdroppers froze.

A moment later, their tense expressions broke into knowing smiles.

"Seems like something’s happening," one of them whispered gleefully.

"Good, we can report back now."

Their footsteps soon retreated into the distance, dissolving into the deeper quiet of the night.

Only then did the pressure on Zora ease.

She exhaled softly. "You can get off now."

But when she lifted her gaze, she met a faintly amused expression.

"Darling," Prince Kael said leisurely, "you’re blushing."

Her face grew warm instantly.

She turned her head away with cool composure. "That’s because you were too close."

Even in the dim light of the bridal chamber, Prince Kael still clearly saw the faint crimson spreading across Zora’s cheeks. That fragile hint of color stood in sharp contrast to her usual cold composure, stirring an inexplicable warmth in his chest.

For a fleeting moment, a strange tenderness rose within him. "Oh?"