Bondage and Marriage - 12

Time flew by quickly and the wedding day had already arrived. (Though for Noah, it had felt endlessly long.) As per Noah and Ian’s wishes, the wedding ceremony took place modestly(?) at the winter villa. Having barely slept the previous night because Benjamin had barged in right as he was about to go to bed, forcing Noah to stay up drinking wine and listening to all sorts of laments, Noah was grateful the wedding ceremony was short and simple. He was absolutely desperate to quickly get some rest due to his fatigue.

After the wedding ceremony held amongst both sides’ acquaintances and relatives, the schedule was to go on their honeymoon to Miller’s private island. So Noah fervently wished for the ceremony to end soon. More than anticipating his first night with Ian, he just wanted to comfortably rest his aching feet first. If men’s dress shoes were this uncomfortable, how did women even walk in high heels at weddings? Wondering this the entire time, Noah finally completed the lengthy ceremony, exchanging vows and a kiss with Ian. (At William and Benjamin’s wedding, Tanner, who had been either laughing or fuming, surprisingly teared up a bit, shocking everyone.)

Ian Miller, who had been acting sweeter and more affectionate towards Noah than ever during the entire ceremony as if he was the one truly in love, revealed his true colors immediately after it ended. After the wedding, Ian stepped away briefly to converse with someone else. The fatigued Noah went ahead and boarded the waiting limousine first. As he undid the top two buttons of his tight collar, he felt a sense of relief that the ceremony was finally over.

“Ah…I can finally breathe again.”

Noah stretched out comfortably on the plush seat. His whole body was sore and exhausted from maintaining proper posture all day. He wanted to take his shoes off right away for some relief, but since Ian would be returning shortly, he could only wiggle his toes a little bit. From morning until late afternoon, he hadn’t had a proper meal while tending to the guests, so he was hungry too.

There’s definitely some food in there… Noah slightly opened his mouth and stared intently at the mini fridge installed in the limo. But just like with the shoes, he couldn’t be caught by Ian eating something alone when he returned. No taking shoes off, no eating, no sleeping… Come to think of it, what kind of conversation was taking this long anyway? Over 20 minutes had already passed.

Then there was a knock on the window. Giving a puzzled look, Noah rolled down the window to see the person who had been constantly at Ian’s side running errands at the wedding today, looking extremely apologetic. What was his name again…? Oh… Ian had never properly introduced him. Fortunately, the other side introduced themselves first.

“Hello, Mr. Noah. I’m Daniel Costello, the president’s secretary. I’ve seen you a few times today.”

“Hello Daniel, nice to meet you. What’s the matter?”

Noah flashed the radiant Noah Frost smile he had used to greet guests all day. But Daniel hemmed and hawed, struggling to speak easily. After hesitating several times, Daniel finally forced the words out with difficulty.

“This is a message from the president. The president regrettably said…that due to a sudden urgent matter today, the honeymoon trip will have to be canceled. He said if you wish, you can go alone…I’m truly sorry.”

Noah blinked as he listened to Daniel’s repeated apologies. The honeymoon was canceled? When Noah remained silent, Daniel’s expression gradually darkened. It was only after a while that Noah came to his senses, biting his lip as his eyebrows furrowed slightly and he averted his gaze. Seeing this reaction, Daniel could no longer just stand there calmly.

“Oh no, I can’t go on the honeymoon alone. Is he going to be very late?”

“I’m truly sorry. Since his schedule is uncertain… If you’re waiting, Mr. Noah, he will likely return home quickly… Yes, that’s right.”

Noah looked up and softly said with a faint smile, “There’s no need for you to be sorry. As a businessman, he can be busy sometimes.” Hearing this, Daniel looked as if he had been struck in the chest with a poisoned needle.

“Then, I’ll take my leave. Please rest well. The limousine will depart in 10 minutes.”

Noah nodded at the bowing Daniel and rolled up the window again. As soon as it was completely closed, Noah flung himself down on the plush, long seat as if he had never worn a pitiful expression. Shortly after, his shoes came thumping off onto the floor, and a sound of relief escaped Noah’s lips, “Ahhh, I can breathe…”

“No more dress shoes for a while.”

Since he rarely had to walk or stand for long periods, Noah massaged his feet that had been confined in the hard shoes before getting up from his seat. Not even bothering with shoes, he walked over and opened the mini fridge he had eyed earlier. Sure enough, it contained simple finger foods. After wiping his hands with the towelette provided, Noah swept all the food from the fridge onto his lap.

“Hmm, it’s a good thing I’m not riding with Ian.”

Noah popped an entire crusted pie into his mouth, chewing happily with a satisfied “mmm” nod. If he had ridden with Ian, he would have had to stay on his best behavior, unable to lounge around…no removing shoes, having to share the food… He had already been to Seychelles more times than he could count anyway… Since they’d be living together from now on, why start the honeymooning already?

“Oh wait, maybe we could have had our first sex in the limo.”

Noah briefly imagined the scenario. Ian suddenly changing demeanors in the limo and pouncing on him. Noah feigning surprise – “What are you doing, the driver is right there!” To which Ian would reply that now they were married, he should get used to this level of intimacy, before ripping off Noah’s clothes… Noah grimaced as far as his imagination went. That’s just…so clichéd. Even porn doesn’t use setups that trite anymore.

But he couldn’t help it. Noah was truly terrible at using his imagination – that brief scenario was about the extent of what he could conjure up. Compared to the creativity of the French tutor or Alex… Ian would have to be the one with the better imagination… Pondering such thoughts, Noah polished off the canapés and even devoured the fruit platter meant for drinks, patting his full belly.

The drive from the winter villa where the wedding was held to the Miller residence took three hours – plenty of time for a nap. Noah took out a plush blanket from the limo’s cabinet, covered himself up, and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

***

The limousine arrived at the mansion around evening time. As Noah stepped out, he was momentarily awestruck by the view.

Set against the dimly lit, reddening evening sky, the mansion gave the impression at first glance of belonging to a family of great pedigree and history. If he recalled correctly, it was said to be around 600 years old, having remained the Miller family’s private property since its original construction. Meticulous care seemed to be put into every tree and part of the gardens. It was as if a butler could emerge at any moment…

“Welcome home, sir.”

“Eek!” Noah, who had just woken up and was absentmindedly gazing around, jumped in surprise. No sooner had he thought the mansion looked like the type where a butler would appear, then a butler straight out of a novel materialized right before him. The graying butler politely apologized to Noah.

“Please excuse my lack of discretion.”

“Oh no, it’s…nice to meet you. Mr…?”

“I am Hayden McClain, the butler of this residence. Please call me Hayden.”

Noah greeted the butler with a sense of wonder. In modern times, butlers were an almost extinct existence. There were still people who performed butler-like roles, but they were called mansion managers rather than butlers – more akin to a hotel manager concept. The person who managed Noah’s home was a fairly young woman compared to Hayden, making it feel even more unfamiliar.

“My apologies, the master is very busy, so I have come to welcome you in his stead.”

“It’s okay, I understand if he’s busy.”

Noah gave an understanding look, as if he comprehended completely. Of course…having never run a business himself, he didn’t fully grasp it, but he wasn’t particularly angry either. Huh, come to think of it, this is supposed to be an enraging situation, right? Noah belatedly realized. No wonder that secretary Daniel had been so flustered when delivering the news. Objectively speaking, Ian was the ultimate villain straight out of a melodramatic show – canceling their honeymoon on their wedding day itself, not even showing up himself but sending a secretary instead.

Rather, Noah was glad Ian turned out this way. The worse Ian behaved, the more freely Noah could exploit (?) him – physically, and for securing independence after a divorce… Ah… looking at it this way, I seem like more of a villain myself…

Yet Noah sensed the same emotion he had seen on Daniel’s face reflected in the expressions of the butler and the staff politely waiting behind him. If he had to describe it, it seemed like an appropriate mix of guilt, apology, embarrassment and awkwardness.

“I will prepare dinner for you first.”
“Oh no, I don’t have much of an appetite…”

Having already stuffed himself silly with snacks in the limo earlier, Noah declined with the excuse of not being hungry. Hmm… this is such an odd feeling though. Noah could detect a sense of pity directed at him from the excessively formal, expressionless staff. Why… why does Ian canceling the honeymoon seem like such a terrible deed…? The butler politely offered again.

“Then shall I give you a tour of the residence?”
“I’m a bit tired right now, I’ll look around tomorrow.”

Ah. He’s feeling awkward. He’s feeling awkward about it. The butler then suggested bringing some tea, but the afternoon nap had not fully refreshed Noah, so he declined again. Oddly, the butler seemed reluctant to show Noah to the bedroom. And soon after entering the stately mansion, when Noah was guided to his bedroom, he understood the reason for the butler’s hesitation.

“My apologies, currently…the master bedroom of this residence is not yet prepared.”

With an extremely regretful expression, the room Hayden led Noah to was a modest one. Or putting it less charitably, compared to the grandeur of the mansion, it was an utterly shabby room. Recalling his old room at the Frost estate which was barely bigger than a small gymnasium, this room was even smaller than just the bathroom area. (Though Noah’s personal bathroom hadn’t exactly been small either.)

“Wow, the bed is really compact.” Noah curiously examined the single-sized bed. He had called it shabby, but it wasn’t cheap looking like a motel room. This was still a Miller family mansion after all. It simply wasn’t a room befitting Noah’s position in this household. While there was a window, considering the direction of the sunset earlier, it likely got almost no sunlight. The bed was single-sized, and the furniture consisted of extremely common, inexpensive brand pieces that anyone could buy.

“Hmm…the bedroom is…rather modest.”

Out of habit, Noah first politely complimented the room, causing Hayden’s expression to grow solemn. It wasn’t intended as a slight. Noah wasn’t particularly dissatisfied with the bedroom. He could fall asleep anywhere as long as he had a place to lay his head, and sunlight wasn’t ideal for his skin anyway. (In truth, it wasn’t because sunlight was bad for his skin, but simply because he disliked it waking him up in the mornings.)

“I really don’t know what to say.”

Noah had no intention of blaming Hayden. Hayden had no choice but to give the unbelievable excuse that the master bedroom wasn’t ready yet. As an employee hired by Ian, Hayden had to follow instructions. What sin could he have committed? The apologetic look on his face spoke volumes. Noah comfortingly patted Hayden much like he had done with his own brothers, sending him off.

After Hayden left, Noah headed straight for the bathroom to wash off the mousse and wax that had stiffly cemented his hair all day. His scalp had been so itchy during his afternoon nap. But fortunately, the sleep didn’t flatten his hair too much.

The bathroom facilities were quite nice compared to the room itself, allowing Noah to soak contentedly in the soothing hot water until his whole body felt relaxed. Mmm, so good… feeling a modest sense of happiness by his own standards, Noah thoroughly enjoyed the bath until his fingers and toes were pruney. Drying his hair, he made his way to the bed. His personal belongings had been unpacked and organized by the staff during his bath.

Looking out the window, it was already pitch black night. He must have bathed for too long. At this hour, families would normally be having dinner together. The thought felt a bit odd, but he wasn’t particularly homesick or sad. Noah figured this marriage would last less than three months at most. That was even shorter than the global cruise trip he took with friends after graduating college.

What should he call this… A pornographic experience period…? Would that be too disrespectful towards Ian Miller? Sitting on the bed, Noah sipped the refreshing beverage the butler had left during his bath, pondering such thoughts. Come to think of it, based on today, it was only natural to have a modest wedding night too, right?

And true to expectations, Ian showed no signs of returning to the mansion even as the night dragged on late. Noah waited politely until midnight playing the game console he had brought, thinking today was just one of those days. Around 11:50 PM as Noah was yawning and shutting off the console, there was a knock at the door. His ears immediately perked up, but unfortunately it wasn’t Ian – it was Hayden again. With an even more somber expression than before, he apologized that Ian’s return would be further delayed. Noah had to pat Hayden comfortingly once more before sending him away.

It seemed Ian was determined to give Noah a modest welcome today. Since he was tired anyway, Noah sluggishly crawled into bed to sleep. As always, he was out like a light the moment his eyes closed, slipping into a deep slumber. How much time had passed after that? Noah, who would normally sleep through until well after sunrise, suddenly woke to an unpleasant slapping sensation against his cheeks.

“What…the…”

Mumbling groggily as he slowly opened his eyes, Noah was shocked to find Ian practically on top of him, almost crushing him against the dark backdrop of the room. His eyes went wide.