Right!

Belladonna exclaimed in her heart.

“Although there are some areas that need repair since it hasn’t been used since it was bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor, it seems there won’t be much inconvenience for you to live here for about two months. If we prepare diligently, we should be able to leave within three days.”

“…”

“I will order the maids, including Cindy, to prepare the items you need. A brief description of Sirlenia is written on the paper I just gave you, so please read it and let me know if you have any questions.”

Belladonna nodded with a satisfied smile.

With this, she was set to leave Gribblata for Sirlenia in the south.

While feeling relieved that things were going according to plan, the thought of leaving this place in a few days, perhaps never to return, made her feel sad about leaving behind the good people.

Wolf wouldn’t be going to Sirlenia with her, would he? He’d stay in Gribblata.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have been more helpful with the household…’

She looked at him with regretful eyes.

Whether or not Wolf understood her feelings, he pushed up his gleaming glasses and continued speaking.

“If you have no objections, I’ll arrange for us to move at the earliest possible date. I’ll select suitable maids and prepare the carriages.”

Belladonna nodded slowly.

That evening, after taking a hot bath, Belladonna sat leaning against her bed and met eyes with Escalion, who was staring straight at her.

He acts like this is his room, doesn’t he?

Snorting inwardly, she sat at her dressing table with Cindy’s help.

Cindy, who was overly conscious of Escalion, who had his upper body almost completely exposed, revealing his sculpted torso despite the cold, slowly opened her mouth.

“My lady, then shall I dry your hair… for you…?”

“I’ll do it.”

At that moment, he who had been staring at them intently, raised his upper body and blurted out.

“What?”

“I said I’ll do it. How should I do it?”

Escalion, who had somehow approached Cindy’s side, snatched the towel she was holding and asked.

Flustered, Cindy looked back and forth between the lord standing next to her and the lady sitting in front of her.

When Belladonna smiled through the mirror to indicate it was okay, Cindy, coming to her senses, pointed at her hair and said:

“You should press firmly from the ends of the hair to squeeze out the moisture. Then you can shake it out like this…”

“Let me try.”

Escalion took his position in earnest and grasped the ends of her hair with the white towel.

Ouch!

At the sudden tremendous force pulling her hair, Belladonna’s head jerked backwards.

“Ah! You shouldn’t do it that hard! Gently like this… Like this…”

Startled, Cindy reached out to return Belladonna’s tilted head to its original position.

She timidly grasped the end of the towel Escalion was holding and demonstrated.

Thank you, Cindy…

Feeling grateful to Cindy for her efforts, Belladonna turned her gaze to the mirror in front of her.

Through the mirror, she could see Escalion listening to Cindy’s explanation with a serious expression, his brow furrowed.

“I still don’t know how much force to use.”

Escalion muttered and began to gently squeeze the moisture from her hair.

He focused all his attention as if handling a very small and fragile chick in the palm of his hand.

“Yes! That’s how you should do it.”

“You can go now.”

As Cindy exclaimed in a voice that sounded much more relieved than before, Escalion bluntly said.

“What?”

“I’ll do the rest, so you can go now.”

“But still…”

Cindy seemed to find Escalion quite untrustworthy.

She looked down at the back of Belladonna’s head with worried eyes, then reluctantly took her leave.

“My lady… I’ll be going then…?”

Yes… Belladonna nodded with a half-resigned face.

Cindy, still seemingly uneasy, kept looking back as she left the room and firmly closed the door.

“…”

“…”

As she disappeared, an awkward silence suddenly descended upon the room.

Feeling strange in this unusual atmosphere, Belladonna carefully observed him through the mirror.

I mean, I understand myself, but why is this man suddenly so quiet?

Escalion silently squeezed the moisture from her hair, then gently shook it out as Cindy had shown him, then squeezed again, repeating the process.

I think that’s enough…

When Belladonna raised her hand to stop his arm, Escalion dropped the towel he was holding onto the floor.

“Shall we go to bed?”

I suppose we should if we’re going to sleep?

Belladonna got up without hesitation and walked to the bed.

She lifted the covers and got in as usual, taking a comfortable position, but Escalion didn’t come to her side.

Puzzled, she turned her head to look at Escalion standing in front of the bed, and he, looking uncharacteristically anxious, opened his mouth.

“Are you feeling alright today?”

Well, today is… Belladonna nodded nonchalantly.

Escalion, who had been looking at her with lowered eyes, hesitated for a moment, then spoke as if he had made up his mind.

“Then tomorrow morning… I’d like us to exchange rings.”

R…ings…?

It took quite some time for the word that entered her ears to reach her brain.

Soon, as Belladonna realized what his words meant, her face turned bright red.

“Is that okay?”

Escalion asked again.

Belladonna, unable to move at all, blinked her wide-open eyes while frozen stiff.

‘Wh…what should I do?’

She never dreamed he would suddenly demand their wedding night like this.

No, she knew that something like this might happen someday, but it would be more accurate to say that she had been too complacent until now.

She had been sleeping in the same bed with him almost every night.

No matter how patient a husband he was, he couldn’t postpone the wedding night any longer than this.

‘Wh-what excuse should I make?’

Belladonna quickly racked her brain.

Poor condition? She had already said she was fine… Sudden stomach pain? Menstruation? Or should she just run out of the room right now?

“Are you surprised?”

At the sudden low voice hitting her ears, Belladonna raised her head as if waking from sleep.

Escalion, who had been staring at her looking up at him, raised one hand to cover his eyes. Behind his covered hand, his reddened ears were visible.

“Damn… If you don’t want to do it, I won’t force you. So don’t make that expression…”

Expression?

Belladonna looked up at him, still with a troubled heart.

She felt a mix of various emotions – surprise, embarrassment, awkwardness, shyness, guilt – and it was clear that these feelings were reflected on her face.

“I was anxious.”

He said, still covering his eyes.

“My wife is about to leave for the south to spend the winter in a townhouse there, but I don’t think I’ll be able to go with her. That means we’ll have to live apart for at least two months, right?”

“…”

“Thinking about not seeing you for two months… Damn, but I think I was too hasty.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his feelings.

No, rather, knowing his feelings made her feel sorry for postponing their wedding night and leaving to prepare for divorce.

The Pope’s sinister voice echoed in her ears.

Belladonna frowned, feeling a subtle nausea creeping in.

Just then, Escalion lowered his hand from his face and checked her expression.

Seeing Belladonna’s deeply furrowed face, he exhaled with a bitter taste.

A perfect rejection.

“Just pretend you didn’t hear it.”

Escalion turned away.

“Go to sleep first.”

Ah, that’s not it…

Belladonna watched his retreating back helplessly, not knowing what to do.