Even the hot summer sun rests on this night.

Past the green barley fields swaying in the cool breeze, at the point where the long winding narrow path meets the main road again, the Grand Duke’s carriage procession came to a stop.

With still a day’s journey to Colina Rosa, the party unpacked at a small fortress overlooking the Verde River on a hill.

In fact, if they had followed Commander Leo’s original plan, they would have had more than enough time to reach their destination by now.

However, Frost changed the plan the day before departure to take a longer detour and stop here.

Falco Fortress was originally a place Frost had always wanted to visit. As it happened to be not far from Colina Rosa, he modified the itinerary out of a desire to show it to Yuriella.

“No. Why are we taking such a long detour to have our Lady stay in such a humble and uncomfortable place?”

Cassandra grumbled with narrowed eyes.

Falco Fortress was built on the border when the empire was still a kingdom, and had long since lost its original military purpose.

Now it was used as a free lodging for weary pilgrims and peddlers who had to pass through the barren land where proper accommodation was scarce.

“So this is Falco Fortress…!”

Butler Alexis and Head Maid Rosalinne nodded greatly as they looked at Falco Fortress.

“Indeed, an excellent choice…!”

This was where Frost’s parents had stayed when they rode side by side on horseback to survey the public sentiment across the north instead of going on a honeymoon.

And it was also the historic place of consummation where the beautiful gift of Grand Duke Frost came to them!

It was a location choice that showed more than enough of the Grand Duke’s deep intentions.

Two pairs of sharp eyes darted piercingly towards Shavell, no, Delilah with long jet-black hair.

There must be no interlopers in the historic consummation of the Grand Ducal couple!

“Lady Delilah’s room is the last one at the end of the corridor! You won’t have any complaints since you’re not Shavell today, right? You can share a room with me. We’re short on rooms.”

Rosalinne linked arms with ‘Delilah’ as if restraining her and dragged her along.

“You must absolutely not allow any outsiders to enter! Absolutely, absolutely not!”

Alexis impressed upon Commander Leo’s ears that no one should dare approach the Grand Duke’s room. Of course, ‘outsiders’ included Commander Leo himself.

The long-awaited wedding night had passed uneventfully due to the bride suddenly collapsing.

And she remained unconscious for quite some time after that. Given Lady’s past record of talking about storks and sugar cubes, it was clear that the longer they delayed, the more elusive consummation would become.

A busy schedule awaited them upon arriving at Colina Rosa. And they couldn’t expect sweet newlywed time in a place still bearing the scars of subjugation!

Tonight, they must make all preparations to ensure that a baby to continue the long-standing lineage of the Ielheim Grand Ducal family could be conceived.

The servants busily laid soft sheets in the bedchamber the couple would use. They lit scented candles with subtle fragrances and scattered rose petals on the bed.

The maids put Yuriella in a bathtub filled with scented oils and scrubbed her squeaky clean. They applied hair oil to her flowing strawberry blonde hair and combed it until it shone brilliantly.

Rosalinne tried to dress Yuriella in a sheer nightgown as transparent as dragonfly wings that she had smuggled in her luggage, but was swept away by the whirlwind Airy raised and chased out of the bathroom without knowing what had happened.

In the temporary meeting room set up on the first floor, the butler was re-educating Frost on the proper attitude of a husband approaching consummation and how to groom himself to please the bride, when his beard froze solid from the icy aura the Grand Duke emitted.

“That’s not why I suggested stopping here. I just remembered my mother saying the sunrise here was spectacular. Don’t say unnecessary things that might burden Bi.”

Frost drew a clear line, telling them not to make a fuss.

To be honest, it wasn’t a decision completely devoid of ulterior motives.

But he had no intention of selfishly pursuing his desires with his wife who had cried sadly in his arms before falling into a deep sleep. He was just grateful that Yuriella hadn’t suggested separate rooms.

Rosalinne, who had been chased out of the bathroom and joined the temporary meeting room, shook her head.

“Was it just the sunrise that was spectacular? It must have been the sight of Gideon standing by the window with the sunrise as a backdrop that was truly spectacular.”

With not a stitch of clothing, like a sculpture!

Rosalinne swallowed the rest of her words. It was a story Adelia had whispered admiringly many times.

[My husband is truly good. His face is good. His body is really, unbelievably good. Good enough to devour in one bite. Haha.]

“Our Lord is also impeccably good. His face is good, his body is good. With a body too precious to waste, what on earth could he be lacking? Tsk tsk…”

The more she thought about it, the more regretful Rosalinne became, unconsciously muttering her inner thoughts aloud and even clicking her tongue.

The Grand Duke twitched his eyebrows in displeasure and snorted, retorting to the head maid’s lament.

“Rosalinne. Bi said she likes gentle men. A good face or body alone won’t stir any feelings in Bi.”

He knows well from the painful experience of failing to arouse any feelings despite having a body worthy of praise when acupunctured by his wife.

His wife didn’t blush at the sight of his sculpted muscles. However, oddly enough, she did sigh with undisguised envy. It was also a part that puzzled him – why would a woman envy his muscles? Unless she was a knight, of course.

“Hmm. She said she likes gentle men?”

Alexis stroked his monocle with one hand and his sharp chin with the other, wearing a face deep in thought. Sighing regretfully in between.

“This is a big problem. At this rate, the chance of ever meeting a baby will remain elusive. Oh dear. How should we change our strategy?”

“What’s the big problem? What’s wrong with me?”

He had guessed that winning Yuriella’s heart wouldn’t be easy, but he was greatly annoyed by the butler using words like ‘big problem’ and ‘elusive’.

“The word ‘gentle’ and Your Highness are as far apart as the Milky Way in the empire, aren’t they? That’s why it’s a big problem.”

“A gentle man, what’s so special about that.”

As Frost snorted petulantly, Commander Leo quietly approached and brought his face close, almost touching.

“Your Highness. Please look into my eyes. Can you see?”

“See what?”

“In lieu of a mirror, please use my eyes as one. What kind of man do you see reflected there?”

Frost frowned deeply and looked into Leo’s eyes.

Tightly pressed lips and a strong jaw. Even to himself, he saw a cold and arrogant man with piercingly sharp eyes glaring fiercely back.

“If a gentle man is Lady Bi’s preference, you’ll need to make a lot, a great deal, a killing effort.”

Leo’s pitying expression, swallowing the words ‘Though I doubt you’d have much chance even if you tried’, was also very irritating.

“Don’t think so negatively, Leo. If she prefers gentle men, can’t His Highness learn and act accordingly?”

It was a typical statement from Rosalinne, who always manages to find hope even in despair.

“Gentle men are known for their warm nature, specializing in empathy, encouragement, and support. You can start learning from now on. You can do it, Your Highness!”

Rosalinne clenched her fists and exclaimed.

“Empathy and encouragement? And even support? Tell His Highness to be reborn instead, Rosalinne.”

The butler shook his head dejectedly, with an expression of having lost a country.

“Yes! You might as well bring a bear and teach it to waltz. That would be faster.”

Leo burst into laughter, perhaps imagining teaching a bear to waltz.

Sring. Frost, who had drawn his ice sword Ielro at some point, pointed the sword at the laughing Leo.

Leo, startled by the transparent sword touching his Adam’s apple, quietly took a step back.

“No, Your Highness. Resorting to shows of strength when displeased is not what a gentle man would do. You need to get rid of that habit quickly!”

The bold northern woman who had raised Frost in her skirts furrowed her brow deeply at the master holding the holy sword.

Frost withdrew his sword and sat back down, crossing his legs and spreading his broad shoulders wide.

“I am gentle. Very much so. I don’t need to arouse feelings with a good body.”

The expressions of the butler, head maid, and knight commander soured.

Regardless, Frost was extremely confident.

“I’m already gentle, and my wife prefers gentle men. So there’s no reason to fuss. Don’t make unnecessary commotion for Bi who’s tired from the long journey.”

Frost recalled the praise and reward he had received from his wife in the carriage.

Yuriella didn’t push him away or freeze up when he kissed her. She just curled up as if ticklish, with her white cheeks turning bright red.

Wasn’t it a reward he could receive because he had given her the empathy, encouragement, and support that were said to be the qualities of a gentle man?

Although it was praise he had demanded and a reward he had taken before giving, but still.

The soft forehead and cheeks that had sweetly touched his lips. And the wrinkled nose bridge and trembling eyelashes. As the sensations came alive again, Frost unknowingly raised his hand to gently stroke his lips and smiled.

The three people’s shoulders stiffened at the faint smile on his cold features. They even shuddered with goosebumps.

If his mother, Lady Adelia, were alive, she would have immediately distinguished whether that smile was filled with murderous intent or if it was His Highness’s version of a killer smile.

Despite having served their master for a long time, they were confused as they couldn’t clearly distinguish.

They were also very puzzled whether it was the right choice to let the Grand Duke consummate with Lady Bi as things stood.

The exchanged glances of the three servants hardened into a ‘no’.

“Come to think of it, Your Highness is right. Lady Bi must be tired from the long carriage journey, so it would be better to prepare separate chambers.”

The always cautious butler said.

When in doubt, the safest choice is the best.

His Highness needs education. Unleashing a self-absorbed predator in front of Lady Bi, who likes gentle men, is the worst move.

Moreover, we haven’t even caught a glimpse of the culprit who would make His Highness a jilted husband.

That man Lady Bi still can’t forget must surely be a gentle and sweet man. He absolutely must not be compared and rejected.

“No. There’s no need for that. Bi needs me tonight. No, tomorrow night too, and continuously after that. She’ll only feel at ease if I, ‘the gentle man’, take responsibility for her safety.”

Frost put down the documents he had been reviewing on the table and rose his large body.

“I’m going to take a bath.”

Although it was a good face and good body that didn’t arouse feelings in his wife, it was a husband’s courtesy to groom himself neatly before entering the bedchamber.

He didn’t particularly refuse the precious Eastern Continent fragrance that the butler was eagerly sprinkling in the bathtub.

It was annoying that the newly wrapped bandage covered his sculptured pectorals and abs that received praise for being like a statue, marred by the wound from the devil’s poison.

But since that very wound was the only part of his body that his wife showed interest and affection for, he decided to be satisfied with that for now.

His wife must be very tired today, so he should just gently stroke her hair and let her sleep.

No, since she cried a lot, her heart must be weary too, so wouldn’t she sleep better if he held her in his arms and comforted her?

As the ‘gentle’ imagination that started on the way to the bedchamber became more specific and increased in intensity, the heat rose, and Frost fanned his flushed face in front of the room door.

Thinking of his wife waiting beyond that door, his heart pounded as if it would burst out of his ribcage.

‘I am my wife’s type. I am a gentle man. I am just a simple hunter who hunts mere rabbits or deer.’

Frost slowly caught his breath while imagining himself as the gentle and simple person that matched Yuriella’s taste. When he slightly twitched his eyebrows as goosebumps rose, the knights standing guard in front of the bedchamber flinched and held their breath.

Knock knock.

As the Grand Duke knocked on the door, pulling the corners of his mouth up and even putting on a soft smile, the knights shuddered as if they had seen a demon smile, but the Grand Duke, busy calming his excitement, didn’t even notice.

“Yuriella.”

A slightly hoarse voice came out, so he cleared his throat with a hem-hem and entered the bedchamber, but Frost’s expression hardened.

“Yuriella?”

The room was empty.

His wife wasn’t there.

“Yuriella?”

Rose petals were scattered on the bed, and scented candles were burning softly, emitting a sweet fragrance, but.

His wife was nowhere to be seen.

Only the canopy embroidered with translucent silver thread was gently fluttering in the breeze coming through the wide-open window.

Frost rushed to the wide-open window.

And what he saw was…!

Red traces pooled on the floor and splattered on the windowsill!

It was blood!

“Yuriella! Yuriella!”

The Grand Duke’s frantic cries echoed through the dark Falco Fortress.