Wow, it’s collapsing. Collapsing.

My chest is also collapsing!

Dante, who is gentle and quick, moved his body first on behalf of me, who was frozen in surprise.

I was blankly looking at the desk, and only after seeing Dante start picking up the books did I abruptly get up.

“Wait a moment, I will just organize it……”

Thud.

…… This sound was the sound of the cover of the ‘World Herb Encyclopedia’, which I had covered the book with, falling lifelessly.

“Every night, the wolf enters the young lady’s bedroom……”

“Stop. Please stop.”

I struggled to dissuade Dante, who was muttering the book titles in a daze.

Dante, who blinked his eyes like an innocent young man and checked the book in his hand, me, and the books that had collapsed on the floor, had the corners of his mouth gradually turning upward.

“Ahem, ahem.”

It seems like he’s pretending to clear his throat to hold back laughter right now.

Oh well, I don’t know.

I walked towards the desk with a feeling of giving up and squatted down.

Sadly, all the disguised book covers had been taken off.

Ah, I feel like I’m going crazy with embarrassment.

“The books you said you were reading diligently these days……”

“Yes. That’s right. That’s correct. These are the books I really like these days. They are masterpieces, great works, and moving.”

I spat out the words in a hurry, feeling like my feet were going numb.

I should organize well from now on.

It was a moment when I learned the preciousness of organization once again.

While grunting and putting books on the upper part of the bookshelf, a large hand naturally snatched the book from behind my back.

The outstretched hand leisurely inserted the book into the upper part of the bookshelf.

He also snatched the other books in my hand one by one and neatly organized them on the bookshelf.

Silently watching this scene, I felt strange.

No. What was strange was the posture.

One of his hands was reaching out next to my face to put the books in, and the other was supporting the desk, trapping me in between.

Behind my head, I could feel his firm chest.

Hmm? Hmm? Hmm?

Am I possibly trapped right now?

At some point, when I could only gulp down saliva in a posture where I couldn’t even budge, it happened.

“By any chance, are you not interested in the actual practice besides the books?”

A low whisper touched the back of my neck. When I was startled and turned around, eyes full of desire were looking down at me.

There was a moment of silence.

“…….”

“…….”

Unlike his burning gaze, Dante’s face was filled with tension.

It was a face that seemed to heat up just by looking at it.

As I shyly averted my gaze, a sigh mixed with self-deprecation followed.

Soon, the arms that were confining me loosened together.

“If it was uncomfortable, I’m sor…..”

“What about your back?”

I grabbed Dante’s wrist, cutting off his awkward apology.

Well, he’s quick-tempered.

Is it possible to give in so easily just because I avoided eye contact once?

Feeling somehow overwhelmed, I took a deep breath and tightened my grip on Dante’s wrist. Then I asked again.

“The wounds on your back…… are they all healed?”

When I asked indirectly, Dante’s eyes widened greatly. Soon, his lips drew a gentle arc.

Instead of answering, he pulled the wrist I was holding towards his body.

“How about you check it yourself, my lady?”

Despite the aggressive action, I couldn’t help but laugh at his stiff voice.

Instead of answering, I wrapped my hand around his neck and kissed him.

In the persistent indulgence that made it difficult to even breathe, Dante lifted me up.

The destination was the bed.

He gently laid me down on the soft bed and slowly untied the string of the gown he was wearing.

Through the loosened gown, tightly woven muscles revealed themselves.

Following his uncontrolled breaths, his entire body repeatedly swelled up and subsided.

“I’ll ask one last time. Are you really okay with this?”

A lowered voice mixed with rough breathing scratched my ears.

I poked his stomach with my fingertips and replied.

“Stop asking and come here.”

It seemed that what I pressed was not Dante’s stomach, but the button of reason.

Soon, kisses filled with heat to the point of making me feel dizzy poured out.

It was the beginning of a long night.

Chirp, chirp chirp!

Even though the sound of birds chirping could be heard outside the window, it was not easy to get up.

…… Ouch. My waist.

My waist hurts as if it’s going to break, and my whole body aches as if it’s the day after a sports festival.

What’s the point of lying on a soft bed? My whole body is aching.

As I was groaning and unable to get up, Dante removed the hair stuck to my cheek with a worried face.

“Are you okay, my lady? If it hurts a lot, should I call Heterson?”

“…… No. Please bear with that at least.”

I mean, I don’t have the confidence to shamelessly answer, “I did intense exercise in the middle of the night,” when asked why it hurts.

Then Heterson will whine again, saying he will never come to the ducal residence again.

“If there’s anything you need, please tell me right away.”

“Haha. Then is Dante going to be my servant today?”

“If my lady desires, I can even become a slave.”

Oh my god. My husband is reviving the abolished slavery system.

“Then, since you’re not the duke today, there won’t be any busy work, right?”

I smiled mischievously and pulled Dante’s arm.

“Then let’s roll around in bed together all day long.”

“…… Roll around in bed together?”

Hmm. Somehow the nuance seems to have changed a bit strangely.

But I thought the changed nuance doesn’t seem like a bad plan either.

“Yes. Let’s roll around in bed together all day long. By the way.”

I playfully bit Dante’s finger that I had pulled.

“I said it with a naughty meaning.”

Ah. He turned red.

I giggled at the sight of Dante turning red like a well-cooked octopus.

Dante, who was silently looking down at me like that, whispered softly.

“…… Laugh a lot, my lady.”

“What?”

What does that mean?

“Because it might be your last laugh today.”

Hmm? Although I stopped laughing with a somewhat uneasy feeling, it was already too late.

All day long, I had to pay the price for my laughter.

“Pardon? Th-the duke’s curse, you mean?”

Barhan stammered and asked back.

It seemed that my words asking him to tell me about Dante’s curse were perplexing.

But what can I do?

About what I want to know.

“Yes. What exactly is Dante’s curse?”

After the picnic incident, Dante and I were in the midst of a full-fledged newlywed life.

Sweet during the day, and passionate at night.

As a result, Dante’s curse, which I had tried hard to forget, began to bother me.

It is well known that the Richter family’s bloodline is short-lived due to the curse they are born with, but it is not known exactly what kind of curse it is.

Even if I want to find a clue to break the curse, I can’t do anything because I don’t know what curse it is.

I’m researching whether the Hosan fruit will help, but honestly, I’m not sure if it will really be helpful.

So in the end, I came to Barhan.

Since he has been working in this mansion for a long time and is closest to Dante, I thought he might know something.

I could ask the person directly, but somehow it felt a bit cruel, so I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“Well, you see. The duke’s curse is……”

Barhan, who was trailing off his words as if in deep thought, soon continued speaking clearly as if he had made up his mind.

As the explanation continued, I didn’t know what expression to make.

When I returned to my room alone, my head was complicated.

〈The duke’s curse is related to the Ice Land.〉

This was Barhan’s explanation.

Long ago, magi continuously leaked from the Magi Swamp, and numerous magical beasts were born.

At this time, the one who stood at the forefront, defeated the magical beasts, and restored peace was none other than Richter, and as the number of magical beasts decreased, the Magi Swamp froze solid, creating the current Ice Land.

〈People’s opinions were divided on this. There were opinions that the Ice Land was a shield created by the magical beasts to protect the magi, and opinions that it was a divine blessing bestowed to seal the magi. The Richter family believed in the former.〉

Right after the Ice Land was created, a curse was placed on the Richter family.

A curse that freezes the body.

Starting from the hands and feet, slowly the whole body freezes. In the end, the curse leads to death as the heart freezes.

Since Richter, who had defeated more magical beasts than anyone else, was cursed with something similar to the Ice Land, how could this be considered a divine blessing?

However, the imperial family wanted the Richter family to keep the exact nature of the curse a secret.

The reason was that if the people found out they were cursed with something similar to the Ice Land, it would cause unrest among the citizens of the empire.

The continuing curse.

The continuing sacrifice.

The cowardly imperial family had dumped everything on the Richter family.

“Those imperial bastards.”

I cursed through gritted teeth, seething with rising anger, and Choco meowed in agreement.

That’s right. You’re better than that cowardly emperor.

I hugged Choco tightly and let out a sigh.

“…… Living things are so warm like this.”

What would it feel like to slowly grow cold and eventually have your entire body freeze?

Feeling like I was about to cry, I clenched my teeth.

Suddenly, I wanted to see Dante.