Huh? Why is your expression like that?

Your face is hardened, but your eyes are shaking uncontrollably as if lost, and your lips keep twitching as if about to say something.

…As I thought, Dante is the one who’s withering.

I wanted to bring Siena and others right away to clear up my innocence, but I held back.

Ha, if it wasn’t 3 AM, I would have brought them.

Swallowing my regret, I spoke up again in place of the speechless Dante.

“I didn’t know, but I sleep better with someone next to me. Being alone in a big bed makes my side feel cold and I can’t fall asleep.”

At this plausible excuse, Dante’s ice mode thawed.

“…Ah. That sleep.”

“Well, is there another kind of sleep besides that?”

“No. There isn’t. There is not.”

After answering like that, Dante soon let out a laugh like air escaping from a balloon.

Oh, my goodness.

He looks even more handsome when he smiles.

[This is the timeline separator]

I dragged the even more handsome smiling Dante to the room.

I lay down on the bed first and patted the empty space beside me.

“Come quickly.”

“…Is it really alright?”

“What is?”

I knew what he was asking, but I pretended not to know on purpose.

Sometimes innocent questions can be the right answer, can’t they?

This was one of those times.

Dante also answered, ‘It’s nothing,’ and then awkwardly lay down on the bed.

Oh, there’s someone standing at attention on the bed.

I marveled at Dante’s rigid sleeping posture.

With his hands pressed tightly to his body, he lay straight looking up at the ceiling.

Geez, he’s so tense.

Anyone would think I was going to eat him up.

Haha. I let out a light laugh and took a posture like I was running through the air, unlike Dante’s straight posture.

It was a free-spirited pose that made it easy to fall asleep.

“Ah, now I feel like I can sleep.”

There was no answer to my words that were clearly meant to be heard.

And then, about 30 minutes later.

“…This is a disaster.”

I couldn’t fall asleep.

Is Dante the problem?

No. The rain was the problem.

To be precise, the problem was the sound of the sudden downpour-like rain mercilessly beating against the window.

Wow, it’s terribly noisy.

It was a level of noise that made it utterly impossible to sleep.

If this were noise from upstairs, the people above and below would already be fighting and pulling each other’s hair.

In the end, as I forcibly closed my eyes full of drowsiness and tried to sleep…

Rumble, BOOM!

“Mommy!”

A massive thunder sound mixed in with the fierce rain.

Startled, I screamed and shook violently.

And then.

“My lady?”

When I came to my senses, I found myself burrowed into Dante’s arms.

Well, to be precise, I had unilaterally bumped my forehead against his arm that was lying straight.

Maybe because his muscles were so firm, my forehead was throbbing. Is this a wall or a chest?

“Ah, ow…”

As I groaned while holding my aching forehead, Dante quickly sat up.

“Are you alright, my lady?”

“Yes, I’m fine. My heart nearly dropped from the thunder, and my forehead that hit your arm hurts like hell, but…”

“Does it hurt that much? Should I call for a doctor right away?”

Seeing his attitude as if he would call for a doctor right this moment, I hurriedly grabbed his arm and made him lie down on the bed.

“It’s a joke, a joke. If I joke twice, you might call for an undertaker too.”

“An undertaker? How could that be?”

“…This is also a joke.”

“Ah.”

“Hmm.”

It was when an awkward silence briefly settled.

Rumble, BOOM!

“Eeek, mommy!”

Once again, a thunderous sound that seemed to split the world rang out.

Following that, a white light flashed outside the window and then disappeared.

I bumped my forehead against Dante’s arm again and trembled.

Yes. To be honest at this point, I don’t like thunder and lightning.

It’s scary.

I’m scared!

I don’t like loud noises, I don’t like flashing lights. I just don’t like any of it.

As I was flopping around like a fish out of water, a gentle warmth settled on my shoulder.

It was Dante’s hand.

The large hand that had been resting on his arm, not knowing what to do, soon began to lightly pat my arm.

“Are you comforting me?”

“Are you scared of thunder?”

“…I asked first.”

“I’m just patting.”

“I thought you were comforting me.”

“If you say you’re scared, I’ll consider it comforting.”

What’s this. I thought he was just the personification of a sweet potato. But he can make jokes too.

I pondered my answer for a moment before nodding.

“Yes. I’m a little scared. A bit. Just a tiny bit. Really just this muuuaaah!”

My last attempt to maintain a facade ended in failure due to another strike of thunder.

The next moment.

“Pfft.”

At the small laugh that came from above my head, I raised my head with dagger-like eyes.

“…Did you just laugh?”

“No.”

“No, I think you laughed. It seems like you laughed at someone being scared. Like someone without a shred of humanity, laughing at someone else’s misfortune?!”

“…Does it go that far?”

“Of course. Absolutely!”

At my spirited response, Dante slightly averted his eyes.

His averted gaze shook for a moment as if lost, then closed tightly.

“I didn’t laugh.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Truly?”

“Truly.”

“Really, truly, really?”

“Really, truly, really.”

As the pointless conversation continued, the voices gradually became softer.

Rumble. BOOM.

In my hazy consciousness, I thought I heard the sound of thunder in the distance.

But instead of waking up, I moved my lips once more.

“Really… truly…?”

That was the last of my memories from that night.

I don’t remember how Dante answered.

The next day, we slept in heavily.

[This is the timeline separator]

For a while, an early rainy season continued.

It was an unusual rainy season for the coldest northern part of the empire.

Since the rainy season began, Dante had developed one habit.

Checking the morning sky as soon as he opened his eyes.

Today again, it was a grayish-black sky with no trace of blue to be found.

Pitter-patter.

Thin raindrops hit the window. They would soon pour down to overflowing, then thin out again, repeating the cycle.

“That’s fortunate.”

What?

Fortunate?

He was startled by the words he had just uttered.

The startled Dante blinked his eyes busily.

Until now, he couldn’t remember ever particularly liking rain in his life.

Especially when scouting the Forest of Demons or dealing with demons, rain became quite a troublesome obstacle.

The ground becomes slippery, visibility is obscured, and even sounds are muffled.

It was annoying and dangerous, like fighting with a translucent curtain surrounding you.

Perhaps because of that, he had never particularly welcomed rain in daily life either. Yet he thought it was fortunate.

As he blinked his eyes at this inexplicable thought, he heard the sound of conversation from afar.

“Sniff. My babies. What if they all die from too much rain?”

Even without seeing her face, he could imagine her expression.

She would be pressed against a window, eyebrows drooping down and lips pouted sharply.

“I know. At this rate, the fields will be completely ruined. Ah, but when the rain stops, the soil condition might improve.”

“…Um, Mari. Just comfort me. No, just say everything will be fine.”

“I’m sorry. How could I lie to you, my lady?”

“Strange. I thought you used to be more polite… Did I perhaps feed you cookies with poison herbs instead of medicinal ones?”

A faint smile spread across Dante’s lips at the conversation drifting in.

The presence of the two people gradually approached his office.

Dante, who had been leaning crookedly, was somehow sitting upright with his back straight.

Just as he was needlessly pulling the documents beside him to the center of the desk.

Knock knock.

“Duke, I’ve brought some snacks. May I come in?”

“Please enter.”

As soon as he answered, the door opened and a white face peeked in.

Long braided blonde hair coiled on her shoulders.

“I hope I’m not interrupting?”

“Not at all. I was just thinking of taking a break.”

“See? I told you my timing is impeccable.”

Serpina smiled proudly as she entered pulling a trolley.

In the past, maids used to bring it, but at some point, Serpina started pushing the trolley herself.

The mistress of the mansion pulling a trolley.

It would be a shocking sight to anyone else, but strangely, the people of the Richter mansion quickly adapted to this eccentricity.

Thinking, ‘If it’s the mistress, she can do that.’

Rolling in the tray, Serpina came tottering with a plate.

“These days there’s too much rain, so it seems herb supplies are difficult. It’s hard to pick from the garden, and I don’t want to use up the duchy’s emergency herbs… Today it’s just normal cookies. Sigh.”

After a sincere sigh, the sound of someone cheering could be heard from the hallway.

It seemed like a faint cry of ‘Today it’s normal cookies!’ could be heard.

Fortunately, Serpina didn’t seem to hear it.

“But Duke, do you think all my herbs will die too? No. I think they’re already dead? Should I hold a funeral for the herbs? Oh, my poor babies…”

Her expression as she muttered while staring at the window was exactly as Dante had imagined earlier.

Ah, I almost laughed.

Dante barely managed to hold back the laugh he was about to let out without realizing it.

That was close.

If he had laughed here, he might have become ‘a shameless villain who laughs at others’ misfortunes.’

But he couldn’t help the smile that rose to his lips.

Serpina’s pouting lips overlapped with her image from last night, grumbling in bed.

Serpina, who had been muttering diligently to herself, frowned at the sound of rain hitting the window.

Then, she habitually pulled her hands up to cover her ears.

A smile leaked out at the brazen permission she was receiving belatedly, even though she had already been doing so for several days.

Serpina, who had been staring directly at his smiling face, also let out a slight smile and closed her eyes.

Soon, small breaths resounded softly.

“Ah. Because of that…”

Suddenly, there was a realization that struck like lightning.

Dante, who had been staring into space, slowly shifted his gaze to his own hands.

As Serpina had said, they were large, firm, and thick hands.

Hands covered in scars with calluses here and there.

Somehow his palms felt ticklish.

As if long hair was tickling his palms.

Surely, that hair would be dazzlingly brilliant blonde.