However, it was comfortable. It was peaceful. Christoph felt like sleep, which hadn’t come until the early hours of the morning, was finally pouring over him, and he couldn’t help but open his eyes widely.

When he was by her side, sleep came. It was strange. She made him on edge, impatient, and at the same time, lethargic.

She was someone who pushed him to extremes.

What kind of emotion was this in the temporomandibular joint? Did this extreme emotion even have a name? It was different from possessiveness. It was distinct from obsession. No, perhaps it was all three.

As Christoph slowly moved his Adam’s apple, he whispered softly.
“Come to think of it, whenever I worked late in the office, you always brought me tea until the late hours. …with a look on your face that seemed to say, ‘When are you going to bed?’ But you never actually said it; you just chewed on your lower lip.”

“You knew that?”

Marianne asked with widened eyes.

“How could I not? You left the tea, didn’t leave the office, and hung around me with a face full of things to say.”

Pierced to the core, Marianne bowed her head to hide her reddening cheek. Christoph’s gaze landed on her earlobe. A blushing earlobe.

After she had cooled down with some effort, she raised her head and cast him a resentful glance. Surprisingly, they could have a relatively comfortable conversation, considering how uncertain she had been about how to look at his face.

“But you pretended not to know and just worked?”

“I thought that was the most important thing in my life back then.”

Christoph’s lips took on a bitter shade. Indeed, at that time, he had thought it was the most important thing in his life.

He wanted to rise higher, grab more honor, and gain greater fame. He wanted to shine. He wanted to instill in Marianne more power and pride, not because of the Schneider family’s radiance or his grandfather’s influence, but solely based on his own abilities. He wanted to elevate her to the highest position.

All this time, Marianne had naturally assumed she would stay by his side. She loved Christoph. She was already his person.

Love.
Christoph silently repeated that word in his mind. Somehow, her love felt different from that of his parents. Her cerulean eyes that held him always shone tenderly, and her voice when she called his name was always sweet with affection.

No matter how much time passed, it seemed unlikely that it would ever taint with vile emotions.

“…….”

Marianne stared at him, her gaze distant. The question “What about now?” lingered at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it, fearing that a response like “You.” might come back to haunt her.

Then, Marianne would once again find herself in a state of confusion, not knowing what expression to wear. She would carry the remaining regrets in her heart and stomp her feet in frustration.

She was defenseless against the tender Christoph, and he was about to consume Marianne in an instant, like a deadly and fast-acting contagion.

“By the way,”

Christoph, as if suddenly remembering, turned his gaze towards her. A milk-laden cart passed by them, and chatty sparrows chirped above their heads.

“As you probably know, Lord Hujak’s birthday is coming up soon. He’s curious if you can attend the celebration.”

Christoph swallowed slowly, trying not to show any signs of impatience.

“Ah…”

Marianne stood still for a moment, then let out a soft sigh. Why had she forgotten about that? A faint sense of guilt brushed across her face as she lowered her head. Marianne shook her head lightly.
“Of course, Christoph. I’ll make sure to convey that you’ll definitely attend Lord Hujak’s celebration.”

“Thank you. Lord Hujak will be pleased.”

“!”

Marianne once again widened her eyes, as if she was greatly surprised by hearing the word “thank you.” However, Christoph added a few more words, seemingly indifferent.

“Of course, I’m glad too.”

It was clear that someone else was wearing Christoph’s mask. Otherwise, this rugged man couldn’t have become so sweet.

Marianne glanced at him suspiciously, contemplating whether to pinch that thick layer of skin seriously.

“Oh my goodness.”

Marianne looked at the desk with bewildered eyes. She turned her gaze towards Maxime, who was wearing a sour expression.

Florian, who was beside her, pulled the corners of his lips downward like a corpse, his face even paler than before. He seemed even more corpse-like, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Hello, Mrs. Schneider.”

“…Hello, Lord Konig.”

“It’s Konig, not Lord, Mrs. Schneider. Call me Florian. We’re practically family now, aren’t we?”

“Family?”

“If we’re on the same team, we’re like family. We’ll be seeing each other more often than our own families from now on. I hope you’ll get along.”

Florian’s dramatic change in attitude was likely due to the rumors about her being Mrs. Schneider.

After swallowing a brief sigh, she nodded.

“In that case, call me Marianne instead of Mrs. Schneider, Florian. I’m here as Marianne Closel.”
“Mary Ann Haverk, not Mary Ann Closel…”

Florian muttered halfway to himself and nodded. Whether she was Haverk or Closel, it didn’t matter. She was Mrs. Schneider.

“If you wish.”

Florian nodded as if reluctantly.

“That aside…”

Marianne turned her head back to Maxim. An incredulous tone slipped from her lips.

“What’s all this about, Maxim?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Maxim stared at Florian with accusatory eyes, as if he were a traitor. Then he turned his head when Marianne asked her question.

In the tense standoff between the two, Jan, sitting beside them, discreetly shifted his body, trying to erase his presence. Deep furrows formed on Marianne’s forehead.

“Are you doing this on purpose? Trying to provoke me?”

“What are you talking about? Tell me exactly. Are you picking a fight right now? I’m not like Florian. I won’t cut you any slack just because you’re Mrs. Schneider. Don’t forget, this is the police department, and this is my territory.”

Maxim growled like a provoked dog. Marianne sighed as she looked at the mountain of documents in front of her. She slowly turned her head and stared straight at Maxim.

“Fine. I won’t cut you any slack either. So let’s agree not to be kind to each other from now on.”