When I woke up, the morning sunlight streamed in through the window.

I had slept well in this uncomfortable carriage.

I had slept so deeply that my face felt a bit swollen.

Ahead, Hertian was waiting with a warm cup of tea.

“Good morning.”

I was surprised and quickly pulled the blanket to cover my face.

“No, why are you here?”

There might be traces of drool.

It was uncomfortable to sit in front of Hertian with a shabby appearance.

At least I should comb my hair and brush my teeth.

“I have nowhere else to be.”

Hertian replied calmly, smiling as if he had been waiting for me.

“Why are you covering your face?”

“Well… I haven’t washed up.”

“Must have lived a long time in a waterless environment. You seem embarrassed now. Didn’t you greet each other every morning in the North?”

I couldn’t say anything to the right words.

Ironically, it was even more embarrassing in the North.

I had slept in Hertian’s warm coat, disturbing it because of the cold, and there was a memory of him carefully closing my mouth after I slept with my mouth wide open. There might be saliva stains on my cheeks, and traces of runny nose from the cold.

Thinking about that time made my face turn red.

“Was I crazy for a moment?”

No matter how I didn’t consider Hertian as a man, I still showed that embarrassing sight in front of my family.

Honestly, then and now, there was no difference.

We were still in a contractual relationship.

‘Besides, what’s embarrassing about going to get a divorce.’

I gathered my courage and lowered the blanket.

“I didn’t wake up fully because of lack of sleep.”

Hertian faintly smiled as if he had been waiting for me. I drank the tea he handed me and moistened my dry mouth.

“Is your body okay?”

After finishing the tea, Hertian directly asked about my body.

He had been cautious about directly expressing concern about my body since I said I didn’t want to be a burden. But after shedding blood yesterday, he seemed to have decided to express his concern openly. ‘Since there’s not much time left for these worries.’

I decided to answer him as much as he wanted from now on.

“I’m fine.”

It would probably be a repeat of the same conversation.

Hertian would ask if I was okay, and I would answer that I was fine.

Although there hadn’t been a single moment when my body was okay recently, if this gave Hertian even a little peace of mind, I was willing to continue.

Hertian smiled faintly. It was during that time when I thought I couldn’t tell if he believed it or not. After clearing the empty teacup, he asked.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?”

This time, with a cool smile.

“It’s not far from the North, is it?”

“We need to rest the horses and knights who have been running all night. Let’s tour the nearby villages during that time.”

I looked at the scenery outside the window at his words.

When I woke up, a completely different rural landscape unfolded as if I had moved dimensions.

It wasn’t a capital lined with luxurious buildings, nor was it a dense forest, but a blue sea visible in the distance.

“Wow.”

It felt like I had woken up from a nap.

“Was there a sea on the way to the North?”

Looking at him with eyes widened like a rabbit, he smiled and nodded.

“When I came down from the capital, we visited this city, but you were sleeping deeply, so I came down briefly.”

“Ah? I didn’t know.”

“Maybe it’s because of the carriage constitution.”

Come to think of it, there were only vague memories in the carriage.

Even when I came up after the wedding, I slept well.

“Haha. Still, I’m lucky to be able to see a seaside village today.”

I laughed pretentiously and got off the carriage.

Perhaps because it was a seaside, the cool sea breeze tickled my face.

“Do you like the sea?”

I hesitated for a moment at his question and then answered.

“I don’t know. It’s my first time seeing it.”

Combining my age around thirty with my life before the possession, it was my first time.

But to me, the sea was just a fantasy like in books or on TV.
I lived in a place surrounded by the sea on three sides, but I lived in a hospital.

Even after becoming Annette, not much had changed. Three years into the possession, when Lian started getting sick, our family was busy finding a skilled doctor.

My childhood memories were filled with waiting in the mansion for my father or mother to return. Moreover, due to an incident where I fell into the water, my parents didn’t let me go near the water, so there was no chance to go to the sea.

Of course, I didn’t harbor any desires, so I didn’t pay much attention.

“But now that I’m here, it feels nice.”

Looking at the sea, the heavy feeling in my chest lifted.

“I was worried because I thought you were afraid of water.”

He seemed to be reminiscing about the incident at the lakeside.

The incident where I was left alone at Lake Aor after escaping from Edward and Cerdis.

“As long as you’re not alone in the middle of the water, it’s fine.”

Hertian had saved me back then too.

Suddenly, the fresh memory of that time made me smile.

“The first time at the sea with you.”