“Sleeping together in the same space is a given for a married couple, isn’t it?”

Looking at Cedric like that, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘No matter how much our divorce is supposed to be a secret, this is going too far, isn’t it?’

I glared at him, but Cedric only smiled leisurely.

Then his gaze turned back to Village Chief Devan.

“Isn’t that right, Devan?”

Village Chief Devan’s eyes, meeting Cedric’s, widened for a moment.

It was brief. His eyes rolled slowly here and there.

“Pardon? Ah, yes… I suppose so?”

Village Chief Devan trailed off at the end of his answer, as if he himself found it strange.

Rebecca, who was obsessively attached to Cedric like a madwoman.

Cedric, who shuddered at the mere thought of being in the same space as her.

Village Chief Devan, who had served as the head butler of the Twins family and witnessed their long-standing discord.

For him, Cedric’s words that it’s natural for a married couple to stay together would feel unfamiliar.

And it was the same for me.

Only Cedric got up from his seat with an innocent face, as if in a hurry.

“I should go see where we, the married couple, will be staying.”

It was as if he was trying to block my rebuttal from the start.

Looking at Cedric like that, I let out a hollow laugh and turned my head back towards Village Chief Devan.

“No, Village Chief Devan…”

Sadly, even Village Chief Devan didn’t seem to hear my words and got up from his seat, following Cedric.

‘How on earth is this situation unfolding?’

I hurriedly grabbed Village Chief Devan and shouted to both of them.

“That… that can’t be. I’ll use the same place as my maids, so Cedric, you can stay comfortably alone in that hut.”

At that, Cedric, who was about to head straight out the door, slowly looked back.

“The hut was quite cramped. Isn’t it impossible for the Duchess to stay there with those maids, Village Chief Devan?”

As Cedric’s gaze fell on him, Village Chief Devan slowly nodded with a dazed expression.

“Yes… Yes, it probably… would be.”

The corner of Cedric’s mouth, now confident, curved up in an arc.

“You hear that?”

* * *

It took about five minutes of riding from Village Chief Devan’s house.

The horse, slowly reducing its speed, finally stopped in front of a hut.

“This seems to be the place.”

Cedric, saying that, got off the horse and held out his hand to me.

Holding his hand, I got off the horse and slowly looked around.

No matter which way you looked at it, there was nothing but forest surrounding the hut we would be staying in.

‘Village Chief Devan, why did you have to choose such a remote place for our lodging?’

I sighed, looking at the distant houses, and glanced at Cedric with a sardonic eye.

“Why did you do that earlier?”

“Do what?”

“When Village Chief Devan told us to use one hut, you just accepted it without asking me.”

“Then what should I have done?”

Cedric continued with an innocent expression.

“Everyone thinks we’re a married couple. We can’t let them find out about our divorce after coming all the way here, can we?”

I let out a hollow laugh.

“Cedric, even when we were really married, we never spent a night in the same space. Even if we stay separately here, no one would suspect a thing.”

“Ah, did we do that?”

Cedric tapped his chin and asked with a feigned innocence.

“Well, even if we did then, that was then.”

“…?”

“The current me has no desire to refuse Devan’s proposal for us to stay in the same space.”

“I really don’t understand why you’re suddenly being so capricious.”

“I’d like it to be a whim too, but unfortunately, it’s not.”

I glanced at Cedric, who spoke nonchalantly.

Then Cedric chuckled, and I turned my back on him and headed to the hut first.

The interior was less than half the size of the smallest room in the ducal castle.

But for a place that had been empty for a long time, it was neat and had adequate furniture in the living room.

“I’m used to it, but I’m not sure if it will be uncomfortable for you.”

“I’m fine too. But you… you said you’ve stayed here before?”

At my question, Cedric nodded with a slightly darkened expression for some reason.

“I did. Whenever I wanted to be alone sometimes.”

Only then did I realize that those times were precisely when he wanted to avoid Rebecca and be alone.

I wondered why he was making such an apologetic expression…

“Aha… Now we just need to check the bedroom. Is it over there?”

I deliberately muttered to myself, pretending to continue looking around the interior, and turned my head.

And the moment I pulled back the long curtain hanging on one side of the wall.

My face turned ashen.

‘Damn, how did I not think of this.’

I was berating my complacent self and frozen in place like ice when Cedric slowly approached me and spoke.

“Ah, did I not mention it?”

“There’s only this one bed.”

I stared at Cedric in horror.

There was only one bed in the hut.

Does that mean I have to share a bed with this man who didn’t even want a single hair to touch me?

‘That can’t be! What if I accidentally get mistaken for a weird woman obsessed with sleeping with him again?’

Considering Cedric’s recent capriciousness, it seemed more than likely.

I smiled awkwardly and slowly backed away.

“Haha… Cedric, do you really need to stay here too?”

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“I’m staying here out of necessity, but you’re not, right?”

I bent and straightened my hand a few times, as if shooing away a fly, and spoke.

“You can really go now. You must have a lot to do.”

Cedric stared at me silently for a while.

‘Is he angry because I treated him like shooing a fly?’

The moment such a thought crossed my mind.

Cedric slowly parted his lips.

“Rebecca, could it be… that you’re worried about me?”

Cedric’s eyes, saying that, shimmered with emotion.

It was clear he was greatly misunderstanding something.

But I just nodded with an awkward smile on my lips.

‘Yeah, well, if it’s worry, it is worry. I’m terribly worried about being hated like the old Rebecca again and being locked up in the tower!’

Not knowing my inner thoughts, Cedric seemed to be getting more and more overwhelmed with emotion.

“I feel quite good that you’re worrying about me like before.”

“…”

“But I’m fine. As I told Devan earlier, there won’t be any setbacks for a few days.”

A pleasant smile appeared on Cedric’s lips.

The more I looked at him like that, the more my insides burned with a dark feeling.

‘Hey, it’s really not because I’m worried about that!’

I was about to open my mouth with a frustrated look on my face, when Cedric’s brows suddenly furrowed.

“Besides, the people of this village won’t be very friendly if you’re left here alone without me.”

“…”

“Perhaps the half-demon’s aggression that they’ve been suppressing might be revealed.”

I couldn’t refute Cedric’s words.

Moreover, his last words about the possibility of a half-demon’s aggression being revealed sent shivers down my spine.

As someone who knows the ending of Rebecca being burned to death by an enraged half-demon, I couldn’t help but empathize a hundred times over.

In the end, I had no choice but to give up on sending Cedric back.

‘Then I really have to stay here with Cedric…’

The one and only bed.

That damn bed was the only problem.

“You’ll sleep on the sofa, right?”

I asked, subtly implying that I hoped he would.

But unfortunately, Cedric immediately scoffed.

“Me? Why should I do that?”

At those words, I couldn’t hide my dumbfounded expression.

“What are you asking? We’re divorced, we can’t share a bed.”

But Cedric shrugged with a look of not understanding why.

“That can’t be helped. I’m sorry to say, but I was raised just as preciously as you.”

He even said it so innocently.

I glanced at Cedric with a dumbfounded look.

“Ah, I see. Then I’ll sleep on the sofa. For the sake of the preciously raised Your Grace.”

But Cedric shook his head firmly.

“That’s even more unacceptable.”

“Why is that?”

“Think about it. Could I lay you on the sofa and sleep comfortably in bed?”

“And you can sleep comfortably lying next to me in bed?”

Cedric slowly rolled his eyes as if something had belatedly occurred to him.

“That might be a different meaning too.”

“…”

“But even so, it’s not possible. It’s too much for either you or me to sleep on the sofa.”

He left the bedroom as if trying to quickly end the conversation.

I followed him, continuing to speak.

“I said I’m okay with it, so why are you insisting?”

“I already told you the reason.”

“Because you’d feel uncomfortable? Then you can sleep on the sofa…”

I was following him and voicing my complaints when Cedric suddenly stopped and turned around to face me.

“Rebecca, I’ve already conveyed my intention.”

“…”

“Neither you nor I can sleep on the sofa. If that’s the case, we might as well…”

“We might as well what?”

I blinked, waiting for his next words.

“It might be better to return to the ducal castle right now.”

The corner of Cedric’s mouth curved up.

He had a relaxed expression, as if grasping a winning streak.

It seemed Cedric himself knew as well as I did that I needed him right now.

I finally shook my head with a sense of resignation.

“There’s no other way. I have no choice but to follow your will because I need you right now.”

At that, Cedric showed a satisfied smile.

I pointed my index finger at him and spoke firmly, as if warning him.

“But even if we share a bed, don’t forget this!”

I blurted out the words to warn him, but I couldn’t think of a suitable thing to say next.

It was ridiculous to tell him not to cross the line.

That was rather what Cedric had been hoping for from Rebecca for a long time.

After a brief moment of pondering, I finally found the right words to say.

But at the same time, a sense of self-loathing followed like a bonus.

‘Wow, to think there would come a time when I’d have to say this.’

Realizing the reality and spending a painful moment was only brief.

I continued with a deflated tone.

“I, I have no intention of touching a single hair on you! So don’t misunderstand and get angry on your own again!”

I shouted it out, but at the same time, it felt like I could hear the sound of my self-esteem cracking.

‘It’s not even a line like “let’s just hold hands and sleep” and what the heck is this…’

A hollow laugh was about to escape when a voice with a faint hint of amusement was heard.

“I won’t get angry, so don’t worry.”

I suddenly looked up and our eyes met.

Cedric soon touched his chin with a playful expression.

“Though, I might be a little upset if you only touch a single hair.”

Cedric’s eyes, looking at me again, had somehow narrowed languidly.

“…Unless it’s more than that.”