“Insomnia?”
“Yes, it’s not that I’m unhealthy or anything. I really just can’t sleep well.”
As Kyan frowned, Clodel shrank back, gauging his reaction.
“I’m perfectly healthy when I can sleep. I was like that before I got Herzol.”
Clodel spoke as if making an excuse, as though worried Kyan might find fault with her.
Seeing her like this, Kyan’s previously boiling heat slowly subsided.
“Why can’t you sleep? You can’t sleep alone?”
“Well…”
Clodel’s expression faded.
“It’s been like that since I first came to Valmont Castle.”
“Weren’t you raised in Valmont Castle?”
“What?”
She looked surprised, her eyes wide, and Kyan realized his mistake.
From his perspective, it was a forced marriage, and since Balquiter had already issued a royal command, nothing mattered except that she was from Valmont.
He hadn’t bothered to learn more about Clodel before their marriage, not even remembering her name on their wedding night.
He was vaguely aware that she was adopted, but didn’t consider it important. He only remembered that she was the adopted niece, not the beloved daughter of Duke Valmont, and marrying her off was part of the king’s consent for an easy divorce or annulment.
“Ah, so you lived somewhere else before you became the Duke’s adopted daughter.”
“…Yes.”
As Kyan hurriedly corrected himself, Clodel didn’t seem to take offense.
‘Lost her mother in an accident and her father joined her, leaving a suicide note,’ he recalled.
The image of a small, lonely girl overlaid the subdued woman before him.
“So, after your parents passed, you started having trouble sleeping.”
“Right.”
She affirmed his words.
“Come here.”
She looked up at him.
“Shouldn’t we sleep?”
As Kyan lay down first, Clodel approached hesitantly.
Her tentative approach seemed somewhat cute to him.
When she asked to sleep together every night, and now she found lying beside him awkward.
As Kyan extended his hand while lying down, she cautiously held it and lay beside him.
“Let’s sleep then.”
As he tried to withdraw his hand, Clodel grasped his arm with both hands.
“Can we hold hands while sleeping?”
“What?”
“I sleep better when I feel someone’s body heat.”
“How did you sleep at Valmont Castle then?”
“Back then, Hanna would sleep with me. We held hands.”
Kyan sighed heavily.
Misinterpreting it as disapproval, Clodel quickly let go of his arm.
“No, it’s okay. Sleep.”
“Come here.”
He turned to his side, extending his arm, his golden eyes flickering vividly in the dark, like those of a wild animal.
“I’ll hold you.”
Hesitantly, Clodel curled up and then gently nestled into his embrace, resting her head on his arm.
In that moment, Kyan felt a tickle around his heart, as if a feathered fan were gently sweeping it.
The woman resting her forehead against his chest fell asleep almost instantly.
With her eyes closed, the shadows under them dark and prominent, a sign she hadn’t been sleeping, Kyan sighed.
“Can’t sleep?”
Thinking of how she used to hold hands with Hanna to fall asleep.
Even though he’s her husband, he can’t be equated to a mere servant of Temnes, can he?
Though he embraced her with such childish thoughts, holding her in his arms wasn’t bad for him either.
‘Surely something will change if I come every day.’
After all, it was Clodel who first suggested they sleep together every night.
Kyan closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of the woman in his arms.
The morning after a good night’s sleep seemed brighter and more beautiful than usual.
Although Kyan was not beside her when she woke up, Clodel lingered in bed, basking in laziness.
“He really came.”
The thought that the man, who always looked angry with his cold face, had listened to her and not ignored her words, filled her with joy.
Kyan was her savior.
Her days of breathing and living were thanks to him finding the medicine.
Just that fact alone made Clodel think, even if he treated her coldly or harshly, she couldn’t help but feel fondness and gratitude towards him.
Now that she understood that his nature couldn’t express itself any other way, he didn’t seem so frightening.
Initially, even his slight frown made her nervous, but not anymore.
“…He held me.”
Even just holding hands would have been enough.
If he hadn’t extended his hand, Clodel would have waited for him to fall asleep and then gently placed her arm against his.
She needed the presence and warmth of someone beside her to sleep.
But she was surprised and comforted by the heat and secure embrace of his arms, falling asleep right away.
After several days of deep sleep, she felt as if she had been lifted from hell to heaven, her body and mind light and ready to live again.
“What should I do? I think I’m starting to like him.”
Clodel blushed at the thought of Kyan.
For months after contracting a seemingly incurable disease, she had prepared for death.
Her repeated attempts to organize her surroundings were a clinging to life.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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