‘Why that face?’

The light that appeared in her eyes seemed familiar, as if I had seen it before.

I must have seen it somewhere.

As I searched my memory, I recalled the morning after she came to the castle, when she was caressing her share of the tombstone in the underground crypt of the castle.

Claudel placed her hand on her chest, looking extremely moved, and gazed at him with a joyful expression.

“You are truly a wonderful person, Your Grace.”

Kaian’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

“Much more than I had thought.”

“More than you thought?”

In the meantime, he was curious about how she originally thought of him.

Claudel covered her cheeks with her hands as if embarrassed, but still answered his question.

“I think you’d know. That you wouldn’t have heard good things about Temnes in Valmont.”

“Hmm.”

Since it was the same principle that good things couldn’t be said about Beaumont in Rowen, Kaian had nothing to say when she spoke so frankly.

“But Your Grace is an amazing person.”

“Why?”

“You’re ruling such a vast land.”

Claudel’s eyes swept over the bustling shopping street beyond the low fence of the garden cafe.

“You’re only five years older than me. Even when I turn 25, I can’t imagine ruling such a large estate.”

“That’s because I received heir education.”

“Not everything can be achieved just by learning.”

It was nothing special, but Kaian felt his ears tingling. Yet, he didn’t dislike the words that seemed to view him favorably. Not at all.

“It’s truly admirable that someone like Your Grace has the heart to save anyone without reason.”

“Is that so.”

“Of course. Most nobles exploit their subjects without even considering them as fellow human beings.”

Claudel added, as if realizing something.

“You might not think well of this, but Duke Beaumont is quite a good lord to his subjects. He barely collected taxes for ten years during the drought.”

Kaian felt peculiar.

Before, when Claudel saved him and was severely injured, Kaian was very upset when he heard the same answer.

But now, receiving such generous words in response to his childish reply made him feel guilty for doing something unnecessary.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

As they stood up, a shop maid brought a box and handed it to Claudel.

It seemed she had carefully selected and ordered something earlier to take away.

“Let me carry it.”

“It’s okay. I can carry this much.”

As he matched his pace with the woman holding the box with both hands, Claudel looked up at him, seeming to notice, and smiled brightly.

Watching her lips draw a gentle line, Kaian felt a sense of urgency.

‘Did I inhale too much rose scent?’

It felt like something was off in his head.

Upon returning to Rowen Castle, Hannah greeted her.

“My lady! Did you have a good outing?”

“Yes.”

Hannah, who had been wearing Valmont-style clothes until now, was also in a cool Rowen-style dress. When fitting Claudel’s clothes, Kaian had told her to prepare a few sets, so Hannah, who had wisely claimed her share, was indeed a standout among the maids.

“What’s this?”

When Hannah asked, Claudel’s eyes lit up.

“What? Try to guess.”

“Will you give it to me if I guess right?”

“Hehe.”

Claudel, who couldn’t wait after asking Hannah to guess, quickly untied the ribbon and lifted the lid of the box.

“Wow. How pretty.”

Inside were small, beautiful desserts from the cafe earlier, arranged on a multi-tiered wooden tray.

“Where did you buy such things?”

“Come here. Let’s sit down and eat.”

“I’ll quickly bring some tea.”

Hannah swiftly went to the castle kitchen to bring tea.

As the tea leaves steeped gently in the hot water, the room filled with a fragrant and sweet aroma.

The scent of brewed tea and the smell of pastries coated with sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla.

Hannah took a bite of the dessert Claudel had brought and sipped some tea, then gave a thumbs up.

“Delicious. Mmm. Where did you go today?”

“The Duke bought me jewelry.”

“Jewelry?”

Hannah’s eyes widened.

“Ah. That’s great. I was worried that when loading the luggage, there might have been a mistake. The dress boxes seemed flimsy, and the jewelry was nowhere to be seen. I was thinking of sending a telegram to Valmont.”

Claudel hid her bitter feelings.

Hannah didn’t know that Duke Beaumont had sent her to Temnes empty-handed, thinking she would die.

Now she knows that he sent her as a sacrificial lamb to an enemy house, knowing she had Herzol, but if she knew that he didn’t even properly prepare wedding gifts, Hannah would be furious.

Calming and comforting Hannah was also Claudel’s responsibility, not Duke Beaumont’s, who was the cause of this situation, so Claudel kept her mouth shut.

“But were you at the jeweler’s for that long? Did you buy a lot?”

“No. Yes. Ah, no.”

As Claudel answered ambiguously, Hannah tilted her head.

They hadn’t been there long, but they had bought a lot, and it wasn’t a jeweler’s but somewhere else.

“We bought the jewelry quickly.”

“Did you find something you liked?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Even now, thinking about it again, she wanted to bite her tongue for saying everything was pretty.

She seemed to understand Kaian’s method now.

That person was so straightforward that it seemed like she should never answer casually when speaking.

Anyway, it was a given fact that Claudel’s personal finances were empty and wouldn’t match the reputation of the Duchess of Temnes, so she decided to be grateful that he had cared about her dignity in this way.

After all, the previous Duchess of Temnes was the flower among flowers of the Oberon Kingdom. She was Princess Elise, one of the twin princesses beloved by the late king.

It was no small worry that the previous duchess, who might be a potential comparison, was such an amazing figure, now that she had survived.

“Did you try them on? Did you choose ones that suit you well?”

In fact, she almost answered “Yes, no, yes” again, but Claudel decided to change the subject.

“After buying jewelry, we went to a cafe. It was called Garden Cafe and it was an incredibly beautiful place.”

“Garden Cafe? I can’t… quite imagine it.”

“Right? There were so many roses blooming, and we sat at tables placed among the flower bushes in the garden and drank tea.”

“Wow. Are there that many flowers?”

“Yes.”

Claudel felt encouraged by the genuine reaction of her fellow northerner from Valmont.

“I wish you could have gone with us, Hannah.”

“Oh, what are you saying? You should enjoy a cozy date with the lord.”

“Date?”

Claudel’s eyes widened.

“Did you say date?”

Hannah chuckled at her reaction.

“What else would you call it when a gentleman buys gifts, escorts a lady for a walk, and they drink tea and chat together?”

“Ah…?”

Was that what it was? Was it not just a simple trip to buy jewelry?

Claudel did know what a date was.

Hannah sometimes borrowed thin books that she said the maids in the castle read, saying they were interesting. They were mostly stories about young debutantes falling in love with handsome noble men.

“Doesn’t a man ask a woman before going on a date?”

Kaian hadn’t made any such request at all.

Hannah swallowed the dessert she was chewing and said,

“Well, you’re already married and living together, so there’s no need to make an appointment for a specific date and time.”

“A date. It’s my first time.”

The corners of Claudel’s eyes drooped a little.

“I didn’t know it was a date. I was so distracted.”

“Oh, it’s fine as long as you didn’t make any big mistakes. Maybe it was better that you didn’t think of it as a first date.”

“Really?”

“If you become too conscious and get nervous, you might just make mistakes.”

Hannah comforted Claudel.

“The lord is completely smitten with you, my lady. He’ll take you to another nice place soon.”

“You think so?”

“Of course.”

Claudel felt her heart flutter.

‘What if it wasn’t a date?’

Once her heart started racing, it wouldn’t calm down easily.

Day by day, life at Rowen Castle quickly stabilized.

As if recovery gained momentum, Claudel regained her former health faster than at first.

But late at night.

Claudel lay in bed, unable to sleep, with her eyes wide open.

After her illness worsened and she lost consciousness, then recovered after taking the medicine Kaian had brought.

For a while, Claudel ate and slept well.

However, her body, which had recovered enough to breathe freely, now began to suffer from insomnia again.

“It’s been three days.”

It was exactly the third day she couldn’t sleep.

In the past, she would lie down in her nightgown even during the day, saying she wasn’t feeling well.

Moreover, before it was discovered that she had Herzol, she had been resting in bed continuously due to her injury from the crocodile hunt, so even if she couldn’t sleep at night, she could at least take a nap during the day when Hannah soothed and put her to sleep.

But these days, she had no time for naps as she ate meals with Kaian during the day, met with doctors, practiced dancing, and also treated her leg.

Her body, which had been recovering nicely with visible weight gain, now felt like it was on the verge of losing weight again after a few sleepless nights.

“Haah.”

Claudel let out a long sigh.

During the sleepless nights, the thoughts that came to mind were only sad and painful memories.

The scene of the forest village, which had been like a cozy nest cradling the small and young Claudel and Hannah like baby birds, burning like a huge bonfire.

‘Mom! Mom!’

How did she know?

That she would never see her mother again once those flames died down.

Crying and reaching out towards the crimson, licking flames, Claudel instinctively called out for her mother again and again.

‘Claudel. Let’s go.’

‘Dad. No. Mom! We have to go with Mom.’

Evan lifted the sobbing Claudel into his arms.

‘Mom’s not here. She must have escaped.’

‘Mister. What about my mom and dad and my little sibling?’

‘The same.’

At that moment, Claudel’s eyes met Hannah’s, who was in Evan’s other arm.

Claudel reached out and held Hannah’s hand.

Just like that, Evan ran and ran through the forest path with the young children in both arms, escaping the forest fire.

Why did you lie?

She could never ask.

Even after ten years, that moment hadn’t been forgotten at all.

Claudel spent the nights reliving those midnight hours when the fire raged, hundreds and thousands of times.

After a few days like this, Claudel found it hard to endure.

Clang.

During a meal with Kaian, she dozed off for a moment and her fork fell onto the plate with a sound.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling ill somewhere?”

When she came to her senses, she was in Kaian’s arms.

He was gently patting Claudel’s cheeks with his eyebrows raised as if angry.

But now she knew.

That that expression on his face wasn’t one of anger.

That even if he couldn’t speak kindly, he was attentively taking care of the things she needed.

“I have a request.”

“What request?”

So those words suddenly burst out of her mouth.

“I want to sleep together every day.”