‘Man, I must be crazy. Absolutely nuts. Cool and refreshing, my foot! To touch someone’s body like that. Pervert. I’m a pervert.’
I knelt like a condemned criminal and looked at him. But for some reason, he didn’t move an inch from his spot.
Thinking he might be embarrassed, I waited. He wrapped himself tightly in the blanket.
Wondering what this situation was, I waited for him to speak. Without even glancing at me, he said in a low voice.
“If you go outside, there will be maids. Ask them for some soup good for digestion and for their assistance. After drinking so much last night, you’re probably not feeling well.”
“Yes, but what about you, Yezar?”
“I’ll come out a bit later.”
Clearly, he was upset because I touched his body without permission. The mood was so good last night, too.
“I’m sorry, Yezar. Please don’t be mad.”
“I’m not angry.”
“But you said you’d be my friend yesterday, and now you won’t even look at me. You’re definitely mad, aren’t you? I know you’re upset because I… touched you like a pervert…”
His body was so pure, after all. A man who only ever had eyes for the heroine would never have been touched by another woman’s hand.
‘Ugh. I’m the sinner here. I defiled such a pure body.’
“I’m really sorry.”
“No, really, I’m not angry…”
“Then why are you wrapped up in that blanket like that?”
“I’m sorry for not explaining earlier. It’s because of my sleeping habit. I meant to leave once you were asleep, my lady.”
His voice, filled with self-reproach, tugged at my ears.
“Your sleeping habit? Are you sick or something?”
“I…”
“Yes?”
After a long pause, Yezar stammered.
“When I sleep, I take everything off.”
For a moment, silence settled between us. I tried to process the situation. Right. If his sleeping habit is to sleep naked… then when I was touching his body, if he woke up… uh?
Naturally, my gaze drifted to the floor by the bed. And there, I spotted a robe sprawled out. I glanced at my own attire.
I was meticulously dressed in a robe over my thin slip. Which meant the owner of that sprawled-out robe was…
“Uh… are you… naked?”
“…”
He didn’t answer, but I felt like I heard his response. I hurriedly got up and left so he wouldn’t feel ashamed.
Honestly, my head was pounding, and I felt nauseous, but I had to escape that space desperately.
“My lady, why are you coming out alone?”
“…Well.”
I was about to be honest but shut my mouth. I couldn’t exactly say my contract husband was naked in there and I couldn’t go in!
I mean, if we were a real couple, it wouldn’t be a weird scene!
“Argh!”
“My lady?! What’s wrong?”
Yezar! We share a bedroom! What am I supposed to do now?! I’ve never seen a man’s naked body before!
A silent scream echoed inside me.
[This is the timeline separator]After that chaotic morning passed and I had some hangover soup, I was feeling the breeze by the window.
‘Ugh. This hangover is killing me. But right now, my future with Yezar feels even crazier. Haha!’
I didn’t want to sleep in separate rooms if I could help it. A loving couple would naturally share a bedroom.
If word got out about this, Weaslet and the nanny at the count’s estate would surely worry.
‘It’s one hurdle after another.’
I thought we could live as friends, respecting boundaries, in this contract marriage until we divorced.
‘But when he was wrapped in that blanket, talking from the edge of the bed, he was kind of cute…’
I slapped my cheeks hard. Cute? What’s cute about that? Get a grip, Julietta. Yezar is the second male lead!
If I started catching feelings for a man who’s loved only the heroine for years, my life would be miserable.
Sure, it sounds nice to enter a novel and save the second male lead. But hearing his heartfelt confession made any thought of love vanish.
Having glimpsed such a heavy heart, one I could never intrude upon, I didn’t even want to start.
‘Right, let’s set rules. We haven’t decided what we need to respect as a contract couple, have we?’
The contract he presented only mentioned acting as an ideal couple, the contract period, and the settlement for divorce.
“We’ll have to live together for two more years. If we don’t set rules now, days like today will keep happening.”
Like pulling out a horn in one go, I stood to confront Yezar. I also needed to discuss my duties as a duchess.
But as I headed to where he was, Yezar fled.
I’m serious. Not figuratively—he saw me and turned the corner at a brisk pace, disappearing.
I was dumbfounded. You’re my husband, and you’re avoiding your wife?
Sure, I touched his body, but… I didn’t see *everything*!
“Yezar, wait a moment!”
I hurried to chase him, but as expected of a knight, his steps were ridiculously fast. With those long legs, he vanished like a crane.
‘We’ll meet at night anyway, so what’s the point of avoiding me now!’
He’s so frustrating. Whether it’s awkward now or later, what’s the difference?
That night, Yezar didn’t come to the bedroom, saying he was working in his study. I banged my head against the wall.
‘He really wants to play this game, huh?’
He kept avoiding me, and now I was fuming. Fine, I messed up. But does running away solve anything?
Burning with frustration, I missed him three more times in the mansion before catching him on the fourth try.
Where? In his study. I crawled under the desk and waited for him.
‘Since I was five and hid under a desk, this is a first.’
To think I’m crawling under a desk because of this shy man—what a life.
Soon, I heard footsteps outside. I covered my mouth and held my breath. They say knights are sensitive to presence, so Yezar might sense me and escape.
‘Hiding my presence? Easy.’
With nothing to do at home, I’d learned to mask my presence while hanging out with our estate’s knights. Sure enough, innocent Yezar walked into the study without suspicion and sat down. Before he could draw his sword, mistaking me for a spy, I revealed myself.
“Yezar.”
His sharp ears caught my voice instantly, and he tried to flee. But I grabbed his leg.
“We need to talk, don’t we?”
Where do you think you’re going, you sly contract husband! Let’s have a chat!
[This is the timeline separator]I sat, glaring at him discontentedly. Now that I’d caught him, he was sitting there all docile, which annoyed me.
‘If you’re going to be this well-behaved, why run away?’
We were still in his study, where I’d been hiding. The aides shouted when they saw me crawl out from under the desk.
But at my fierce glare, they wisely slipped out. Yezar, unlike someone who’d been fleeing, handed me a handkerchief.
“There’s dust in your hair. Your dress is wrinkled too. You should ask the maids…”
I didn’t take his handkerchief and replied.
“It’s fine. That can wait.”
Right now, my disheveled state wasn’t the issue.
“The real issue is why you ran away the moment you saw me!”
I get it. I touched his body in my sleep. And he was naked, so he felt ashamed telling me about his sleeping habit.
But still, running away the moment you see someone’s face? That’s too much. I have so much to say.
Thanks to that, I crawled under a desk and hid.
He lowered his beautiful face and answered.
“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t face you, my lady…”
His voice trembled, his ears were red. His eyes, checking if I was angry, were wistful, and a fresh scent, as if he’d just showered, wafted toward me.
For a moment, I almost blurted out that it was fine. Suppressing my instincts, I regained my senses and asked.
“Because you’re embarrassed?”
“Because I showed you something disgraceful. Don’t you want an ideal husband? If I have such a bad sleeping habit, I thought you’d dislike it. Maybe you’re even disappointed in me…”
Did he really think that? His head drooped like an invisible tail was tucked down. Unable to hold back, I stood, gripping the desk.
“No way!”
Ugh, I don’t know anymore. I wanted to be mad, but how can I when he looks like that? How… how can someone be so pitifully droopy that I can’t even get angry?
“There’s no way I’d be disappointed! Sure, I was startled. But I… I mean, I touched your ch-chest without permission. So don’t say things like that!”
Like a puppy avoiding its owner’s gaze after doing something wrong, Yezar, who’d been dodging my eyes, looked up.
“Really, is it okay? If you want, we can use separate rooms…”
“Separate rooms? In the middle of our honeymoon, if we sleep apart, both the ducal house and my family will worry.”
He didn’t seem to remember his own excuse—that we married quickly because we were so in love.
If it’s not even an arranged marriage and we said that, shouldn’t we at least act the part?
“Then, is it okay if I sleep without clothes at night?”
“It can’t be helped. I understand.”
“Then I’ll understand too. Even if you touch my body in your sleep, I…”
“No, why is the conversation going there!”
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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