I had no choice but to put down the sword I was holding and raise both hands in surrender.

“It’s a misunderstanding! How could I threaten the Duke with such a soft body without any muscles?”

“Then, why did you take out the sword that was hanging quietly on the wall?”

“Well, I was trying to save you, Duke! Even now, there’s a black bug next to you…!”

At that, Yezar’s gaze turned to where I was pointing.

“Are you perhaps referring to this?”

“Yes! Oh…?”

Looking closely, the black shape was not a bug. It was a ball of thread.

“I understand your surprise. Fortunately, it’s not a bug. Don’t worry.”

“Yes…”

I was so embarrassed that my face felt hot. But Yezar calmly continued speaking.

“By the way, that sword on the wall must be quite heavy. If you accidentally dropped it and injured your delicate body, what would have happened?”

‘It wasn’t heavy at all.’

But I had the sense not to say that and apologized instead.

“I won’t do it next time. I’m sorry.”

Then he apologized to me as well.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry for misunderstanding. Lady Julieta Orbetian.”

“It’s alright. And just Julieta is fine now, not Lady.”

“Yes, Julieta.”

After the commotion passed, a quiet silence fell. Come to think of it, I felt that Yezar was not looking at me.

“By the way, Yezar.”

“Yes.”

“Why aren’t you looking at me?”

“Well…”

“Yes?”

“Your clothes are a bit too thin. If you could put on a robe…”

Come to think of it, Yezar. In the novel, he only sincerely likes the female lead, so he has low immunity to women?

I glanced at my outfit, which I had been too focused on other things to notice. Indeed, I was only wearing a slip that revealed all my skin. I understood why he was averting his gaze.

Even my underwear was like a piece of paper.

“Wait a moment. I’ll see if I can find something to put on. But I’m not familiar with the layout of this room, so could you tell me where it is?”

“Wait. I’ll go over there…”

Even so, I felt that Yezar still couldn’t quite bring himself to look at me. How very him.

I tried to approach Yezar to let him know it wasn’t that way. But there was a change on the floor that had been completely dry until a little while ago.

‘It’s damp as if someone spilled water? At this rate, it feels like my feet will slide as if I’m ice skating…’

“Ah. Julieta. I spilled some water over there earlier, so be carefu…”

“Eek!”

His warning came a beat too late. Before Yezar finished speaking, my feet slid across the slippery floor like an ice rink.

My center of gravity shifted forward, and the slick floor glistened before my eyes. This is not a bed, it’s a bare floor!

If I’m not careful, I might get a concussion!

First, I tried to take a fall posture to avoid hitting my head at all costs. But a large hand grasped my head.

With a ‘thud’ sound, I squeezed my eyes shut. After a moment, I realized I didn’t feel any pain.

It seemed that Yezar had caught me as I was about to fall.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes… I’m fine…”

As I tried to get up while supporting myself with my hands. The sensation I felt was not the smooth texture of a marble floor. Surprised, I opened my eyes and saw his upper body fully exposed to my view. It seemed that his bathrobe had opened up when I fell.

I couldn’t tell when he was wearing layers of clothes. But his body was very well-built. Broad shoulders, pectorals, and delicate muscles with protruding veins, different from that gentle face. Scars here and there, perhaps from training injuries. I didn’t know where to look.

When the bathrobe was tightly tied, I couldn’t even see his bare body. But now, his bare chest. His chest…

When I didn’t say anything, Yezar asked again.

“Julieta. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yezar…”

“Yes.”

“I think my nose is bleeding.”

Hot blood dripped onto his chest.

“Did you fall badly? Are you in a lot of pain?”

“No. Your clothes.”

“What did you say?”

“Please… put your clothes on properly.”

Only then did Yezar notice my flushed face and his open bathrobe, and he quickly turned his head away.

“I’m sorry…”

He didn’t need to apologize. But I wanted to crawl into a mousehole and hide, knowing that I had a nosebleed from seeing his body.

“Has your nosebleed stopped?”

“Yes… So please don’t ask any more about it.”

If it weren’t for the first night, I just wanted to go into an empty room and not show my face.

“…I’ll be more careful in the future.”

“Yes. Please go well.”

I felt like I was going crazy because of how awkward the current situation was. My body heated up in a different sense, and I felt hot. Unable to bear it, I spoke up.

“Um, would it be alright if I opened the window for a bit?”

“That’s fine.”

I headed to the window to escape the awkward situation. When I drew the curtains and opened the window, the outside breeze was chilly, perhaps because it was early spring. As I quietly felt the blowing wind, he spoke to me.

“Julieta.”

Thinking that he probably didn’t have anything, in particular, to say to me and was just being considerate of my awkwardness, I looked at him.

“Yes, Yezar.”

And then Yezar brought up something unexpected.

“Thank you… for the wedding ceremony.”

“The wedding ceremony? Did I do something?”

“Didn’t you hold my hand when I was trembling?”

“Oh, it was nothing. I can do that much for you. Even if it’s a contract, you’re my husband, Yezar.”

When I shrugged as if to say it was no big deal, Yezar smiled. And he carefully approached me.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I was trembling?”

“I thought you had your reasons. I don’t like to pry into things others don’t want to talk about.”

“You’re kind.”

His face as he said that looked somewhat lonely. In fact, I roughly knew his situation through the original work.

Why he asked me for a contract marriage, and why he trembled so much when our lips met.

‘But if I act like I know everything, he’ll hate it.’

“Julieta, I look forward to the next 2 years with you.”

“Me too. But since it’s our first night, we can’t leave this room tonight, right?”

“Probably so.”

Then what are we supposed to do on this night? It’s awkward enough to sleep in the same bed with him. Just then, a bottle of wine caught my eye.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, it seems the maids prepared it. They say alcohol is perfect for relieving tension.”

“Oh. Then, since we have nothing to do anyway. Shall we have some wine and talk?”

“Talk, you say?”

“Yes. Even if it’s a contract, we’ll be together for 2 years. I thought it would be good to know even the little things about each other. We’ll have to pretend to be a happy couple in public to some extent. Wouldn’t it be strange if we knew nothing about each other?”

At that, Yezar made a slightly troubled expression. I thought he might be feeling burdened by my approach, but.

“But that’s a fortified wine with brandy added to the finished wine, so it has a high alcohol content.”

It seemed he was worried that I might not be able to handle alcohol well. I smiled and answered.

“I can drink well.”

“You don’t look like it at all. But still, Julieta, as you said, we have nothing to do. It might be nice to have a drink together and talk.”

So we settled down and shared the wine. Surprisingly, talking with him revealed a lot.

“Really? You’re that strict with the knights?”

“That’s right. Public and private matters must be kept separate.”

“If I were one of the knights, you wouldn’t have been as kind to me as you are now.”

“Probably not. I would have made you run 100 laps around the training ground or given you a harsh one-on-one duel if you made a mistake.”

I thought he was soft, but it was quite unexpected. The conversation that followed flowed smoothly. Then, as the alcohol took effect, my true feelings that I had never shared with anyone slipped out.

“You know. I don’t have any friends. So I’m really enjoying being able to talk comfortably like this right now.”

“What’s the reason for that?”

“I can’t tell you, but. Yezar, would you like to be friends with me?”

My cheeks were flushed with alcohol, and my body swayed a little. At that, Yezar took the wine glass from me and said.

“You’re drunk. It would be best for you to go to sleep now.”

“I’m a bit tipsy, but I’m sincere about wanting to be friends. I’m lonely. I don’t have anyone to talk to comfortably.”

My nanny and Wizlet were nice, but… I felt guilty at times. To them, I was Julieta.

It was affection poured out because I was Julieta. But the real Julieta was no longer in this world.

At the point when I possessed her, Julieta had collapsed with a high fever. Perhaps in the original story, it was resolved well and she appeared as a character, but for some reason, Julieta passed away just like that. Afterward, my nanny and Wizlet warmly took care of me, who had possessed her, but occasionally, when I realized that I wasn’t the real Julieta, I felt a sense of emptiness, knowing that their affection couldn’t be the same as it was now if they found out.

Right, I didn’t need love. But I needed someone to share my heart with. Yezar’s expression as he looked at me seemed sorrowful. Perhaps he was projecting himself onto me.

His precious friend and first love had become the Empress of the Empire, out of his reach, and his feelings had become something insignificant that he could never reveal on the surface.