Brody and Aiden’s eyes met.

Aiden looked into Brody’s stiff eyes with a calm gaze.

He was the first to break the silence.

“Are you awake?”

“Ah, yes….”

Fidgeting, Brody got out of the blanket.

While some muscle soreness remained, she certainly felt much lighter, perhaps thanks to the aromatic oils and massage.

Brody approached the table where he sat.

“Can’t you sleep?”

“Yes, I feel a bit better now.”

“Then eat something. Resting in your sleep is good, but you should eat well.”

With a smile, Brody nodded her head.

Aiden placed bread, cheese, and soup he had prepared in advance on the table.

“The soup has cooled… just wait a moment.”

“Ah, stay, your Highness. I’ll do it. I’ll also make some tea.”

Upon hearing she would make tea, Aiden sat back down.

After all, Brody would likely be the expert at making tea.

On one side of the room, there were a hearth and some simple pots and kettles.

She heated the soup and poured water into the kettle, then selected the tea leaves she wanted.

When the water boiled and the tea leaves were properly steeped, Brody took out a prepared needle.

The previous time she drew blood by biting her flesh had been difficult and painful, so she had this prepared.

After sterilizing the needle in fire, she pricked her fingertip and drew a drop of blood. She was used to this from her bloodletting.

Then, she carefully dropped a single drop into her tea and his tea.

It was an unnecessary drop for Brody, but she included it just in case Aiden, who was sharp, would notice the difference between the two cups.

Luckily, the hearth was in Aiden’s blind spot, so it wasn’t difficult to make the tea secretly.

Brody returned to the table with the hot soup and two cups of tea.

“Please have some.”

Aiden looked at the tea cup in front of him, then looked up and scrutinized Brody.

“What is this?”

Brody nodded her head in response to his question.

It meant that the tea was indeed to alleviate his headache.

Sighing, Aiden made a troubled expression.

“You’re still struggling. Is it okay to make medicine?”

“I’m fine now.”

Brody answered as if it was nothing.

She quickly took her seat and began tearing bread to soak in the soup.

Aiden looked at the lively Brody and smiled with relief.

For a while, he gazed at her before refocusing on his documents.

As he turned his gaze away, Brody glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

‘Don’t worry about it. We’re partners, partners. So let’s work, work!’

Brody thought there was nothing better than work to shake off her thoughts.

‘I’m confident in devoting myself to work.’

She had managed two jobs while attending school.

Remembering her previous life’s arduous efforts to not neglect her studies, hard work was not difficult for her.

After quickly finishing her meal, she got down to business.

“May I also take a look?”

Suddenly intrigued, Brody received a puzzled look from Aiden before he nodded his head.

She received a map and blank paper from him.

Then she examined it carefully, jotting down the necessary content and organizing it.

Several times Aiden looked at her with interest but did not intervene.

Every now and then, Brody would ask Aiden for clarification on something, and Aiden, undisturbed by the break in focus, kindly explained.

Soon, the paper was filled densely.

‘I wish I could see more data.’

Unconsciously, Brody found herself chewing on the end of her quill, lost in thought.

The documents Aiden was dealing with were administrative, whereas detailed statistical data on each area was likely managed by River.

She carefully listed what more information she needed.

How much time had passed?

It seemed that the day was gradually dawning.
As Aidan clasped his sore neck and looked up, he caught sight of Brody, who was nodding off with a quill in hand.

He tapped the table in front of Brody with his fingers, smirking.

Brody’s eyes slowly opened.

“Brody, stop sleeping. We have to ride today, you’ll be tired.”

“Yes, in a little bit…”

She said and started nodding off again.

When Aidan tried to get up, intending that Brody would follow suit, he found himself unwilling to stand.

He looked at Brody, her cheek stained with ink, and chuckled before stretching.

Though work was piling up, disregarding sleep wasn’t worth the urgency.

His eyes felt dry, but his headache had miraculously disappeared.

Quietly staring at his teacup, he shifted his gaze back to Brody, who was now sprawled across the table.

‘Why push yourself when you’re so tired…’

He felt pity for her.

He had set conditions for her help in the northern matters, but he had no intention of overworking her.

He left her at the table because he knew her nature to undertake tasks willingly; if it ever became too much, he planned to stop her.

Her rich hair, looking like a swath of a golden wheat field, curled on the table.

He swept her hair back, organizing it, as he intensely stared at her face.

Behind her face, he saw a paper densely filled with writing.

‘What has she written?’

Aidan was surprised.

He couldn’t read a single character.