A deep night with soft moonlight filtering through the window.

In Dalia’s sleeping bedroom, a large figure appeared as the door opened.

The man’s steps were quite careful as he approached the bed, lest the soundly sleeping person wake up.

Eventually reaching the bed, the man positioned himself at Dalia’s bedside.

A gentle hand brushed through her silver thread-like hair, then tickled her cheek.

‘What is it?’

Though aware someone had come due to the unfamiliar presence, she couldn’t easily open her eyes to the warm and cozy sensation.

How long had she stayed still like that? Dalia’s eyes slowly opened.

The sky, which had been tinged orange with sunset when she first returned to the room, was now subsumed by pitch-black darkness.

As Dalia’s mind began to gradually clear while blankly staring at it,

She belatedly came to her senses about the presence caressing her and turned her head. The one who entered her sight was Clayton.

“…Your Grace?”

Dalia’s voice was low and husky, having just woken from sleep.

Her eyes blinked as she gazed at the man before her. Then Dalia startled and sat up in bed.

“Wh-when did you arrive?”

“Just now.”

Originally, she had only meant to lie down for a moment. It seemed she had fallen asleep due to extreme fatigue.

‘Just how long did I sleep?’

She looked around, trying to properly gauge the current time. Clayton, noticing her purpose, answered for her.

“It’s past midnight. Everyone is probably asleep by now.”

“Ah…”

Dalia was inwardly flustered, realizing she had slept longer than expected. But that was only for a moment as a heavy silence fell between the two.

What should she say? Still awkward being alone with Clayton, Dalia averted her gaze.

Then suddenly she recalled the touch that had been caressing her just before.

‘Come to think of it, it felt like someone was stroking me just now.’

Was it just a dream? Dalia tilted her head at the gentle sensation still lingering on her skin. But only for a moment.

The man’s demeanor, silently staring at her without a word, began to feel increasingly uncomfortable.

Should she just pretend to be sleepy again and lie back down? Or should she ask him what he did after dinner today, like any other married couple?

While contemplating and awkwardly rolling her eyes, she realized.

Clayton’s gaze, which she had briefly caught, was directed at her nape.

‘Ah, could it be…’

Does he want to drink blood?

Thinking the reason Clayton was staring at her so intently was because he wanted to drink blood, Dalia turned her head.

This was rather fortunate.

Not knowing what to say in this awkward atmosphere, she thought offering blood might ease the tension.

So she asked him with a somewhat brighter expression.

“Do you perhaps want to drink my blood?”

Dalia’s clear and innocent voice broke through the silence. The man’s neat brow furrowed sharply.

“What?”

Her shoulders flinched at his displeased tone.

Sensing something had gone wrong at the man’s suddenly changed demeanor, Dalia’s voice grew small.

“Ah, no… It seemed like Your Grace wanted to drink blood…”

His sharp gaze made her instinctively look to him for cues.

Staring at the thoroughly shrinking Dalia, he let out a short sigh and relaxed his expression.

“I won’t drink.”

“…Pardon?”

“I don’t drink blood consecutively, nor do I drink often to begin with. And yesterday was just due to the full moon’s influence.”

“The full moon?”

Come to think of it, Lloyd had also mentioned the full moon earlier.

‘I think it came up in the original work too…’

Unfortunately, whether due to the limits of her memory, she couldn’t recall the details of that part.

As Dalia wore a puzzled expression, Clayton continued.

“On full moon nights, the thirst always intensifies. If my condition is poor, I sometimes lose my senses. And yesterday was a full moon night… It’s true I acted somewhat violently yesterday. But I won’t drink your blood like that again in the future. And above all, your blood is…”

Dalia waited for Clayton’s next words, but for some reason, he stopped mid-sentence and pressed his lips shut. Unable to contain her curiosity, Dalia asked again.

“Why my blood? How does it taste?”

She was quite curious.

What taste could there possibly be in blood that’s just a tangy iron flavor? So she wanted to hear a brief review of the blood’s taste. However.

“It tastes bad.”

“…Pardon?”

Dalia could only be dumbfounded seeing Clayton declare in a resolute voice that her blood tasted bad.

Wait, then what was the reason he had been struggling to hold back all this time?

Dalia was at a loss for words at the somewhat absurd answer.

So she asked again to get a proper answer, but he just deflected the question.

Then naturally, Clayton’s gaze lowered. Noticing where he was looking, Dalia covered the wound with her right hand.

“Did it hurt?”

She wasn’t even hoping for ‘It was an exquisite taste. I experienced a new world.’

But to outright say ‘It tastes bad.’ As the person who fainted giving blood, it felt quite unfair.

So Dalia, peeved by his question about whether it hurt, pouted her lips.

“Not really. It just felt like a mosquito bite?”

She intentionally compared it to a mosquito to annoy him, but for some reason, Clayton’s expression became even more relaxed.

Eventually, he broke into a cool smile.

“I’m grateful you consider it so trivial.”

It was the first time seeing Clayton make such an expression.

She thought he could only make expressions that looked like he was about to eat someone or cold expressions. He looked genuinely amused, as if he found it funny that Dalia had said that.

So while she was blankly staring at Clayton’s face without realizing it, Clayton asked another question.

“By the way, I heard you said you didn’t need a medical examination.”

He must have heard from Jason that she said a doctor’s examination wasn’t necessary.

Dalia hadn’t expected Clayton to care about that and ask, but fearing he might say something else, she quickly made an excuse.

“Ah. That’s really fine. I just fainted from fatigue. It’s just a matter of getting enough sleep, so an examination isn’t necessary. I know my body best.”

Listening to Dalia’s desperate refusal of an examination, Clayton seemed to think for a moment before nodding his head.

“Then that’s fine. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. But if you feel even slightly unwell, get an examination right away. His skills are quite competent, after all.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Fortunately, Clayton respected her wishes without any particular objection.

‘Come to think of it, he said I don’t have to do things I don’t want to do.’

It wasn’t the kind of line you’d expect from an arrogant male lead.

Dalia’s lips unconsciously curled up at this new side of the man, who had spoken so kindly unlike his usual self.

And while she was alone replaying what had just happened, Clayton stood up, seemingly intending to go to sleep now.

Then he took off the robe he was wearing without hesitation and tossed it aside.

Her gaze naturally followed down his well-sculpted upper body.

There stood the man, in a state too embarrassing to even put into words. At that unseemly sight, Dalia stammered and quickly turned her head away.

“Wh-what are you doing…!”

“Getting ready for bed.”

Dalia’s face turned pale at the man’s expression, as if asking what the problem was.

She asked back in a trembling voice at his nonchalant tone.

“…Do you always sleep like that?”

She wondered if he was being serious.

That was because Clayton was truly in a state without a single thread on his body.

The only fortunate thing was that the shadows created a natural mosaic effect.

Even if the man’s body wasn’t clearly visible due to the darkness, it was still embarrassing.

So she covered her face with both hands and continued speaking.

“Wh-why don’t you at least wear pants? You’re not sleeping alone tonight, and also…”

However, her protest was cut off by Clayton’s firm question.

“What’s the problem?”

“Well…!”

A problem, he says.

Come to think of it, there wasn’t anything that could particularly be called a problem.

They were an official married couple, and they had already done everything there was to do.

It’s just that while they had shared their bodies, they had never slept together, so this situation felt awkward. But for other couples, it would be a very ordinary thing.

As that thought occurred to her, Dalia, having nothing more to say, pressed her lips shut.