“I’m not sure, but it might be a seal used by the nobility or royalty… But he might have stolen the sword somewhere.”

Suddenly, the look in the eyes of the Archduke Martins sharpened.

“Duke Rolf, bring me that sword.”

Wait, the towel should be in the bathroom, right?

Why did I come out?

While I was circling around the bedroom, I smacked my forehead with my hand and returned to the bathroom.

But it seems I left the bathroom door open in my confusion.

If his cursed cold body turns into an ice statue, half of it would be my fault.

“I thought the towel was in the bedroom. Ha ha.”

I spoke awkwardly as I entered the bathroom.

He was turned away.

As the foggy steam began to escape, his back, which gradually revealed itself, was truly fantastic.

Rinel’s back reminded me of the god of war, Tefero.

As he dried himself with a towel, he glanced back at me and seemed to smile faintly.

I felt dazed by his surreal moist smile.

“Zelda, I think I’m losing sensation in my toes.”

My goodness!

“Hold on!”

I need to find a new towel quickly.

I regained my senses and looked around the bathroom, trying to remember where the servants had left the towels.

Losing my composure made my body and mind separate, and I kept doing stupid things.

I fumbled around in the wrong place like a person who had lost their sense of direction, and finally, I slipped on the wet floor and flailed my arms around like a windmill.

“Kyaaak!”

My falling body stopped in midair.

He looked down at me, holding me around the waist with both arms.

It felt stable.

In the meantime, most of the steam had left the bathroom, and Rinel’s handsome face clearly entered my sight.

“That was a close call.”

Rinel frowned slightly.

“A husband who makes his wife a widow within days of their marriage is a villain, but a wife who makes her husband a widower within days of their marriage is also a villain…”

He was about to continue his cunning words when he suddenly paused.

I asked with a stern face, trying to suppress my laughter.

“Gasp, were you about to call me a ‘villainess’?”

“……What?”

“Usually, the set goes ‘villain’ and ‘villainess’, right?”

“No? I was trying to say ‘villain of a woman’. That’s what I was going to say, yeah, that’s what it was.”

“I don’t think so?”

“Do you really think so? But suddenly my arm hurts so much?”

He sneakily let go of the hands that were holding my waist.

“Aack, you villain!”

I clung to his body and screamed.

“!”

Wait, what did I just say……?

“Are you saying whatever you want because you think you’re about to die?”

Rinel threatened, hesitating to let go of the hand holding my waist.

“Absolutely not! I said that thinking I might die!”

“I don’t believe it. It seems like you just made that up?”

“But wasn’t it great considering it was improvised?”

Fortunately, Rinel laughed at my words and didn’t let go of my hands from my waist, but straightened me up.

He already had a towel around his waist.

“Thank you for saving me. They say that even gods can’t recognize a person who died from a cracked head……”

“Don’t mention it. But, even if a god can’t recognize you, it’s not okay to call your husband such a villain, is it?”

“Of course……”

“And besides breaking your head, if we don’t hold onto each other and our relationship breaks, that would be a problem.”

“That’s right……”

When he was holding me, we were so close that I could barely breathe, but now just standing face to face seemed to take my breath away.

One way or another, my breathing quickened.

I hypnotized myself not to look below the knot on his neck that I wanted to press.

Without realizing it, I kept being drawn to his chin, but consciously kept my gaze upward, focusing on the center of his forehead.

“What did you ask?”

Noticing my gaze, he touched his forehead with his palm and asked.

“No, your forehead is… very handsome.”

“Look again.”

“Huh?”

“Is the only handsome part my forehead?”

He took a step back, spread his arms, and said.

I thought he would turn around, but thankfully he didn’t.

The person himself was a work of art, there was no need to look for anything more beautiful.

The steam that had filled the bathroom from the door left open to the bedroom cleared, and my vision gradually brightened.

That’s when I noticed the extra towels on the table behind the bathtub.

“Here, dry off with this.”

I turned my head and handed a towel to Rinel.

“From the looks of it, you would think we hadn’t even spent our first night together. That’s excessive.”

“What do you mean?”

“The embarrassment.”

He said with a smirk, wiping off the remaining water with the new towel.

“If you think about it, we didn’t even properly spend our first night together.”

Ugh, why did I have to mention that?

I don’t know why I keep blurting things out as if I’ll die if I don’t respond to him in kind.

“I agree with that.”

He nodded his head heavily.

No, don’t agree!

“Let’s go to the bedroom to talk. It feels like my feet are numb.”

Rinel said, looking down at his squirming toes.

Oops.

“Yes, yes! Let’s get out of here.”

“Catch.”

He held out his hand to me.

A gentle man.

Moreover, a sexy man.

I was nervous that the towel casually wrapped around his hips might take off somewhere.

“Hurry. You can’t slip.”

“Thank you, I’ll be careful not to fall.”

Although I expected it, his hand was ice cold.

Well, as long as his heart is warm.

I held his hand shyly and carefully walked on the slippery bathroom floor.

“Not you. I mean, me.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I shouldn’t slip.”

“……Oh.”

“Think about it. What if I slipped and got hurt? It would be the perfect misunderstanding that the empress from Château O’Neil tried to assassinate Emperor Laphion by pretending it was an accident while he was getting out of the bath. Isn’t it?”

“Ah, haha. Is that so? You should be careful, Your Majesty, the dignified Emperor. I mean, you have four other consorts, it’s fine if I fall.”

Even though my face must have looked visibly upset, he laughed and clutched his stomach.

We exited the bathroom, holding hands and being careful not to slip.

“Please get under the blanket quickly.”

I quickly pulled back the bed cover and suggested he climb in first.

“You’re quite cold.”

Rinel climbed onto the bed and pulled the blanket up to his neck as he sat down.

“Just lie down, your body will get warmer.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

He immediately lay down on the bed.

At times like this, he was like a sweet, obedient child.

“Will you join me? You seem like the ultimate weapon for raising my body temperature.”

“I’m your ultimate weapon, but I have a few things to take care of first, please wait a moment.”

I pressed down around the blanket to make sure no wind was getting in and went out of the bedroom.

Outside, I asked steward Styian, who was on standby, to bring his pajamas and the uniform he would wear tomorrow morning. I also asked Sharon to bring a warm lemon tea with honey.

When I returned to the bedroom, Rinel was sitting up with the blanket over his head.

He seemed to be observing me as I walked towards the bed.

The closer I got, the harder his expression became.

What did I do wrong?

“Who are you?”

His question was so abrupt, I was left standing in front of the bed, blinking.

“What… are you talking about?”

“What’s your identity.”

His voice was even lower this time.

Could it be that he’s starting to doubt who I am?

But when, how?

“Was that a difficult question?”

Rinel narrowed his eyes.

“Zelda, what is your identity…….”