“Yura is not someone you can speak of so casually.”

Among dark elves, there were elves who showed courtesy to humans, and there were those who did not. Vica belonged to the latter.

“Don’t force me to show courtesy to your humans. Just calling me ‘lady’ is already an undeserved thing considering my original status.”

In response to Vica’s natural reaction, Sikar nodded.

“You probably think that way. However, what if Yura is not just a simple human?”

“She came from another dimension and is a special human who can see the future, but even so, that’s all.”

“No. Yura is the human who saved your life.”

Until now, Sikar had only owed his life to Vica. But now, saying that Yura saved his life, Vica couldn’t readily agree.

“I haven’t felt any threat to my life since I met you.”

“Yura saved your life before your life was in danger.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Yura changed the fate of your death.”

“That… Is it true?”

“Do I have a reason to lie about that?”

“But the duke freely tells lies when needed. Why should I believe that coming from you?”

“You’ve probably never seen me lie about my family.”

Vica had no choice but to believe Sikar’s words. However, even believing those words felt somehow degrading to her pride.

Vica grumbled for no reason, “Is the lady such a remarkable being? So remarkable that you’d rather not lie for her?”

“Try getting married if you don’t understand what I mean. See how your husband, the one you marry, treats you.”

Vica, who had been silently listening, couldn’t take it anymore and raised her voice. “Are you crazy?! Husband, what? Don’t say disgusting things!”

“If you don’t understand my special circumstances.”

“Do you enjoy being married? Oh, lady, lady. Singing songs.”

“It’s not just because of Yura. Kian…”

“What?”

“Kian lost his biological father, but he still has hope of finding his biological mother. I want to protect that hope for Kian. That somewhere in this world, there is someone who gave birth to him. Knowing that fact could be a significant source of strength for him to live without forgetting it.”

“The duke has become so boring now. Soft and uninteresting. Well, I hope the young master’s mental state improves. He’ll probably become stronger as he unravels the duke’s curse, and our agreement will end sooner. But, just this time. I won’t participate in something where I have to take risks for someone else! Just because the lady saved my life once. I’ll let it slide this time. Remember that. Got it?”

“I will remember.”

“You must, or else I’ll kill you, whether it’s the agreement or whatever.”
As they shared the fate-bound agreement with Vica, if Sikar were to die, Vica could not escape death either.

Therefore, Vica’s words sounded like a declaration that both Sikar and she would die.

“Killing me won’t be so easy. It would be better for Durion to find Veronia soon before that happens.”

“When will that dull bear find her?”

“Despite his roundabout personality, he’s as quick as finders when it comes to finding people.”

“Finders would feel unjustly accused if they heard that.”

Vica yawned as if tired. “I’ll probably come in the early morning for a while. So, be aware. Whether I know or not even if the lady has nightmares, that’s up to you to guard or not.”

Sikar smiled bitterly. “It will be tough, so I’ll go up now.”

A soft touch wrapping around the waist…

Warm breath touching the nape of the neck…

Something about this… it feels like someone is embracing me from behind…

Come to think of it, Sikar mentioned that he fell asleep here yesterday.

Blinking my eyes, lo and behold. Sikar was hugging me from behind.

Lately, Vica had frequently left the house at night, so Sikar had been sleeping in my room every day.

And then something like this happened.

“Hey, hey. I told you to just hold hands and sleep!”

A lazy and gruff voice came from behind.

“When you sleep, you hold hands and feet.”

“My waist isn’t a foot, so could you please remove your hand?”

Sikar, grinning, removed his hand, which he had placed on my waist.

For some reason, whether it was because of Sikar’s disheveled hair or the rugged chest muscles visible through the shirt, he looked very sexy when he woke up.

“It’s weird. When I’m with you, it feels like I oversleep. I have to hurry so I won’t be late for the tea party.”

I probably overslept because I couldn’t sleep properly due to my nightmares.

As Sikar said, today was the day of the tea party, so I had to get ready quickly.

Since the effectiveness of the medicine Sikar gave me had not been confirmed, I did not relax until I entered the party hall.

Whether the medicine was effective or not, I couldn’t be sure, but fortunately, I was surprisingly fine.

Sikar also seemed satisfied, as he subtly raised the corners of his mouth.

“It seems the medicine is working well. Should I check a bit more?”

“Check?”

“If you hold my hand and step forward in front of people, you’ll know.”

“In front of people…”