She didn’t understand why she wanted to stick to Cedric so much.

“Are you coming with us tonight too?”

“……Yes?”

“Oh. No, it’s just a monologue.”

Lamein, who unknowingly murmured her true feelings, quickly smiled brightly.

“So? Did you agree to go together?”

Of course, he must have.

She threw the question expecting the answer.

“I refused to mother. I won’t go with her.”

A different answer came.

“I will be on my own that day. Please know that.”

Lamein slightly lifted her eyelids and looked at Cedric.

Faced with his straightforward gaze that seemed to ask why she was looking at him that way,

“Yes. I understand.”

Lamein quickly replied and turned her head back.

A moment later, they arrived in front of Lamein’s room.

“Then, rest.”

“Yes, Cedric. You too.”

Lamein, who lightly exchanged greetings and entered her room, quickly headed to the study.

There, she neatly placed the books about herbs she had organized and the ones she brought from the library.

The books from the library were simply about what kind of plants exist in this kingdom.

“If I compare the two, I should first find what’s available in this kingdom.”

At first, she read with mere interest, but she thought it would be interesting to look for herself.

Although the nobles might get it somehow, commoners and those without money struggle to get expensive medicines.

Although she thought it might be a reckless task,

“What will I do at home? Embroidery doesn’t suit my hobby.”

It wasn’t her nature to stay still, and it seemed just the right job.

While carefully comparing the herbs in the books, Lamein suddenly laughed.

“Lamein. It seems there’s a reason I became you.”

She suddenly thought.

“I don’t know what you wanted to do. But I’ll give it a try.”

Perhaps the reason she came into Lamein’s body was,

As she had lived as sorrowfully as her,

“I’ll try hard enough to forget all that was sad to you.”

…It might have been because of her.

“Just trust me.”

That thought, that there might be a reason.

.

.

.

After finishing dinner, Lamein, who returned, sat on the bed and began reading again.

As she was concentrating for a while,

Knock, knock.

With a knock, Cedric entered the room.

‘Ah. Is it already time?’

Realizing it was time to go to bed, she met Cedric’s eyes.

The man who took off his gown that was hanging on his body approached the bed.

“What book are you reading?”

And very naturally climbed onto the bed and leaned close.

And looked into the book Lamein was reading.

A fragrant lavender scent wafted from him, as if he had just bathed.

“A book about plants?”

“Yes.”

The man, who quickly scanned the opened page with his eyes, leaned comfortably against the bed’s headboard.

As Lamein looked at him softly,

“Read comfortably.”

Cedric’s eyes seemed to say, I won’t disturb you.
Lamein began to focus on the book again.

As she was reading diligently, a familiar word caught her eye.

‘Moldovar Forest?’

Lamein turned her head slowly, blinking her eyes.

“Cedric. Is Moldovar Forest the place where the hunting contest is held on the weekend?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

Cedric, who had been looking out the window, met her gaze and spoke.

Lamein lowered her eyes back to the book.

A herb with the same effects as the hallucinogenic drugs she saw in Lamein’s book.

She discovered that this herb grows abundantly in Moldovar Forest, where the hunting contest is held.

“Cedric. Let’s go to the hunting contest together!”

Lamein said, opening her eyes wide.

“……Hasn’t the conversation just ended?”

“I suddenly want to go so much.”

Not just, but too much?

Cedric slightly narrowed his eyes.

“It won’t be fun to go.”

“That’s okay! I just want to get some fresh air. I want to go!”

His blue eyes scanned her face, showing a firm resolve.

“Must you go?”

“Yes!”

Her sparkling eyes seemed rather stubborn.

“Then let’s do it that way.”

He answered, seeming to give up.

“Yes. Let’s go together that day.”

She nodded, gently closing her eyes.

‘I’ll have nothing to do but sit and watch, so I should look for the herbs.’

Lamein, who found a new goal, smiled contentedly.

“When are you planning to read the book?”

At Cedric’s question, Lamein closed the book neatly.

“I was just thinking that I should go to bed soon.”

Her eyes were tired from focusing on the book all day.

Cedric, who got up from his seat, turned off the lantern and came back to the bed.

In the meantime, Lamein, lying straight on the bed, was lost in thought again.

‘There seem to be quite a lot of herbs throughout the kingdom. When will I find them all?’

Transportation and time, various things were worrying.

“Lamein.”

“……Yes?”

At Cedric’s call, she answered perfunctorily.

‘Should I learn to ride a horse first? Horses are a bit scary.’

She was lost in thought again.

“What beast shall I hunt for you at the hunting contest?”

“What? What did you say?”

Lamein, who hadn’t heard properly, asked. And then.

‘But won’t it be rideable if I learn a bit?’

“I will hunt the beast you desire.”

Cedric said as she thought.

She turned her head, meeting her husband’s unfocused eyes.

“A rabbit.”

And she spoke of an animal that came to mind casually.

“……Yes?”

“The ears, bouncy bouncy, a rabbit.”

“……A rabbit?”

She nodded, turning her eyes back to the ceiling, and was lost in thought again.

Cedric looked at the side of his wife’s face slowly, with narrowed eyes.

……A rabbit? A rabbit?

‘Is she ignoring me now?’

Asking a knight to catch a bouncy bouncy rabbit at a hunting contest.

Not a bear, tiger, or even a wolf, but a rabbit.

More than being offended, he was so dumbfounded that he looked at her with blank eyes.

Whisk. At that moment, Lamein turned her head again.

Cedric, surprised by the sudden movement, flinched his shoulder, and then.

“Ah! But don’t kill it. Absolutely don’t kill it. Bring it back just as it is. Definitely!”

His already puzzled wife shot him an even more puzzling remark and looked at the ceiling again.

“…….”

He looked at her profile with slightly furrowed brows.

Beneath the round forehead, the straight eyebrows seemed to be slightly curved, thinking about something.

Clearly looking at the ceiling, but without focus.

The lower lip twitched repeatedly as it was slightly bitten by the upper teeth.

“Heh…….”

A short laugh burst from Cedric’s throat.

“……Why are you laughing?”

Lamein looked at her husband with wideopen eyes.

Cedric slowly closed his lips that had been drawn long.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Why did you laugh?”

After a beat, Cedric slowly opened his mouth, blinking his eyes slowly.

“Sometimes, looking at you, I think it’s fascinating.”

In the dark room.

Only the whispering voice of the husband resonated.

“Fascinating?”

“Fascinating and also amusing.”

Earlier, he had said that he was going crazy because of me…….
The interpretation of that word was not yet finished when another word needing interpretation was heard.

At that moment, pondering whether to ask what it meant.

“There are many times when it feels strange looking at you.”

A serene voice flowed like the moonlight seeping in through the window.

“……Feels strange?”

Cedric slowly closed his eyes and opened them, hearing the small questioning voice.

“Rather than feeling strange, perhaps…….”

A faint smile spread at Cedric’s lips at the end of the hesitating, trailing voice.

“It feels like I’m getting happier.”

A dark room.

A space where even tangled gazes feel serene.

A man who wholly captures himself over clear and blue eyes, without deception.

“It’s just like that.”

He whispered, like a gentle breeze.