There Is No Paradise Where I Ran Away To (14 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 52

As morning dawned, Vivian quietly left the room with Sophie. Following Humphrey’s instructions from the previous day, they walked down the corridor toward Edwin’s bedroom. Once they reached his door, Vivian told Sophie to wait, knocked gently, and then slipped inside quietly.

The bedroom was filled with darkness—so much so that she couldn’t even see Edwin on the bed.

Her first night in an unfamiliar place had been spent in fitful sleep, a shallow and restless slumber that, despite her lack of curiosity, had revealed Edwin’s late hour of return.

She hadn’t expected him to be awake at this hour, knowing he’d only just returned to the estate as the first light of dawn tinted the horizon.

Yet she had still come—not wanting to repeat what had happened in Rottermond. Back then, he’d been furious that someone had entered his room without showing their face. If it happened again, she feared she’d end up striking him with a clenched fist instead of an open palm, just as he’d once advised her.

As she drew closer to his sleeping form, the strong stench of alcohol and cigars made her wrinkle her nose in distaste.

Just how much had he drunk?

Though he was accustomed to drinking regularly, he was never the type to get thoroughly wasted.

She’d only seen him drunk once—and even that might have been mere speculation—but his usually clear, dignified eyes had been clouded, his face twisted into a lewd, dreamy smirk reminiscent of a notorious rake from another era. It was hard to believe he wasn’t utterly inebriated.

Moreover, the echoing laughter of drunken noblewomen from that night rang in her ears, instantly conjuring an image of Edwin’s behavior the previous evening. Vivian’s expression twisted in dismay, her eyes narrowing sharply.

Just then, the pale silhouette slumbering in the darkness gradually grew clearer.

His face was half-buried in the pillow as he lay facedown, and below it, his broad, bare back was exposed. The blanket barely covered him, draped only below his waist—yet nothing else was visible beneath it.

Suspicious, Vivian didn’t retreat. Instead, she stepped closer—and her pupils widened as her eyes confirmed what her retina had already registered: his bare buttocks.

The man before her was completely naked as he slept.

Vivian’s face burned hot with embarrassment as she fumbled blindly in the dark, scrambling to find the door. Her steps tangled, disoriented by sheer shock.

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