Kaius’s gaze, slowly surveying the room, stopped on the screen hiding the bed. This presence was clearly…….

Kaius quietly moved and turned on the light beside the bed. Then appeared his wife’s face – expected, but almost unbelievable.

Eyes closed and long lashes stretched over the blanket pulled up to her chin, slightly parted red lips and silvery hair flowing neatly. It was impossible, but it was unmistakably her.

Even with the light on, Ariel showed no signs of opening her eyes. Her regularly rising and falling chest indicated she was asleep. Kaius’s gaze deepened.

Ariel is on his bed.

As he clearly realized the situation, Kaius’s Adam’s apple moved slowly without him noticing. Reaching out to wake her, Kaius remembered he was not yet ready for bed.

“Haah…….”

With a sigh like a groan, he withdrew his hand reaching for her and straightened his bent body.

Ariel had come to him directly.

Recalling that satisfying fact once more, he took large steps towards the bathroom.

Ludvian moved with his presence completely erased. So that even Kaius von Elbartan could not notice him.

He had met Ciela and received the necessary information, and just now confirmed the Duke of Elbartan entering the mansion.

Now all he had to do was enter Ariel’s bedroom, and have the duke see them together. Ludvian climbed up to the terrace of Ariel’s bedroom with a few steps.

Light was shining from inside the bedroom. At that moment, Ludvian’s hand touched his left cheek. The wound inflicted by Kaius that had not yet completely disappeared, and thinking of Ariel who would be inside, one corner of his mouth lifted crookedly.

He would pay back that humiliation today. A hundredfold more than that day.

Seeing his wife with another man on their wedding night, the duke might not divorce her, but he would thoroughly ignore her. This was truly what he sincerely wanted.

Easily disabling the terrace door, Ludvian leisurely entered the room. Slowly looking around the bedroom, Ludvian walked towards where the soft light was shining.

The first thing that caught his eye was the empty bed and the dragon egg beside it. To bring that all the way here. As Ludvian let out a mocking laugh, his expression hardened when he couldn’t find Ariel anywhere after examining every corner of the bedroom.

The woman who should be here is not.

As he carefully scanned the room once more, a door came into his view. It was clearly a door connecting to the duke’s bedroom.

Could it be?

As Ludvian approached that door with a frown, the sound of the door on the other side opening was heard. Footsteps walking at a steady pace paused for a moment, and shortly after came the sound of shower water.

Ludvian realized Ariel was on the other side. After staying still for a long while, rough curses flowed quietly from between his lips.

He was one step too late.

He had moved leisurely, thinking she would obviously be obediently waiting in her own bedroom. Not a single thing went according to his intentions. The humiliation he meant to pay back. The relationship between the two he meant to make irreversible. All had failed. Ludvian took out the antidote from his pocket. As he was about to crush it without any lingering attachment, Ludvian realized he couldn’t even do that as he pleased and let out an empty sigh.

He wanted nothing more than to erase that human woman who made him feel so worthless right this instant. If she disappeared from before his eyes forever, perhaps this sense of humiliation would lessen. But the reality that he couldn’t even do that drove him even more insane. She who trampled on the pride of the high demon race was the tool that would raise him to the highest position among demons…….

A tool. Yes, she was just a tool. She should have been.

Finding himself unbearably ridiculous, Ludvian left the bedroom. As he headed towards the carriage parked far from the main gate, Ludvian suddenly stopped. After quietly gazing back at the duke’s mansion, Ludvian began walking back the way he came.

Kaius, his robe loosely tied, walked towards the bed where Ariel was sleeping. Seeing her sleeping form, still like a doll without the slightest disturbance, Kaius smiled.

How very demure.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Kaius gently caressed Ariel’s cheek. At her slight stirring, he waited quietly thinking she might open her eyes, but she still did not wake from her sleep.

Without hesitation, Kaius lay down beside Ariel and pulled her into his arms. At her fragrant scent and her body transmitted through just a thin cloth between them, a sigh like a groan flowed from between Kaius’s lips.

Kaius nibbled on Ariel’s earlobe without hesitation.

“Ah!”

With a low cry, Ariel’s eyes flew open. Touching her ear, when Ariel discovered Kaius she was startled and instantly distanced herself from him. It was not the reaction a woman who had waited for him would show.

Kaius lightly furrowed his brow. As Ariel slowly began looking around, bewilderment started to spread across her face.

“Ah…….”

Only then realizing where this was, Ariel let out a quiet exclamation. Returning her gaze to Kaius, she was shocked to see his attire. Instinctively trying to pull her body back, Ariel only gripped the sheets tightly with both hands but did not try to flee again. It was because of her own resolve that came to mind.

“S-sorry. For coming in without permission…….”

Ariel’s face flushed red as her voice trailed off. Every time she blinked, the shadows of her long lashes flickered over her reddened eyes.

Kaius smiled fleetingly at that appearance, apologizing with proper rights. He half-raised his body. At his movement, Ariel flinched again and gripped the white sheets more tightly, crumpling them further.

“Did you sleep enough?”

“Huh? Yes…….”

What first came to mind at his words was Ludvian. Looking around and checking the wall clock, Ariel confirmed it was well past midnight. By this time, even if Ludvian had appeared, he probably would have given up and left, but even if she returned to her bedroom now, it seemed impossible to sleep due to anxiety.

In any case, today…….

“Um……. Kaius, I have a request.”

“Tell me.”

His voice answering readily was soft as if he would grant any request.

“……Can I sleep here tonight?”

Kaius raised his eyebrows at the unexpected words, then lightly burst into laughter.

“By all means. Wife.”

Kaius, no longer willing to wait, moved his body and pulled Ariel to him in one breath, laying her down. Trapped between his body and arms, Ariel was wary but did not try to flee like before. A satisfied smile appeared on Kaius’s lips at her appearance.

“W-wait. I-I’m not mentally prepared yet…….”

As his hand touched the tightly tied belt of her robe, Ariel urgently pushed his hand away. Kaius easily overpowered that resistance and instantly removed her robe.

“You’re not wearing the nightgown I chose.”

Seeing Ariel in a nightgown that a young girl might wear on her wedding night, a laugh like a sneer flowed from between Kaius’s lips. Given that the nightgown he saw earlier was also this type, it seemed to be her taste.

“That’s……. because it’s not my style.”

Ariel blushed, recalling the nightgown he had chosen and Anna had brought out. It was a nightgown made solely for easy removal.

As his hand touched the buttons on her chest, Ariel tightly shut her eyes. With each button coming undone, her mind grew dizzy.

It was when Ariel’s breath, trembling in fear, began to quicken that Kaius stopped his hand and sat up, freeing her from his restraint.

“Ariel. How should I interpret this situation.”

A too dry voice flowed from between Kaius’s lips as he briefly glanced at the terrace.

“What do you…….”

“Why did Marquis Beloas appear on this night? Is it something that has nothing to do with you?”

“What?”

Startled, Ariel sat up from where she was lying. Judging by her anxiously wavering eyes, she seemed to have some idea of the current situation. After all, Ariel’s sudden visit to his bedroom was behavior too unreasonable to be dismissed as simply changing her mind.

Were they really nothing to each other?

At first he might have been able to accept such a relationship without feeling anything, but could he accept it as easily now as he did then?

Well.

Kaius’s eyes gradually narrowed.

It was clearly different from then. Would that man also know this woman’s drunken appearance? Or even her nightgown preferences? The two of them may have already crossed the line. To explain the reason for that man’s reckless behavior, it would have to be at least that much.

Doubts piling upon doubts made him suspect even her innocent appearance acting as if she knew nothing. At the thought that all of this might be a well-crafted play, his heated body cooled down.

“Kaius.”

Urgent at Kaius’s face growing colder, Ariel knew she had to make some excuse. She could not stay still and let past events repeat.

“It has nothing to do with anything. The reason I came to your bedroom tonight was because I felt a little uneasy. Ludvian’s behavior lately has been incomprehensibly abnormal. That’s all.”

Ariel put sincerity into every word. That sincerity seeped into her clear golden eyes as well. At her appeal, Kaius briefly considered killing Ludvian outside on the terrace, but even so, he would not be able to know what was true.

Watching Ariel with deeply sunken eyes, Kaius’s gaze fell on her body revealed between the unbuttoned nightgown. There was a more certain way to judge how sincere this woman’s words were.

And it was the only way to erase his current base mood.

“Then prove it.”