“Th-That’s… too much.”

“Too much?”

“It’s because you’re too handsome!”

Adeline lowered her gaze from the Duke and spoke words that differed from her true feelings.

“It’s because you haven’t cut your hair like this in a long time. Besides, look in the mirror. Is Mel’s face ordinary? It’s natural to tremble like this.”

Once a lie is set in motion, it flows smoothly.

Today, as usual, Adeline began to sweet-talk the Duke with her quick wit.

However, when she glanced up, the Duke had his eyes narrowed, with his arms crossed.

“We’ve been together for quite a while, and you think you can avoid my eyes with something like this?”

“Well… I’m just suddenly feeling nervous.”

Of course, it was a different kind of trembling, but wasn’t that also a form of trembling?

“Well then.”

Was that satisfactory? A faint smile appeared on his lips.

The Duke uncrossed his arms and strode towards Adeline. Then, in one swift motion, he wrapped his arm around her slender waist.

“If it’s not because you dislike me, then we can sleep together tonight, right?”

“Wh-What?!”

Adeline was so flustered that she didn’t even realize her voice was trembling.

But the Duke, with a face more composed than ever, smiled and led Adeline to the bed.

“Um… Mel? Even so, sleeping together in the same bed is…”

Adeline blinked, unable to lie down on the bed.

The Duke, leaning against the headboard, said,

“Isn’t it a completely natural phenomenon? Between us.”

Where had that shy appearance from when he first opened his eyes gone, and how had he become such a smooth-talking man?

He only stayed by her side when she had nightmares. For a grown man to suggest sleeping in the same bed.

And what kind of relationship makes sleeping in the same bed a completely natural phenomenon?

Surely he hasn’t lost his memory and started seeing me as a mother figure?

Her narrowed eyes turned towards the Duke, then she shook her head.

Adeline was about to speak to persuade the Duke.

“What do you mean?” the Duke asked, as if he didn’t understand.

“Well, you see. Us sharing a bed is…”

As Adeline’s response dragged on, the Duke cut her off and asked,

“Isn’t it destiny, and aren’t we important to each other?”

“…That’s right?”

Well, they were in a relationship where they had to save each other’s lives.

“Didn’t you say I’m the only one?”

“That’s correct.”

Because for now, Duke Torpeo was the only man who could save her life.

Adeline nodded in agreement.

“A relationship where we can’t be apart, and we’re too important to each other. And living together like this in one house, aren’t we husband and wife?”

“Husband and wife?”

Adeline suddenly came to her senses.

Husband and wife? What on earth had this man been imagining?

“Aren’t we? If not, what kind of relationship do we have?”

The Duke looked at Adeline with quite a serious expression.

Adeline was so taken aback that her lips parted. As they stared at each other, she gradually began to regain her composure.

She hadn’t known that her ambiguous words would be interpreted like this by him.

She couldn’t find an explanation brilliant enough to surpass the imagination this man had created.

Moreover, for living together, the misunderstanding he had wasn’t bad.

After all, a reason to stay together had just been created.

“Th-That’s right. It’s not husband and wife, but… lovers!”

Faced with the crisis of suddenly becoming a married woman, Adeline hastily claimed they were lovers.

No matter how you look at it, the gap is too big for us to be husband and wife.

If the Duke’s memory suddenly returns, she was already at a loss for how to handle the aftermath.

But the anxiety was only momentary. Somehow, it would work out.

Adeline resolved to treat the Duke even better for the day his memory would return.

Only then would he take pity on her and allow her to save this one life.

As Adeline was building her plans one by one, hiding her dark intentions, the Duke asked a sharp question.

“There’s only one bedroom here, how did we originally live?”

Adeline’s heart sank at the Duke’s penetrating question.

“Of… Of course we shared it! I said I’d sleep on the sofa so you could sleep comfortably because you were sick.”

“I’m not sick. And how could I let my lover sleep on the sofa? Come here.”

Adeline swallowed a sigh without the Duke noticing. At his urging, Adeline had no choice but to approach the bed.

It seems she’ll have to experience a newlywed life with this handsome, amnesiac Duke to keep up the lover act.

‘It’s not bad to live as lovers with that handsome face.’

That way, even if his memory returns, he won’t be able to hurt her after living as lovers.

Lying on the bed, Adeline closed her eyes tightly, lying straight as a board, unfamiliar with the situation.

As the Duke’s hand intertwined with Adeline’s, who was lying quietly, and she felt his piercing gaze on her skin, he spoke.

“By the way, is this before we signed the marriage vows? Usually, when people live together like this, they’re not lovers but spouses. Why are we still lovers?”

The Duke voiced his lingering doubts to Adeline.

Adeline was flustered because she hadn’t thought that far ahead.

She had only thought of a reason that would make her feel less guilty when the Duke’s memory returned, rather than being married.

Unable to come up with a good idea, Adeline decided to make something up.

“Ah. We were going to submit it to the temple, but because you got sick… Yawn.”

Although she was already wide awake from the Duke’s barrage of questions, she let out a fake yawn, pretending to be tired.

Another lie was needed to cover up the previous one.

Even though it was to avoid an immediate crisis, she didn’t like the growing sense of guilt towards him.

So, wanting to avoid the Duke’s questions as much as possible, she started pretending to be sleepy.

“Mel. I’m so sleepy. Good night.”

Adeline decided to pretend to sleep and ignore the situation.

Silence fell, with only the sound of rain falling outside.

Adeline fell asleep counting the falling raindrops.

* * *

At that time, there was another who couldn’t sleep.

Light was seeping through the crack of the Crown Prince’s office door.

Crash!

Crown Prince Trashi was throwing everything in sight at the man in front of him.

The office floor was a mess with objects thrown by the Crown Prince.

And blood was flowing from the forehead of the man kneeling on the floor.

He had clearly been hit by a thrown vase, but the man only repeated his apologies.

“I apologize. We confirmed he fell from the cliff, so he must have died, Your Highness.”

“He must have died? You couldn’t even find one measly corpse? Is this what you call a report?”

“I’m sorry.”

The man in front of him prostrated himself towards the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince was in a state of extreme anger. Who was Duke Torpeo? That Duke had been a thorn in the Crown Prince’s side from the beginning.

‘Red eyes indicating descent from the goddess Helena.’

In the Soltarius Empire’s royal family, one person with red eyes was born in each generation without fail.

And the prince with those red eyes always ascended to the throne.

In this generation, the owner of those red eyes was Crown Prince Trashi Soltarius. Moreover, he had black hair, the same color as the goddess Helena’s.

He was destined to be the next emperor from the moment he was born.

The Crown Prince was the perfect candidate for emperor, without any flaws.

That is, until the day a child with black hair and red eyes was born into the Torpeo family.

Since he was a prince, he had to listen to the nobles’ whispers whenever he stood next to Casius.

“You know, when His Highness is with the young lord, doesn’t his hair seem to have a brownish tint?”

“Look at young lord Torpeo’s eyes. Anyone can see that the young lord’s eyes are clearly red, right?”

The Crown Prince’s black hair seemed faded compared to Casius’s jet-black hair, and his eyes lacked that intensity.

It was a terribly dirty feeling when compared, but that was all.

Because he was the only one with the legitimacy of the royal bloodline.

That is, until the night the Emperor suddenly collapsed.

“Your Highness. You must bring the Duke’s hair. Only then can you ascend to the throne.”

“……”

“That’s the only way.”

That night, the Empress quietly called the Crown Prince and told him a secret.

And after learning the secret, the Crown Prince decided to get rid of the Duke who was a thorn in his side.

That day when he went hunting with the Duke.

The Duke was supposed to return as a cold corpse, accidentally hit by a poisoned arrow meant for bears.

But this fool in front of him had messed up the job.

The Crown Prince had even personally given him wine laced with a strong sleeping drug.

The Crown Prince returned to the palace without finding the Duke’s corpse.

At the central council meeting held the next day, he had covered up by saying the Duke had been sent on a secret expedition. Who would dare to question the Crown Prince’s words?

But it wasn’t an excuse that could last long. The Crown Prince had to find the Duke’s corpse as soon as possible.

Even if he was alive, he would have to kill him again.

Unable to contain his rising anger, the Crown Prince drew his sword and stabbed it into the thigh of the man in front of him, twisting it.

Not even blinking at the blood droplets that splattered on his face, the Crown Prince said,

“Find the corpse immediately. If you return empty-handed next time, those useless hands of yours will disappear.”

Throwing away the blood-stained sword, the Crown Prince stormed out of the office.

The palace frequently saw bloodshed due to the Crown Prince’s violent temper.

Yet, the servant guarding the door cowered in fear that never seemed to fade.

When the Crown Prince was in such a fit of madness, one shouldn’t even make eye contact. That blade might unnecessarily turn towards oneself.

As Trashi was about to pass by the servant who had lowered his head deeply, he suddenly stopped.

He turned back to the servant, came close, and asked,

“Ah, yes, what happened to the marriage proposal sent to the Credion Marquis family?”

The pouring rain made the atmosphere even more gloomy.

The flash of thunder and lightning came in through the lined windows in the corridor.

The flash illuminated the Crown Prince, and his turbid eyes glinted.