Starting tomorrow, I have arranged to formally learn the ropes from Tom for a few days. Although the hunting dog followed me well, I had never raised a puppy, so I was quite clueless.

Since it was late at night when the search party returned, Tom had already gone to bed.

When the time came, I took the eye color-changing medicine and grabbed a few drugs from the medicine management box needed for minor bruises.

Instead of heading to my bedroom, I went to look for Larches.

Knock, knock.

“Duke Larches, it’s Lea.”

A polite double knock and a brief introduction. Considering the possibility that he might have already fallen asleep due to the exhausting journey, I whispered in a soft voice.

Thump. Roll.

In response to my voice, a strange noise came from the other side of the door. Something softly landed on the carpet and rolled.

But that was it; there was no reply from Larches.

Knock, knock.

“Duke Larches.”

I knocked on the door again with my lightly clenched fist. I thought he was still awake since there was some noise inside, but was it my misunderstanding?

“Hmm.”

I looked at the unopening door, pondering, then whispered a greeting as if to a sleeping baby.

“Have sweet dreams…”

Whoosh.

Before I even finished whispering, the door that seemed unlikely to open suddenly flung open. Larches, who seemed to have been about to sleep, dressed in a thin indoor garment, looked at me in surprise.

“Shouldn’t you at least open the door to check if someone’s asleep or not? Who turns away so feebly?”

“……Am I supposed to just open Duke Larches’ bedroom door?”

“And why not?”

Larches leaned casually against the door frame with his arms crossed. He was wearing a black indoor garment that reached up to his neck due to the cold of the North. The outfit clung tightly to his body, accentuating the contours of his muscles.

I had never seen such an indoor garment before, but it suited him quite well.

“Why are you here if you’re not sleeping?”

“Aren’t you sleeping, Duke?”

“I was just about to.”

With the door open, I could see the inside of his bedroom. The candle on his desk was still burning.

“Do you sleep with the candle lit?”

“It’s one of my privileges. So, why did you come at this late hour?”

His voice was playful as usual, but his half-closed eyes made him appear dangerously relaxed.

Larches, being human, must have been tired from the journey.

“May I come in for a moment?”

Startled by my bold question, Larches straightened up from his casual posture. A dangerous smile flickered across his sleepy eyes.

“Would that be okay?”

It was my first time seeking entrance to his bedroom. Stepping into his space alone at night was precarious. As he said, if he decided to kill me inside, no one could help.

But he had many opportunities to do so.

During a night walk when no one knew, drinking wine in my room, and the day he helped me with the laundry. There were countless chances for him to kill me.

But he didn’t. So this was a challenge, and I was confident that he wouldn’t kill me this time either.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I didn’t come with that intention…”

“It seems like you know very well what I’m thinking.”

“……No.”

“I haven’t said anything, but your face is already turning red.”

His teasing made me glare quietly, and Larches laughed under his breath.

“Will you keep doing that?”

“Alright, I won’t do it.”

Larches stepped aside to let me in.

“Excuse me, then.”

“Feel free.”

His bedroom was neat. It was distinctly different from my room, Detor’s, and Delia’s.

The spacious bedroom contained only the bare minimum furniture necessary for living, and it was filled with a vast number of books, like a library.

“……Do you like reading?”

It was truly unexpected. A man who seemed like he’d never read a book in his life had so many in his room.

“Just when I have some free time.”

It seemed impossible for Larches, the guardian of the North, to have any leisure time.

Somewhat embarrassed, Larches pulled up his indoor garment to cover his neck.
The fact that Larches was embarrassed about being caught liking books was refreshing.

“Come over here and sit at the desk for a moment.”

I looked around his bedroom and then called Larches to the still brightly lit desk, where the candle had not yet been extinguished.

“Are you really trying to train me because I said I would train you earlier?”

Teasingly, yet Larches obediently moved as I directed. He perched on the desk, bringing our eye level to a straight, horizontal line.

“Why did you call me?”

He whispered, his lips curled up on one side. The hot breath he exhaled intertwined with mine, regardless of whose it was.

It felt so hot, like a fire had been lit, that I stopped breathing for a moment.

“Give me your hand.”

I extended my trembling palm. Larches chuckled as he saw my hand.

“Quite serious, aren’t you?”

Larches placed his slightly clenched fist on my palm, like a well-behaved puppy.

Without any explanation, I pulled up his sleeve. Despite my impolite action as a maid, Larches just quietly watched me.