Ael picked up a cushion embroidered with the Hebridis Count family crest, examined the books on the wall shelves, and gazed out the window where rain was pouring down heavily.

While this room excited her mood, there was a separate reason why her heart was still pounding fiercely.

Ael placed her hand on one wall.

‘I wonder if Kyle has already fallen asleep?’

Kyle had a long conversation with the Count. And he also drank more wine compared to Ael.

He too had been constantly working to make today’s deal successful, so he might have fallen asleep early as the tension released.

She knew that his lodging was also on the top floor of the trading house. Near her room too.

At that time she didn’t think much of it, but why was she so conscious of Kyle beyond the wall today?

‘I must be crazy.’

Ael pressed the back of her hand to her flushed cheeks.

‘But it’s because Kyle acted that way that I couldn’t help but be mindful.’

The voice calling her his fiancée echoed in her ears, and the warmth of the hand that pulled her shoulder was still vivid.

Now that the goal has been achieved, this act is over too.

When night passes and morning comes. So when they leave this mansion, from then on she and Kyle will return to being employees of Ash Trading Company.

She remembered Ino recently grumbling that he was getting busier day by day.

Kyle also tried to increase the time he spent with her as much as possible, but the number of times he left her side increased, and signs of fatigue were seen more often than before, as if he had reduced sleep.

‘Besides, he said buying the Count’s land was the most important of the remaining deals.’

Now Ash Trading Company’s land deals have entered a stable phase.

Not only did delayed deals progress thanks to Ael’s quick and accurate interpretation of ancient documents, but above all, as rumors spread that an ancient language expert had joined Ash Trading Company, the number of people trying to scam drastically decreased.

Also, as many deals progressed, the way of handling work was organized.

Thanks to this, now document review at Ash Trading Company takes less than a day.

So now Kyle will start other work. He might be in charge of the Oltbea mansion he showed earlier today.

Although that place is not very far from the capital, it would still be troublesome to commute to the trading house every day. Then wouldn’t he just stay there altogether?

‘Then it will be difficult to meet.’

He might even change his place of residence to the Oltbea mansion. Then even if she goes to work at the trading house, it would be difficult to see him.

Ael’s shoulders drooped. Just as her hand was about to brush past the tapestry hanging on the wall.

Knock knock.

There was a sound of knocking on the wall behind the tapestry.

“…!”

Startled, Ael stepped away from the wall.

For a moment she thought she had misheard, but no matter how loud the rain was, it wasn’t a sound she could have misheard.

Moreover, it wasn’t just the sound of knocking on the wall. Although not clearly heard, this was definitely the sound of knocking on a wooden door, not a wall.

‘That can’t be?’

Ael wondered as she carefully lifted the tapestry hanging on the wall.

Then there was an old-style wooden door where she thought was a wall.

‘Originally, these rooms were connected.’

Then Kyle would be beyond this door.

Knock knock.

While Ael was pondering what to do, another short knock was heard. Thanks to lifting the tapestry, this time the sound was louder and clearer than before.

“Kyle?”

Ael called his name close to the door, just in case.

Then, as if it was the correct answer, a cheerful and quick knocking sound was heard. As if saying it’s correct, so hurry and open this door.

Ael grabbed the handle and turned it.

Creak. The wooden door, seemingly unused for a long time, opened with difficulty, making a slightly creaking sound.

The air from the room across rushed in through the opened gap.

Being far from the fireplace, it was cool and humid air due to the rain.

But mixed in that air was Kyle’s scent that had been beside her all day.

So Ael unconsciously took a deep breath.

“You’re not asleep yet.”

“Perhaps because I can’t believe the work ended well, I just couldn’t close my eyes. Why haven’t you gone to bed yet, Kyle?”

“For the same reason. I thought if I closed my eyes and opened them again, everything that happened today might become a dream.”

At that answer, the two looked at each other and smiled. No matter what, today’s work ended too well.

Ash Trading Company got the land, and the Count and Countess got a lot of money.

If it were an ordinary deal, it would have ended there. But the Count and Countess felt the joy of recalling old memories, and Ash Trading Company gained the Count’s deep trust.

Although there was a difference in age and status, it was a kind of emotion worthy of being called friendship.

“If you’re not going to sleep yet, can we talk for a moment? There are a few things I need to discuss.”

“Of course.”

At the word ‘discuss’, her drowsy mind woke up.

Is there still something left?

But didn’t he just answer as if everything had ended well?

Thinking the conversation might be long, Ael tightly fastened the shawl draped over her shoulders.

Even in summer, nights in Denertum get cool.

Moreover, heavy rain poured down today. As the cool air laden with moisture filled the room, the Count’s servants put plenty of firewood in the fireplace.

But where the two were standing was on the opposite side of the fireplace, so that warmth could hardly reach.

That alone was enough to feel the chill, but her still-damp hair from washing made her body shiver even more.

Kalon noticed this fact too. He looked alternately at Ael’s cold-sensitive appearance and the fire in the fireplace, then carefully suggested.

“If Ael doesn’t mind, how about sitting down to talk? You can come to my room or if you allow, I’ll go to your room.”

“……”

At his words, Ael looked at the floor for a moment.

They had been talking all this time, but he didn’t step a foot through the door.

Even though he could have come in if he wanted to.

Somehow, where he was standing seemed to reveal his heart instead.

Although he showed kind words and actions all day, inwardly he had no intention of getting close to you at all, and you and I are drawn with this line between us.

After being lost in thought for a moment, Ael carefully took a step into his room.

Anyway, Kyle is someone who will never cross this line. So if she wants to see more, she has no choice but to go in herself.

Thinking thoughts she could never utter aloud, Ael entered his room.

His room had almost the same structure as Ael’s room.

As if a mirror was placed in the middle, the position of the door was opposite, but things like the fireplace and window frames were the same. But the atmosphere was completely different.

If Ael’s room felt comfortable and cozy, the room he received had a darker, heavier atmosphere with deeper colors.

The hanging paintings were mostly dark-colored landscapes or portraits rather than genre paintings, and even those were few in number.

Instead, it was full of hunting trophies of various beasts that seemed to have been collected over a long time.

In that room, Kyle stood comfortably and confidently as if he were the owner of this room.

He too is just an employee of Ash Trading Company. Although his position seems high, he’s clearly a man who has lived as a commoner of the empire, but sometimes from him she felt a more distant authority than from any others she had seen.

Such an appearance was completely different from his usual playful and affectionate self, strangely unfamiliar, but also frighteningly fitting.

As Ael entered, he naturally guided her to the sofa closest to the fireplace.

Ael swallowed dry at Kyle’s scent mixed with the smell of heavier wood.

She came in boldly, but once inside, embarrassment rushed over her.

‘To think that I’m now at night… entering someone else’s, and a man’s room first…’

It’s something she couldn’t have even imagined just a few months ago.

‘It’s not just this.’

Everything she was doing now was only things she thought she could never do until recently. Things she thought she shouldn’t do.

But now it didn’t matter at all.

The things that had been forbidden until now were nothing.

It’s not that her morality has declined by doing these things. It just gave her more confidence the more she did them.

“Your hair isn’t fully dry yet. Sit closer to the fireplace.”

He moved a plush chair closer to the fireplace and invited Ael to sit.

Seated in the chair, Ael held up both hands to warm them by the bonfire.

As the cool night air dissipated, a warm drowsiness spread through her palms.

The crackling sound of burning wood and warmth, the sound of rain, and the familiar scent from the past few days. Everything surrounding her was peaceful.