“……So, he’s swimming right now?”

“Yes, it’s warm and His Grace enjoys swimming. He said he was going to clear his head.”

Cleve stared at Annette.

“Um, by any chance. When His Grace swims…… I mean……. Never mind.”

She couldn’t ask whether he swam n*ked. She opened and closed her mouth, then shook her head.

Cleve decided she had better go to the pool and see for herself, just in case.

If he really was swimming n*ked, she should probably bring a large towel to cover him.

Just the thought of it made her face feel warm.

“Annette. After His Grace finishes swimming, is there anything he usually does or needs?”

“His Grace has iced water after swimming.”

At Annette’s words, Cleve broke into a wide smile and hurried off toward the pool.

❀❀❀

She was a little worried Eldrich might be in the water wearing nothing, the way he had been that night.

‘He wouldn’t.’

It had to have been a joke to tease her. But this was the residence where Eldrich rested, and given how few maids were here, it seemed entirely like something he would do.

He had no concern for what others thought of him. He would swim n*ked without a shred of embarrassment.

Cleve carried a tray with a glass of iced water to the pool. She stopped when she saw Eldrich cutting smoothly through the water.

She watched him stroke through the deep water with his long arms and legs.

Cleve approached the pool carefully and set the tray down on the table.

Eldrich slowly rose out of the pool. Her gaze naturally drifted downward, but thankfully, unlike that night, he was wearing a swimsuit.

“Cleve?”

He put on a robe and swept his wet hair back, then walked toward her.

“……Eldrich really is a liar.”

“I tend to be.”

“You’re not even going to argue?”

“A liar who won’t even admit it would be too shameless.”

There was no winning against him in words. He lifted the glass from the tray. The ice, half-melted in the hot sun, clinked with a clear sound. Drops of condensation rolled down the back of his veined hand.

Gulp, gulp.

His throat moved up and down with each swallow.

He tilted his head back slightly as he drank, then shifted his gaze to Cleve and let the corner of his mouth lift.

His black hair caught the light and shimmered, scattered with brightness like stars across a night sky.

The memory of that night came back to her, vivid and sharp.

“Did you come to check whether I was swimming with nothing on?”

“Yes, dying n*ked would be a problem.”

“Ha ha.”

Cleve said it with a sulky expression.

Eldrich took one step closer to her. She stepped back slightly and looked up at him.

“Preparations to receive His Highness the crown prince are almost finished.”

“You’ll manage it fine on your own. You don’t need my approval.”

“……Still.”

“Is there something I can help with?”

“No, not at all.”

She hadn’t been looking for approval. She had only wanted to say that things were coming along well, but for some reason it stung a little.

“What kind of person is His Highness the crown prince?”

“There are no words that could define him.”

Eldrich set down the glass and spoke.

“Whatever you do, just as I find it to my liking, His Highness will too. No need to worry.”

“I hope so.”

“Still, since we’re receiving an honored guest, you should have a dress made.”

“The dresses at the residence are more than sufficient.”

“Throw them all out. Many of them don’t suit you.”

“……Are the ones I’m wearing now strange too?”

Eldrich’s words came as quite a blow to Cleve. She had always chosen her dresses based on what her brother and the dressmaker told her.

Their influence had shaped most of her choices, but Cleve had liked her dresses.

“I want to give you something better. The Marquis of Chartres doesn’t have particularly refined taste.”

“You don’t like my brother.”

“That’s right. He’s exactly the kind of person I dislike most. And you don’t particularly like him either.”

“……I……”

Cleve couldn’t answer right away. She didn’t dislike her brother. But when she thought back on everything he had done to her, her lips pressed together.

“I don’t want to dislike him.”

He was the only family she had left. He did things she couldn’t understand sometimes, but she had always told herself it all came from affection.

That was how she had felt, before she came here and met these people and learned what it meant to be truly cared for.

“He must be struggling. Because I was lacking.”

“Cleve.”

Eldrich’s hand touched her chin. The cool fingertips brought her sharply back to herself. He turned her head slowly, and when their eyes met, he smiled and spoke.

“You are not lacking. You are already enough. There is no need to listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.”

“……Eldrich. Oh, it’s cold!”

The cold glass touched her cheek. Cleve covered her cheek with her hand and glared at him.

“Stop thinking like that. Anyone who says those things is saying them because they are the ones who fall short.”

Eldrich’s way of comforting her was strange, but Cleve burst out laughing in spite of herself. His unexpected move had flipped her low mood in an instant.

“I never once thought I was glad to be married…… but lately I find myself thinking that.”

Cleve looked at him with a wide, open smile.

“I’m so glad I married you. Every day lately feels like a dream.”

Meeting him had changed her life. She smiled more. Time passed without leaving room for dark or heavy thoughts.

The cheek that had been cold was now warm.

❀❀❀

Eldrich thought of Cleve’s bright smile.

The pink that had bloomed across her cheeks like a rose, her full brown hair catching the sunlight and glowing warm gold, her small fingers curled shyly inward. Her long lashes, cast downward, half-veiled eyes that shone like emeralds. Her delicate frame, her smooth arms and legs, and the full chest that seemed almost at odds with the rest of her.

He had been going through each detail that made her who she was, and his expression had slowly hardened.

It was all vivid, like she was standing right in front of him.

“I’m so glad I married you. Every day lately feels like a dream.”

Her clear, soft voice seemed to ring in his ears. The warmth in her eyes and the affection in her voice made it impossible for him to smile freely.

He should have felt at ease seeing Cleve happy. Instead, something kept pricking at his chest.

Cleve was bright, the way someone is when they are loved and happy. Her expression had changed entirely from when he first saw her. He knew full well that all of it was because of him and the people around him.

‘Things are going the way I wanted. So why do I feel……’

He pressed his fingers against his forehead, trying to push away the ache.

“Is something troubling you?”

At Annette’s question, Eldrich turned the teacup in his hands.

“I suppose. Though it’s not something worth troubling over. By the way, it was you who told Cleve where I was.”

“She seemed to be looking for Your Grace, so I let her know. She was a little surprised to hear you were at the pool.”

“I went swimming to clear my head. Thanks to that, it’s more cluttered than before.”

“I won’t inform her of Your Grace’s whereabouts in the future.”

“Never mind. In a residence this small, she’ll find me wherever I am.”

Annette poured tea into the cup and studied Eldrich’s face. She didn’t know what had happened in the short time since Cleve brought water to the pool, but he looked unsettled.

“Is it the investigation?”

“No evidence will turn up no matter how hard they search, so it’s not worth worrying about.”

“If there is anything I can do, please tell me.”

“Just hearing that is reassuring. You haven’t let Cleve find out who you really are, have you?”

“Fortunately, the lady only knows me as Countess Linscott. Perhaps I have a talent for acting after all.”

“You’ve grown quite relaxed, Annette.”

“I’ll correct that.”

Annette Linscott was known to the world as Countess Linscott, but she was also the hidden captain of House Devonshire’s knight order.

She had a remarkable gift for strategy, and it was that quality that had led Eldrich to give her the position.

She couldn’t reveal her true role to others, but she was satisfied with what she did.

That was how she had earned Eldrich’s trust and come to handle his affairs alongside him. When he had become fixated on Cleve and set everything in motion to marry her, Annette had been part of it all.