“This is why I asked you for a divorce. Do you even realize? The conversation we just had was the first one we’ve had in five years.”
“……”
“I wasn’t expecting you to say you missed me or that you longed for me…”

If Ferik had said that, Astrid would’ve thought something was seriously wrong with his head. But still, Astrid thought it was a problem that the first words her husband said to her after five years were, “Have you finished your tasks?”

“You’re still the same. Actually, you’ve probably gotten even more insufferable.”

With those words, Astrid turned her back on him.

Ferik didn’t stop her as she left the room.

***

The hallway in the middle of the night was dark.

The reason Astrid had mentioned the workshop was simply that she didn’t want to stay with Ferik; it wasn’t because she absolutely had to go there tonight.

In the end, Astrid found herself walking toward the annex reserved for external guests.

She figured she could ask Hilda about the workshop’s location tomorrow after waking up.

While walking and planning her future research, she reached the annex much sooner than she thought.

“Make sure it doesn’t strain the baby’s body too much… Adjust the contact time as well… But what was the baby’s name again?”

Lost in thought, having already forgotten about Ferik, Astrid entered the first room she saw in the annex.

She immediately collapsed face-first onto the bed.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she decided to at least take off her outerwear and began to sit up halfway—only to find Ferik already in the room. She stared at him, dumbfounded, her mouth agape.

“What are you doing here?”
“That’s my question. Why did you come all the way here instead of staying in your bedroom?”
“This is unbelievable. Don’t tell me you followed me all the way here from the start? We just had a fight. Wait, do you even realize we fought?”
“Rather than a fight, it would be more accurate to say you got angry at me.”

What kind of person follows someone around after being scolded?

If he had just said, “I missed you,” or “I didn’t want to be apart from you,” she might have found it endearing.

Astrid pressed her temples with her fingers and sneered.

“Fine. I’m still angry right now, so why don’t you leave?”
“Why are you angry? I did as you asked. I brought Herta’s descendant here, and in the end, you woke up…”
“I know very well how far you went for me!”

Finally, Astrid’s simmering temper boiled over.

“For the past five years, you must’ve done everything you could to bring me back, insisting my corpse was still alive. I don’t even need to see it to know.”

She knew he must have spent every night with her lifeless body. She had married him knowing he was that kind of man. She had chosen him because he was crazy for her.

“But if I ask you why you did it, I already know what you’ll say. Because you needed a mage, because you needed a Grand Duchess, because it was the logical choice, because it was beneficial after calculating everything.”

At first, she thought it didn’t matter because she already knew his true intentions.

But that only lasted for a day or two. After years of it, Astrid felt like she was going insane.

Eventually, she began to wonder if she had been mistaken all along—if this man really had no emotions at all.

If you don’t say it, if you don’t express it, no one will know.

There was a limit to how much she could understand and tolerate, even knowing he was that kind of person.

Astrid, who had died and barely returned to life after trying to fix the perpetual blank expression of Basilinte’s Grand Duke, no longer wanted to understand him.

“If you need me, I’ll stay here. But there’s no need for us to remain as husband and wife, is there?”

When Ferik still didn’t move, Astrid made her request more direct.

“What I mean is, I’m not sharing the same bed with you anymore. So, leave.”
“……”

Astrid simply pulled the blanket over her head.

Rather than paying attention to him, she decided to focus on her research plans for tomorrow—or just go to sleep.

***

And Ferik didn’t leave the room.

When Astrid woke up in the morning to find Ferik still standing in the room, she asked in shock what he was doing.

He left behind a legendary remark: “This is the floor, not the bed.” Then he was kicked out of the room.

Of course, even after that, Ferik continued waiting outside the room. When Astrid finally stepped out, he naturally followed her as if it were the most obvious thing to do.

This was the daily life of Basilinte Castle after five years, but Leticia, unaware of the situation, alternated her gaze between Astrid, who hugged her tightly, and the Grand Duke, who stood a few steps behind.

Why was he standing awkwardly in the middle of the room like that?

“Have you had breakfast? Shall we eat together baby? Oh, by the way, what’s our baby’s name?”

“Your Grace, um…”
“Don’t call me that. Either call me teacher, or just use my name. I think it’s nice for a teacher and student to call each other by name.”

Leticia wondered if she had forgotten that she and Astrid were supposed to be teacher and student due to amnesia.

And even putting that aside…

“Why is Chamuka lying next to me…?”

Although Chamuka occasionally came by at dawn to lie beside her, that was only when Astrid was there too.

Leticia, who had felt sorry for Chamuka for missing his mother and coming to see her so early, usually just smiled when she woke up to find him staring at her.

But now, Astrid wasn’t lying next to her, so why was Chamuka holding her hand while lying beside her?

“I was testing something. Do you dislike Chamuka?”

Seeing Astrid’s expression, as if she’d immediately remove Chamuka if Leticia said yes, Leticia quickly shook her head.

“No, I like him. But… what kind of test is this?”

“Chamuka, if you’re awake, get up. Let go of her hand.”

His hand, which had been holding hers the entire time, was warm.

Chamuka casually got up and released Leticia’s hand, and Astrid picked Leticia up in her arms.

“Let’s go eat breakfast.”

Although she wasn’t a child who couldn’t walk, Leticia felt like she’d been carried around more often lately.

“I can walk on my own. If you could please put me down…”
“Really? You’re so small, but you can walk on your own? How impressive.”

Yet Astrid still didn’t put her down.

Resting her cheek against Leticia’s head, Astrid glanced at Chamuka.

“Chamuka, don’t follow us. Go find Hilda and tell her to release Tan. Both of you should draw three drops of blood while fasting.”
“Can I come back afterward?”
“Sure.”

Anyone watching would think Leticia was her own child, while Chamuka was unrelated.

Feeling a little sorry for Chamuka, Leticia glanced at him, but he didn’t appear hurt at all. Instead, he kept staring at her, making eye contact inevitable.

“Chamuka, stop staring at the baby and go to Hilda.”
“Yes.”

Only after Chamuka left the room did Astrid murmur with a puzzled expression.

“Why is he suddenly acting out of character? Baby, since when has he been like this?”
“…What do you mean?”
“He made me repeat myself twice.”
“…?”

That could happen, couldn’t it?

Although Leticia didn’t say it, her expression must have conveyed the thought, as Astrid looked slightly confused.

“No, um… That doesn’t happen in this household. But… why didn’t he act right away? That’s not like him.”

Tilting her head in confusion, Astrid soon decided that Leticia’s breakfast was more important and began heading to the dining room.

Without looking back at Ferik, who was still standing in the room, she said.

“Ferik, go find Gaien and draw his blood. Take yours too.”

Leticia awkwardly watched Astrid before having a sudden, slightly rude thought.

The kind and compassionate Grand Duchess she had imagined…

Was actually a dictator.