‘I’ve gone crazy…!’

Iella, who had buried her face in both hands, silently screamed. If she could, she would have kicked the blanket repeatedly.

Her shaking eyes glanced sideways through the gaps between her fingers as if denying reality. However, the scene she had seen as soon as she opened her eyes still filled her vision, unchanged.

His broad shoulders, forearms, chest, abdomen—a thick, sturdy body with well-defined muscles that cast shadows on every part without exception—was completely exposed without a single covering cloth.

‘……’

With her face burning red from embarrassment, Iella quietly reached out her hand.

She carefully pulled up the blanket that was precariously draped over his pubic bone, just barely covering it, to shield the stimulating body from her view with one layer.

She worried that he might wake up, but fortunately, he seemed to be in a deep sleep, and no such mishap occurred.

Only after removing her hand from the blanket did Iella exhale slightly, but soon her expression turned miserable again.

‘Of all people….’

With the feast of flesh hidden, the next thing visible was his all-too-familiar face. Iella barely swallowed a sigh that was about to burst out and rested her forehead on her raised knees.

‘How am I supposed to face him again?’

It was an enormous challenge. This was more awkward than the morning after spending the night with Allen. She never imagined such a day would come with a friend.

It was especially so because she had never thought of him as more than a friend until now.

The only fortunate thing was that she couldn’t remember the night she spent with him….

‘Is that really fortunate?’

On second thought, she had doubts. It bothered and worried her that she didn’t know what had happened while she was unconscious.

If it had been the Grand Duke or Allen, it would have been uncomfortable but not to this extent.

‘Is it worse because I couldn’t pretend to be Ailexia?’

She had clearly heard him call her by name—Iella. Since it was before she lost consciousness, she couldn’t have misheard or forgotten it.

At the time, it felt like she had heard an illusion, and she couldn’t think deeply due to the immediate onset of sorcery depletion symptoms, but now that she thought about it again, his confident, firm voice came to mind.

However, in the current situation, this made it even more embarrassing and awkward.

She didn’t know how he had noticed, but the fact that he had recognized her was certainly touching.

In fact, Iella felt immense gratitude and emotion that a complete stranger, apart from her family, the novel’s author Vanessa, and Nix who worked under her father, had found her.

But that also meant that Aster was aware that he was spending the night with her, not Ailexia, before they mixed bodies.

‘How uncomfortable must Aster have been too.’

Iella hid her face in her hands again as embarrassment welled up once more.

If he hadn’t known that she was the one in Ailexia’s body, this wouldn’t have happened. Because Aster, as seen through Ailexia’s body, clearly despised and loathed the person Ailexia.

But the actual contents were her, and the kind-hearted Aster couldn’t have coldly left his gasping friend in front of him.

The cry of how could he leave her like this whispered in her ears.

‘He had a self-blaming face.’

She recalled him apologizing with a trembling voice, saying he was sorry. But he had nothing to apologize for. Not recognizing her was absolutely not his fault.

‘I feel so sorry.’

Iella felt sorry for him. Although inside was a close friend, the outside appearance was Ailexia, whom he disliked, yet he had helped her despite having to endure that.

Since people are inevitably more vulnerable to what they see than what they don’t see, it couldn’t have been an easy thing to do.

But if he knew that only he remembered the time they spent together, what would he think?

‘Still, it would be better to tell the truth.’

If there was any good news, it was that she could now tell him everything.

Iella lifted her face from where it had been buried and wriggled toward the edge of the bed. Thinking of him who would be embarrassed like her when he woke up, she decided to at least put on some clothes first.

Then she realized belatedly that her fluffy body, dressed in a negligee, had even been washed by him last night.

“Ah.”

Suddenly she felt a force pulling her body, and with a thud, the softness of the bedding touched her back. A large shadow descended over her face.

“Hello, Iella.”

Along with the deeply sunken voice, his face, seen upside down, was full of a gentle smile. Seeing her flustered and stammering, he kindly asked.

“Did you sleep well?”

At the question, like a morning greeting exchanged by lovers on the bed after spending the night together, Iella’s face instantly burst into flames.

* * *

“Iella, I’m dressed now.”

“……”

“You can look now. Show me your face.”

At his earnest voice, Iella slowly lowered her hands that had been covering her face and turned her body, which had been facing away, back to its original position. His body, which had been a feast of flesh, was now neatly covered by a shirt and pants.

Right after his kind morning greeting, with her face burning, she had been rolling her eyes around, unable to find her bearings, when she discovered that the blanket she had covered him with was not just slipping but about to fall off completely.

Realizing that she was about to see her friend’s intimate parts while fully conscious, Iella immediately got up, turned her back, and covered her face with both hands.

Then she hurriedly asked him to get dressed, and he, seeming to have just realized that he was n*ked, complied without protest. All while letting out a small laugh, finding something amusing.

“Acting shy after seeing everything….”

“Ack!”

After getting dressed and sitting on the bed, he put a blanket over her shoulders as she exhaled in relief. It was a considerate gesture for her, who was in a negligee.

But the words he delivered while wrinkling his nose were endlessly mischievous. Iella hurriedly covered his mouth with both hands.

Despite this, his face, which had been grinning as if something was so good, stiffened at the next words she uttered.

“I don’t remember anything!”

“……”

Iella was startled right after blurting it out. Looking at the words that came out without any explanation before or after, it was perfect for the other person to misunderstand.

“Ah, that’s, I mean….”

“You don’t want to remember?”

As she tried to quickly add words to salvage the situation, he, who had taken her hands and interlocked fingers with her, asked in a subdued voice.

“Was I bad?”

“That’s not it…!”

With his eyes drooping sadly at the corners, he looked exactly like a puppy. A large dog soaked in rain, at that.

Iella, surprised by him making such an alarming statement with that face, quickly denied it. Then she properly explained the true meaning of what she had been trying to say.

About Ailexia’s sorcery depletion disease, what happened to her because of it, and that yesterday’s events were also due to that.

She felt guilty about carelessly divulging Ailexia’s secrets, but Aster was a trustworthy person and not someone who would go around talking about it, so she could speak with peace of mind.

“So that’s why it was different….”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Then, was sleeping with Prince Bledin also like that?”

When she nodded in affirmation, his expression, which had been complex and multifaceted, relaxed considerably.

Iella didn’t know the reason and tilted her head in confusion, but soon understood. Now that she had told the truth, the next thing to say was an apology.

“I’m sorry. I got you involved too.”

“If anything, I should be sorry for realizing too late. It’s okay.”

“But…. Making you mix bodies too….. You wouldn’t have wanted that either.”

“Iella.”

He, who called her with a resolute voice to stop her words, reached out and cupped Iella’s cheek.

“Don’t apologize.”

“……”

“It was something I chose of my own will. You don’t need to apologize. I rather….”

The gaze that met hers was so deep that she couldn’t look away. Feeling as if she was being drawn into him, she blankly stared at the silver eyes that contained only her, when his voice broke off.

He moved his lips for a long time, as if wanting to say something. He pondered for a while, gently rubbing her cheek with his thumb.

But in the end, as if he had decided not to say it, he firmly closed his lips and then opened them.

“More importantly, can you tell me what happened?”

Iella noticed that he was changing the subject, but she didn’t pry. She knew that if he had decided to close his lips after deliberation, he would never talk about it. At least not until someday, when the time was right.

“I don’t know exactly how this happened either.”

So Iella substituted waiting with answering his question. He seemed to understand this as well, as a faint smile spread at the corners of his mouth.

In a much calmer voice, Iella told him everything that had happened so far. This naturally included the times she had tried several times to tell him that she was Iella, but had failed.

Aster listened silently to her long story. After she finished everything, he offered one comment.

“It must have been hard for you alone.”

At those words, Iella felt a sting at the bridge of her nose.