“You don’t want to be alone, right? Your Highness, please sleep on the bed. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“How about sharing the bed……”

“……”

“……I apologize.”

Dietrich quickly apologized after receiving a look that questioned his sanity, but still hesitated without lying down on the bed.

“I think it would be better the other way around.”

“The sofa is fine for me.”

“It’s not fine for me.”

“How could I let someone of Your Highness the Grand Duke’s stature sleep on a sofa? Especially when you came to me because you’re afraid of thunder and lightning.”

“That’s separate from the thunder and lightning.”

The conversation between the two, which seemed like it would never end, was finally concluded by another clap of thunder and lightning. In the midst of the dialogue where neither seemed willing to yield, they eventually reached a compromise to lie far apart on the wide bed.

The fortunate thing was that this room, being the best guest room, had a very wide bed—wide enough that even when they lay side by side, their fingertips wouldn’t touch.

After Dietrich lay down first, Lysith, who had been contemplating for a moment, eventually took a novel from the bookshelf and sat leaning against the headboard of the bed.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“I thought I shouldn’t fall asleep first when there’s someone scared beside me.”

With a gaze that seemed somewhat relieved and touched, Dietrich stared blankly at the clean and indifferent profile of Lysith before closing his eyes after a while.

Lysith, who had glanced sideways at Dietrich lying quietly, thought the situation was quite amusing even as she read her book.

They were doing after divorce what they hadn’t done during marriage.

Sleeping together in one room like this was something that didn’t exist in her memories. If the original Lysith knew about today’s events, she might faint from shock.

Even as she read her novel, the thunder and lightning continued unabated, shaking the world as if tearing the earth apart.

And each time, seeing the man lying beside her unable to sleep and flinching his shoulders, Lysith swallowed a sigh. She wasn’t cold-hearted enough to just keep watching.

“This might be a bit rude, but are you really afraid?”

“……Yes.”

“I’m not saying I didn’t believe you. Your complexion was so pale that I had no choice but to believe you, even if I didn’t want to.”

Dietrich slowly opened his eyes again when Lysith spoke to him, staring at her face dimly illuminated by the single light in the room.

She must have seen him flinch every time lightning struck. Well, how could she not? With a bitter smile, he quietly listened to the calm words of someone being kind to him, even though she probably didn’t like him very much.

“You didn’t show it at all, so I had no idea. Though I suppose you wouldn’t have many occasions to show it.”

“Even if there were occasions, one shouldn’t show it. I can’t allow such weaknesses to be exposed.”

After saying that much, Dietrich took a moment to catch his breath, then continued in a slightly softer voice.

“Some would find it pathetic.”

“That’s certainly true in public.”

The room grew humid with the sound of pouring rain, distant thunder, occasional flashes of lightning, and the sound of two people breathing. And as if intoxicated by the atmosphere, Dietrich’s story suddenly poured out.

“……My parents died in a carriage accident.”

“……”

“It was on a day just like this. I was just a child of about eight who knew nothing.”

What remained for him was a kind of trauma. Though he hadn’t experienced the carriage accident himself, the death of two people at a young age was enough to leave a psychological impact on a child.

“The late emperor and empress were the ones who took me in then.”

His face softened considerably as he spoke of how the late imperial couple had acted as parents to a child who had lost his own at such a young age.

After hearing that the empress would hold his hand when he was scared, Lysith, with an utterly expressionless face, made an offer.

“Would you like me to hold your hand then?”

“……”

“If you don’t want me to……”

“I never said I didn’t want that.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Lysith took the hand he extended and reopened the book she had placed on her knees with her remaining hand.

“Now go to sleep.”

It wasn’t a tone that could be called affectionate even as a courtesy, but to Dietrich right now, her simple words were the most affectionate in the world.

As he became aware of the warmth of her hand that had gently slipped into his grasp, he felt his heart, which had been pounding as if about to burst, gradually regaining stability.

In truth, Lysith had given considerable—quite considerable—thought before extending her hand to Dietrich.

Wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity for a quest?

She had briefly considered the outrageous idea of doing something that would help him forget his fear if she just closed her eyes, but……

After learning why he was afraid, she had no choice but to give up.

‘He’s talking about his parents’ deaths, and I’m thinking about rolling around in bed? That feels too disrespectful……’

And what if he rejected her? That would be truly irreversible. When female protagonists make advances to male protagonists, they’re usually accepted because there’s some certainty, but the current Lysith had neither certainty nor knowledge.

‘Besides, Level 9 hasn’t appeared yet. How would I know if it would come with Level 9?’

She sensed that the higher the level, the more difficult things became, but still.

Only after reading about halfway through the book while maintaining her position with one hand held did she turn off the light and lie down. She thought about withdrawing her hand, but she was afraid he might wake up, and above all else…

‘I can’t let go……’

She wondered if she should hire a fencing instructor somewhere these days. She hadn’t thought she was particularly weak normally, but at times like this, she acutely felt the difference in their strength.

Checking the time, she saw it was already well past midnight, and the sound of rain had gradually subsided to a faint patter against the window.

If she had known this would happen, she wouldn’t have needed to hold his hand.

Lysith pouted slightly, then wriggled under the blanket and closed her eyes, only to sigh and roughly throw a blanket over Dietrich, who was sleeping far away from her.

Why was he sleeping without a blanket? He probably meant to be considerate of her, but it bothered her more that the person next to her was sleeping without one.

Why, doesn’t everyone have that experience at least once? Like getting a stomachache after waking up in the morning because you slept without a blanket as a child.

She certainly had such experiences, so she well understood the importance of blankets.

This should be enough.

Lying back down with her back against the soft bed, Lysith closed her eyes, feeling the sensation of her left hand still firmly held.

* * *

He woke up not because of the pouring rain, nor the thunder splitting the sky, nor the bright morning sunlight, but simply because of the discomfort in his right hand.

“……”

At first, it seemed her left hand had been in his grasp, but upon waking, he found his right hand completely held by both of her hands.

It wasn’t unpleasant or uncomfortable, it just……

It felt rather nice.

And as soon as he grasped the situation, he simply lay facing her, who had fallen into deep sleep while lying on her side.

Being like this made him feel as if they had returned to the time when they were husband and wife. That is, when her surname was Clonair, the same as his.

Come to think of it, he had prepared himself for criticism and arbitrarily changed her surname when writing the letter, but surprisingly, when they met in person, she hadn’t said anything about it.

It wasn’t as if someone else had read the letter to her.

Dietrich unknowingly harbored a small hope that she might still have feelings for him. If that were the case, he was confident—groundlessly confident—that he could at least wash away his past mistakes.

In reality, Lysith had simply forgotten about it, but he lingered in bed, filled with needless expectation.

As he briefly recalled the previous night and sighed softly at the memory of his shameful behavior, he also felt that it was worth it since he had gained at least a fragment of interest or sympathy because of it.

Slowly withdrawing his hand from between her two hands, though reluctant to do so, he parted the sunlight that descended like a halo behind her and carefully stroked her soft cheek with his fingertips, feeling a tingling sensation as if from static electricity.

“……Ah.”

And as he touched those fingertips again, he realized.

This feeling, like a child lying on the floor throwing a tantrum demanding something back, sometimes wanting just a glance, sometimes feeling a tightness somewhere in his chest—this was the emotion she had felt whenever she looked at him in the past.