Late at night. Tossing and turning in my sleep, I suddenly realized the spot beside me was empty and opened my eyes.

It was that hour when the pale moonlight seeping through the curtains drained all colors from the world.

I slipped on my nightgown and headed toward the sitting room connected to the bedroom. As expected, Cedrion was standing there.

The moonlight streaming through the parted curtains illuminated his entire form, accentuating the masculine contours of my husband’s face.

I walked up behind him, where he was looking out over the landscape beyond the window, and wrapped my arms around his waist. Since he too was only in a nightgown, his well-toned, firm waist fit snugly within my embrace.

“Why are you awake?”

The response came without the slightest hint of surprise. Someone like Cedrion would never fail to notice the silent stirrings of my presence.

“How could I not wake when my human heater disappears?”

“Are you cold?”

“No.”

At my teasing reply, Cedrion chuckled lowly and pulled me into his arms. A brief kiss, as light as a bird’s peck, landed on my forehead.

Outside the window, the garden was shrouded in night. The moonlight, reflecting off the pond’s surface, shimmered in Cedrion’s golden eyes.

“What were you thinking about?”

“You remember how I said I fell into that pond one summer when I was a kid? I was wondering how high the water would reach if I went in now.”

“So what, you’re planning to try? In the middle of winter?”

“If I did that, I wouldn’t be able to serve as your human heater, so I’ll pass.”

His joke, delivered in an utterly even tone, made me quietly laugh to myself. Cedrion Norhart cracking jokes—

Anyone who remembered his old nickname, the Black Knight of the Ice Wall, wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

But we both knew his reply wasn’t the truth. After a moment of silence, I asked slowly,

“…Can’t sleep?”

“I woke up in the middle of the night.”

“Not being able to go back to sleep is the same as not being able to sleep, no?”

“Let’s just say I woke up to admire the night view without telling you.”

…

He clamped his mouth shut, as if to say he would never utter weak words. I narrowed my eyes at his sculpted face.

The fact that he brought up a childhood story in an attempt to change the subject meant he was reminiscing about his parents. The memories he held such guilt over.

“I wonder if the late Grand Duke used to slip away like this while the late Grand Duchess was sleeping.”

My deliberately light remark was met with a soft chuckle above my head, like a sigh. His strong arms wrapped more tightly around my shoulders.

The first time we visited Norhart together after getting married, Cedrion had taken me somewhere he’d never brought anyone before.

The cemetery of past Norhart generations, nestled in the forest behind the temple. Of course, his parents—the previous Grand Duke and Duchess—were buried there as well.

“It took me ten whole years to come back here.”

I still couldn’t forget the troubled look on Cedrion’s face as he muttered those words in front of their joint tombstone.

“I once swore I wouldn’t come back until I became a leader they wouldn’t be ashamed of.
But whenever I come here, everything I’ve been holding in rises up, and I feel like a fourteen-year-old boy again.”

That would’ve been ten years ago—he was eighteen then. Just newly of age, the Grand Duke of Norhart had decided he couldn’t afford to be emotionally weak even twice a year, and so had let their memorial days slip by.

It was heartbreaking to think of the boy who had lost his parents at such a young age.

But…

Despite all the evidence the Norhart aides had prepared, the truth that the Arcadian royal family was involved in the death of Cedrion’s parents had never been confirmed.

We had taken down the royal family, but under a different pretext.

Still, Cedrion returning to visit his parents’ grave meant that he had finally been freed from that guilt.

Michael, the mastermind behind it all, had died in the end, and Julius II had abdicated in favor of Angie and exiled himself.

Whatever the justification, revenge had been exacted.

Perhaps because of that, Cedrion—who had long suffered from chronic insomnia—began to sleep more or less normally after we were married.

But whether it was due to more than a decade of habit, or a deep longing for his parents, There were still nights when he couldn’t sleep or woke early, And on those nights, he always slipped out of bed alone and fell into quiet contemplation.

Just like now.

“Should we come back here again next winter?”

“I’d like that. It’d be even better if it were just the two of us…”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t help but be soft when it comes to Angie.”

“I understand. Even if her soul is of Heaven, it must still be hard to endure in a child’s body.”

“It’s not like Angie wants to be in a child’s body. Even if she’s special, if she were to suddenly appear as an adult, people would be shocked.”

“…You’re right.”

She’s the baby queen who founded a new dynasty, so some level of extraordinariness is acceptable—but there are limits.

“There was that line in the song popular when Angie ascended, About growing 2,000 days in just 200… But it’s different growing up unseen versus changing after everyone’s already seen her as a seven-year-old.”

That’s why Angie was gradually growing her body only as much as people could accept. Occasionally pretending to receive blessings from the pope, no less.

“She needs to grow up soon so you can completely step back from managing the palace.”

“That’s a rather premature dream.”

“Still… Since you only drop by the house once every three days, our mansion is starting to feel too lonely.”

“Oh no, now I feel guilty.”

“When I first started dreaming of a future with you, I never imagined you’d be tied to the palace as the Queen Mother…”

Cedrion murmured with a low laugh and placed a soft kiss on the curve of my ear.

After the wedding, I began to move between the royal palace and Norhart’s townhouse. Though, in truth, I only stayed a night every three days at most.

Cedrion, now my husband, could reside in the royal palace, but since he had to travel to Norhart from time to time, we couldn’t leave the townhouse vacant.

“Still… isn’t it nice to travel, even for a short while like this?”

“…I really wanted it to be just the two of us this time,” Cedrion said with a groan.

I chuckled again at his voice, filled with longing.

Of course, part of the reason he wanted to come here alone was probably because he wanted to slowly reflect on his childhood memories with his parents.

Wanting to lift his mood, I spoke in a purposely cheerful tone.

“From now on, let’s come to Edelburg every winter. When the children are born, won’t they grow up with memories like yours?”

“Children, you say…”

“I told you before. I grew up without a family, so my dream is to have a big family. If the Grand Duke’s residence becomes lively, I’m sure people will love it.”

“But just the thought of you being pregnant pains me. When I remember how frail and delicate you were when we first met…”

It was a topic we always quarreled over after our marriage.

I wanted the two of us, who had grown up in loneliness, to share joy and family with more loved ones. Cedrion, on the other hand, felt guilty about the burden that would place solely on me.

I turned to face him. From our close distance, I slipped my fingers under his robe, and slowly traced the grooves of his muscles.

“If you’re so worried about me, then how do you explain… this?”

“That’s… different.”

Mmmh. Cedrion let out a low groan, trying to suppress it.

“Besides, how could you have a child when you’re so busy?”

“I’ve gotten used to managing the palace household.”

“Even so, that’s still technically a job the royal consort must handle. Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s not exhausting.”

You can’t exactly demand a child not yet ten years old to read state documents… Cedrion muttered in dissatisfaction under his breath.

Of course, Angie wasn’t truly ten.

“Hmm, but if I get pregnant, wouldn’t Her Majesty take the situation into consideration?”

“She’d naturally prioritize your well-being, of course…”

But still… Cedrion trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. I didn’t need him to finish to know what he meant.

A wry smile curved both our lips.

“It overlaps with my position. Can’t you wait until I’m older to have one?”

“Didn’t you have any siblings, Angie?”

“I don’t know about stuff like that.”

Not long after our wedding, Angie had shown strong resistance at the mention of having a younger sibling.

Whether it was because of her extraordinary identity or because her body was that of a child, or perhaps because we were mentally deeply connected—like most young children, she seemed to fear losing me if a sibling came along.

“Just imagining that child’s reaction makes my head throb.”

“There you go again. Calling Her Majesty ‘that child’…”

“She’s your daughter.”

“She’s your daughter too, you know?”

“…Legally, yes, but we don’t recognize each other as father and daughter.”

I laughed aloud, thinking of the two golden-eyed beings who still snarled at each other over me.

“What if she still says she doesn’t want a sibling?”

“Is Angie’s opinion really that important to you?”

“Well, we do have a special kind of relationship…”

“Then, what about my opinion?”