Side Story 5

“Duke Icled, Your Grace.”

A foreign title was heard. Karina smiled and spoke.

“You’re here.”

Noah, who had entered the castle, approached her before even taking off his coat.

As he suddenly hugged Karina tightly, the reactions of those around them were divided into two groups.

“Oh my, the Duke is so affectionate.”

“That’s a lovely sight.”

Half were looking on with pleased expressions.

“Ugh, this is so annoying…”

Two people openly frowned.

Karina belatedly noticed Kaya and Baine’s sour expressions and stepped away from Noah.

The two always seemed to get along well at times like this. Feeling embarrassed, she quickly turned away and said,

“Let’s eat first. It’s already past dinner time.”

Noah, who looked reluctant, immediately followed her when she mentioned food.

Only the Duke and Duchess were allowed into the dining room.

Karina sat across from Noah, and they began their late dinner.

From the early days of living in the North until now, it hadn’t been easy to have dinner together.

There was the work of building the village, and frequent attacks by outsiders in between.

‘Once the village matters are settled, we’ll have to capture and deal with them all at once.’

Kaya, who was just as involved in combat as Noah, had gritted her teeth and said such things.

Everyone was truly busy beyond belief.

That’s why Karina tried her best not to complain.

Even if Noah came back late or if there was no news of him for a while.

‘Still, it feels awkward.’

Since arriving here, many things had changed.

“Madame.”

“Yes?”

“Why aren’t you eating?”

First of all, the way they addressed each other had changed.

Karina called Noah “Your Grace” or “Duke,” while Noah called her “Madame.”

At first, it was so awkward she thought she might die, but now she had gotten used to it.

“I guess I was lost in thought for a moment. Don’t mind me, just eat.”

She had to adapt, even if it was difficult. Noah was now the Duke of Icled.

The castle was named after the Icra Snowfield, and many thought it suited him well.

Noah Hiel Icled. And Karina, too, became Karina Hiel Icled.

“Shall we get up if you’re done eating?”

Just as she was thinking about how real it all felt, Noah wiped his mouth and spoke.

Karina got up, following him.

After dinner, they would go up to the bedroom and sleep together.

This, too, had been unbearably awkward at first, but now she had long since gotten used to it.

In fact, in the early days, Noah’s overly distant behavior had caused her headaches.

Thinking about how he used to fall off the edge of the bed multiple times still baffled her.

“I’ve prepared your bathwater.”

“See you later.”

Of course, sharing a bath was still too much for Karina.

After finishing her bath with the help of the maids, Karina headed to the bedroom.

‘Where did he go?’

She checked the empty bed and was about to walk away when someone grabbed her shoulder from behind.

“Noah…?”

Karina, turned around, was pressed against the wall and faced Noah.

He was dripping water from his hair, wearing only a robe.

He slowly approached her. Karina instinctively closed her eyes.

She expected him to kiss her right away, but instead, Noah hugged her tightly.

“Earlier… it wasn’t enough.”

His murmuring voice was filled with sincerity.

It seemed like he had had a hard day again. Feeling sorry for him, Karina placed her hands on his back.

“So, Madame.”

At the same time, Noah gently lifted Karina into his arms.

One of her slippers fell to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Tomorrow, you’ll have to hug me even tighter.”

“…Does it really have to wait until tomorrow?”

Her back touched the soft bed. The lights went out, and laughter filled the room.

***

“Oh my, Sir Baine!”

Karina, surprised by the splint wrapped around Baine’s arm, hurried over to him.

Despite hearing that it was quite a serious fracture, he seemed completely nonchalant.

“How did this happen?”

“I fell off a horse.”

Even monkeys fall from trees, as the saying goes. Perhaps this was one of those moments.

“You should’ve been more careful. You won’t be able to work for a while.”

Karina casually remarked, but then noticed the faint smile on Baine’s lips.

‘Could it be on purpose…?’

It was true that Baine had a significant role, but to think he’d want to take a break even if it meant getting injured?

Karina tried to convince herself otherwise as she walked with him to the training ground.

Sometimes, she would visit the training ground to watch the soldiers train.

To be precise, to diffuse the tension.

“You weaklings, get down, now!”

Kaya’s scolding echoed through the training ground. Karina hurried toward her.

The soldiers, already rolling around on the ground, looked at the Duchess with eyes full of hope for rescue.

“Kaya. I’m here.”

Kaya, who transformed from a tiger to a lamb in an instant, quickly left the training ground.

Of course, it wasn’t just because Karina had arrived.

“Becky baked cookies today. There are some for the soldiers, too.”

Bringing bribes in the form of snacks seemed to have become an unspoken rule between Karina and Kaya these days.

Fortunately, Becky enjoyed cooking here, so she often lent a helping hand.

Kaya stopped the training for a single cookie. The soldiers sincerely expressed their gratitude.

‘Is this really training? Even punishment wouldn’t be this harsh.’

The soldiers, eating cookies with tears in their eyes, looked genuinely pitiful.

“Oh, what happened to your arm?”

“I fell off a horse and broke it.”

“You’re a complete novice. You don’t know how to ride a horse?”

“I ride better than you, Sir Kaya.”

As they exchanged updates, Kaya and Baine suddenly locked into a competition, glaring at each other.

“You’re both amazing. Now hurry up and eat so you can get back to training.”

If a real fight broke out, it would get annoying. Karina quickly intervened to calm Kaya down.

Kaya, with her cheeks stuffed full of cookies, shoved another handful into her pocket and stood up.

“All of you, line up—oh, right. The Captain is coming today.”

“Noah, I mean, His Grace?”

Kaya frowned at the title “His Grace” but reluctantly nodded.

“He’s stopping by because there’s an upcoming knight promotion exam.”

No wonder today’s training was particularly strict—it seemed there was a reason for it.

As Kaya ran back to the training ground, the soldiers sluggishly gathered into formation.

“There he is.”

Baine, munching on a cookie, pointed toward the entrance of the training ground. Sure enough, Noah was walking toward them.

Karina, who had stood up, tilted her head at Baine’s attire.

The weather was quite cold, yet his coat was wide open instead of buttoned up.

Could it be because of his injured arm? 

Out of concern, she asked, and he nodded.

“That’s right. It’s harder than I thought with just one hand.”

Her guess was correct. Karina reached out and buttoned Baine’s coat for him.

Baine bowed his head slightly in gratitude and looked ahead.

But something seemed off. Noah had stopped in his tracks and was standing still.

‘What’s going on?’

Baine, sensing something strange as well, glanced around nervously. Karina, feeling uneasy, mimicked him.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything suspicious… huh.”

“Noah…?”

It was then that she noticed Noah, who had suddenly come close.

His face was expressionless to the point of being frightening, making it clear that something was definitely wrong.

“Your Grace, is something the matter?”

“Sir Baine.”

“Yes.”

“You seem to have something to do.”

“…Pardon?”

“Something to do. Don’t you?”

Thrown off by the abrupt question, Baine blinked before responding.

“I’m not particularly busy.”

“You look very busy.”

“…Excuse me?”

“You look extremely busy.”

Realizing the implication, Baine gasped softly.

“Y-yes, you’re right. I must’ve forgotten for a moment.”

For some unknown reason, Baine had been forcibly assigned work and hurriedly left the area.

Left alone, Karina stared blankly at Noah. He remained expressionless.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

Karina wasn’t entirely oblivious. Anyone could see that Noah was in a foul mood. But why? She replayed her actions in her head but couldn’t pinpoint anything problematic.

Could it be because of the cookies? Maybe he was upset that I hadn’t saved any for him.

In the end, Karina cautiously offered one of the cookies Kaya had stuffed into her pocket. However, Noah didn’t move a muscle.

It didn’t seem to be about the cookies. Karina withdrew her hand.

“Um… Noah?”

Completely clueless, she called out to him, and Noah suddenly grabbed her arm and led her behind the training ground.

Now alone with him, Karina grew nervous.

Noah turned around and began unbuttoning his coat, one button at a time.

“Buttons.”

“…Buttons?”

Speaking in a tone that hinted at his irritation, he took a step closer to Karina.

The sudden decrease in distance made Karina flinch.

Noah grabbed her hand and guided it to his coat.

Half willingly, half reluctantly, Karina ended up buttoning his coat. Only then did she realize the cause of the situation.

‘It’s harder than I thought with just one hand.’

It was because she had buttoned Baine’s coat earlier.

That act. Now that she understood, it was so simple it was almost laughable.

But when she met Noah’s intense gaze, the laughter vanished.

Thinking that doing the same for him would appease him, Karina buttoned Noah’s coat all the way to the top.

But Noah immediately unbuttoned it again and looked at her.

Buttoning, unbuttoning, buttoning again—it repeated five times.

“Your Grace! What are you doing? Aren’t you going to oversee the evaluations?”

Kaya’s annoyed voice echoed across the training ground.

Karina buttoned Noah’s coat for the sixth and final time. Then, she kissed him on the cheek.

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

Instead of responding, Noah cupped her chin and kissed her lightly.

“You’ve made a promise.”

Without further argument, Noah headed back to the training ground.

Karina let out a sigh of relief. She resolved never to button anyone else’s coat again.

Then, she smiled faintly. There might be occasional sulky moments like this, but she had a happy feeling that they would always overcome them together.