Genoa closed his eyes, leaning back on the sofa with his arms crossed. He seemed to feel that the quietness in the room, with only the sound of utensils clinking and the princess munching, was quite peaceful.

“……”

“……”

Genoa didn’t speak anymore, and Mel ate all the stew with suspicion. Despite saying they would eat together, in the end, it turned out that Genoa watched her eat alone.

When her hunger subsided somewhat, Mel finally became curious about why Genoa had been standing in front of her room door.

“By the way, Duke Ivanstein, why were you at my room……”

Mel quietly closed her mouth, looking at Genoa’s face with his eyes closed. That peaceful face, it’s somehow subtly familiar.

“Duke Ivanstein?”

She called out to him loudly once more, but not a single crack appeared on Genoa’s serene face. His tightly closed lips didn’t part either.

“Could he be asleep?”

She stood up abruptly and waved her hand back and forth in front of Genoa’s eyes. With this much movement, he should have woken up, but he seemed to be in a deep sleep.

‘He was said to have insomnia!’

Mel’s face turned pale in an instant as she recalled the commotion that had occurred just because the Duke had fallen asleep. Surely she wouldn’t end up gagged and shackled somewhere again this time?

Mel bent down and stared intently at Genoa’s face. Genoa with his eyes closed looked like a lifeless statue. Beautiful, but without human warmth.

When he was still a boy, he occasionally showed a smile with his cheeks flushed red. How lovely that face was. As she quietly gazed at his now seemingly bloodless white skin, Mel felt an urge to add warmth to his face.

Seeing him sleeping so motionlessly like this, it felt as if she had gone back to those times when they were young.

“……”

Mel hesitated for a moment, then reached out her hand towards Genoa’s cheek. Just as her fingertips were about to touch his sharp jawline, a rough hand forcefully grabbed her wrist.

Genoa, who had opened his eyes at some point, was looking at Mel with his deeply colored amethyst-like eyes. She swallowed her breath, unable to even let out a startled scream.

“What were you planning to do by seducing me?”

Genoa’s subtle voice flowed out low, scratching his throat. Mel shivered slightly, feeling his voice flow through her ears and throughout her body.

Genoa’s gaze slowly moved down along Mel’s neckline as she bowed her head. The nightgown’s size didn’t fit perfectly, making it a bit loose. Only then did Mel realize that the front of the dress she had received from the maid had become slightly disheveled as she bent her upper body. Her face flushed hot.

“No, it’s not like that. I……”

“Hmm.”

Genoa’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he yanked her wrist. Mel’s body swayed greatly, ending up in his arms. At the same time, her vision rose and her feet no longer touched the ground.

“……!”

Genoa effortlessly lifted the female body in his arms. Then he laid her on the nearby bed and immediately climbed on top of her. His silver thread-like hair cascaded down onto Mel.

Genoa laughed lowly as he looked at Mel’s wide-eyed expression.

“Why are you making such a face? It seems you were the one who started it first.”

His long fingers gently caressed the tip of her chin. Meanwhile, his gaze subtly swept over her eyes, nose, and lips. Her softly waved hair was scattered on the snow-white bedding, and her trembling green eyes sparkled with a light identical to Mel’s. The smooth bridge of her nose and her plump lips, as ripe as her flushed cheeks, captured his gaze. He suddenly felt the reality that she was the beloved noble princess of the kingdom.

With this face, I might be able to enjoy myself a bit too.

There was a time when he thought that if the young Mel grew up, he would like to kiss those small, delicate lips. Back then, he couldn’t understand why he felt that way. Although contact with others wasn’t pleasant, looking at the princess’s face that had turned red as if it would burst into flames, he thought it might feel quite nice.

‘If I kiss the princess now, would I understand?’

Wouldn’t it be better to kiss the princess who had helplessly fallen into his grasp, rather than imagining kissing his young slave?

Genoa tilted his head, not knowing why his thoughts were flowing in that direction.

“Duke, Duke Ivanstein……”

Mel felt breathless as she watched Genoa’s face drawing closer and closer. That face, so beautiful it could be harmful just to look at from afar, was right in front of her nose, making it impossible to regain her senses.

As she called out to him, shaking her head, focus returned to Genoa’s eyes, which seemed to be looking at someone else beyond her.

“What?”

His response to her call was purely Genoa’s mercy. His voice was utterly nonchalant. A dangerous atmosphere enveloped his entire body, suggesting that if she had nothing more to say, he would unhesitatingly seal her lips. Mel desperately made excuses.

“I truly had no intention of seducing you, Duke Ivanstein!”

“Ah.”

Genoa responded by elongating his voice as if it didn’t matter. Looking at his slowly blinking eyes, it was clear that Mel’s excuse hadn’t resonated with him. Flustered by his lips that were dangerously close to touching hers, Mel hurriedly continued speaking.

“You were dozing off, so I was just trying to wake you up!”

“…Huh?”

At Mel’s words, Genoa’s face moved away. Only then could she let out the breath she had been holding. However, her heart was still pounding.

“Was I dozing off?”

Genoa blinked, furrowing his brow. He had been blinking slowly since earlier. A languid yet precarious atmosphere continued to emanate from him. His purple eyes, which always shone sharply, were slightly clouded.

“Look, even now, you look extremely sleepy.”

“Me?”

“Yes, could it be that you haven’t slept since then?”

“……”

At Mel’s question, Genoa quietly counted the days. Quite some time had passed since the day he fell asleep in the carriage and woke up in Harttenberun. And since then, he had no memory of sleeping soundly for more than an hour a day.

“When was the last time you slept properly?”

“I can’t remember.”

His most recent memory of sleeping was occasionally taking 20-minute naps leaning on a chair while organizing documents in the ducal residence. Now that he was conscious of it, he felt a bit sleepy. A feeling of heaviness in his head and as if his whole body was being crushed by a stone. Genoa frowned at this sensation that had come after a long time and asked,

“What exactly did you do to me, princess?”

“What did I……”

“I’m feeling sleepy, right now.”

Come to think of it, he seemed to have closed his eyes with this feeling on the day he fell asleep in the carriage too. Back then, it was a sensation that passed by too quickly. It was a drowsiness he was feeling after a very long time. Curious about the feeling of his eyelids sinking heavily, Genoa consciously blinked his eyes for a moment. Then he muttered with a voice full of certainty.

“I’m sleepy.”

Thud, Genoa’s robust body fell on top of Mel.

“Hic.”

Mel, who had suddenly found herself buried in his embrace, swallowed a surprised breath and started hiccupping. Her rolling eyes betrayed her flustered state.

“Duke Ivanstein… Duke…?”

Mel tried patting his back, wrapping her arms around his body. However, Genoa showed no reaction.

“Are you… asleep?”

He was indeed asleep. Genoa had fallen asleep right after saying just one word, ‘sleepy.’

Mel had thought Genoa was going to kiss her. So she started feeling embarrassed about unconsciously squeezing her eyes shut at the moment his body covered hers.

“Uh, uh……”

I hope he doesn’t remember my face before he fell asleep.

Mel prayed like that while trying to catch her breath. But with the weight of the sleeping man on her entire body, even that was difficult. Mel placed both hands on Genoa’s chest to push him away.

“……”

As she felt the broad and firm chest muscles beyond her two palms, Mel’s face instantly flushed red. She ended up panting for a while, unable to push Genoa away.

It was quite some time later when Mel came to her senses and pushed Genoa away. She pushed him with all her might, prepared for him to wake up, but he was sleeping without moving, like a statue.

“Duke Ivanstein!”

She called out several more times, but he showed no reaction, seemingly in deep sleep. Mel thought about calling someone, but she worried that if she called before Genoa woke up, she might end up gagged and locked in a prison-like place again.

After pondering for a moment, Mel propped a pillow under Genoa’s head and pulled up the blanket to cover him. Only after deciding that she should let him sleep here did Mel feel at ease to examine the sleeping Genoa’s face closely.