After their conversation, Kaiden went outside to check on the knights who came with him. Dana, having changed into light indoor clothes, took a brief rest. In her room that she returned to after a long time, she sat with her legs stretched out on a long cushioned sofa.

While she was resting, the maids informed her that the bath was ready. Dana got up and bathed with the maids’ assistance. After relieving her fatigue and pushing back her wet hair, she put on a nightgown dress and walked from the bathroom through the dressing room toward the bedroom.

The door opened, revealing her bedroom she hadn’t seen in a long time. Dana walked in, one step at a time.

Two days until tomorrow’s banquet. She would have to share a room with Kaiden and sleep in the same bed.

Dana sat in a chair placed on one side of the bedroom. Candles barely lit the already darkened room. The windows were wide open due to the hot summer. The half-drawn curtains were translucent and thin enough for the night breeze to pass through. The view outside the window wasn’t the familiar Khalid she’d grown accustomed to over three years, but the palace garden she hadn’t seen in a long time.

‘Good heavens. To think we’ll share this.’

Kaiden would be entering this room that she had used alone for almost her entire life. This space that had never been opened to any man…. It felt very strange since the room was maintained almost exactly as it was when she stayed here.

‘Well, it’s not like anything’s different.’

They agreed not to consummate, and they would just lie down side by side to sleep.

Thinking this, Dana collected herself. She tried to cool down in the summer night breeze. Perhaps because it was her first time back in the south in a while, the wind felt too hot despite it being nighttime.

A short time passed that felt longer than it was. There was a knock. Dana answered “Come in” while quickly standing up. The door opened, and behind it, Kaiden appeared. But his appearance as he entered.

“……”

Why?

Dana didn’t know where to put her eyes. Kaiden was shirtless, wearing only bottoms, exposing his firm upper body. Dana completely turned her head away from the man’s trained physique she was seeing for the first time in her life, not knowing what to do.

The maids, who looked as flustered as she was, quickly closed the door and left. Kaiden raised his finger and pressed between his brows as if he had a headache.

“I sleep without clothes on.”

“Ah.”

Dana nodded blankly. It was something she naturally wouldn’t have known. She had never shared a bedroom with him or seen him sleeping.

While Dana obviously didn’t know, it was true that Kaiden slept without clothes.

Having lived roughly since his orphanage days at the monastery, he didn’t sleep elegantly in smooth nightclothes that covered his entire body like nobles did. He had never slept that way, so wearing nightclothes actually felt uncomfortable to him.

Of course, as a knight, he often slept in armor or protective gear during campaigns, but when there was no need, he preferred to sleep completely free.

Above all, it was hot being summer. To a man from the north, the southern summer he encountered after a long time felt even hotter. Though he wasn’t sure if that was the only reason it felt hotter. Since staying in Khalid, his nights had been filled with burning heat all alone.

Anyway, Kaiden found it bothersome to keep putting away nightclothes that were prepared even though he wouldn’t wear them. So he had told the head maid not to pack nightclothes when preparing luggage for the trip to the capital. This was the result.

Kaiden felt dizzy when he recalled the fact that he had no clothes to wear to sleep after bathing.

‘You vulgar bastard…’

Why did he usually sleep n*ked like a beast.

He considered wearing the clothes he had on before, but that wasn’t feasible either. He couldn’t approach Dana wearing clothes that would surely smell from being soaked in sweat. Still, he couldn’t burst in completely n*ked, so he put only his bottoms back on.

As for wearing other clothes, he would need to call a servant, but since he wasn’t someone used to being attended to while bathing, calling a servant again felt like a very cumbersome task. Unlike Dana who was used to finding someone to serve her when needed, Kaiden wasn’t accustomed to such things. He only called for an attendant when truly necessary, like when putting on armor.

Thus, with no other choice, he came out with his upper body exposed wearing only bottoms, and was guided to Dana’s bedroom by the flustered maids.

Kaiden knew that Dana was very embarrassed and avoiding his gaze. The fact was even more apparent because Dana rarely showed signs of agitation or embarrassment.

Well, from the noble princess’s perspective, a man who slept with his clothes off must seem low-class and obscene. Or perhaps the large body of a man so different from her seemed too frightening.

He felt endlessly uncomfortable. That discomfort was as noticeable as how the ring he frequently took on and off felt unfamiliar on his finger now.

And more than that. Dana standing there in just thin clothes was too dangerous for him, and at the same time, he was very worried about having only one piece of clothing to cover his lower half.

This one piece of clothing would never be enough to hide the lust that was rising disgustingly toward Dana. It felt like with just a little heat, it would burst through the only layer and stand pointing at Dana.

That absolutely could not happen. Kaiden spoke in a voice barely suppressing all his emotions.

“I’ll sleep outside.”

He could sleep anywhere, whether on a sofa or the floor. However, hearing Kaiden’s words, Dana said with a worried face.

“It would be uncomfortable to sleep outside. You went through trouble coming all the way here. And we talked about this. If His Majesty finds out about that fact, it could become troublesome. While maintaining this marriage, it’s better not to raise unnecessary suspicions.”

Since it was undeniably true with no room for argument, Kaiden had nothing more to say. Dana smiled lightly and said.

“Sleep in the bed. We just need to sleep, and it’s only two days.”

Two whole days…

He wasn’t even confident about getting through tonight. Kaiden felt like Dana’s words were choking him.

Unaware of others’ feelings, Dana turned and walked to the bed. Kaiden watched as Dana, with her hair let down and wearing a flowing nightgown, walked to the bed. When she was about to turn around in front of the bed, he quickly turned his gaze to the window.

While Kaiden looked into the distance, Dana stood in front of the bed and called him. She called Kaiden, who now had his back completely turned, to the bed.

“Kaiden.”

“……”

“Kai…”

“Yes. I’m coming.”

How rude to cut off her words. As Dana thought this, Kaiden turned and walked to the bed. His gaze was still fixed on the floor.

When Kaiden stood in front of the bed, Dana knelt beside it and began her end-of-day closing prayer.

‘Light of the world, Vican. Yurhemia who cherishes Rowen. Thank you for arranging our safe journey from Khalid to Larnas…’

Seeing Dana pray, the surprised Kaiden also knelt and began praying. Though he usually didn’t properly keep up with, or rather never did, the closing prayer, today he had to pray properly.

‘God, please don’t let this beast pounce on Dana, and don’t let this lewd monster get *rect… Anyway damn it, pushing me into this kind of situation and putting me to the test is an act of evil demons so please make it tomorrow morning when I open my eyes, please.’

Because he prayed so desperately, Kaiden’s prayer finished later than Dana’s. Dana, who got up first, lay down in bed. After neatly combing through her hair with her hands and properly covering herself with the blanket, she lay facing forward. Dana worried a little about making strange noises in her sleep or her nightgown riding up while sleeping.

Though she couldn’t bring herself to watch Kaiden getting into bed, she felt the bed wave and tilt to one side. Her throat involuntarily gulped at the man’s scent and strange presence that suddenly came close.

Kaiden, now in bed, turned his back to her. Dana rolled her eyes to look at Kaiden. She could see his back and shoulders wrapped in muscle. He lay curled up as if crumpling his large back.

‘He looks uncomfortable…’

However, since the fundamental cause of that discomfort seemed to be this situation rather than his posture, Dana didn’t say anything.

‘It’s only two days…’

Even then, tomorrow was the banquet so he would surely come in late anyway.

‘Shouldn’t I be more uncomfortable than him…’

Thinking this, Dana also turned her body, lying with her back to Kaiden. The bed shook and the blanket rustled. With their backs to each other, Dana closed her eyes.

Her body, tired from traveling to the capital without rest, quickly fell into slumber. As she was drifting in and out of sleep, she heard Kaiden muttering quietly beside her.

“This is driving me crazy…”

What’s driving him crazy…

Dana fell asleep thinking this.

—

T/N: LMAO THIS IS SO FUNNY