Despite delivering this line that could sound creepy depending on how you heard it, he didn’t turn into a tyrant and pounce on her. Instead, he gave Lenore a goodnight kiss and quietly went to sleep beside her.

If they hadn’t had s*x last night because she didn’t build a pillow barrier, that would be one thing. Lenore had placed a pillow beside her last night, and as always, Daniel gave her one glare before throwing the pillow away.

Though he didn’t say anything, his glares showed how much he hated the pillow barrier, yet he said he was happy — it didn’t make sense.

“Is it really something that made you so happy? We’re just sharing a bedroom, and we don’t even do th-that every day. There are more days when we don’t do anything…”

Though they’d seen everything of each other, Lenore stumbled over her words, somehow embarrassed to express s*x verbally.

Daniel smiled gently and stroked her hand with his finger. Lenore’s closed lips quivered from the ticklish sensation.

“Well, there are no days when we do nothing.”

…Surely he’s not secretly touching me when I’m asleep?

Lenore suddenly recalled how she sometimes woke up to find her nightgown’s skirt rolled up. If Daniel had been freely touching her thighs and stomach while she was sound asleep, it would explain why her clothes were hiked up.

Surely he didn’t do more than that? Like putting his hand inside her underwear. She would have definitely woken up if he had put his thing inside, but maybe his fingers…!

Lenore’s mind went into overdrive.

“We have goodnight kisses every day.”

At that moment, Daniel said with an innocent smile. Lenore, whose head had been heating up with lewd thoughts, froze. His face looked so pure that she felt like an irredeemably perverted woman.

Yet he’s not pure at all when we’re doing it!

Though she usually had many imaginative thoughts, they weren’t particularly lewd ones. At most, she’d briefly wonder how Count Tivonne might have embraced Lucy. She had never considered herself as the subject.

But at some point, images of herself started appearing unbidden. Images of her br*asts bouncing and sweat dripping from her chin and nose tip while being taken. And the one taking her was always Daniel Sillingdeer.

It’s absurd that the very person who made her have such lewd thoughts still maintains his innocence.

“I’m angry.”

“What?”

Daniel was bewildered, wondering why she was angry. Lenore snorted and pushed away his hand that was covering her hand. She decided internally that she wouldn’t let him have his goodnight kiss tonight.

Lenore followed through with her decision by lying face down with her face buried in the pillow so he couldn’t give her a goodnight kiss. After waiting a while, she heard him coming out of the bathroom after washing up.

The sound of the man’s footsteps approaching the bed stopped. He must have discovered her lying face down.

Now you can’t do it, right? Feeling frustrated?

Lenore suppressed her laughter. He would apologize first, not even knowing what he did wrong. Then he would plead with her to look at him and tell him what made her angry.

As she quietly waited for his reaction, she heard the soft thud of clothes falling onto the carpet. Presumably, he had taken off the nightgown he had worn out of the bathroom.

Why is he taking off what he wears for sleep?

Lenore’s question was quickly answered. Daniel stroked her calf and slid his hand up to her inner thigh.

“I wondered why you were angry, but you were just being sulky because you weren’t satisfied with just goodnight kisses.”

It seemed Daniel had seriously misunderstood. Come to think of it, she had only buried her face in the pillow but forgot to place the rejection pillow.

What was meant to block goodnight kisses had turned into ‘come and take me.’

“I’m not sulking, ah!”

His fingers slipped between her moist folds.

“Let me make it up to you, wife. I’ll make you feel good until you’re fully satisfied.”

Daniel whispered in her ear with a smirk. True to his word, he licked and sucked her before entering and thrusting.

Where had that pure man gone who smiled saying he was happy just to give goodnight kisses? Lenore thought that while he couldn’t play the villain, he was quite good at playing the fox.

At least her anger at Daniel dissipated that night along with her flickering vision.

* * *

When do people grow?

When they set goals and work hard? Or when they overcome hardships and adversity?

There may be various aspects, but Lenore learned that, at least for Daniel Sillingdeer, happiness could make people grow.

“What bold maid is lying in my study, leisurely reading a book? Who gave you permission?”

He can now come up with villainous lines that weren’t written anywhere, delivering them in a very natural tone.

Daniel walked purposefully toward Lenore lying on the sofa. His twisted lips formed a proper evil smile.

‘Try to make your expression more wicked. It’s no use speaking like a villain if your expression remains innocent.’

‘But wife, I really don’t understand how to smile like a bad person.’

This from the man who had been whining not too long ago.

“I’ll have to give a proper punishment to this lazy, impudent maid.”

Daniel leaned down and lightly kissed the bridge of her nose.

After all that talk about punishment, all he did was give her a peck. Even though his acting had become more natural, Daniel was still Daniel.

Lenore snorted and watched to see how far he would go. Daniel then performed an act of startled surprise.

“I thought that face was familiar… You’re the thief who stole a book from my study three years ago!”

She had gone from quietly reading to being accused of book theft. Though Lenore found it absurd, she decided to play along.

She got up and walked toward the bookshelf. She could feel his gaze following her. One, two, three, four, five. After counting, Lenore spun around to face him. She struck a provocative pose with one hand on her hip and her chin raised.

“I’ve come to steal another book.”

“If you came to steal, why were you reading?”

“Deciding which book to steal was so fun that I forgot what I came here to do.”

“What a carefree thief.”

Daniel rose from the sofa and stood before her. Lenore slowly backed away. Daniel closed the distance as much as she retreated. Finally, Lenore’s back hit the bookshelf. There was nowhere left to run.

Daniel took one more step toward his cornered prey. They were close enough to feel each other’s breath.

His gaze slowly traveled down from her eyes and stopped at her cleavage. Lenore covered her chest with the book in her hand.

“Daniel, where are you looking?”

Lenore tried to push past him with her shoulder while covering her chest. But Daniel caught her waist and pulled her into an embrace.

“A maid daring to call a Count by his name. I’ll have to lock you in the dungeon and correct your manners.”

Though he said this, of course he didn’t take Lenore to any underground dungeon. He simply imprisoned his wife in his arms and shook his head while resting it on her shoulder.

“Are you saying your arms are a prison?”

“In that you can’t escape until I let you go, they’re quite similar.”

He’d better not speak. This wasn’t a villain but a snake. She suddenly missed the innocent man who used to make a pitiful face saying acting was too difficult. Would she never again see him blushing bright red from embarrassment?

Lenore stroked his head regretfully. Daniel enjoyed his wife’s touch for a while before gently biting her nape. As she flinched, he held her tighter and sucked on the spot he had bitten.

Only after leaving a red mark on his wife’s white skin did he remove his lips. Lenore knew this fact without having to check her nape.

‘Oh my!’

‘Did you see the mark on Madam’s neck?’

‘They must have done it in broad daylight!’

She could already picture the maids giggling and whispering behind her back.

It was terribly inconvenient to have a mark left in a place that couldn’t be hidden without wearing something around her neck. He surely knew it would be troublesome, so he must have done it deliberately.

Lenore glared at him for being both sly and mischievous. Perhaps interpreting it as a request for a kiss, Daniel pressed his lips against hers. Their moist tongues intertwined with wet sounds.

“Didn’t you say we had guests coming today? Is it alright to be fooling around here?”

Lenore asked, savoring the lingering sensation of the kiss. It tasted of herbs, suggesting he had been drinking tea.

“If you mean the cargo ship captain who was supposed to visit today, he just left.”

“No other appointments?”