Instead, the moment she said she didn’t want to, he immediately pulled away, like nothing had happened.

“Right, I said it’s not good if you have a fever.”

That wasn’t the reason.

Strangely, the moment he moved away from her, the cool air filling the space between them felt empty.

Daphne curled up and wrapped her arms around herself. Watching her, Astaire sat down beside the bed and said.

“Are you cold?”

He pulled the blanket up to his wife’s chin.

That wasn’t the reason either.

But Daphne silently felt the sensation of him placing his hand on her forehead. Her eyelids naturally closed, seemingly on their own.

Her body grew languid and her labored breathing slowly settled. Like someone was pulling her ankle down in deep water.

Daphne felt the sensation of floating on water. This feeling wasn’t so bad.

“Sleep well.”

Astaire said as he turned off the lamp. When the light filling the room disappeared, darkness instantly consumed the empty space. Daphne quietly looked up at Astaire’s handsome face settled in the darkness.

She couldn’t see well, but somehow she thought he might be looking down at her like this right now too.

Astaire reached out and cupped Daphne’s right cheek.

Daphne quietly closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.

A broad warmth seemed to slowly start from her cheek and envelop her entire face.

Like warm spring sunlight covering her face like a blanket.

Suddenly, old memories surfaced once more.

Dazzling sunlight.

A refreshing green summer day.

Back then, Astaire who came to find her at the Academy.

…And Reina Melanian linking arms beside him.

The moment she suddenly thought of that woman, everything cooled down like cold water had been poured on her head.

She still hadn’t forgotten.

“Astaire. So what will you do from now on?”

“…What do you mean?”

“The Duchess Seyfried… I mean.”

“…I’ll have to deal with it. Someday.”

Astaire who said he’d deal with her.

And yet, what had he done with Reina?

She could tell without even imagining.

In the darkness, Daphne’s face sank coldly.

“Don’t touch me.”

Daphne snapped with an utterly cold face. Then Astaire seemed deliberately surprised.

“…Suddenly?”

He let out a hollow laugh, then contrary to his reaction, obediently removed his hand from her cheek. Like he’d do so if that’s what she wanted.

She hated his belated tenderness to death.

He must treat Reina with far more sincerity than what he’d shown her.

She’d been foolish to think the kiss from earlier had even a bit of sincerity mixed in.

“…So stupid.”

Daphne muttered quietly to herself.

Astaire must have heard those words too. Even without looking, she felt his body stiffen momentarily.

But that was all.

The man said nothing.

“Can I stay beside you?”

“Is this the only place to sleep?”

“Regrettably, yes.”

“…You came from the room upstairs.”

Astaire told an obvious lie to stay with her. Even that was detestable.

Daphne quietly bit her lip. The warmth from when he touched her lips telling her not to bite them seemed to still remain.

“Sleep.”

Rustle.

She heard the sound of blanket fabric, then warmth soon enveloped her body.

“You don’t have to—”

She was about to snap at him, when suddenly her vision became complete darkness. Astaire had covered her eyes with his hand.

“…What are you doing?”

“Get some sleep.”

Astaire said in an utterly calm voice.

“A lot happened today, so you must be exhausted.”

“……”

He was being so considerate now, but soon he’d be thinking of Reina in the capital.

Daphne still hadn’t forgotten that scene either.

When he was with Reina at the ballroom.

The moment she saw that, strangely her heart seemed to sink.

She thought she’d already abandoned her lingering feelings for him.

Was it because he’d broken faith in their marriage first…

It was a night with so much to think about.

But strangely, the man’s hand covering her eyes was so warm that her eyelids kept closing.

“See you tomorrow morning.”

This shouldn’t be happening.

Her body kept sinking into deep water.

* * *

Even after Daphne fell completely asleep, Astaire remained in her room for quite a while.

Her wheezing breaths, and the sound of wind quietly blowing beyond the window.

It was the most comfortable night in nearly a month.

Because he had to suppress the urge to lie down right beside her.

But it wasn’t time yet.

He had things left to do.

Namely, killing the person who’d put Daphne in such great danger.

Several candidates already came to mind.

Regrettably, he couldn’t kill any of them right away. But he could make sure they’d never get what they wanted.

He absolutely wouldn’t let this go.

He’d chase them to the ends of hell and do the same to whoever nearly killed his bird like that.

No, he’d make them suffer far greater pain.

The man glared at the moon floating in the sky.

The night was getting cold.

Cold wind scratched past the man’s handsome cheek. Even his dazzling platinum hair fluttered in the wind, seemingly calculated.

Without even trying to fix his hair, the man with moderately tousled hair was chillingly magnificent.

Even the homeowner who came out briefly to bring guest Astaire inside, saying it was too cold, thought so.

The woman paused for a moment.

She felt she shouldn’t interrupt Astaire’s time alone.

Just as she was about to move away.

“Who’s there?”

“…It’s me.”

“Ah.”

Astaire keenly noticed his intruder. When the hostess revealed herself, only then did he show a face with a lowered guard.

The man said once more. “Thank you. Without your help, my wife would have been seriously injured.”

“…Not at all. I was worried whether you’d be alright, feeling how much you worried about your wife.”

The woman’s expression was too stiff and her tone extremely polite. Once Daphne woke up and he had enough composure to observe the other person, Astaire could notice one fact.

He dropped all the formal speech and returned to his usual self.

“Do you know who I am?”

“…Yes, I know.”

As expected. The woman knew.

A guarded light appeared in Astaire’s eyes once more.

Seeing him, the hostess waved her hands and hurriedly added.

“I didn’t treat her expecting something in return, Your Grace.”

“……”

As expected, his overly conspicuous appearance was a hindrance.

If she’d seen his photos occasionally published in newspapers, even someone living in such a remote place could recognize him.

“And whether it was Your Grace and the Duchess or anyone else, I would have cared for them the same. For me, who once worked saving lives, it’s like a calling.”

“…You speak well.”

The woman was eloquent. But Astaire didn’t care much whether she was sincere or not anyway.

What he needed to remember was just the fact that he and Daphne could live thanks to this woman.

“When I return to the capital, I’ll repay you accordingly.”

“…No need. Please don’t.”

Astaire said no more. He’d just go up to the capital and quietly order his aide to take good care of the woman who treated them.

“Do you have something to say?”

More than that, the woman seemed to have come out with something else to say.

The woman whose inner thoughts were exposed flinched momentarily.

Astaire remained unmoved even seeing that. He’d seen countless people like this woman in his life anyway. He was now indifferent to the expressions people made when he hit their mark.

That’s why there were few people truly sincere around Astaire. Perhaps only Germo who’d served him for a long time. The rest either treated him as an extremely difficult superior or feared him.

Even his strict mother now found him difficult.

Surprisingly, Daphne was the only one who got angry at him.

A woman who boldly said she didn’t love him.

Astaire knew how attractive he was to women as a man, and how strongly he appealed to them.

So even when he learned Daphne had a one-sided love for him, Astaire wasn’t very surprised.

He’d seen countless such women anyway.

Nevertheless, he chose her because he needed Daphne’s excellent memory and she seemed like she’d become an excellent actress for the ducal family that didn’t need true love.

But after marrying and time passed, she suddenly declared she didn’t love him.

She said she disliked him, resented him.

This was a first for such a woman.

And firsts are always special and different for everyone.

Now it was time to be honest with his heart.

Astaire finally realized.

He didn’t love this woman.

But he was curious about this woman. He wanted to know her. If someone reached out to take this woman, he wanted to cut off that hand.

This woman must remain in his cage forever.

He believed that path was the only way Daphne could be happy in life.

Even if he didn’t love her, he wanted to make her happy.

He didn’t want her, who entrusted her life to him, to have regrets.

He had to generously pay the price for the deal she made with him, betting her whole life.

Nothing more, nothing less.

“…Huu.”

He quietly exhaled.

The wind was cold. White breath puffed between his lips and disappeared far into the sky.

Watching that, the woman said, “As expected, Your Grace loves your wife. The rumors were true.”

Astaire almost sneered coldly for a moment.

Love?

Me?

The great Astaire Seyfried in love?

And the subject being Daphne at that?

Did he really look like he loved her?

Though he’d intentionally acted that way, he could say with certainty that he’d thrown away acting since being attacked by the bear. He’d only been faithful to his own heart.

This woman mustn’t die.

For some unknown reason, he had a strong premonition that if this woman died, he wouldn’t be able to live a normal life either.

This woman was embedded that deeply in his life.

And even knowing his heart with thorns embedded in it was bleeding, the man strangely didn’t want to pull out those thorns.

This woman made him cry and angry.

Made him feel alive.

Had he acted loving her so hard that the disguise of being lovebirds completely assimilated with reality?

Even when not acting, he seemed to love Daphne.

“…Yes. I love her endlessly.”