“Let’s go to His Highness the Grand Duke first.” 

 “Grrrr.” (Something feels off.) 

 Zeno’s bright yellow eyes narrowed. He reluctantly followed my gesture. His luxurious black fur brushed past my legs. 

 “Wooooo. Wooooo.” (I really don’t understand my master.) 

 “That’s my charm. It wouldn’t be fun if you knew everything.” 

 Despite Zeno’s grumbling, I shrugged and walked ahead. 

 “Your Highness the Grand Duchess. You shouldn’t be out like this when you need rest.” 

 Rien’s eyes widened round when she spotted me. 

 She had been pushing a tray, presumably bringing my favorite cream cake and tea, but she left it behind and ran straight to me. 

 “It’s fine, it’s fine. I just have something to discuss.” 

 “But Your Highness, look at your hands!” 

 I looked at my cloth-wrapped hands. Hmm, it does look concerning. 

 “But this is really important.” 

 In the end, unable to break my stubbornness, Rien followed behind me. 

 When we reached the office, Vahalla’s eyes widened upon seeing me. 

 “Your Highness the Grand Duchess? What brings you here?” 

 “I have something to discuss with His Highness the Grand Duke.” 

 “It’s not yet mealtime.” 

 “I’m not eating! I won’t eat anymore today!” 

 I shook my head as I spoke. When I glared, Vahalla took a step back. 

 “Very well. We won’t prepare any more meals today. However, you must have the prepared refreshments.” 

 “……Just something light! Really light only!” 

 Vahalla nodded. Why is he, as a butler, so serious about my meals? 

 Soon the door opened, and as I slipped inside, I said,

 “Don’t let anyone in!” 

 Bang. 

 After closing the door, I turned to look at Cedric. He stopped reviewing his documents. 

 “Wife.” 

 “Your Highness.” 

 Cedric put down his fountain pen and looked at me. After glancing at the clock and confirming it wasn’t mealtime yet, his head smoothly turned back to me. 

 “What brings my wife to seek me out again. Are you here to refuse meals again?” 

 Noticing the meaning behind his gentle smile, I laughed awkwardly. 

 “Umm, that’s not what I came to talk about.” 

 Cedric stood up from his seat and approached me. Taking my hand, he led me to the sofa and pressed my shoulders down to sit. 

 “Making others wait outside. I’m curious what my wife wants to say.” 

 He crossed his legs and rested his chin on his hand. His relaxed gaze made me feel at ease as well. 

 “I have something to discuss with you.” 

 “Please speak.” 

 “……I think Father will send people to the North. A friend in the Imperial Capital sent me news.” 

 Cedric nodded. 

 “I think they’ll check if Isabelle is there.” 

 “Is that so.” 

 “If they come with knights, blindfolding them would suffice, but they said they’re coming with divine beasts.” 

 “Divine beasts…… Then the wolf shouldn’t be here either.” 

 Twitch. 

 For a moment, I saw his lips curl up. I narrowed my eyes and perched on the edge of the chair as I spoke. 

 “Do you hate having Zeno here?” 

 “Wife, all men except me are wolves originally.” 

 “Zeno is actually a wolf though.” 

 “……” 

 Cedric’s eyebrows twitched. I instinctively avoided his gaze and cleared my throat. 

 “Discussion! Yes, let’s have a discussion. I want to move Zeno and Isabelle somewhere other than the Grand Duke’s residence.” 

 “……Are you thinking of sending them to the forest?” 

 “No. They’ll be found quickly if divine beasts come. We need a place no one can find.” 

 His face, which had worn a faint smile, instantly changed to a calm, sunken expression. 

 “Are you asking me if such a place exists? Unfortunately, there is no place in the Grand Duke’s residence that no one can find.” 

 His voice, low enough to give chills, filled the office. 

 He seemed to immediately think of the secret room. The sharpness in his eyes made my hair stand on end. 

 However, I kept a smile on my face without showing it. I understood why he was being sensitive. 

 “Of course there isn’t any in the Grand Duke’s residence.” 

 I tilted my head and blinked. At times like this, it was better to act innocent with a naive face. 

 I had no intention of bringing up his painful places anyway. 

 “I want to send them somewhere else temporarily. I promised to protect them.” 

 Cedric’s expression softened somewhat. After a brief pause, he tilted his head to the side like I had. 

 “Do you remember that place?” 

 “Which place do you mean?” 

 “……The place where we first met.” 

 “The place we first met.” 

 He removed his chin from his hand and leaned back on the sofa. His expressionless face completely relaxed. 

 “Are you saying you want to take the Imperial Princess to the intimate space where we spent our first night?” 

 “Yes, it’s a place no one knows about.” 

 Taking others to an intimate place wasn’t an easy thing. But I couldn’t think of any other suitable place. 

 Though I was trying to speak casually, my palms were sweating. 

 Every time I met those deep blue eyes, I felt like I was being pulled into an abyss. The more I struggled, the deeper I sank, feeling unable to escape. 

 When facing Cedric as he silently stared at me, strangely, I couldn’t think of anything else. 

 He always says I don’t focus when I’m with him, but in truth, I could never shake thoughts of Cedric from my mind. 

 “So it doesn’t bother you?” 

 “I…….” 

 “I’ll be disappointed if you say it doesn’t.” 

 Cedric said as he slightly raised his body. His intense gaze caught me before I could avoid it. 

 He slowly stood from the sofa and bent his upper body in front of me. Then he grabbed my chin and made me meet his eyes. 

 My throat gulped at the distance so close we could almost touch. My mouth went completely dry, and my heartbeat pounded against my eardrums. 

 I froze, unable to speak a word at the overwhelmingly loud sound. His hand that held my chin slowly moved down to my nape. 

 “It’s the space where you and I first met alone.” 

 His large hand wrapped around my nape and pulled me close. My earlobes burned as my gaze slightly shifted. 

 “Y-Your Highness?” 

 My whole body stiffened as his hand, which had somehow moved to my back, loosely traveled down my spine. 

 “Like this, no.” 

 “Huh……?” 

 My overlapped hands were caught by him and lifted up. 

 Thump. 

 I looked up at Cedric with round eyes as I lay on the sofa. Unable to move due to my hands being held by him, I took a surprised breath while pinned underneath. 

 “Do you remember me waiting for you with my hands bound?” 

 The first night with him from just a day ago came flooding back. 

 Though we hadn’t properly spent the night together since then…… My heart felt like it would burst just from kissing, and in this situation now, I could barely breathe. 

 “I thought you had quite unique tastes…… But now that I’ve experienced it, I think I understand why.” 

 His heated eyes looking down at me curved prettily. 

 The cool mint scent brushed my nose as his breath rushed in. I squeezed my eyes shut and tensed up, forgetting even to exhale. 

 When I slowly opened my eyes at the touch that lightly grazed my nose tip, I felt the blue heat still looking down at me. 

 Heh, heh. 

 My heart beat even faster at his low chuckle and sweet voice. 

 Cedric looked at me as I just stared up at him with my eyes open, then bent down and whispered in my ear. 

 “Breathe, wife.” 

 “Hah.” 

 Only then did I release the breath I’d been holding. The thick thigh that had been between my legs moved back. 

 He lightly lifted me up and brushed back my disheveled hair. 

 “So you’re saying it’s fine for others to stay in that place where we had intimate conversations.” 

 “……I couldn’t think of anywhere else.” 

 I answered with a dazed expression. My wrists that he had held still felt hot. 

 When I wrapped my not-yet-healed hands around my wrists, I could still feel his body heat. 

 I tried to slow my racing heart as I felt my pulse at my fingertips. 

 “Coming to find me right away means you don’t have much time, so go ahead.” 

 “Is it really okay?” 

 Cedric nodded. Unable to understand what his smiling face meant, I quietly got up from the sofa. 

 “Then I’ll let you get back to work!” 

 Then I fled from the office. If I kept facing him any longer, I felt like he would hear my heartbeat.