A grand mansion located a short distance from the main castle of Hessen.

A man sits askew on the bed, trying to wake up a small woman curled up under the white blanket.

“Won’t you get up now, Your Highness the Princess?”

“Mmm. Just a little longer.”

Eve pulled the blanket closer.

The refreshing scent unique to morning lingered at the tip of her nose. She could also smell the mouth-watering aroma of freshly baked bread wafting up from the kitchen downstairs. Still, she was too tired.

“Are you going to keep doing this? It’s time for school.”

Right. Today was a school day.

Eve had been practicing late every night for her graduation performance as she approached the end of the fall semester.

She needed to get up… but Victor’s embrace felt too good.

“Just 5 minutes.”

Eve, with her eyes still closed, wriggled into her husband’s warm embrace.

Victor’s broad chest was wide and warm, making her feel as though all her fatigue disappeared when she was in his arms.

“You’ve become quite spoiled over these 5 years.”

With a chuckle, Victor let out a low laugh and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Eve pressed herself closer to him, embracing his waist with both arms and clinging to him like Monette would.

“That’s because it’s you, Victor.”

“Should I take this as you seducing me? So early in the morning?”

“Mmm, no.”

“How shameless. I’m already getting started.”

Victor slowly combed through her luscious platinum blonde hair. Then he moved down to her temple and pressed it firmly.

“Even with this?”

“Mmm.”

As Eve relaxed and pressed even closer, Victor raised one eyebrow.

“This isn’t working, is it?”

This time, he subtly caressed her earlobe and waited for her reaction.

Despite being very ticklish, she was trying to endure it. As expected, Eve immediately hunched her shoulders. Victor slowly lowered his head and pressed his lips against Eve’s white shoulder.

“Mmm. Victor.”

What kind of reaction is this now? Even after 5 years, seeing this delicate nape makes his heart flutter.

“Still, I have to do my duty.”

Victor, exercising extreme patience, removed his lips and whispered in her ear:

“You asked me to wake you up. What are you trying to do by waking up my other self instead?”

Eve’s long, lush eyelashes trembled, and her eyes finally opened.

Did she sense the danger? Her cheeks were flushed red, which looked quite adorable.

“Ah, alright. I’ll get up.”

Eve, holding onto the blanket, nimbly escaped from the bed.

Victor’s golden eyes softened as he followed Eve’s retreating figure with his gaze. He leisurely crossed his arms.

“Hmm. You truly are a wicked monarch. You make me like this and then flee?”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“What?”

Sticking out her tongue like Monette would, Eve darted into the dressing room.

It took only a few seconds for Victor, who had been watching her with round eyes until the end, to burst into laughter.

A bright smile spread across Eve’s face as she ran away, too.

As the laughter subsided, Eve’s running footsteps gradually slowed.

Eve threw the blanket she had been holding onto the floor and changed direction.

“Victor.”

She came back to him, but embarrassment washed over her.

Now she couldn’t even act…

Victor, who had stood up from the bed, opened his arms and said gently:

“Come here, Eve.”

Ah. Eve jumped into Victor’s wide-open chest without hesitation.

Victor trembled at the warm temperature of Eve in his embrace. Deeply inhaling the scent of her soft skin, he whispered in a low voice:

“Thank you. For not leaving me behind.”

“A little while is fine, right?”

“Of course. My Princess. I woke you up early on purpose, you know?”

“Oh my, what? You tricked me-?”

Victor’s lips, having run out of patience, devoured Eve’s lips.

Her body stiffened for just a moment, and then gradually heated up under the cascade of kisses.

“Eve, I love you.”

Victor pulled her even closer and lifted her up.

Ah. A tingling sensation rushed into Eve like a rough wave.

“I love you, Victor.”

As her pink lips parted naturally and confessed, Victor began to advance unhesitatingly deeper into Eve.

The two, pressed together without any gap, exhaled rough breaths, stepping back one step at a time, and then were sucked into the pure white bed.

* * *

Breakfast time with the whole family.

Monette had already come down to the dining room with her nanny.

The child, who had been humming a tune while dangling her adorable short legs, brightened when she saw Eve sitting in the chair across the table.

“Mommy? Why late again?”

“Hello, Monette? I’m sorry. Mommy overslept again today.”

The 5-year-old girl blinked her golden eyes, which resembled her father’s, and tilted her small head. Her ponytail swayed from side to side with the gesture.

“Monette, it’s not Mommy’s fault. It’s Daddy’s fault.”

Victor, who had pulled out Eve’s chair and sat next to her, added.

“Daddy’s?”

Monette asked with a cute frown. Her expression clearly showed disbelief.

What kind of reaction is this now? Is she saying her father couldn’t possibly do that? Eve smiled brightly, finding her daughter adorable, and stroked the child’s hair.

At 5 years old, Monette was smart and capable, more mature and developed than her peers.

“It’s strange.”

“What is?”

Eve and Victor asked simultaneously, caught off guard.

The two exchanged awkward glances and cleared their throats. Pretending nothing was wrong, Eve picked up a napkin and Victor picked up a fork.

“Hmm. Paul said that when Mommy and Daddy are alone together, they do suspicious things.”

“Cough!”

“Huh?”

Victor swallowed the bread he was eating, and Eve dropped her napkin in surprise.

‘Did she find out? I told you to be careful.’

“When did you- Ouch!”

Victor, who received an elegant kick under the table, could only cry out without finishing his sentence.

After giving Victor a glance, Eve examined Monette’s face carefully with worried eyes.

Even though she was a bright child, she was only 5 years old—wasn’t this too early?

Eve steeled herself and asked:

“Monette. What do you mean by ‘suspicious things’? Can you explain so Mommy can understand?”

Suddenly, the round, large golden eyes began to tear up.

“You always go into the room by yourselves and talk, and you’re late even for meal times… Paul says his parents don’t live together now. So he only sees his mommy very rarely. Even when he misses her, he can’t see her.”

And with that, the baby began to cry.

Tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes fell drop by drop down her cheeks.

“Oh dear… Monette.”

Eve wiped the child’s tears with an extra napkin handed by Victor and said:

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were thinking like that.”

“Huhu. Will Monette not be able to see Mommy anymore too?”

“No, Monette. Why would Mommy and Daddy separate?”

“Really?”

The desperation in her eyes as she looked up pitifully at her father was overwhelming.

“Of course. Daddy can’t live without Mommy.”

“Like Monette?”

“Yes.”

Victor gently pressed her cute cheek with his index finger and then released it, winking one eye.

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

‘Why is she agreeing so quickly?’

Only then did Monette wipe her tears with her small, chubby hands, and when her mother offered the napkin, she blew her nose loudly.

“Daddy is seriously a Mommy-fool anyway.”

“Pfft!” The servants carrying food in the dining room burst into laughter simultaneously.

Although he was taken aback, Victor had nothing to refute, so he just gave them a sharp glance and then averted his gaze.

“Kuk.”

“Eve?”

“I’m not laughing. Something went down the wrong way.”

Eve couldn’t hold back and bit her rolled lips while her shoulders trembled.

‘I should stop now.’ Victor might get sulky. Instead of getting angry, he sometimes gets pouty.

“Mommy likes Daddy too, right?”

“Oh my.”

Monette shook her head as she took a big bite of bread.

“A kid without friends is so sad they can’t live.”

The dining room became a sea of laughter at the cute little princess’s statement.

* * *

As time passed, automobiles appeared. They were expensive, so only nobles or wealthy merchants owned them.

Still, carriages remained in use.

Every morning, in this automobile, Victor heads to the main castle, Eve to the art college, and Monette to the royal kindergarten. Since their directions overlapped, they often rode in the same car.

“Pretty.”

The roadside trees along the way were quite a sight. The long branches of ginkgo leaves stretched endlessly high into the sky.

Like flowing water, the leaves on the branches undulated and then became a rain of falling leaves, scattering with the wind.

Monette stretched out her short arms and waved them toward the sky.

“Monette, be careful.”

“Okay.”

Quickly withdrawing her arms at her father’s words, Monette became engrossed in the ginkgo leaves dancing as they fell.

“Victor, there’s a graduation party right after the graduation ceremony the week after next.”

Victor shifted his gaze from the car window at the unexpected news Eve delivered.

“A graduation party?”

“Yes. It’s apparently a tradition at Hessen Art College.”

“I see. Is that how it is in regular schools?”

Being from the Mikhail ducal family and having lost his parents early in an accident, Victor had been educated by tutors brought to the mansion.

For higher education, he had entered a strict boarding school, so he had no opportunity to experience regular school culture.

“It’s my first time, so I’m really excited.”

Eve, who had gone through a difficult childhood, had never experienced a proper school either.

She’s like a child. Is it that good? Victor, who had been quietly observing her sparkling violet eyes, said:

“That’s good. I’ll go with you. It will be a good memory for both of us.”

“Well, about that…”

Looking troubled, Eve hesitated a bit before quickly blurting out:

“According to the education department’s law, only alumni of the school can participate. Of course, if I speak to the principal, they might allow it, but there’s also an age restriction.”

“…What?”

“Those over 30 are not allowed entry.”

“I see there was such a rule.”

Victor’s beautiful eyebrows wrinkled slightly before returning to their place.

“Should I not go?”

“No, go with peace of mind. It’s what you’ve been looking forward to.”

Victor answered kindly. He didn’t want to dampen Eve’s face, which was full of expectation for the graduation party.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy myself and come back.”

“Yes, Your Highness. It would be an honor if you do so.”

Victor lightly joked while observing Eve’s expression.

Look at that. Eve gives him a gentle eye-smile. Yes, what’s so special about a party?

Victor decided to be careful not to make her worry.

“Daddy? Then, will Mommy dance holding hands with a school boy?”