She unconsciously reached out her hand toward his flushed face. Before he could block it, her small hand pressed against his cheek and then pulled away.

“You’re even sweating?”

“Ah…”

What excuse could he make?

There was no way he could say he was dying of heat…

After a moment of hesitation, he found a way out.

“I seem to have caught a cold. I should use another bedroom since it might be contagious.”

Aaron was relieved and quickly stood up to turn away.

However, surprisingly, Lucilia jumped nimbly in front of him to block his path.

“The other rooms haven’t been heated. None are as warm as this one.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, you don’t look fine at all. Since you’ve caught a cold, you need to keep your body warmer.”

She firmly grabbed Aaron’s hand as he stood stubbornly like a bull.

Despite her weak strength, she forcibly pulled him toward the bed. Though it would have been nothing for him to break her feeble grip, he didn’t want to add emotional wounds to her after she had received the Marquis’s letter today.

Aaron reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged to the bed and sat down.

Seeing him comply, Lucilia spoke to him gently as if addressing a child.

“I’ll go have some milk warmed up for you. Just drink that and go to sleep.”

As if he needed hot milk when his insides already felt like they were on fire?

At this rate, he’d be up all night.

As he was about to shake his head, Lucilia placed her palm on his back.

“Lie down now.”

Well! Was she going to tuck him in?

Incredulous, he silently watched what she was doing.

Lucilia gently pressed his chest with one hand while supporting his back with the other, helping him lie down on the bed.

He nearly burst out laughing.

If he hadn’t tensed his abdomen and resisted his weight, she would have been crushed by his massive frame. She might have fallen flat on the bed while struggling to help him.

Not only that, she also carefully covered him with the blanket.

His mother had passed away not long after his family’s downfall.

If she were alive, would she have taken care of him this attentively?

Finding this thought intriguing, Aaron closed his eyes, pretending not to notice. Soon he heard the sound of hurried footsteps.

As soon as she left the room, he sat up abruptly and rubbed his heated neck.

“A cold? What nonsense.”

His was a body that could roll in snow and soak in ice water without flinching.

How could someone as accustomed to the cold as he was complain of illness while staying in a mansion rather than a snow field?

Ask anyone who knew Aaron Artnal. Ten out of ten would snort and say it was absolutely impossible.

His usually ice-cold gaze, like icicles hanging from branches, softened helplessly.

“It might not be so bad to pretend to be sick this once.”

Since he couldn’t actually fall ill, feigning sickness was his only option.

If she learned he disliked the heat, that innocent woman would stop lighting fires from tomorrow and live in a cold room.

Would the Saint, who prayed for the peace of believers, neglect her husband?

She might shiver with cold, but she wasn’t the type to make others uncomfortable for her own comfort. She wasn’t capable of such selfishness.

He could clearly envision her catching a severe cold from her reckless kindness.

Aaron lay flat on the bed, fluttering his shirt.

“Hoo… I need to get her to sleep first, by any means.”

Since he was already pretending to be sick, he planned to remove the firewood once Lucilia fell into a deep sleep.

As he pulled up his shirt to his stomach to lower his body temperature, he sensed someone approaching.

She seemed to have waited until the milk was warmed and brought it herself.

Lucilia, holding a tray tightly, smiled awkwardly at Aaron as he adjusted his clothes.

“Did you wait long?”

“No.”

“Why are you sitting up?”

“Well… I heard you coming, so I was going to drink the milk and go to sleep.”

Lucilia placed the tray on the bedside table and carefully picked up the cup.

Then, as if addressing a child, she cautioned him to drink slowly since it was hot.

Aaron felt quite awkward.

As expected, with Lucilia hovering nearby, his composure quickly crumbled. At this rate, not only would he be unable to sleep, but his breathing would become irregular.

He had no choice but to drink quickly and lie down.

Aaron drank all the milk without leaving a drop and obediently lay down. Then he gruffly said to her as she stared down at him:

“Are you going to stay like that all night?”

“I’ll go to bed after I see you fall asleep.”

“I’m fine, so please go to sleep. I can’t sleep when someone is watching me.”

It would be strange if he could sleep well with someone staring so intently.

Aaron overwhelmed Lucilia with his stern voice.

Intimidated, she awkwardly circled the bed to the other side. She lifted the blanket and carefully slipped her small body underneath, her movements deliberate.

The firewood burned down, sending sparks flying.

The crackling sound of wood engulfed in flames wrapped around their ears like a lullaby.

Their breathing paradoxically provided both tension and comfort simultaneously.

How long had they been listening to each other’s breaths?

The two fell asleep at almost the same time.

Although he had intended to extinguish the firewood that had heated the room, Aaron couldn’t carry out his plan as his consciousness gradually faded.

The nightmare that unfailingly visited Lucilia disturbed her peaceful moment, and Aaron woke up as if it were natural and moved closer to her.

The soothing touch had become familiar by now.

Tonight, thanks to the warmth enveloping the entire bedroom, she didn’t burrow into his arms.

Aaron frowned severely and turned his back, realizing his own sinister intention to pretend to accept her if she sought his embrace.

‘Let her deal with her nightmares on her own.’

He wouldn’t comfort her anymore.

* * *

Before dawn broke, Lucilia woke up first.

In truth, she had forced herself to sleep last night.

It was for Aaron’s sake. He seemed to push her away coldly because her constant attention made him uncomfortable.

So she had planned to secretly get up once he was fully asleep, check his forehead, and perhaps place a cool cloth on it.

Though it was later than she had planned, she was glad to be awake now.

No light came through the curtain gaps.

Compared to the dim outside, the interior was as warm as if the midday sun were shining.

She carefully lifted the blanket, rested her elbow on the bed, and leaned her upper body toward Aaron.

Her vision was still blurry from sleep. Only after her eyes, buried in darkness, adjusted to the light did she take in Aaron’s details.

The flickering light from the fireplace illuminated him.

Lucilia quickly turned her head away when she saw that Aaron wore nothing below his neck.

Why was he undressed?

But her embarrassment was brief; her weak eyes couldn’t resist the temptation and slowly slid back.

Lucilia’s pupils shook violently as they traced his densely woven muscles.

‘So this is what a man’s body looks like.’

It was different from the beauty portrayed by male gods in masterpieces.

The split muscles and solid frame. The captivating facial lines where sharpness and softness coexisted.

Unlike his formidable torso, the line descending to his waist was elegant.

His seductive yet strong appearance naturally captivated her.

She felt an impulse to touch the muscles on his chest and abdomen to see how firm they were.

She also wanted to appreciate each of his harmoniously arranged features.

Since he was asleep, would it be okay to touch him secretly?

She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing.

Lucilia covered her neck, afraid the sound of her swallowing might be heard, and waited until her pounding heart returned to normal.

Though she should have dispelled her fantasies before harboring impure thoughts, the greed in her mind spread endlessly.

Eventually, it began to erode her pure conscience.

Lucilia raised her arm as if entranced.

Aaron’s solid chest rose and fell with his breathing. It looked like a large shield floating and undulating on the surface of water.

She hastily withdrew her hand, which had been precariously extended almost touching him, when his still eyelashes began to flutter.

If their eyes met, it would be embarrassing for both of them—the wife caught peeking at her husband’s n*ked body and the husband who became the object of desire would be equally flustered.

With her conscience finally returning, Lucilia quickly went back to her side and pulled the blanket over herself.

Her face became uncontrollably hot.

Soon, the doubt she had harbored about Aaron’s health resurfaced.

‘Is he really fine? Is he just pretending to be sick?’

She recalled Hans’s words from their encounter downstairs last night.

“A cold? Haha! No way. Absolutely not, even if the sky splits in two, even if the earth and sky switch places, even if the sea turns upside down, it’s not possible.”