It had been over ten days since Rian had begun sharing her bedroom under the pretense of caring for her.

“Rian…?”

“Mm.”

“How long are you planning to stay in my bedroom?”

Watching him naturally begin preparing for bed the moment late night arrived, Dearlin spoke cautiously.

“Do you not like sleeping with me?”

Rian asked as he looked toward Dearlin, who stood awkwardly at a distance from the bed.

“It’s not that, but…”

“Then that settles it.”

Seeing no sign that Rian intended to return to his own room, Dearlin quietly turned her head and let out a small sigh where he could not notice.

In the ten days they had shared a bed, she had not slept properly even once.

It was not like before, when Rian kept her awake night after night.

Both the imperial physician and Doctor William had warned them to refrain from marital relations until her injuries healed, so Rian had not touched her.

All she had to do was lie down and fall asleep.

Yet even that was difficult for Dearlin now.

“I’m tired. Hurry and come here.”

Already lying on the bed, Rian tapped the empty space beside him, urging her over.

Left with no choice, Dearlin turned off the lights and lay down beside him.

“Good night…”

When she turned her head slightly, she saw that Rian was already asleep, his eyes gently closed.

As she had done every night for the past ten days, she greeted him softly, her voice quiet and tender.

But he didn’t reply.

Only the slow, steady rhythm of his breathing responded.

Lying stiffly on her back, Dearlin stared blankly at the ceiling.

Ever since they had started sharing a bed, she had been unable to sleep because of his presence beside her. Her body was exhausted, but her eyes refused to close. Many nights, she did not fall asleep until the first light of dawn crept in.

After all, even after they were married, she had never truly shared a bed with him.

Whenever Rian came to her room for intimacy, he would leave the moment it was over, as though he had merely fulfilled an obligation. Even during the times when she had desperately wished for him to stay, she had always been left alone.

This was why lying beside him now felt so painfully unfamiliar.

Careful not to wake him, she slowly turned onto her side and looked at Rian instead of at the ceiling.

Watching his sleeping face had quietly become her habit over the past ten days.

‘When he’s asleep, he hasn’t changed at all from when we were children.’

‘Maybe it’s because his eyes are closed. The eyes that once held warmth now carry only cold sharpness as time passed.’

Alone in the middle of the night, Dearlin quietly wandered through old memories, recalling the Rian of her childhood.

No matter how hard she tried, she could never truly hate him.

Even towards the Rian who refused to trust her, she could not bring herself to speak in resentful tones.

“I love you. I love you, Rian…”

The moment Dearlin confessed her feelings and stared into Rian’s eyes, he opened them.

His golden eyes shone vividly in the darkness and met hers. She instinctively held her breath.

She had watched over the sleeping Rian every night because she could never fall asleep herself, but this was the first time he had opened his eyes.

“Ah…”

He was such an unusually still sleeper that she immediately wondered if she had woken him somehow, and guilt crept into her chest.

‘What should I do? Is he really awake?’

Dearlin could only blink awkwardly in embarrassment as she looked at Rian, who remained silent with his eyes open.

Rian, his gaze still clouded with sleepiness, reached out and pulled Dearlin into his arms.

‘What is…’

Dearlin was held tightly against his chest and was completely unable to move.

There wasn’t a millimeter of space between them and the warmth radiating from him was impossible to ignore.

When she looked up at him again, he had already closed his eyes once more.

His warm breath brushed softly against her skin.

To Dearlin, whose body was always cold, Rian’s warmth did not merely feel comforting; it felt almost scorching.

As the chill slowly faded from her body, drowsiness began to overtake her.

Securely confined within Rian’s embrace, she absentmindedly fidgeted with her fingers. Before long, her heavy eyelids began to droop.

It was only a little past midnight.

Until yesterday, this had always been the time of night when sleep stubbornly refused to come.

But tonight was different.

The sense of security in Rian’s embrace was overwhelming.

Fearing that she might move in her sleep and slip from his arms, she carefully reached out and wrapped her arms around him.

And so, for the first time since their wedding, Dearlin fell asleep in Rian’s arms.

***

Rian woke up first and found Dearlin asleep against his chest.

He could not clearly remember what had happened the previous night.

However, given Dearlin’s personality, there was no way she would have climbed into his arms of her own accord.

It must have been something he had done while half-asleep.

Propping himself up slightly, Rian glanced at the bedside table clock. It was still early morning.

If he stayed like this, he would not be able to do anything properly without waking her.

Nevertheless, he decided to let her sleep a little longer.

“I’ll help you wash your—”

At that moment, the bedroom door swung open without so much as a polite knock.

Tessa entered, carrying a basin of water.

It was astonishingly rude and presumptuous for a maid to enter her master’s room without knocking.

The instant Rian recognized her, his expression darkened.

‘Were the maids in this estate always this disrespectful?’

‘Or had treating Dearlin this way become natural while I wasn’t paying attention?’

The thought alone made anger surge through him at the servants’ blatant disregard for their mistress.

“D-Duke…”

Tessa lowered her head, sensing the suddenly suffocating atmosphere, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Ever since Rian had started sleeping in Dearlin’s room, she had been extremely careful not to draw his attention.

She had managed just fine until now, but today she had made a mistake out of sheer habit.

“Get out.”

“Y-Yes…”

Barely managing to hold the washbasin with her shaking hands, Tessa hurriedly fled the bedroom.

“Haah…”

Rian absentmindedly played with Dearlin’s hair as she slept soundly, oblivious to her surroundings.

He wanted to ask her if this sort of thing happened often.

But what could he really do, even if he did?

He couldn’t change what had already happened.

Dearlin shifted and twisted slightly beneath his touch before finally opening her eyes.

“Good morning.”

Shoving the thoughts that had preoccupied him while she slept to the back of his mind, Rian was the first to greet her.

With the morning sunlight streaming in behind him, he appeared to be surrounded by a faint halo.

The moment she realized she was still in his arms, memories of the previous night flooded her mind.

Her face flooded with heat in an instant.

Unable to answer his greeting, she lowered her head in deep embarrassment instead.

Then she heard it, a quiet sound, as though Rian were barely holding back his laughter.

“Tell them to bring water for washing.”

Rian pulled the bell cord.

Shortly afterwards, the bedroom door opened and Sophie came in with Hazel.

Tessa, whom Rian had driven out earlier, was nowhere to be seen.

“We’ll help you wash.”

Perhaps Sophie had already heard from Tessa about what had happened earlier, because she shot Hazel a pointed look that clearly warned her not to make any mistakes.

After finishing the wash, Rian quietly watched as Dearlin wiped her face with a damp cloth. Then, he slowly turned his gaze towards Sophie, who was standing nearby.

“Head maid.”

“…Yes, Your Grace.”

Already expecting something like this, Sophie answered in an even more respectful tone, lowering herself carefully so as not to further offend him.

“I’d rather not be disappointed in you.”

Dearlin, who had been wiping her face, also stopped moving at the sharp edge in Rian’s voice.

‘Did something happen while I was asleep?’

Rian looked displeased, Sophie seemed more cautious than usual, and even Hazel was acting exceptionally deferential today.

It was a strangely tense morning.

“I don’t want to see that maid in front of me again.”

“…Understood.”

Even if it had been a mistake, there was no reason to keep such a servant nearby.

He would likely be spending more time with Dearlin from now on, and seeing that maid’s face every time would only irritate him further.

“Th-Then… I will assign another maid to serve Madam in Tessa’s place.”

Another maid instead?

At Sophie’s words, Dearlin flinched and quickly looked toward Rian.

“Is there any need to assign someone new?”

“Then…”

“If I remember correctly, Dearlin used to have another maid. Bring that maid back.”

Lira.

At the utterly unexpected reward that had appeared while she slept, Dearlin had to struggle to hide her joy in front of them all.