“This is a problem?”

Carlo looked down at the portable bed and remarked casually.

I glanced at Carlo, whose expression seemed serious despite his tone, then felt discouraged about the situation again.

“…Why is it like this?”

With Carlo’s help, I had opened the bag containing the bed and set it up in one corner of the barracks. The bed had been perfectly fine then.

But for some reason, the moment I sat down to try it out, there was a loud crack and the bed collapsed.

Am I that heavy?

I did eat a lot of snacks earlier—fruit, bread, and more…

“Hmm…”

Unlike me, Carlo sat on his bed watching me with a nonchalant face, as if he couldn’t care less whether the bed’s legs broke or the ceiling fell in.

‘It would be unreasonable to ask Joseph for another one now…’

I sighed, turning my head toward the dark pre-dawn scene outside the window.

Calling someone to the barracks when most people would be asleep at dawn would be inconsiderate, and I didn’t even know if there were any spare portable beds left.

Carlo had told me earlier that all the accommodations in Novahans were full…

“Do you want me to call Joseph?”

Carlo’s voice reached me as he silently watched me looking out the window.

His tone sounded somewhat stiff, drawing my gaze automatically.

Was I mistaken?

His tone seemed somewhat displeased, but his face showed no sign of low spirits, making me wonder if I had imagined it.

“No, that’s not necessary.”

I shook my head at him, then hesitated for a moment.

“Um, well…”

“Go ahead.”

Looking at him as he calmly responded, I felt awkward and tugged at the sleeve of my chemise.

Some might say we shouldn’t be shy about sharing a bed since we’d already slept in the same bed at St. Berte Castle, but that had been with two beds pushed together.

I never imagined we would share a single bed in these barracks.

Between the unfamiliar Novahans scenery and the sensation of our frantic kissing earlier, my body already felt like a malfunctioning machine.

Ahem. If I act naturally, he’ll think nothing of it too.

Don’t be provincial over just a bed… Speak confidently!

“Would you… mind sharing some of your bed space?”

Though I tried to speak casually, he probably saw through my already stiff smile.

I lifted my chin even more primly and continued.

“Um… it would be nice if you could spare a little bed space.”

“That’s quite a big request.”

He gave a slight hollow laugh and casually tapped the empty space on the bed with his fingertip.

“Thank you.”

I walked toward him, trying my best to maintain a composed expression.

Thankfully I was wearing a flowing chemise; otherwise, my trembling legs would have been completely visible.

“Are you going to stand there?”

“I was just about to lie down.”

I sat on the bed and pulled the blanket.

Then, pretending not to notice his gaze, I lay down in a proper position and stared at the ceiling.

The faint sound of a second hand ticking came from somewhere.

“Hmm…”

Even without looking at the man lying next to me, I knew all too well he would remain perfectly composed.

Sigh… While this man could lie there naturally, completely unbothered, I was staring at the ceiling like a wooden puppet with misaligned joints, which felt pathetic.

Think of something else, something else.

Right, Odin! I wonder how Odin is doing?

I had planned to bring him to Novahans after finishing work, but for some reason, Odin told me to go without him.

He always insisted on going everywhere together before…

Wouldn’t it have been less awkward if Odin were here?

Of course, if Odin had come along, I couldn’t have even dreamed of physical contact.

“Strange. I’ve never seen you sleep in that position before.”

I automatically looked at him when his monotone voice suddenly reached me.

Carlo was lying on his side, propped up on one elbow, looking down at me.

“Is there something on the ceiling?”

He asked languidly, deliberately gesturing toward the ceiling.

“N-no?”

“Then where should you be looking?”

This fox of a man…

I blinked in momentary confusion, then yielded to his quiet prompting and turned to face him.

I could see the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

“…Aren’t you uncomfortable? The bed is small.”

“What can we do? The bed’s legs broke.”

“That’s what I mean. Is it old? It looked new to me.”

“Mass-produced items occasionally come out defective.”

“Ah, I see…”

Well, mistakes can happen anywhere.

But it looked so perfectly fine, yet had two legs cleanly broken off…

“We’ll have to endure the smallness.”

When he spoke casually while gazing at me steadily, I shifted my hips back slightly, wondering if I was taking up too much space on the small bed.

“If you’re uncomfortable…”

“Planning to sleep on the floor?”

At his immediate furrowing of brows, I shook my head lightly.

“No? I was going to say that I wouldn’t sleep on the floor, so if you’re really uncomfortable, you should get down instead.”

“Huh…?”

Hehe. His incredulous chuckle eased my tension, and I couldn’t help but smile.

He tucked my hair, which had fallen when I lay on my side, behind my ear and replied in a relaxed tone.

“Well, who knows who’ll end up on the floor by the time we wake up.”

“Tsk.”

“But why are you clutching that blanket so tightly?”

Carlo glanced at my hands, which were gripping the blanket and pulling it up to my neck, then met my eyes again.

“I’m… c-cold.”

“It should be warm enough in here.”

“Ah. I get cold easily when I sleep. Brr, so cold.”

As I pulled the blanket up to just below my chin, he raised one eyebrow as if displeased.

“Come closer.”

“I’m fine, really.”

“Am I going to eat you?”

“That’s not it…!”

“You’ll really fall off the bed at this rate.”

Huh? Now that he mentioned it, I could feel the emptiness beneath my back and buttocks.

Carlo clicked his tongue lightly with a furrowed brow and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me toward him.

The gap closed instantly, and suddenly his face was right in front of mine.

When our eyes met, I unconsciously moved my hand slightly to cover my lips with the blanket.

Even I didn’t know why I did that…

“This is driving me crazy.”

Carlo let out an exasperated laugh and sighed lightly before hugging me even tighter.

“There, there.”

“Ah!”

A short gasp escaped me as my face was pressed against his smooth, bare chest like that of a thoroughbred horse.

The heat of his body against my skin and his pleasant scent, mixed with the pounding of my heart, stirred up my mind.

“Like this…?”

“Yes, like this.”

“I can’t breathe.”

“Can’t be helped.”

“It’s really uncomfortable.”

Ignoring my words, he entangled me completely with his long limbs, holding me without any gap between us.

Though my rapidly beating heart and rising and falling chest with each breath were uncomfortable, he had already wrapped his arms around me, even cradling my head with one hand.

Eventually, he pulled away slightly and looked down at me.

“Should I be the only one?”

It was then that I managed to raise my head, squirming in his embrace, and looked at him.

“Can’t you see that I’m the one suffering the most right now? Hmm?”

As I slowly opened my heavy eyelids, dazzling sunlight poured in through the white curtains.

The sound of crashing waves reached me, and despite my hazy consciousness, a fresh smile escaped naturally.

In the distance outside the window, I could see energetic birds just leaping from the sea and the mesmerizing sight of water scales glistening as they reflected the sunlight.

“Mmm…”

So heavy…

The arm that felt very heavy but also warm and reassuring was wrapped around my shoulders, enveloping my entire body.

Was Carlo, who was embracing me from behind, still asleep?

“……”

I closed and opened my bleary eyes, finally beginning to realize that this wasn’t St. Berte.

With everything brightened around us, I suddenly became acutely aware that I was being held with just a thin chemise between us.

Last night, I couldn’t clearly see where I was except for the bonfire outside.

Now that I was fully awake, it felt real that I had come to Novahans and unbelievable that I had woken up in this man’s arms.

I unconsciously curled up slightly, when a question suddenly occurred to me.

“……?”

Had I left the water bottle I drank from before sleeping on the bed?

Wondering about this, I blinked my still drowsy eyes slowly and noticed something familiar on the table.

A tall, large water bottle was sitting there plainly.

“!”

As if someone had thrown cold water on me, my mind suddenly cleared and my face began to flush rapidly. Just then, a large hand tightly pulled at my waist.