The person smiling at me with a twisted expression was definitely the Grand Duke.

Dear God. Why do you give me such trials? Why did my mouth do that?

Sleep instantly vanished as I cautiously opened my mouth.

“Ah… I thought you’d left early…”

“You were cursing.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“What did you say about my personality?”

“What? Your personality? Ah! That… I mean… you should have listened to the end. I was going to say ‘but that can’t be true, with your impeccable nature, you must be doing excellent work.'”

“Ha!”

“And I really thought you weren’t here…”

“This is my bedroom, isn’t it?”

“Of course, but you’re usually not here at this time…”

“I can leave whenever I want.”

“That… that’s certainly true.”

“Then move aside now.”

What? At this thunderbolt of a demand, I grabbed the blanket like a shield and clung to it.

“It’s too much to ask me to get out of bed right now. We agreed to stay like this for a while. People are coming in from outside. Can’t we just lie side by side like before?”

“I’ve changed my mind.”

“Hmph, that easily?”

“Yes.”

He answered briefly and looked at me with an expressionless face.

Feeling like I would be pushed out by his gaze, I forced a smile and stared back at him.

“I’ll just sit here for a moment. Everyone has eyes, you know.”

“Get out of my bed.”

“No!”

“No…?”

As he repeated in disbelief, I shook my head firmly while pressing my back deeply into the pillow.

I could see one of his eyebrows arching more ominously as he watched me resist.

Just then, a knock on the door struck my ears.

“See? You heard that, right?”

“I don’t care.”

“But I do. I won’t do anything bad. I swear!”

“……”

“Come in!”

Seizing the opportunity, I shouted toward the door.

The Grand Duke paused and looked down at me fiercely. I worried about the barrage of thorny words I would hear from him in the future.

My future already looked bleak, but I turned my head away, pretending not to see the Grand Duke who had missed his chance to push me away.

“Good morning.”

I smiled brightly at Medlin entering through the door, and the servants who had been looking at me with surprised eyes returned the greeting with proper manners and smiles even warmer than before.

As the maids who entered with Medlin began opening the curtains one by one, pure white light settled on the carpet like a welcome guest.

“We’ll prepare your bath.”

The maids returning from opening the curtains and the ladies-in-waiting watching them entered the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess’s bathrooms to begin preparations.

While watching the busy people, I unconsciously leaned more into the pillow, and ah… truly, the feel of the pillow and the bed against my bottom was so wonderful.

The white sheets were soft and fluffy, with a cozy, pleasant scent. A drowsy softness filled my body, making me want to bury myself completely in it.

The feather-light blanket was warm too.

With the bed feeling like heaven…

I glanced over the blanket at the space with several sofas.

Would I have to continue sleeping on that hard, merely expensive sofa…?

“Um… Your Highness?”

“Don’t call me.”

As if he knew what I was going to say.

It had clearly become his habit to refuse first, no matter what I did.

“I won’t do anything bad.”

He looked at me suspiciously, as if wondering what I was going to say next.

“Could you lend me your hand for a moment? You just need to touch my face like this, just once!”

“…Are you insane?”

“No, I’m perfectly normal.”

“You seem in urgent need of treatment.”

Tsk. This man had a real talent for making people feel awkward.

At his sharp response, I quickly checked on the servants, worried they might notice.

The longer I stayed here at night, the more people gradually increased who would make eye contact with me and occasionally ask if I needed anything.

Yesterday morning, before the ladies went to Mertid Square, there was a request to show them the wine cellar, but I didn’t even know where it was or how it operated.

However, Medlin and other ladies-in-waiting kindly provided information about the wine cellar.

They even asked for permission first, saying “Would it be alright to set this year’s wine items like this?” helping me perform my duties as grand duchess.

“……”

When I looked at Medlin, I noticed her immediately giving me a dignified yet gentle smile.

She seemed to think we were having an affectionate conversation while still in bed.

Yes, I needed the cooperation of Medlin and the other servants to properly perform the grand duchess’s duties.

I took a deep breath and looked at the Grand Duke again.

“If you touch my cheek just once, your mornings will be more peaceful from now on.”

“In what way.”

“I won’t jump into Your Highness’s bed ever again. Really!”

“……”

“Or if you’re fine with me jumping into bed like this every time, I can continue bothering Your Highness without stopping…!”

The Grand Duke listened to my urging, which seemed not just impertinent but beyond reason, and finally raised his hand.

I felt his skin reluctantly touch my cheek.

His hand was large enough to cover my entire face and more.

It was an action that showed he could hardly bear the caress, but his thumb brushed below my eye as if wiping something away.

“……”

“…Are you satisfied now?”

His indifferent tone momentarily dazed me before I quickly came to my senses. Then I hastily raised my hand and lightly hit his chest.

“Oh, really! You don’t understand! No, really! The bed won’t work!”

“……”

The Grand Duke frowned deeply, wondering what nonsense I was suddenly talking about.

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“What are you talking about?”

As soon as he finished speaking, I quickly covered both cheeks and pretended to hide my reddened face.

I blinked my eyes like someone extremely embarrassed and shy toward him, who was looking at me with an increasingly bizarre expression.

“If you hold me all night like that, I can hardly breathe!”

I noticed the maids, who had been pretending to look elsewhere while listening, flinch and look in our direction.

“Are you that upset about sleeping apart? It’s not always good to sleep in the same bed. Sleep should be comfortable.”

“…What?”

“Alright. If we absolutely must sleep together, I’ll bring in another bed. Will that do?”

“Huh?”

“Everyone heard that, right?”

Avoiding the Grand Duke’s glare, who seemed to doubt his ears, I smiled brightly at Medlin.

Medlin, who had been looking back and forth between the frozen Grand Duke and me sitting beside him with a sweet smile, quickly composed her expression and nodded.

“Yes. I just heard that you want to bring in another bed.”

“Don’t bother looking for something different, just get one exactly like this.”

“Understood, my lady.”

“What are you doing?”

The Grand Duke grabbed my arm as if to catch my gaze from Medlin, wearing a fierce smile.

“I announced it publicly like this so you couldn’t withdraw your promise…”

“When did I ever make a promise? And did you think announcing it like that would prevent me from withdrawing?”

“Don’t be like that. I did it because I’m so uncomfortable sleeping. That velvet sofa is much harder than it looks, and my back really hurts…”

I looked up at him with an unconscious pout.

I had mentioned it in front of witnesses, thinking the Grand Duke would find it difficult to withdraw his agreement to bring in a bed.

It hadn’t been easy to arrange for another bed, but once it was brought in, wouldn’t it be harder to remove?

“…I promise I won’t bother you about the bed issue again. I don’t want anything else.”

I steeled myself for a rebuke and looked at him. Whether he found it absurd or hesitated to treat me roughly in front of the servants, the Grand Duke simply looked down at me for a long time without saying anything.

“Ha…”

As I anxiously waited, I saw him finally close his eyes tightly, like someone who realized he had shot himself in the foot.

“So that’s why you wanted me to touch you?”

“I had no other way…”

When I nodded cautiously, he let out a cold scoff and narrowed his eyes slightly.

His long eyes with shadows cast over them resembled the abyss of dawn light.

After watching me intently with eyes that made it difficult to guess his thoughts, he turned his head.

“What else.”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t know what else you might do, so if there’s anything else you want, say it now. What else is there?”

I wondered what his intention was in suddenly asking me to state what I wanted.

I’m not clueless.

His intention was obvious—asking mockingly without any real intention of granting my wishes.

“Nothing, this is enough.”

“…Nothing?”

“Yes.”

“Nothing you want or need?”

“No.”

“…That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“Not even clothes or jewelry?”

“I don’t need them.”

“……”

Whatever answer he had expected, my response that I wanted nothing made him maintain his silence even more.

Am I wrong? Should I have given a different answer?

Looking again, it almost seemed like he might actually grant whatever I asked…

A cautious hope began to creep into my heart, which had held no expectations.

As I gently grabbed his collar, his blue gaze settled on me again.

“Perhaps…”

“Speak.”

“Then…”

After a moment’s hesitation, I looked into his eyes with inexplicable anxiety.

“A chance to go out alone…?”