“I’m completely exhausted.”

Back at the mansion, Ariadne collapsed as soon as she stepped inside.

She had never argued so fiercely with anyone before, and all the attention she had received had completely drained her of energy.

Even leaving the palace alone had demanded all her concentration. It was an experience she desperately hoped to never repeat.

By the time she stepped out of the carriage in front of the mansion, she no longer had the strength to move.

“Can’t get down?”

“Please go in first, Your Grace. I’ll go up in a moment.”

And so, Ariadne remained slumped inside the carriage, unable to move.

Although they had already arrived home, she didn’t have the strength to get out, insisting that she needed a little more time to rest.

Kieron looked down at her; her entire body was limp, and her eyes were closed in exhaustion.

Seeing her like that, he felt an unexpected pang of sympathy.

She must have had a very long, tiring day.

So he carefully lifted her into his arms.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

It was a brief warning, hardly a proper notice.

Ariadne jerked awake with a start.

“W–what are you doing, Your Grace?!”

“If I leave you here, you’re going to fall asleep in the carriage.”

“N-no, but still—!”

‘Not like this!’

All the servants were watching, what in the world was he doing?

She struggled to get down, but Kieron didn’t budge; to him, her resistance was nothing.

“If you keep that up, you’ll fall, and you’ll be the one who gets hurt. Stop and stay still.”

“B-but…”

This was the first time she had ever been held by a man who wasn’t her father or brother.

The arms of another person — a man.

Since their marriage, they had barely shared any physical contact.

This made it even more awkward and unbearably uncomfortable.

Ultimately, Ariadne had no choice but to cover her face with both hands and endure being carried all the way to her room.

“Welcome ba… Y-Your Grace?”

Jay—who had been waiting for her inside the room—went wide-eyed at the sight of the lady of the house being carried in her husband’s arms.

Seeing Jay’s face peeking between her fingers, Ariadne felt her embarrassment explode.

‘Why is he doing this now of all times—something he’s never done before?’

“Please put me down, Your Grace. We’re here now.”

Her voice was much firmer than usual. He had never done anything like this before, so why now?

The moment he heard the strength in her tone, Kieron stiffened and put her down immediately. Even then, his hands were strangely gentle and cautious, which was unlike him.

Ariadne sat up straight, unable to bear the awkwardness warping her features.

“Thank you, Your Grace. Thanks to you, I got here safely.”

“No, you just seemed very tired…”

The air between them was so awkward that Ariadne’s voice naturally turned cold. She knew she shouldn’t speak so sharply, but once she started, the words kept spilling out.

“It really was exhausting. And I’m grateful—truly—but you didn’t have to do that in front of all the servants.”

“…Isn’t it a good thing for the household to see their masters getting along?”

“So you did it on purpose? To show them that?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

As Ariadne’s tone became sharper, Kieron’s expression shifted towards confusion. He had acted out of nothing but sincerity. She looked so exhausted and completely drained.

The walk wasn’t long or difficult, but he simply wanted to make things easier for her.

That was all.

Whether the servants saw or not hadn’t mattered to him. In fact, he hadn’t even thought about them.

They were a married couple. Why should he worry about how something so natural might appear to others?

He had carried her because he wanted to and thought it would help her, not to show off. It had never occurred to him that she might be upset by it.

Now, however, he felt hurt, as though he were being scolded for doing something kind.

“I’m grateful, truly, but I told you before. You don’t need to show me that kind of consideration.”

That was the final straw. Why did she keep referring to it as ‘consideration’? Why did a married couple need to tiptoe around each other?

If he wanted to hold her hand, he should just do it.

If he wanted to embrace her, he should embrace her.

If they wanted to share a bed, they should.

If she disliked something, of course he would stop.

But that wasn’t ‘consideration’ — it was simply basic respect.

What he did today wasn’t a calculated gesture. He did it because he wanted to. Because it felt natural.

So why did she keep saying things that hurt him so much?

Kieron narrowed his eyes at her.

“Then I won’t do it again. Is that what you want?”

“…What?”

“If you dislike it that much, I’ll never do it again. Will that satisfy you?”

Moments ago, he had been too flustered to respond properly; now, however, he was cold and distant. Ariadne suddenly found herself at a loss.

She hadn’t meant for her words to sound so harsh. She had simply been embarrassed. Being carried in front of the servants had made her feel uneasy.

She had already spent the entire day under far too many watchful eyes, and now, because of him, she had to worry about them all over again.

This made her feel irritated and exhausted, and she had snapped without thinking. But it wasn’t because she disliked being held by him.

Not at all.

‘Who wouldn’t want to be held in their husband’s arms for the first time?’

How could anyone hate the warmth, solidity and comforting firmness of his embrace, with the steady beat of his heart right against her chest?

Not to mention those glimpses of his sharp jawline and graceful neck, visible through the narrow gaps between her fingers.

The moment she realized where her thoughts were going, she felt heat flood her face.

She quickly looked away from him.

“Th-then I would appreciate it if you did that!”

“Fine. Understood.”

With that, he turned and walked out.

His footsteps echoed down the hall—sharp, decisive, and sounding very much like anger.

***

“Was it really that unpleasant, my lady?”

After Kieron left, Ariadne stormed out of the bath, still fuming. She insisted that it wasn’t worth getting so upset about. By the time she had finished ranting, the hunger she had felt earlier had disappeared.

She became furious again when Jay gently dried her damp hair.

“If I hated it, I would’ve told him to put me down halfway! Right? If it were truly unbearable, I would’ve told him to never do anything like that again, not complain about him doing it in front of the servants!”

Was she really not allowed to feel a little panicky when her husband held her in his arms for the first time since the wedding?

Still feeling annoyed, Ariadne continued talking about how outrageous she thought it was and how she couldn’t understand why he had got angry.

‘Shouldn’t she be the one who deserved to be upset?’

“I mean, honestly! After running into each other so often and talking about getting along better, shouldn’t he have at least tried holding my hand first? He never did anything until now!”

He hadn’t given her any warning, yet he pretended to be surprised by her reaction.

“Even an idiot should have understood that much.”

Jay, who was still drying his hair while listening, felt an overwhelming wave of awkwardness wash over him.

Honestly, the two of them simply needed to talk to each other openly. From what he could see, Ariadne had snapped because everything had piled up on her.

Kieron had got upset because he had done something for her, only to be scolded for it in the end.

Both sides made sense.

They both had every right to feel the way they did.

But still—

‘If His Grace had something to say, couldn’t he come in properly instead of lurking like that?’

In truth, Jay had been trying hard not to notice. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Kieron suddenly appeared in the corner of the room, just outside Ariadne’s line of sight, silently and almost ghost-like.

When she stepped out of the bath, he had disappeared.

Somewhere between changing her clothes and drying her hair, he had materialized from somewhere unknown.

From where Ariadne was sitting in front of the mirror, her field of vision was limited. She couldn’t see him.

Jay, however, had a perfect view and he had been praying that Kieron would either speak or leave.

The longer Kieron stood there, watching her complain about him, the more Jay felt his heart pounding with pure panic.

‘Please, if you have something to say, just knock on the door and come in properly…’

But he didn’t dare say that aloud. If he did, the lady—who was happily venting about her husband—might faint from shock.

“So what I’m saying is… Jay, are you even listening to me?”

“Yes, my lady. You mean that you didn’t dislike it, but if he wanted to do that, he should’ve done something earlier. You liked it, but because it was so sudden, it startled you.”

“Exactly! That’s what I—wait…?”

Just then, Ariadne, who had nodded so fiercely she even slapped her knee in agreement, turned her head in Jay’s direction.

And she froze utterly, completely like a person struck by lightning.

“Y-Your Grace?! S-since when…?”

Oh no.
He saw.
He heard.

Following her gaze, Jay turned his head and made a show of pretending to be startled as well, thinking,

‘What terrible timing…’

He also pretended not to notice the faint smirk tugging at Kieron’s mouth.

“Just now. There were no maids outside.”

“Wh-why… why are you…?”

Ariadne stared at him, face drained of all color.

She had been complaining about him just moments ago. Thinking she looked as though her throat had been cut mid-sentence, Kieron responded in an utterly unbothered tone.

“Why did I come? I came because I wanted to talk to you, of course…”

And it seemed he had arrived just in time to hear everything he wanted to hear. At that, Ariadne’s face tightened even more, as if she really were being strangled.

‘…If she keeps making that face, is she going to stop breathing?’

The thought flashed through his mind that she looked impossibly adorable like that. He knew that saying it would only make her angrier.

So Kieron kept quiet.

Then he made a small gesture towards Jay, silently instructing him to leave the room.