‘… was that a lie?’

Rubica thought Arman would never lie to her and believed everything he said. But maybe, Edgar was right. He could have lost his eyesight at some point in his life. Maybe he just did not want to explain the details.

“Could you, could you also look for Arman among those who are not blind?”

Edgar, who had finished eating, raised an eyebrow at this and crossed his legs.

“How suspicious.”

“What? What’s suspicious?”

“You’re suspicious. You keep changing words. I asked his last name, and you said you didn’t know because you never asked. I asked the color of his hair and you didn’t reply. You said he was blind but now you’re asking me to look for him among those who are not blind.”

Rubica cooled down her hot cheeks with her fingers. They were cold after using the cold silver utensils.

‘Oh, no. I’ve said too much.’

She feared he might question her about that and reveal her secret.

“Well, that’s not important.”

Edgar backed off at seeing her getting anxious. The conversation’s purpose hadn’t been about finding Arman. It had been to find him and threaten him to never show his face to Rubica again.

“I’ll find him and think about it again if I can’t find him.”

“Thank you.”

Rubica was relieved and smiled. Edgar then glanced at her. He turned his chair and stretched out his arms, but she did nothing. He gestured to her again.

“What are you doing?”

“If you really want to thank me, you should give me a reward.”

“A reward?”

“Come here.”

Edgar stretched out a leg and tapped on the floor. Rubica was a little puzzled, but she was grateful to him for offering to find Arman for her. While she didn’t know what kind of reward he was talking about, it wasn’t like going where he was tapping at would hurt her.

She stood up and went there.

“Ugh!”

However, the moment she arrived at the spot, Edgar stretched out his long arms to embrace her. Then he sat back on his chair. It shook, but it was soon stable again thanks to Edgar’s strong legs.

“What, what on earth are you doing?”

She asked in surprise, but he didn’t stop. He buried his face in her hair.

“My reward.”

Rubica could feel his breath near her collarbone. She was frozen by the breathtaking tension. The feeling of the passionate kiss was still lingering on her lips, and his fresh scent tickled her nose. She wished she could also bury her face in his neck.

“Please, stay this way only for a while.”

She tried to move away, but Edgar held her and urgently whispered, almost pleadingly. He sounded so desperate that Rubica stopped.

“The trip has been exhausting. Just let me recharge.”

He begged like a little boy and held her even tighter. She thought about pushing him away, but then she found some courage and lifted his face. Edgar’s deep, blue eyes looked up at her. He was very tall, so she had always looked up to him, but now, looking down, his face looked completely different from the usual.

Without that strong armor made of cold aura which he always wore, his eyes were full of sadness.

He looked like a hurt soul and she wanted to hug him and comfort him. She had always refused him, but in such a moment, she wanted to kiss that pair of lips that were even redder than hers and comfort him.

‘It’s not fair.’

How could anyone resist such a beautiful man with so much loneliness? Rubica let go of his face before she gave in to her impulse and kissed him. Then, she buried her face into his neck to avoid looking at his face. She feared he might lift her face to look into her eyes and put her arms around his neck.

She could hear him hold his breath above her head. He started to gently stroke her hair. His gentle hand started to calm down her wildly beating heart. She felt so safe in his arms.

She recalled the moment when he announced the baby that didn’t even exist was his. He had been outraged to hear the baby wasn’t Arman’s. He was acting like he would track down the father and challenge him to a duel. She had never seen him get so mad like that before. And when she kissed him to subdue that anger, he…

Even thinking about it made her blush. She hugged him even tighter to press down the embarrassment. Before, she would have run away from him to escape that feeling. But now, she didn’t feel like running away at all.

“Are you uncomfortable?” Edgar asked quietly as he felt her hugging him by his neck even more tightly.

“No.”

“Okay.”

He didn’t ask anything further. He just stroked her hair. The sound of the wood burning in the fireplace and the breathing of the two filled the entire room. Rubica felt more comfortable than ever.

She was doing nothing. She was just in his arms, but she couldn’t feel the boredom that had been pressing down on her at all. The sound of his breathing, his warmth, and his scent mixed with his perfume. It made her relax more than ever. It felt like she would never have to worry again as long as she was with him, no matter what they would encounter in the future.

Worries about the war that was about to come in the distant future, worries about the noisy relatives, worries about her fake pregnancy. They all slowly disappeared in his arms.

She was relieved. Her breathing started to become comfortable. She fell asleep in his arms and he carefully lifted her face. She was probably having a good dream as she was smiling like an angel.

“You’re the prettiest when you sleep.”

Edgar smiled along with her. He had been smiling a lot after he met her.

“But it’s a little mean.”

His long fingers lightly touched her lips. She was sleeping in his arms, not even giving a thought about how he was feeling about it. Edgar touched her lips for a long time and hesitated. But then, he lowered his head to kiss her lips, and a brutal thirst overcame him. However, the kiss only lasted less than a second.

He had found out that a beast existed inside him after meeting Rubica. And although that beast was furious, it became like a tamed lamb in front of her. He sighed at his unsatisfied thirst and carefully raised her lest she woke up.

“How did I end up being like this?”

However, the woman who knew the answer had already fallen asleep and didn’t say anything.

When Rubica woke up, she was already on the bed. She then jumped to her feet in surprise. It felt like she had slept only for a moment, but the sunlight was already coming through the windows and she was wearing a nightdress.

‘What happened?’

She remembered being in Edgar’s arms, but nothing more. Had she fallen asleep like that? She blushed in embarrassment.

She pulled the rope next to the bed, and the door was opened and a maid, who had been waiting, came in.

“Good morning, Your Grace. You must have been very tired. Should I bring water to wash your face?”

“Oh, um, how did I get here last night?”

“Oh, you don’t remember.”

The maid blushed and covered her cheeks with her hands. She looked dreamy as if she was recalling the scene of a fairy tale.

“Your husband carried you here himself.”

“What?”

Rubica’s face was now burning.

“Isn’t that sweet?”

Rubica felt so embarrassed that she wished she could go somewhere alone and scream. However, the maid kept complimenting Edgar.

“He was so careful to not wake you up that we all had to hold our breath.”

However, he could have just woken her up. Her cheeks, in the meantime, turned red. Why was he acting like a romantic knight of a play? If he kept doing that, it was going to be impossible to get divorced saying their love had died.

‘And he even knows I’m in love with someone else…’

She really couldn’t guess what he was thinking, but she still managed to calm down her fluttering heart.

“What time is it now?”

“It’s noon.”

“Noon? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Another maid came with a basin of water in the middle of their talking.

“It’s just… you looked so tired.”

The maid who had come first avoided Rubica’s gaze. Then, she met eyes with the other maid and smiled. Their cheeks were all red, and Rubica didn’t like it. However, it wasn’t like she could openly ask about it, so she angrily washed her hands and got changed into a simple dress.

“Your Grace.”

Ann came after hearing Rubica had woken up, but she didn’t come alone. A servant cleared the table next to the bed and started to put food in it. Rubica’s eyes widened at seeing that.

“What is this about?”

“You must eat well for some time, but you can’t eat well in the morning. I was told you ate well here in the bedroom when Elise was serving you the other day, so I brought your breakfast here.”

“But I shouldn’t be doing this…”

In the Kingdom of Seritos, having breakfast in the bedroom was what only the laziest people do, so Rubica hesitated, but Ann smiled kindly.

“The doctor said it would be better to have breakfast in the bedroom for now.”