<CHAPTER 6>

The moment she forced her heavy eyelids open, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.

Birds and winding vines carved from wood filled the entire ceiling.

‘I’ve seen such an elegant ceiling somewhere before…’

Still groggy, Atlriata turned her head to the side.

She found herself lying neatly in her own room, furnished with dark cherry-colored furniture.

At some point, someone had even changed her into a nightgown.

Her face immediately flushed, and her heart began pounding.

“H-Huh?!”

Startled, Atlriata shot upright.

Her last memory was seeing the Duke Raphareon asleep in the study the previous night.

She had been alternating between staring at the unpleasant wall and the sleeping Duke until she eventually drifted off herself.

No, being carried back is one thing, but what about my clothes? Who changed them?!

Just then, a quiet knock echoed through the room.

“Lady Atlriata, this is Hansen.”

“Ah… yes, please come in!”

Still wearing only her nightgown, Atlriata hurriedly pulled the blanket up to cover herself.

Hansen entered with graceful steps and offered a polite bow.

As always, he was dressed in a three-piece suit.

“Good morning, Lady Atlriata. By His Grace’s order, the attendants carried you from the study to your room after you fell asleep last night. The maids changed your clothes as well. You must have been exhausted, because you didn’t wake up.”

Hansen answered the very question that had been troubling her.

“Ah… I guess I was a little tired yesterday. I normally wake up easily…”

Atlriata briefly wondered whether everyone had laughed while carrying her sleeping body.

In the end, she decided not to dwell on it.

She truly had felt unusually exhausted.

It had been the first time she sensed something while singing a lullaby.

It was also the first time she had desperately tried to erase whatever that strange thing was.

Hansen smiled gently.

“His Grace instructed us that if you ever fall asleep in the study again, we are to carry you back to your room just like last night. There’s no need to worry.”

“Haha… alright.”

“Today, Sir Mitchell will teach you the duties of a secretary. Would you like to have breakfast in your room?”

The mention of breakfast suddenly made her wonder whether the Duke was eating properly.

“Um… Does His Grace eat breakfast?”

“Yes. He usually has his meals in his office.”

So he actually eats better than I expected.

Then those hollow eyes really are just because he can’t sleep from the nightmares.

“Would it be alright if I had breakfast in my room?”

“Of course. I’ll return once you’ve finished your meal.”

After another courteous bow, Hansen quietly left.

Atlriata had a feeling that busy days lay ahead.

After finishing a light breakfast, Atlriata began walking through the Duke’s garden.

There was still plenty of time before she was due to meet Mitchell.

After changing into a simple dress and sitting idly in her room, Hansen had suggested taking a stroll in the garden.

Fortunately, she had visited it on her first day, so she found her way without difficulty.

Gardeners carefully tended the plants among the beautiful trees.

Birds chirped overhead.

The clear blue sky stretched endlessly above, while the gentle spring breeze rustled the leaves.

It was a peaceful scene.

As she admired the scenery, Atlriata recalled the invisible wall she had sensed.

Even without using her power, people always fell asleep when she sang.

Her especially sweet lullabies soothed even the fussiest children into peaceful sleep.

That was why putting the children to bed had always been her responsibility at the orphanage.

But this time had been very different.

On the first night, she had barely managed to make him sleep even after using her power.

Last night, she had needed even more of it.

She had even slept through being carried away.

During the eight years she had wandered from place to place, she could count on one hand the number of times she had truly slept deeply.

A wandering life rarely allowed anyone to feel safe.

Some villages mistreated outsiders.

And because she was rather pretty, drunken men had even broken into the homes where she stayed.

That was why she longed to have a home of her own.

—

“How could I not hear those questions? In the Alperno Empire, people start asking about marriage once you’re in your mid-twenties. Especially my mother.”

“Then how do you answer?”

Mitchell tilted his head as though the question itself were strange.

“Naturally, I tell them I’ll marry after His Grace does.”

Idwin let out a hollow laugh.

“If His Grace himself isn’t married yet, how could I, his secretary, possibly get married first?”

Mitchell smiled calmly.

The orange feather decorating his hat swayed with the movement.

Idwin suddenly had the urge to pluck that feather and shove it down Mitchell’s throat.

Growing tired of looking at Mitchell’s annoyingly handsome face, Idwin lazily waved him away.

Left alone, he closed his eyes and leaned deeply into his chair, feeling the spring breeze drifting through the office window.

He slowly inhaled and exhaled.

The breeze carried the scent of spring.

Marriage.

The idea was laughable.

Although he had managed to sleep for perhaps one or two hours the previous night…

…it had truly been sleep.

Something completely different from his usual state.

Normally, Idwin stayed awake for days before finally collapsing unconscious in his office chair.

Even then, agonizing screams from women and splitting headaches would quickly wake him again.

“Marriage… when I barely feel alive.”

It wasn’t that he lacked any desire for a family.

But from the moment women began filling him with instinctive revulsion, marriage had ceased to exist in his future.

Just then, he noticed Atlriata walking through the garden outside.

Her soft wheat-colored hair shimmered beneath the morning sunlight.

Idwin slowly followed her movements with his crimson eyes.

“O one bound by the eyes, the melody of the sea shall become your salvation…”

As he watched her profile, he quietly repeated the old prophecy passed down within the Duke’s household.

Though the temples had largely lost their power, a few still remained.

One of them had once stood within the Duchy.

One stormy night during the previous Duke Raphareon’s lifetime, an aged priest had arrived at the castle, uttered a prophecy, and disappeared.

At the time, the House of Raphareon was at the height of its glory.

No one believed him.

But after the previous Duke and Duchess died suddenly, the prophecy quietly began taking root.

Hansen, who had served as head butler since the previous generation, firmly believed that this prophecy would someday bring sunlight back to the ducal family.

“The melody of the sea… Was it because that woman’s eyes reminded me so strongly of the ocean?”

Idwin tapped the armrest with his fingertips before chuckling to himself.

‘Relying on my own senses… I’ve become ridiculous.’

His instincts, sharpened by countless battlefields, had never once betrayed him.

Even so, placing such hope in a woman whose origins and past remained unknown was excessive.

His gaze never left Atlriata.

She had nearly disappeared into the distance before suddenly turning around and walking back.

‘Those eyes really do remind me of the sea.’

Blue eyes were uncommon in the Alperno Empire.

Yet that alone couldn’t explain it.

He had seen blue eyes before.

As Atlriata returned toward the castle, she suddenly noticed the Duke watching her from the office window.

She froze like a small woodland creature spotting a predator.

After hesitating briefly, she bowed politely.

Then she walked toward the window with surprisingly long, quick strides.

“Good morning, Your Grace.”

Idwin silently looked down at her.

“Um… did you manage to sleep well last night?”

Atlriata carefully examined his face.

Idwin found himself unexpectedly surprised.

‘As expected… this woman’s voice doesn’t bother me at all.’

Whenever he heard a woman’s voice, it usually made his skin crawl as though insects were creeping over him.

He would scrub himself until the sensation disappeared.

Yet from the very first time he met her…

…he had felt nothing.

“Most people can’t even breathe properly when they meet my eyes.”

His voice dropped slightly lower.

His blood-red eyes inspired awe before beauty.

Their overwhelming dignity often terrified people.

At banquets he attended unwillingly, women sometimes collapsed or burst into tears the moment they met his gaze.

“Um… Is it because you’re the Duke? Am I not supposed to look directly at you since I’m only a commoner?”

Her unexpected question amused him once again.

“That may be part of it.”

Atlriata’s eyes darted about in panic.

Then, as though reaching a firm conclusion, she answered confidently.

“I’m the one who sings lullabies. If I’m going to check whether you’ve slept well, I have no choice but to look.”

“You’re rather bold.”

“I truly don’t have a choice, so please forgive me. Then I’ll be on my way.”

Even after hearing his remark, Atlriata merely shrugged.

She bowed once more before walking away.

As she came and went like the tide itself…

…she left behind the very first gentle flutter within a corner of Idwin’s heart.

New Characters Introduced