Chapter: 122
“……”
For some reason, I felt a little emotional.
The Duke always told me to respect myself.
Whenever I heard him say things like that…
…it made me feel as though I really had become someone precious.
“I will.”
I quietly nodded.
The Duke’s expression seemed to soften, and then he rested his head against my shoulder once again.
His pale platinum-blond hair spilled messily over my shoulder.
“Good.”
The Duke murmured it like a sigh.
I smiled faintly as well.
“Me too.”
The Duke and I remained leaning against each other for quite some time.
‘Ah, he smells nice.’
I had noticed it for a long time, but the Duke’s body had a refreshing scent that reminded me of a forest.
As I enjoyed his scent, I impulsively asked,
“Do you happen to use any particular perfume, Your Grace?”
“Well, I mainly use Tobret perfume… Why do you ask?”
There was a puzzled note in the Duke’s voice.
I answered without much thought.
“Because it smells nice.”
“……”
The Duke remained silent for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh at my answer.
“Really? I’m glad to hear you say that.”
“I mean it. I’ve thought so for a long time.”
The Duke glanced up at me.
“Come to think of it, I don’t think I know much about Lady Ansi’s preferences.”
And from there,
the Duke began asking me question after question.
“What colors do you prefer?”
“Hmm…”
As I thought for a moment, I suddenly became aware of the Duke’s blue eyes staring intently at me.
Without thinking, the answer slipped from my lips.
“I like blue.”
“I see.”
The Duke nodded and asked another question.
“Do you prefer cravats with patterns or without?”
“It depends on the occasion, but usually without…”
“And when it comes to shoes, do you prefer glossy or matte?”
“I don’t really mind. Wouldn’t it be better to wear whatever matches the outfit?”
Why on earth was he asking me things like this?
I was somewhat puzzled, but I still answered sincerely.
We continued chatting together like that.
The conversation was rather random, but I enjoyed it immensely all the same.
Then,
‘Huh?’
The Duke gradually began speaking less and less.
“So, that Eva keeps clinging to Lady Ansi…”
After mumbling those words,
thump.
The Duke rested his head on my shoulder.
At the same time, the sound of his steady breathing filled the room.
It seemed he had fallen asleep.
‘Did the chamomile tea actually help a little?’
I glanced down at the Duke’s teacup, which was more than half empty.
Of course, it could have simply been the placebo effect, but still.
In any case, what mattered was that the Duke’s fatigue was being relieved, even if only like this.
Just then, the young lady returned to the living room.
“Lari, I…”
“Shh.”
I hurriedly raised a finger to my lips.
The moment the young lady saw the Duke asleep against my shoulder, her expression became one of utter exasperation.
“Honestly, he really does everything.”
She grumbled loudly enough for him to hear if he were awake.
“Anyone would think he’s the only person in the world who knows how to be in love.”
Still, perhaps out of consideration for the sleeping Duke, she kept her voice very low.
“Well, anyway.”
The young lady quietly approached me and looked down at the Duke with a displeased expression before letting out a small laugh.
“It’s really been a long time since I’ve seen my brother sleep so peacefully.”
“That’s a relief.”
“But shouldn’t we wake him? It’s getting close to bedtime.”
“It’s fine. He’s sleeping so well for once.”
I shook my head.
“I’ll stay a little longer before I go.”
The young lady asked mischievously,
“Aha, so you two lovers are going to spend some sweet time together, is that it?”
“No, it’s not like that…!”
The young lady giggled and turned around.
“Fine, I understand. But don’t stay too late. All right?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Sleep well, Lari.”
“Eva, you have sweet dreams too.”
After exchanging our warm goodnights,
the young lady left the living room.
As I watched her retreating figure, I gave a short yawn.
“Yaaawn.”
Maybe it was because I had spent the entire day wandering around department stores and shopping districts, but my eyelids felt as heavy as if weights had been attached to them.
I tried my best to stay awake, forcing my eyes wide open,
but I couldn’t stop the drowsiness that gradually crept over me.
In the end, I slowly closed my eyes.
Around dawn,
Dietrich stirred lightly from his sleep.
Where am I…?
For a moment, he couldn’t properly remember where he was.
Dietrich blinked his eyes with a dazed expression.
Beyond the half-open curtains, pure white moonlight poured into the room.
The living room, half-covered in darkness and half-bathed in light, looked unfamiliar yet almost dreamlike.
Then,
‘Hmm?’
Dietrich suddenly stopped.
He could hear soft, quiet breathing close by.
When he glanced to the side, he saw Larit asleep while leaning against him.
Apparently, she had waited because she didn’t want to wake Dietrich while he was sleeping, and eventually fallen asleep herself.
He carefully shifted his position so that Larit could rest comfortably against his shoulder.
“……”
His blue gaze softened.
The Iron-Blooded Duke, who was always so composed that people often described him as lacking in humanity, was nowhere to be seen.
Dietrich looked down at the sleeping Larit with warm eyes.
‘…It feels like a dream.’
He had never desperately wanted someone like this before.
Nor had he ever felt so fulfilled simply because someone was by his side.
Everything was a first for him.
And Dietrich was genuinely happy to experience this unfamiliar happiness.
“Mm…”
Just then, Larit shifted slightly, seeming to fuss in her sleep, before slowly lifting her eyelids.
Her thick, pitch-black eyelashes trembled softly.
The clear pink eyes hidden beneath them faintly sparkled as they caught the moonlight.
“……”
Dietrich stared at her as if spellbound.
At that very moment, he understood perfectly what a miracle was.
Those beautiful eyes were filled completely with only Dietrich.
She met his gaze while still intoxicated by sleep and smiled sweetly.
That sight was a miracle.
“Ah…”
Meanwhile, Larit gazed at Dietrich with sleepy eyes and murmured as softly as a sigh,
“How can he be so handsome…?”
Huh?
At the unexpected compliment, Dietrich blinked awkwardly.
After studying Dietrich for quite some time, Larit muttered to herself in a slow voice.
“The Duke is beside me… It must be a dream…”
Even that feeling of ‘this must be a dream’ was exactly the same as his own.
Dietrich suppressed the laughter that threatened to escape.
After those sleep-mumbled words,
Larit rested her head against Dietrich and promptly fell asleep again.
Dietrich wrapped his arms firmly around Larit’s slender shoulders.
‘I’m going crazy.’
It was as though he had a huge piece of candy in his mouth, with sweetness pooling all over his tongue.
If loveliness were molded into human form, wouldn’t it become Larit?
Dietrich sincerely thought so.
The first thing I became aware of was the faint sunlight brushing against my eyelids.
“Mm…”
I instinctively frowned, and suddenly a shadow fell over my face.
As though someone had deliberately shielded my face from the sunlight.
Like a hand making shade?
‘Yes, this is it.’
I was just about to contentedly sink back into sleep when—
‘Wait. A shadow? A hand making shade?!’
Startled, I opened my eyes wide.
At the same time, the hand that had been hovering over my face was withdrawn.
The Duke gently asked me,
“Did you sleep well?”
