The day passed like water. I compared the evidence from the safe with what I knew, and time flew by as I confirmed the truth. Before I knew it, the sun had set and night had come.
"You should go to bed now!"
Sophie forcefully pushed me into the bedroom after I had spent the whole day looking at piles of documents. There was no one inside. There was still some time left before Dante, who had headed straight to the palace from the bank, would return home. After looking through the documents my maternal grandfather had left behind, Dante thought for a moment and said,
"If there is this much solid evidence, I can throw some weaker evidence to the Crown Prince as a threat."
A threat to confess before we all blew up everything on our side and suffered great humiliation in court. I said I would go with him, but he flatly refused. It seemed that he was very concerned about what had happened to me in the palace the last time.
Dante. When I thought of that name, I was worried again.
'But... Is he okay?'
A few hours ago. The moment I held the necklace, Dante's expression kept coming to mind. Then, Dante rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache and said nonchalantly.
"I think I was just anemic for a moment."
That excuse was even more bizarre. Dante and anemia, isn't that a very odd combination?
However, it was clear that Dante had suffered from some kind of pain at that moment. After that, his expression looked strangely bad. It seemed certain that his condition was not good.
'Could it be because of insomnia?'
It wasn't an unreasonable thought. I now knew that Dante was still suffering from long-term insomnia. Last night, I had woken up and encountered Dante who was staying up all night with his eyes wide open. I felt sorry for him because he couldn't sleep. So I offered to sing him a lullaby... But instead of putting him to sleep, hmm.
'In the end, I couldn't sleep at all until dawn.'
Thinking back to that time, the back of my neck burned again. I shook off the bad thoughts that were rising like clouds and finished preparing. Since I couldn't sleep yesterday either, Dante must be extremely tired by now.
Insomnia is said to be a disease that eats away at the soul. It wasn't strange that Dante's condition was the worst since he hadn't slept for several days.
'So today, I definitely...I was planning to put him to sleep.'
I looked around. Everything was perfectly prepared. The faint scent of sleep and soft lighting. It was the perfect environment for sleeping, no matter how you looked at it. I glanced at the clock. By now, the time Dante had said he would return was approaching.
Thump, thump.
My heart was beating a little faster every time the second hand moved. I tried to calm my mind and picked some flower petals. They were famous for helping you sleep when placed by your bedside. I was sprinkling the petals I had picked on my pillow...
'Ah.'
I froze in the same position as I was sprinkling the petals on my pillow. When did the door open?
Dante, who was coming into the bedroom, made eye contact with me and stopped walking. The incense that had been lit, the petals that had been left unsprayed. And finally, Dante opened his mouth, keeping his gaze fixed on me who was resting my hand on the pillow.
"What is it? A gift set?"
He muttered as he walked towards me. With one hand, he untied his tie. His eyes were unusual as he approached the bedside. My instincts warned me that the plan was about to go awry. I quickly opened my mouth.
"Um, Duke."
"Yes."
Dante answered briefly and put his knees on the bed. The bed shook violently, and my heart also shook. I tried to look up at him, pretending that nothing had happened.
"Would you like to lie down here first?"
As I said that and tapped the bed, Dante looked noticeably surprised.
"... All of a sudden?"
"That's not what you think."
Since the place was the place, there was a high possibility that my intentions would be misinterpreted, so I quickly corrected myself.
"Or?"
Dante said, leaning over me. His hand lifted the tip of my chin. He whispered from a distance where I could almost kiss him.
"What?"
"... First, first, lie down quickly."
I said, hastily turning my head. From the moment Dante suddenly approached me, my heart lost its brakes and started beating wildly. How could it be so agitated without being tired?
It was surprising, even though it was my own body. Dante, who had been staring blankly at me, fortunately, did as I said. He laid his long body down on the bed. I felt a deep sense of relief and quickly sat down diagonally next to him, knees together.
"Now, close your eyes."
Red eyes demanding an explanation were directed at me. I said with a determined will.
"I will definitely let the Duke sleep tonight."
Huh. Dante, who had a low laugh, closed his eyes. obediently this time as well. I was concerned about the smiling corners of his mouth, but I tried to focus only on my fingertips and touched his chin and neck. Then, as Linda and the servants had taught me, I tried to start massaging him...
'Wow.'
I could feel the smooth muscle fibers under his skin with my fingertips. I was dumbfounded by his solid muscles as if they had been painstakingly sculpted. His long neck became firmer every time he moved his neck. How much training did he have to do to become like this?
When I thought of my neck, which was just floppy, it felt like we were from a different species.
'And... He's really big.'
Looking down at him like this, I realized his physique anew. I'm not short for a woman, but the length of my arms and the thickness of his upper body were incomparable as if we were from different species.
When I was young, the difference was never this great. I was admiring his body in awe and amazement, but I came to my senses a beat later.
'No. Focus.'
I scolded myself and diligently moved my fingers and massaged his collarbone below his neck. It was just as I had learned from my servants.
"What does this do?"
Dante asked in a strangely subdued voice.
"It's said to have the effect of relaxing the nerves and calming the mind."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes?"
"It seems to have the opposite effect."
Dante, who had finished speaking, pulled my shoulder and turned my body over. My vision suddenly changed. The body I had been fidgeting with just a moment ago was now draped over me. I looked up at Dante with surprised eyes and then shuddered at the sensation of his thigh touching me.
Oh my. It really had the opposite effect.
"You don't seem to know, Ariana."
Dante leaned in close to my nose and whispered.
"There's a special potion for sleeping."
His voice was sinister, like a devil tempting a priest.
"Only married couples can do it."
"Oh, no."
I hurriedly tried to push him away. He didn't move at all, perhaps because it was a rock rather than my shoulder.
"Why?"
"Because you can't stay up until the sun comes up again!"
Dante snorted as if he could hear everything.
"Do I look like a beast that would push my wife for two days in a row?"
"That's..."
"Well, that was good to see."
"...Your Highness!"
Dante quickly opened his mouth as I tried to push him away in shock.
"I'm joking."
I looked up at him with eyes full of disbelief. I couldn't tell how much of it was sincere and how much was a joke. It felt unfair. It seemed like I was the only one who was always so agitated and unsure. The moment I thought that a large palm covered my cheek.
"I won't make it hard for you. Today."
I froze. The low voice seemed to be out of place with him. Impatient and impatient.
"So please allow me, Ariana."
Was my name that sweetly pronounced?
Dante, who brought his lips close to my ear, whispered again.
"Please."
"Ah..."
The strength in my hands that were trying to push Dante's shoulders gradually disappeared.
'How can I refuse?'
My body, which remembered last night vividly, relaxed in an instant. As if he had noticed that my momentum had melted away, Dante's lips drew a smile and drew closer. As soon as our lips overlapped, a sense of familiarity quickly took over my body.
I bit my lip, not knowing what to do. A large hand pretended to be polite at first but then began to urgently dig into my clothes. My toes trembled.
***
I suddenly opened my eyes and stared blankly outside the window at the faint dawn. Last night, I had finally been completely swept away. Blinking blankly, I wandered for a moment between dream and reality. The sensations swirling around my body before falling asleep felt much more fantastic than in my dream. In the end, I completely forgot the firm resolution I had made when I entered the bedroom.
'Still...'
I looked to the side and smiled happily. I saw Dante's face with his eyes closed. His chest was rising and falling regularly.
'Sleep well.'
My heart was filled with pride. I had achieved my goal. I savored that feeling and carefully turned my head to look more closely at Dante's face. The thick eyelashes caught my eye first. The high nose and the lips were well-shaped beneath it. I looked at his face for a moment, my mind blank. My heart fluttered as if a small bird had been placed inside my chest. I no longer knew the name of the emotion that made me like this. It's just that I had never said it out loud yet.
Dante's face, sound asleep, was completely different from when he was awake.
Perhaps because he had no sharp eyes or sharp tongue... pretty.
"..."
I raised my hand absentmindedly and flinched. I almost touched him with my hand, not to mention my gaze.
'What if he wakes up after that?'
It was a problem to wake him up from the sleep I had finally put him to sleep, but I had no idea what excuse I would make if I got caught touching his face. I was about to pull my hand away thinking that.
"...Gasp."
Dante opened his eyes with a start.
Startled, I couldn't help but look at him with my hands vaguely hovering in the air.
'No, you're getting up already!'
...But Dante's condition was strange. His face, which held me, was strangely distorted. It was the same expression I had seen in the safe. Anxious, fearful. An expression that didn't suit him.
"Ariana."
With that expression, Dante pulled me urgently closer. I opened my eyes wide when I realized that his hands were shaking.
"You... blood."
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