“Ah…”

Kael let out a long sigh as he sat on the bed.
The banquet ended successfully. He had become acquainted with many of the Eastern nobles and had clearly shown them the relationship between the Inver and the Tien family.
Word of what happened today would quickly find its way into the capital after sweeping through the eastern social circles, and it would certainly offend the emperor.

‘When is he going to realize that he’s having a stupid quarrel? Is he even going to realize that?’

Kael swallowed a bitter smile as he thought of the emperor. The emperor of this empire, making mistakes over and over again due to his sense of inferiority. It was ridiculous.

“It’s unpleasant.”

When he thought of the emperor, he felt very unpleasant. Kael looked around to clear his mind.
It was Adeline’s room. It was said to be the bedroom she had used from birth until she married Kael.
In the capital, and of course, the north, they didn’t use the same room despite being a couple, but it was not possible to use separate rooms in the eastern castle, where Adeline’s brothers were.
They were naturally given a single room as a couple, so Kael had to sleep here, the place that still had traces of Adeline from when she stayed in the east.
Kael found a sofa as he looked around. Even if they were using the same room, they couldn’t use the same bed. Adeline had to go to sleep, so he needed to quickly find a place to lie down.

“… Damn it.”

But the sofa he found in the room was smaller than he thought. It was a size that couldn’t be described as small, but it was far too small for the tall Kael to lie down.
Still, he had no choice. He just needed to close his eyes, and considering the countless sleeping places he experienced on the battlefield, he was very thankful for this sofa.

“Kael?”

As he was staring at the sofa, he heard Adeline’s voice. Adeline, who had just finished being washed up by the maids, approached Kael.
Her hair hadn’t dried completely, and a subtle citrus scent spread from her body.
Unlike a little while ago, when she was dressed gorgeously, her clean appearance was strangely provocative.

“Why are you staring at the sofa so…”

Adeline, who was approaching him to ask what was going on, soon realized the meaning and blurred her words.
In Adeline’s eyes, it was unreasonable for Kael to sleep there. It was obvious that it would be very uncomfortable.

“If you sleep there, your whole body will hurt.”
“It’s fine. This is enough.”

Kael said it was fine, but Adeline wasn’t fine with it. It was impossible. She was worried about Kael, who nevertheless said he would bear the inconvenience.

“Let’s just share it.”
“… What did you say just now?”

Adeline, who was contemplating, suggested sharing the bed.
Kael asked back, doubting his ears.

“We can put a pillow in the middle… Or just sleep with our backs turned against each other… The bed is big. That should be enough.”

Adeline didn’t know how much meaning saying to share a bed had, but there was no other way. She didn’t want to let Kael sleep on that sofa.

“This sofa is really enough. Don’t make yourself uncomfortable.”
“Then I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
“Adeline. That doesn’t make sense…”
“See? You won’t let me sleep on the sofa either. So let’s just share the bed.”

In terms of size, Adeline would have been better off sleeping on the sofa, but there was no way Kael would let that happen. So, they had no choice but to use one bed.

“It isn’t just a day or two; it’s almost a week. The sofa is too much. If you insist, I will really sleep there.”

Adeline made an aggressive move, and in the end, Kael yielded his will. He nodded, understanding. He couldn’t help but think that Adeline was going to grab a pillow and sleep on the sofa if he kept insisting.

‘I won’t be able to sleep at all.’

Seeing Adeline relieved, Kael quietly swallowed a sigh.
Adeline seemed to have no idea how much torture it would be to lie down next to her in bed.

“Ah, would you like a cup of tea? I asked the maids to prepare it earlier.”

Adeline, who couldn’t stand the oddly awkward atmosphere, quickly changed the topic.
Adeline led Kael to the table. The teapot and teacups were beautifully placed on the small table.

“It’s mare tea. It’s made from drying seaweed only found in the East Sea, and you can sleep really well if you drink it before bed. It has a good scent, too.”

The skillful hands quickly prepared the tea. The blue teacup was filled with green tea.

“Some people think that seaweed has a fishy taste to be used for tea, but it’s all prejudice. The scent of mare tea is rather similar to that of a gardenia, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s similar.”

As Adeline had said, the mare tea smelled like gardenias. Smelling the scent, Kael slowly took a sip.

“How is it?”

Adeline waited for Kael’s reaction with anticipation. She wondered what kind of feeling the tea he was drinking for the first time in the east would give him.

“It’s delicious. It has a good scent.”

In fact, it wasn’t really Kael’s preference. It tasted good and smelled good, but it didn’t suit a person who had spent his entire life buried under the smell of winter.
However, he did not want to disappoint her gleaming eyes.

“Kael.”

However, Adeline’s expression wasn’t bright when she heard him say that it was really delicious. The voice that called out to Kael was also strangely different from usual.

“Do you know you’re really bad at lying?”
“… Me?”
“It shows on your face. That you’re lying right now.”
“… That’s impossible. It’s really delicious.”
“No. It doesn’t seem like it’s delicious at all from the look on your face.”

Kael looked at Adeline, visibly bewildered. He couldn’t believe he was bad at lying. It was the first time he had ever heard it, and he was perplexed at how Adeline had figured it out.

“How do you know?”
“I won’t tell you. I’ll keep it to myself.”

Adeline spoke a little bluntly with a mischievous expression on her face.
She swallowed the words that it was obvious when he lied or didn’t like something, because his gaze would turn downwards for a moment, and he had a habit of lifting his eyebrows.
It was a habit that not even Kael was aware of. Adeline wanted it to be something that only she knew.

“The tea tastes really good. And it has a good scent. It just doesn’t suit my taste.”

Adeline laughed out loud because Kael was being honest after getting caught.

“Of course, that could be the case. You can just be honest. Don’t make up things.”

Adeline smiled at Kael, saying that it was really fine.

“I want to ask about your impression of the East, but I can’t because you haven’t seen any places yet.”
“It’s beautiful. Even if I haven’t seen much, I can still feel it. I think it’s brighter than the North. The sun seems to be pouring down no matter where you go. Your room is like that too.”
“You’re right. It’s the city of the sun, after all.”
“I heard you always used this room?”
“Yes. Ever since I was born.”

Adeline answered as she looked around the room. It was no exaggeration to say that this room was Adeline, and her traces were contained everywhere.

“Come to think of it, I saw a picture of your childhood earlier.”
“What?”

Kael, who had been scouring the room like Adeline, stood up as if something had come to mind.
He walked towards the cabinet where Adeline’s childhood picture frame was placed.

“You can’t!”

Then, Adeline hurriedly ran to block the cabinet. Kael was startled by how quick she was.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t look very pretty. And there are many funny pictures… There’s no point in looking at them.
“No way.”
“It’s true!”

Adeline desperately guarded the display cabinet with her life. In fact, Adeline was also very pretty and cute when she was a child. But she was just ashamed to show it to Kael.
There were also several pictures that showed her fighting with her brothers, so she was embarrassed to show them because she looked like a rascal.

“Isn’t it unfair that you sneaked a peek at my childhood pictures at that time but don’t let me see yours?”
“Ah… That was… But you also looked very good when you were a child.”
“I didn’t look good at all. That’s just how you saw it. So stop covering it and come over here.”
“You really can’t!”

When Adeline acted so desperately, Kael, who didn’t think much of it, became even more greedy. With a mischievous smile, he tried to see the picture in the cabinet without hesitation.

“Kael! Seriously!”
“Even if you try to cover it like this, if I do this…”

Kael was tall, so no matter how much Adeline tried to cover it, he could see the picture at a glance if he looked over her head.
Kael leaned down to show her the situation, but it looked like he had trapped Adeline between him and the cabinet.
It was a joke he had played without thinking, but the distance between them had gotten too close.
He could feel the citrus scent that had been spreading subtly since earlier even more deeply, and he could feel the temperature of her breath scattering between her lips, which looked particularly red today.

“…”
“…”

The atmosphere between them changed in an instant. The light atmosphere subsided, and the situation heated up in an instant.
Adeline’s light green eyes fluttered, and Kael’s blue-grey eyes kept hovering on her lips.

It was a tense situation. It seemed that it would immediately lead to a kiss if Kael got any closer and Adeline closed her eyes.

“Your Grace! Your Grace!”

But at that moment, there was a loud voice looking for them. It was Melissa.
As Melissa’s voice was heard, the distance between Kael and Adeline widened at once. Just as they barely hid their embarrassed faces, Melissa bounced open the door.

“I apologize for coming so late at night. It’s too urgent…”
“What’s going on, Melissa?”

Melissa barely spoke as she calmed her gasping breath.

“The Lady has gone into labor.”

–