Noah’s eyes fell on my elbow.

“Huh?”

That was where I got hurt yesterday…

Now that it was summer, my clothes were thinner and shorter, revealing my arms. Fortunately, I applied some medicine yesterday, so only a slight reddish mark remained. Nevertheless, Noah’s gaze wouldn’t leave my elbow.

“Nothing.”

He kissed my arm briefly and let go, but his gaze still lingered near my wound. That meant… he also heard about my injury yesterday? Did Nigella tell him? Was this why he came here, to see my wounds?

He wouldn’t have come here out of genuine concern.

Come to think of it, Nigella had disappeared like a ghost before. I got goosebumps whenever I learned something I didn’t know. Even though I racked my brain, I pretended not to know and turned my body to put my hand on Noah’s side and hugged him.

His laughter tickled my ears.

“What did you do while I was away? You didn’t just work yourself to death, did you?”

“No, I did as you said, my wife. I worked moderately, slept, and ate all my meals. Were you worried?”

“It’s natural for a wife to worry about her hus…band.”

Noah burst into laughter again. His lips kept grazing my cheeks.

“Hazel was right about everything.”

He was definitely in a very good mood today.

No matter how good he was at controlling his expressions, I could subtly tell whether he was genuinely happy, just okay, or in a bad mood. But why was he so excited? There shouldn’t be anything that makes him that happy. Rather, he should be annoyed that he had to come here to keep an eye on me.

But surely, he didn’t plan to stay here until I would go down to Ferrarium?

He wouldn’t say something nightmarish like, ‘I waited like crazy, so just go to hell,’ right? It would be weird to ask him when he was leaving now that he just arrived and prepared a meal for me. Then, he would really suspect something!

‘Oh, what should I do?’

If I let my guard down, I felt like my teeth would start chattering.

“My dear, what are you thinking so deeply about while you’re with me?”

My finger was bitten gently so that it wouldn’t hurt.

“Huh? What am I thinking about? I was thinking about what to do with my husband in the future! Can you stay a little longer…? Do you have to leave right now?”

I buried my face in the nape of his neck, afraid that my expression would give me away. My heart pounded as I was overwhelmed by Noah’s pleasant scent, which I loved, but I quickly pulled myself together.

Yes, good. My life was precious, so it was better to deceive him perfectly than to let him catch on.

I hugged him tighter.

“I think I have to leave in the morning.”

Oh, thank goodness. I almost smiled.

“It’s not like you’re leaving right away, so that’s a relief. I think I’ll be able to finish up and come back soon. I just need to see you more.”

“Then, I’ll be able to see you again in about three days.”

“Three days… R-right! I’m so happy to see you today. It feels like a surprise gift from Noah.”

Three days, maybe four at the latest. The number of times I asked them to check up on Edmond was almost up. It was time to meet him again.

* * *

Kairos suddenly woke up from his sleep.

The sun must have already risen because bright light was coming in through the window. He didn’t mean to, but he got so caught up in pampering Hazel, wanting to hold her in his arms again, that he was only able to put her to sleep when the faint dawn arrived.

He must have fallen into a deep sleep during that short time because his body felt refreshed.

As he looked down at Hazel’s face, who was sleeping soundly in his arms without a care in the world, he ran his finger over her flawless pale cheek, and it glided smoothly like a peach fuzz or velvet. He lost track of time as he caressed her without thinking.

After rubbing it a few more times, he touched the tip of her small, round nose, and Hazel’s brow twitched.

“Mm…”

A sly smile appeared on Kairos’ lips.

Last night, he insisted on checking the wound on Hazel’s waist. He clicked his tongue at the reddish, bruised spot. Should he hold the palace responsible and eradicate the root cause, or should he just get rid of the cause that created this?

With his sunken eyes trying to make a judgment, Hazel suddenly pulled his face toward hers and kissed him.

His mind went blank after that.

“….”

His face darkened as if a dark cloud had passed over it.

For a long time, Kairos kept looking at Hazel’s face and teasing her. Like a cloud passing by, the darkness that had briefly covered him receded, and a much brighter light shone in, illuminating Hazel’s face.

At that moment, Kairos held his breath.

The soft sunlight poured down, the dust floating above the light, the silence as if time had stopped, the comfortable yet faint sound of breathing.

The sweetness felt at the end of it all.

When she revealed her brilliant golden eyes through her fluttering eyelids, the world became distant, and only one thing filled his mind.

Hazel.

As if nothing else mattered except for her.

As if he had to seize this moment.

As if she had become his absolute need.

Thump.

His heart pounded loudly, and it felt like he was being tightly squeezed by Hazel.

He raised his hand as if possessed and touched Hazel’s cheek, only to catch his breath again. Then Hazel, looking pleased, burrowed into his arms with affection in the corners of her eyes.

“Noah, did you sleep well?”

The arms wrapped around his waist, and the small murmur vibrating against his chest… her sweet scent also grew stronger.

Kairos burst into laughter at that ridiculous sense of fulfillment. He reached out and hugged Hazel, who fit into his body like a puzzle piece. The moment he held her in his arms, Kairos realized once again that he was the one who needed her, who craved her affection.

Yeah, she has to be his like this in the future. Just like she had always been, clinging to him and smiling only in his arms. He had to be the only one who knew everything about Hazel.

“Did you sleep well, Hazel?”

Hazel, who had woken up after a good night’s sleep, felt warmer than usual. She was warm as if she had been baked in the sun, a little lighter, and smelled an unusually sweet scent.

“…Hmm. I could have slept a little longer.”

He felt good about the feeling of her hugging him as he put his hand in Hazel’s armpit and lifted her up.

“Shall we sleep more then?”

Nod, nod.

Her eyebrows kept twitching as if she couldn’t open her eyes properly.

She was a woman who slept a lot.

Looking at her messy hair, he didn’t feel like teasing her. Kairos liked that quite a bit, but it was something he could only enjoy once a day. However, since he hadn’t looked at it for a few days, he couldn’t help but feel down. Was it because he realized that Hazel had entered his heart?

In the meantime, he wondered how he should deal with this urge to lick her all over.

He wanted to hold her tight and make her look only at him. Even though he felt a wicked urge, he didn’t want to do anything that Hazel hated, so it was strange. He decided to treat Hazel better since he had decided to keep her by his side.

Not killing her, and continuing their happy married life as they had been.

Kairos hugged Hazel contentedly.

* * *

Fortunately, the hotel was still empty in the morning.

“Husband…!”

Before I could completely leave the lobby, I was again wrapped in Noah’s arms.

“Four days?”

Noah smiled and asked, caressing my ear.

“Yes, in four days. I’ll see you at home then.”

As soon as I moved a little away from his arms, he bent down to meet my gaze, and his lips touched my entire face.

“P-people are coming.”

“I don’t care.”

He must be crazy. Why was he so confident?

Although I was bewildered, I smiled and saw my husband off.

“Hurry up to finish and come back, Noah. See you in four days.”

“I’ll miss you a lot if it takes any longer.”

“Yes, you will. I hope Noah will be home to greet me in four days.”

“Of course.”

I pulled away from him and reached out to gently stroke the corner of his beautiful eyes.

‘Go quickly, quickly.’

As soon as Noah got into the carriage, his aide, Sid, bowed ninety degrees to me. Somehow, I felt like he was being more polite to me than before… Was it just my imagination?

Anyway, I saw him off, even receiving Sid’s greeting.

As soon as Noah’s carriage disappeared, I turned around and got into the elevator, almost running.

“I won’t come again.”

I was still anxious even though I had confirmed that he was completely gone. As soon as I got off at the top floor, the huge clock in the hallway pointed to 8 a.m.

Four days.

‘…It looks like I’ll have to move like crazy during that time.’

—