Regen thought it would be best if he didn't offend Maevia.
"Oh, no! It's okay! I just think I'm bothering you too much. Yeah…" Regen made excuses as he wriggled into his bed.
He thought Maevia would be less worried if he laid down.
Regen hid under the blanket and peeked out to look at Maevia. He looked like a squirrel hoping for praise from Maevia.
As Maevia sat down on the edge of his bed, Regen opened his mouth. "Your Highness Vi."
"Yes, My Lord?"
"Oh, it's nothing."
Maevia smiled lightly. "Do you have any questions about me?"
Regen was excited, and Maevia waited quietly.
"How did you meet my… father? Well, he rarely comes outside," the eight-year-old boy asked after hesitating for a moment.
"Well, at first, we only knew each other on paper. We met in the imperial palace, and honestly, I didn't expect Aedis to come all the way up to the capital."
Regen focused, attempting to understand. He was amazed that Maevia called his father's name casually.
The people of the north were divided into two when it came to the Grand Duke Kallakis. Some worshipped him like a god, and some were terrified of him.
To most, the Grand Duke was someone out of reach.
"Will my father go out tomorrow?"
"I'll try to make it happen. You'll feel better after you spend some time with him, right?"
"Yes, yes! I'll feel a lot better!"
After their short conversation, an awkward silence developed.
Eventually, Maevia's mouth formed a triangle again.
(T/N: See note on Chap 27 for triangle mouth.)
Regen thought that maybe Maevia was as awkward as he was.
She said she wasn't familiar with Regen's father because she didn't know him well and didn't have many opportunities to get close to him.
Still, Maevia tried her best. She enthusiastically tried to curry favor by using the knowledge she had picked up somewhere.
Regen's eyes began to become visibly drowsy.
'When will the nanny come?'
As Regen's cherry-like eyes began to become unfocused, Maevia abruptly asked, "Lord, do you like children's books? Shall I read one for you?"
That day, Regen had a nightmare.
***
I left Regen to the nanny, Mrs. Teresa, and I went to find Aedis by myself.
He was in the room he usually used. Of course, my room was separate from his.
Aedis gave me an entire floor of the castle. Thanks to this, Sarah owned a single room.
Cyclamen Castle had few employees. It may be because of its large size, but I felt empty every time I went through the corridor.
Except for the ladies-in-waiting attending me, only the essential personnel were in the residence.
It was also understandable why the knights who followed up to the capital even served as servants. It seemed like everyone was used to doing chores on their own.
Opening the artistic door, I stepped into the Aedis' bedroom.
First, I stood by the door and thoroughly explored the interior.
The ceiling was a great distance from the floor. The jeweled fireplace was burning firewood.
Thick emerald rugs trapped the heat generated by the fireplace from escaping.
The bedroom was elegantly decorated. Gold was refrained from being used as much as possible, and there were many emeralds, a symbol of eternal immortality. Antique throws gently covered the wide bed.
The desk, whose wood grain line was vivid, was full of maps. At first glance, it was only unfamiliar terrain and geographical names.
And…there was one sofa.
In fact, none of the designs on the sofa caught my eye.
Aedis was seated there.
His eyes, reminiscent of the bottomless ocean, gazed at me.
He was handsome, and his eyes looked as though they belonged to the God of the Underworld or a demon.
"Are you done?" Aedis asked after I finished looking around.
"For now."
"Are you satisfied?"
Aedis' mouth curled up slightly. Apparently, he knew what I was on the lookout for.
My impression was that it was both gorgeous and elegant, as it was the Grand Duke's bedroom.
But for some reason, I thought that Aedis' taste was not completely reflected. Still, there were no cats. Very good.
"Yes, I'm satisfied," I responded and relaxed. As Aedis moved his feet, Raven cried out, "Caw! Caw!"
Suddenly, I began to think about their names.
Maximus, Isabel, Carolina.
The names of the cats in the Cyclamen Castle were as grand, but Raven was just Raven.
I thought about it for a while and said, "From now on, your name is Raven Louis Bonaparte Caesar Hi…."
Aedis sniffed and laughed.
'What, I'm serious.'
"I know how to make a nice name, too."
"Of course you do."
"Caw?"
Raven tilted his head while trying to fly to me.
I could have sat next to Aedis, but I pulled the throw over the bed.
As I sat down on the edge of the fluffy bed, the tiredness that I had neglected the tiredness for a while came into my eyes.
Surely, today was a bit tiring day. I slept in a luxury hotel every night, but since I was in the carriage all day, my muscles felt tight.
Tomorrow, I should have plenty of time to bathe and get a full body massage.
"It's been a whole week since we've been together. Didn't Aedis miss me?"
Aedis replied with laughter. He still seemed unwilling to spend the first night with me.
"Last time, you said it would be difficult to have a child because of your physical constitution. Is it totally impossible?" I asked a question with my gaze fixed on a specific part of Aedis.
'Will I see it when you try to take off your pants?'
I wasn't a doctor, so I wouldn't have any knowledge.
"You're so mean."
"It's not impossible, is it?"
"Did you know that my wife's gaze is quite provocative now?"
I raised my gaze appropriately for my shy husband from his lower body to the upper body.
"It's because I want to know what to do in the future."
"I never thought I'd say this in my life, but look at my face instead of my chest, ma'am."
He was a very shy and demanding husband.
I covered myself with a blanket and laid on my side to look at Aedis' 'face'.
"You're not staying up all night on the couch, are you?"
"Probably."
"Then I'll sleep first since I'm tired."
My eyelids became heavy.
Everything seemed to come crashing down as I closed my eyes. A while later, when I was half-asleep, I noticed Aedis lying next to me.
He looked like a demon king. He was shockingly handsome, and his beauty was overwhelming.
The warrior who accidentally passed by Esmeralda said, "No?! This is the image of a villain!"
'I have to take good care of him. What can I do?'
I fell asleep again after muttering and mumbling to myself.
The darkened bedroom was peaceful.
***
"… Your Highness Vi. Were you kicked out again?" Sarah asked.
I was kicked out by Aedis early in the morning.
I was a wife who got kicked out of the bedroom for hugging her husband while sleeping. I couldn't help but complain.
I decided to be patient.
Later in the day, I received a full body massage. It was snowing outside the window, but it seemed that I was the only one who cared.
A criminal who had been smearing the inside of Cyclamen Castle with cats came to see visit and asked to meet with the owner of the house.
I quickly changed and headed to where Aedis was.
I was thinking of asking him if the Grand Duchess could change the castle design at will, but Aedis made an unexpected proposal.
"I'll see it with you together."
'I'd like it. We won't have to engage in a useless fight then.'
"Aren't you too active?"
"It should be enough because my wife is taking care of me."
'You heard that yesterday? Were you not sleeping?'
"And I'll beat him up if it means my wife will be less stressed out."
'Pardon?'
An ominous premonition came over me.
While I doubted the count's personality, the housekeeper brought the count.
Count Elliot looked like he belonged at the beach: tanned, coppery skin, wide shoulders, and reddish-brown hair that seemed to be from the South.
Besides, he was very young.
"Oh! Castellan*!"
(T/N: Castellan: governor of a castle)
The count, who was astonished to see Aedis, opened his eyes and quickly rambled on.
"No, how long has it been?! You're alive! I was firmly convinced that someday, the Castellan would come outside! But I didn't expect that he would go to the capital and meet the Emperor!"
'What is this? Why is he so irrational?'