In the bathroom, only the soft sound of breathing and the rustling of fabric quietly echoed.
Standing before Clayton, who wore nothing but a robe, Dahlia unconsciously swallowed hard.
She could sense the firm body beneath the thin fabric.
She must have momentarily lost her judgment earlier.
The best idea she had come up with was bathing him? With a mix of anticipation and regret, Dahlia slowly removed Clayton's robe. And then—
"Wow."
She unintentionally let out a shameless exclamation of admiration.
At her reaction, Clayton flinched slightly, but Dahlia didn't notice and openly began to admire his body.
She hadn't been able to see clearly in the dark yesterday, but now that she saw Clayton's body again, it was simply…
"Perfection."
Broad, square shoulders, a chest that felt firm even without touching it, and below, beautifully sculpted muscles.
It was a body worthy of the title of a male protagonist in a novel—strong and magnificent.
Perhaps Dahlia was staring too intently, as Clayton tilted his head slightly and muttered.
"At this rate, you might wear me out."
Startled by Clayton's voice, Dahlia flinched. It seemed she had been far too obvious in her admiration.
"Haha, the hot water's ready, so please get in."
With an awkward laugh, Dahlia gestured him toward the tub, and Clayton immersed himself in the water.
Clayton leaned back in the tub, letting the hot water envelop him.
The sound of splashing water and rising steam filled the space between them.
"Let's see, where's the sponge…"
Despite her bold declaration to help bathe him, Dahlia didn't even know where the sponge was and searched the bathroom. She fumbled for quite a while.
Finally, as if she'd gathered everything she needed, Dahlia sat down beside the tub.
"Alright, let's get started!"
Her confident voice echoed through the bathroom, and the rising steam blurred her vision.
Undeterred, Dahlia dipped the sponge in water and began washing the duke.
As Dahlia awkwardly tended to him, Clayton slowly opened his closed eyes.
"I didn't have high expectations, but…"
The woman who had been eyeing him moments ago was nowhere to be found—Dahlia was now fully committed to her task, scrubbing him like a professional bath attendant.
"She's really only focused on cleaning me."
Her touch betrayed no ulterior motives.
The sound of splashing water echoed softly in the bathroom.
Every time Dahlia's fingers brushed against his skin, his body involuntarily stiffened.
He found it ridiculous that he was so tense from something as simple as being bathed.
It felt as though he were some inexperienced fool who had never been with a woman.
Clayton tried his best to appear composed as he looked at Dahlia.
Though the thick steam filling the bathroom partially obscured her, Dahlia was pursing her lips and focusing on washing him with more dedication than ever.
It was truly absurd.
"But still."
Watching Dahlia so engrossed in her task, Clayton gave a silent smile.
"This isn't so bad."
Clayton leaned his head back against the tub and closed his eyes as if to relax.
* * *
It had already been four days since Dahlia started sharing a room with Clayton.
The awkwardness of the first day had vanished, and casual conversations with Clayton before bed had become a routine part of her day.
Dahlia leaned against the sofa, reflecting on the past few days.
Bathing him had turned out to be more physically demanding than she'd thought, so she hadn't done it again after the first time.
It made sense—given the size difference between them, bathing Clayton felt like a hamster trying to clean a wolf, requiring far more effort than expected.
Instead, Dahlia began smaller gestures, like fixing his attire in the morning or bringing him tea while he worked in his office.
Through these subtle efforts, she gradually closed the gap between them without overexerting herself.
Perhaps because of her efforts, Clayton's demeanor seemed noticeably softer.
"He's even been a bit kinder lately."
Of course, much of her success stemmed from the fact that, after she had given him her blood, Clayton had started to be more receptive to her actions.
"This is going smoother than I thought."
At this rate, it was clear that their relationship would deepen during their upcoming trip.
Feeling more at ease, Dahlia adjusted her position on the sofa just as Jason knocked and entered the room.
"My lady, the room renovations are complete."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Great, let's go take a look."
Even before Jason finished speaking, Dahlia eagerly rose from the sofa.
It seemed the renovations were finally complete.
She had thought they'd just replace some furniture and curtains, but the unexpectedly long timeframe piqued her curiosity.
Her steps down the corridor were light, as if there was no reason to delay.
As she walked ahead of Jason, a question that had been nagging at her made her pause.
"By the way, why did His Grace suddenly decide to renovate the room?"
"His Grace has always been bothered by the fact that you've been using the late duchess's room. The marriage was so sudden that preparations couldn't be made in time. It's simply something that should have been done earlier but was delayed."
"Is that so?"
Complete nonsense.
The idea that Clayton had been concerned about her room from the beginning was laughable, even to a passing dog.
It was probably his way of expressing gratitude for her giving him blood. This was a typical trope seen in novels.
Displaying wealth as a way to express feelings toward the heroine.
It was undoubtedly a positive sign that his feelings for her were changing.
"More importantly, we'll go back to using separate rooms now."
Sharing a room had made them feel like a real married couple, at least for a while.
They had seemed to grow closer during that time. Part of her secretly wished the renovations hadn't been finished yet.
"Oh well, it's fine. We'll be spending all day together at the villa anyway."
She had heard that preparations for their departure were almost complete.
The villa of the Seyer family must surely be a beautiful place.
Thinking about the villa they would soon leave for, Dahlia looked at Jason.
"Have you heard anything about the villa from His Grace? How long does he plan to stay there?"
"Well, I haven't heard much about that either. However, seeing as preparations were made for him to work comfortably at the villa, I assume he plans to stay there for quite a while."
Staying for a long time, huh? She didn't particularly mind.
She was tired of spending all her time in the capital. Besides, with all the gossip in high society over the recent events at the royal palace, staying in a quiet place until the rumors died down didn't sound so bad.
She recalled the invitation she had seen that morning in Samantha's hands.
On the surface, it was an invitation to foster friendship, but in truth, it was probably to probe for details about what had happened at the royal palace.
Now was a time for rest and stability, so she didn't want to bother with such trivial matters.
Lost in thought, she kept walking, and before she knew it, they had arrived at the room. Jason opened the door as if he had been waiting.
As she stepped into the room—
She froze in her tracks as soon as the door opened.
"…What is this?"
"It's your room, my lady…"
Jason responded to Dahlia's stunned question as if to say, "What are you asking? Can't you see?"
"Is this really the same room I used to stay in?"
Judging by its location and size, it was undoubtedly her original room, but its contents were beyond anything she had imagined.
A flustered Dahlia took another careful look around the room.
The first thing that caught her eye was the royal blue color that enveloped the entire room.
Unlike her old room, which had been dull and filled with expensive but meaningless furniture, the royal blue—said to be used only by the imperial family—perfectly complemented Dahlia's hair color. And that wasn't all.
All the furniture had been replaced, and even the vases placed around the room were clearly no ordinary items.
This wasn't just a simple change of furniture or wallpaper.
Every detail, from small decorations to the wallpaper, carpets, and curtains, had been completely transformed.
When she first woke up in this room, she had been amazed at how luxurious it was. But compared to this, the previous room seemed unimpressive, even humbling.
And then—
"What is that…?"
As Dahlia slowly wandered through the room, her eyes landed on the bathroom.
The ivory-colored marble walls of the bathroom sparkled unusually, so she pointed at them and asked Jason.
Jason, as if he had been waiting for this moment, began explaining with enthusiasm.
"It's crystal."
"Crystal? In the bathroom…?"
"Yes. As you know, regular marble becomes slippery when wet, which can lead to accidents. That's why it's become trendy among southern nobles to add crystal to bathroom walls."
"..."
Dahlia was left speechless, but Jason continued his explanation as if there was more to say.
"The carpet on the floor was crafted by a master artisan from Persiar. Normally, it would take over a year to order and receive one, but we were fortunate that an excellent piece had just arrived in the capital, so we could place it in your room. And as for this tapestry…"
"No wonder it took so long."
There was a reason for everything.
Someone once said, if there's something money can't solve, it's because you don't have enough of it. Unfortunately, it seemed that saying was true.
This room vividly demonstrated just how much wealth it took to rival the imperial family within the empire.
"This is excessive. Over the top."
It was a classic trope in romance novels for the male lead to flaunt his wealth for the heroine, but she hadn't expected it to this extent.
Now she finally understood why the heroines in novels often reacted so awkwardly.