33. A Hot Relationship

“What do you think?”

Adeline’s tightly closed eyes opened gently at the voice resonating in her ear again.

“W-what……”

Adeline was so flustered that she didn’t even realize she was stuttering.

Only then did she notice that his gaze was directed at the candle flickering dimly on the table.

“That scented candle. I’m asking what you think of it.”

He met Adeline’s eyes. His gaze was direct, as if urging her to answer.

Adeline frowned deeply.

On the surface, he seemed to be asking about the candle’s scent, but Adeline caught his true intention.

Wasn’t it a candle he had placed? He would know the scent better than she did.

He didn’t want to ask about the fragrance; he meant to spend the night together today.

In that moment, she became aware of the reality she had momentarily forgotten, captivated by his appearance.

This was the kind of man Torpeo Casis was.

Adeline pushed him away and said.

“I can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

She found him extremely annoying, pretending not to know while clearly understanding.

“What do you mean ‘what’? The doctor said absolute rest is needed in early pregnancy! You can’t look at me like that—it’s not allowed!”

Adeline was about to burst out more when she noticed his steady gaze.

A smirk twisted his lips as laughter erupted.

“When did I suggest we sleep together?”

He approached Adeline with one corner of his mouth raised.

“I didn’t know you wanted it so badly. How unfortunate. But I can’t stay in my office forever.”

“……”

“We’re quite a hot item, aren’t we?”

Casis patted Adeline’s shoulder a couple of times, then approached the table and sat on the sofa.

Then, showing her a stack of documents, he said.

“I’ll be working here tonight, so go to sleep with that in mind.”

How much time had passed?

True to his word about working, he never came to the bed where she was lying.

A terrible silence lingered.

Except for the sound of turning pages and the scratching of his fountain pen against paper, it was quiet.

Adeline lay with her back toward the window.

The moonlight that had risen beyond the window was now tilting and disappearing in the deep dawn.

Somehow, she couldn’t easily fall asleep.

No matter how much she turned her back, that man was settled in the bedroom.

Occasionally, the man seemed to turn a page and exhale.

His breathing reached Adeline’s ears clearly, despite the distance.

It felt as if he was breathing right next to her, tickling her ear.

Involuntarily, Adeline pictured him in her mind.

The man sitting on the fabric sofa, legs crossed, flipping through documents.

This is maddening.

She felt as if all her nerves were on edge, focused on Casis.

She worried he might notice she wasn’t asleep. Adeline couldn’t even breathe easily.

As she spent the night unable to do anything, stuck in this state.

The sound of turning pages stopped.

Then came the sound of wind, as if blowing out a candle, and darkness fell over the bedroom.

Footsteps approached, followed by the sound of clothes dropping.

Soon, the end of the bed shifted.

Adeline’s heart tightened and relaxed repeatedly.

The bedding seemed to be pulled toward him, and Adeline felt a hot gaze.

He seemed to be looking at her.

‘He didn’t notice, did he?’

It was in perfect darkness. A deep breath touched the back of her neck.

Of course. This man wasn’t one to leave her alone to sleep peacefully.

Adeline’s heart raced.

If her heartbeat was this clear to her own ears, there was no way he couldn’t hear it.

Adeline clenched her fists in dizzying anxiety.

Just as she thought she was doomed.

The breath settling near her ear moved away.

Then came the rustling sound of bedding, followed by silence.

Adeline was bewildered.

The man she knew wouldn’t leave her alone like this when she wasn’t asleep.

At the very least, the Duke of Torpeo would say something mischievous.

‘Could I possibly… be hoping for something?’

In the quiet dawn, Adeline placed her hand over her frantically beating heart.

It felt different from the heartbeat that had pounded in suffocating tension.

⁕⁕⁕

Late morning. Adeline barely rose from bed as sunlight touched her eyes.

In the end, she couldn’t properly sleep last night, distracted by Casis who insisted on working in the bedroom.

Adeline thought she would stay up all night, nervous about being in the same space as Casis. But after being anxious for a long time, she must have finally fallen asleep as dawn approached.

The maid who immediately entered the bedroom at Adeline’s stirring greeted her.

“You look very tired. Are you alright?”

It was Becky, one of the few maids in this mansion who hadn’t disrespected Adeline from the beginning.

Adeline answered with a soft smile.

“I’m fine. I just had a restless night.”

“With a baby in your belly, you should be sleeping well…… Was it morning sickness that kept you awake?”

‘I was restless all night because I was conscious of the duke.’

She couldn’t say that her lack of sleep was due to Casis, not morning sickness. Adeline just smiled at Becky’s words.

“You have no daytime schedule. Shall I draw the curtains? It would be good for you to rest more.”

“Would you? Thank you, Becky.”

Perhaps because she had stayed awake for a long time last night with her nerves on edge, Adeline found it extremely difficult to shake off her fatigue. So, following Becky’s suggestion, she planned to sleep more.

As Becky went to the window to draw the curtains, something fell with a thud when it hit the curtain.

It was the scented candle that had been burning on the bedside shelf. Becky picked up the candle she had knocked down.

“Oh my, this is……”

Adeline turned her head at Becky’s reaction.

In Becky’s hand was the scented candle from last night.

When Adeline saw Becky hesitating as she looked at the candle, she thought Becky was misunderstanding. After all, burning a scented candle in a couple’s bedroom could only be for one reason. Especially since she had mentioned having a restless night.

Adeline’s face flushed as if she had guessed what Becky was thinking.

“Ah. That.”

“This is a candle good for morning sickness! Did His Grace give it to you?”

Adeline had intended to explain that she had lit it simply because the scent was nice. However, the words that immediately came from Becky’s mouth were unexpected.

“Morning sickness?”

“Yes. The quince scent along with the subtle lemon fragrance is very good for easing morning sickness. It’s a folk remedy, but how did the duke know about it? Hohoho.”

Adeline recalled how she had misunderstood the candle.

‘It wasn’t that kind of candle.’

Adeline felt as if embarrassment had risen to the top of her head. Her face felt like it was burning.

Surely her face must look not just red but about to burst. Adeline instantly pulled the blanket over her head.

Though this was a reaction to Adeline’s embarrassment, Becky misunderstood it as having upset her.

“Oh my. You’re tired. I’ll leave now.”

After finishing drawing the curtains, Becky greeted Adeline, who was under the blanket, and quickly left the bedroom.

Adeline couldn’t believe that the scented candle had been prepared out of concern for her nausea.

‘He’s not Mel, but Casis.’

While Adeline thought it couldn’t be possible, a corner of her heart tickled unbearably.

No matter how tightly she curled up, the tickling feeling in her heart wouldn’t calm down.

⁕⁕⁕

“Marquis, is there still no news?”

“Your Highness. When the Credion family’s heir has hidden herself, she won’t be easily found if she’s truly a Credion.”

The marquis didn’t know how to humble himself, even in front of the crown prince.

He merely maintained the minimum courtesy toward the imperial family.

“I will send you a letter as soon as we find her.”

The marquis was already displeased with the crown prince’s constant urging.

After finishing his words, the marquis left his seat and gestured to the secretary standing behind.

At the marquis’s signal, the secretary approached the incense burner in the center of the table and began burning something.

The secluded banquet hall, where the crown prince was left alone, was filled with spreading smoke.

Severus left the banquet hall, leaving behind the crown prince who was gradually closing his eyes.

What created that thick, acrid smoke was a type of drug called “Asis,” obtainable only through the marquis’s family.

Asis was one of the small reasons why the crown prince pressed the marquis but couldn’t treat him like others.

The marquis headed straight to his mansion.

Entering his office, the marquis ordered the secretary who followed.

“Everyone return to their posts.”

The secretary immediately bowed to the marquis’s order and quickly disappeared.

Severus, who reclined on the leather sofa in the center of the office, lit his tobacco pipe.

Although he had answered that a Credion family member wouldn’t be found so quickly, the child couldn’t be found despite the marquis’s direct involvement.

Deep breaths, as heavy as consecutive sighs, continued, and pale smoke filled the office.

After some time passed, the thick smoke escaped all at once, and “they” began to appear in the office one by one.

Severus’s agents who handled the marquis family’s secret affairs.

“Withdraw from domestic search. Go international.”

He had filled the crown prince with Asis just before he went crazy with impatience, so the annoying crown prince would be quiet for a while.

Severus found both social circles and politics extremely bothersome. The marquis had seized power to suppress those who bothered and interfered with him, while conversely, his daughter had thrown everything away and run away.

In some ways, the marquis thought that he and his daughter, whom he barely knew, resembled each other in this aspect.

‘She takes after me in useless ways.’

Between the exhaled tobacco smoke, his raised corner of the mouth was slightly visible.

He planned to forget about Adeline, who had run away, for the time being.

However, the peace was short-lived as an invitation from the imperial family arrived at the marquis’s residence.

The marquis, who was working in his office, burst into a dry laugh after seeing the contents of the invitation.

«Duke’s Homecoming Celebration Banquet»

The invitation date written on the card was just two days away.

The marquis had intentionally blocked information for a while, receiving only minimal reports.

It had been just a few days since he received the report that the duke had returned alive.

There were no nobles who could refuse a banquet invitation from the crown prince.

A banquet for the duke, whom he had considered such an eyesore, returning alive.

Severus’s gray eyes flashed. He began to grow interested in what the crown prince would do next.