10. Aren’t We a Married Couple?

“Th-that’s…… too.”

“Too?”

“You’re too handsome!”

Adeline dropped her gaze from the duke and blurted out something different from what she truly felt.

“It’s because you haven’t cut your hair like this in a while. Besides, look in the mirror. Is Mel’s face ordinary in any way? Of course I’d tremble like this.”

Once a lie starts, it flows smoothly.

Today again, Adeline displayed her quick wit and began to sweet-talk the duke.

But when she glanced up at the duke, his eyes were narrowed skeptically. With his arms crossed.

“We’ve been together for quite a while, yet you avoid my eyes over something like this?”

“Well…… I just suddenly feel nervous.”

Of course, it was a different kind of nervousness, but wasn’t that still a form of trembling?

“Well then.”

Was he satisfied with that answer? A slight smile appeared on his lips.

The duke uncrossed his arms and strode toward Adeline. Then he wrapped his arm around her slender waist in one swift motion.

“If it’s not because you hate me, then we can sleep together tonight, right?”

“Wh-what?!”

Adeline was so shocked that she didn’t even realize her voice was trembling.

But the duke smiled with a more composed face than ever and led Adeline to the bed.

“Um…… Mel? No matter what, sleeping together in the same bed is.”

Adeline couldn’t bring herself to lie on the bed and just blinked her eyes.

The duke, who was half-lying with his back against the headboard, said:

“Isn’t it completely natural? Between us.”

Where had his shy demeanor from when he first opened his eyes gone, to be replaced by such a smooth-talking man?

She had only stayed beside him during nightmares. For a grown man to suggest sharing a bed.

And what kind of relationship makes sleeping in the same bed “completely natural”?

Surely he hasn’t lost his memory and started seeing her as a mother figure?

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously toward the duke, then she shook her head.

Adeline was about to speak to persuade the duke.

“What are you talking about?”

The duke asked, as if he didn’t understand.

“What I mean is, us sharing a bed……”

As Adeline’s answer dragged on, the duke interrupted her and asked:

“Destiny, and we’re important to each other, right?”

“……Yes?”

Well, they were in a relationship where they needed to save each other’s lives.

“You said I’m all you have?”

“That’s right.”

Because right now, Duke Torpeo was the only man who could save her life.

Adeline nodded in agreement.

“Inseparable, extremely important to each other. And living together like this—aren’t we a married couple?”

“A married couple?”

Adeline suddenly came to her senses.

Married couple? What on earth had this man been imagining?

“Aren’t we? If not that, what exactly is our relationship?”

The duke looked at Adeline with quite a serious expression.

Adeline was momentarily flustered and opened her mouth wide. As they stared at each other, she gradually began to regain her composure.

She hadn’t realized her ambiguous words would be interpreted by him in such a way.

She wanted to explain, but couldn’t find an ingenious explanation that would surpass the imagination this man had created.

Moreover, his misunderstanding wasn’t bad for living together.

After all, they needed a reason to stay together.

“Y-yes. Not exactly married but…… we’re lovers!”

Faced with the crisis of suddenly becoming a married woman, Adeline hurriedly claimed they were lovers.

No matter what, the gap between them becoming a married couple seemed too large.

She already felt overwhelmed thinking about how to handle the aftermath if the duke’s memory suddenly returned.

But her anxiety was momentary. Somehow, things would work out.

Adeline resolved to treat the duke better for the day when his memory would return.

Only then might he take pity on her and allow her to save this one life.

As Adeline was building her plans one by one while hiding her dark intentions.

“There’s only one bedroom here, so how did we usually manage?”

At the duke’s sharp question, Adeline’s heart sank.

“O-of course we shared! I was sleeping on the sofa so you could rest comfortably because you were sick.”

“I’m not sick. And how could I let my lover sleep on the sofa? Come here.”

Adeline swallowed a sigh secretly from the duke. At his urging, she reluctantly approached the bed.

It seemed she would have to experience a honeymoon with this handsome, amnesiac duke, pretending to be lovers.

‘It’s not so bad to be lovers with that handsome face.’

That way, even if his memory returned, he wouldn’t try to harm her after having been lovers.

Lying on the bed, Adeline felt awkward and lay straight with her eyes tightly closed.

As Adeline lay quietly, the duke’s hand intertwined with hers, and she felt his burning gaze on her skin.

“By the way, are we before signing a marriage contract? Usually, when people live together like this, they’re not lovers but a married couple. Why are we still lovers?”

The duke voiced his unresolved question to Adeline.

Adeline was perplexed because she hadn’t thought that far.

She had only thought of a reason that would give her less guilt when the duke’s memory returned, rather than pretending to be married.

Unable to think of a clever idea, Adeline decided to make something up.

“Ah. We were going to submit it to the temple, but because you got sick…… Yaaawn.”

Though she was already wide awake from the duke’s barrage of questions, she let out a fake yawn pretending to be tired.

One lie required another lie to cover it.

Even though it was to avoid an immediate crisis, she disliked the growing guilt toward him.

So she began to act sleepy, wanting to avoid the duke’s questions as much as possible.

“Mel. I’m so sleepy. Good night.”

Adeline decided to pretend to sleep and ignore the situation.

Silence flowed, and only the sound of rain outside could be heard.

Adeline counted the falling raindrops and soon fell asleep.

⁕⁕⁕

At that hour, there was another who couldn’t sleep.

Light was leaking through the cracks of the crown prince’s study door.

Crash!

Crown Prince Trasi was throwing everything in sight at the man before him.

The study floor was a mess with objects the crown prince had thrown.

And blood was flowing from the forehead of the man kneeling on the floor.

He had clearly been hit by a thrown vase, but the man only repeated his apologies.

“I apologize, Your Highness. I confirmed he fell from the cliff, so he must certainly be dead.”

“Must be dead? You couldn’t even find one corpse? Is this what you call a report?”

“I apologize.”

The man before him prostrated himself toward the crown prince.

The crown prince was in a state of extreme anger. Who was Duke Torpeo? That duke had been someone who irritated the crown prince from the beginning.

‘Red eyes indicating descent from Goddess Helena.’

The imperial family of the Soltarius Empire had always produced one person with red eyes in each generation.

And the prince with red eyes always ascended to the throne.

The owner of those red eyes in this generation was Crown Prince Trasi Soltarius. Moreover, he had black hair like Goddess Helena’s.

He was destined to be the next emperor from birth.

The crown prince was the perfect emperor candidate, without any flaws.

Until the day a child with black hair and red eyes was born into the Torpeo family.

Since his days as a prince, he had to listen to the nobles’ whispers whenever he stood alongside Casis.

“You know, when His Highness the Prince is next to the young lord, doesn’t his hair look somewhat brown-tinged?”

“Look at Torpeo young lord’s eyes. Aren’t they clearly more vivid red eyes than anyone else’s?”

The crown prince’s black hair appeared faded compared to Casis’s pitch-black hair, and his eyes were less intense.

Though it felt terribly unpleasant to be compared, that was all.

Because the crown prince was the only one with the legitimacy of imperial bloodline.

Until the night the emperor suddenly collapsed.

“Prince. You must bring the duke’s hair. Only then can you ascend to the throne.”

“……”

“That’s the only way.”

That night, the Empress quietly called the crown prince and revealed a secret.

And after learning the secret, the crown prince decided to eliminate the duke who was a thorn in his side.

That day when he went hunting with the duke.

The duke was supposed to return as a cold corpse, mistakenly hit by a poisoned arrow meant for bears.

But this fool before him had ruined the plan.

The crown prince had personally given him strong sleeping drug-laced alcohol.

The crown prince returned to the imperial palace without finding the duke’s corpse.

At the central council meeting held the next day, he had claimed the duke was sent on a secret expedition. Who would dare question the crown prince’s words?

But it wasn’t an excuse that could last long. The crown prince needed to find the duke’s corpse as soon as possible.

Even if he was alive, he would kill him again.

Unable to suppress his rising anger, the crown prince drew his knife and stabbed it into the thigh of the man before him, twisting it.

Without even blinking at the blood droplets that splattered on his face, the crown prince said:

“Find the corpse immediately. If you return empty-handed next time, those useless hands of yours will disappear.”

After flinging the bloodied knife away, the crown prince stormed out of the study.

The imperial palace frequently witnessed bloodshed due to the crown prince’s violent temperament.

Yet the servant guarding the door shrank in fear that never became familiar.

When the crown prince was in such a state of madness, one shouldn’t even make eye contact. That blade might unnecessarily turn toward oneself.

Just as Trasi was about to pass by the servant with his head bowed low.

He suddenly stopped as if remembering something.

He turned back to the servant, approached closely, and asked:

“Ah, yes, what happened to the marriage proposal sent to Marquis Credion’s family?”

The pouring rain made the atmosphere even more gloomy.

The flash of thunder and lightning entered through the windows lining the corridor.

The flash illuminated the crown prince, and his turbid eyes glinted.