I had to reevaluate my judgment of Ian Cloud.
I thought he was a dull-witted robot who simply outputted whatever was input, but it turns out he’s more shameless and reckless than I imagined.
A promise to give up my weekends for Ian instead of continuing the lessons? What kind of ridiculous wordplay is this? I wanted to confront him, but the serious expression on his face left me speechless.
In the end, I couldn’t get back even an ounce of my pride and ended up surrendering to Ian completely.
As I finished the meal, I thought my era of suffering had finally come to an end…
“…Unbelievable.”
A greater challenge awaited me.
“I forgot about the bedroom…”
Looking at the overly romantic bedroom with its lit candles and fluttering canopy, I pressed a hand to my forehead.
‘Seriously, are they trying to give this a honeymoon vibe or something?’
I was so distracted by the nightmare-like events on the first day that I hadn’t even realized—I would have to share a bed with Ian.
Standing there awkwardly, unable to bring myself to lie down, Ian appeared behind me wearing a nightgown.
Startled, I quickly took a step back.
Ian, however, crossed the room nonchalantly and lay down on the bed, completely unbothered.
Watching him with a highly awkward expression, I cautiously spoke up.
“Um, Ian.”
“Yes.”
“Are we really sleeping in the same bed?”
Ian looked at me as if my question was strange.
“Of course, why wouldn’t we?”
His tone was so casual, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, that I had to pause and wonder if my question had been strange after all.
“Well, I was thinking I could just sleep over there on the sofa…”
“Didn’t you mention earlier that you were tired from all the touring?”
“……”
“If you don’t want to feel twice as tired tomorrow, just go to sleep.”
Since I was the one who’d said it, I couldn’t argue back and instead clamped my mouth shut.
“…Fine.”
Whatever. The bed is practically the size of a field, so I’ll just imagine there’s an invisible line between us. Sharing a bed isn’t a big deal.
With a light sigh, I slowly crawled to a corner of the bed and lay down.
Watching me from behind, Ian asked in disbelief,
“…What are you doing?”
“Trying not to touch you.”
“Do you think I’m some kind of germ?”
I wish you were a germ. Then I could at least spray disinfectant to get rid of you.
“I’m just going to sleep like I’m dead, so Ian, you stay over there on that side too. Let’s not touch each other, okay?”
“……”
Ian didn’t reply.
Though I couldn’t see his face, I could tell he was staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.
And no wonder—here I was, curled up like a cocoon at the very edge of the massive bed, trying my best not to make any contact.
I felt his gaze piercing into my back, so I scooted even closer to the edge of the bed.
“…Ha.”
Ian let out a disbelieving laugh.
I must’ve looked ridiculous.
“It’s just that we’re forced to share the bed, right? If you don’t like it, just let me sleep on the sofa—ah!”
Because I’d moved too close to the edge, I nearly rolled off the bed.
Just before I hit the floor, I felt a strong hand grab my arm, and suddenly, the world flipped upside down.
When I came to my senses, Ian was above me, looking down.
With the flickering candlelight and the pale moonlight streaming through the large windows, his eyes seemed to glow with a color I’d never seen before.
“…Ian?”
“What on earth are you doing?”
“……”
“If your goal is to make me laugh, don’t you think this is a bit much?”
As he tilted his head, his silver hair spilled down, swaying gently.
“Th-that’s not it…”
I wasn’t sure if my heart was racing because of nearly falling or because Ian was on top of me, but my entire body thumped as if my heart had taken over.
“Um, Ian, could you… move? This is… a little too close…”
My voice trembled against my will, trailing off. If this went on, I was certain Ian would hear the loud pounding of my heart.
“Shouldn’t we… put some distance between us?”
Unable to meet his gaze, I turned my head and muttered.
Ian’s eyes slowly swept over my face.
“Well…”
“……”
“The nights of couples I’ve known aren’t usually this innocent.”
I froze.
“……”
My brain stopped functioning, and I unconsciously held my breath.
‘…What… did I just hear?’
Night? What about the night?
Unable to even open my mouth, I stayed frozen until I heard a faint chuckle above me.
Cautiously, I glanced up to see Ian still staring down at me, a slight smirk curling his lips.
‘…Is he smiling?’
Flustered, my already burning face heated further as I blinked up at him in disbelief.
“Why are you so tense? It was a joke.”
His voice was calm and composed, no different from usual.
“…A joke?”
“Were you hoping it wasn’t?”
“No, when did I ever—!”
Just as I was about to burst out, I flinched and held my breath again at the sudden touch on my cheek.
Ian, who had brushed aside the disheveled strands of my hair from rolling on the bed, was now staring at me with a calm expression, as if he had never laughed.
“I wouldn’t touch someone I disliked to such an extent.”
Why it sounded like he would touch me if he didn’t dislike me, I didn’t know.
After staring at me intently for a while, Ian quietly climbed off me and lay down a little distance away.
“As you said, I won’t cross the line, so you can sleep without worry.”
Even after Ian’s presence disappeared from above me, I couldn’t move for a long time and simply stared blankly at the ceiling.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart pounded loudly, echoing like the beat of a drum.
And that night, I couldn’t fall asleep for a long, long time.
❖ ❖ ❖
I had no idea how time passed.
Like a fast-forwarded clockwork mechanism, days seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye.
As if his words that night had been a declaration of war, Ian never left my side.
And yet, he didn’t recklessly cross the line, creating an uneasy tension like two people precariously pulling at the ends of a thin string.
Because of this, even though I was aware I was being dragged into his pace, I couldn’t help but get swept along.
The most notable aspect of this was the fact that we continued to sleep side by side every night.
“My lady, you don’t look well today. Did you not sleep well?”
Early in the morning, Vivi, who was helping me get dressed, asked with concern.
“Well, you know…”
If I said I couldn’t sleep because I’d been lying in the same bed as Ian every night, she’d surely turn bright red.
I decided to keep my words to myself.
Vivi blinked her brown eyes before breaking into a cheerful smile.
“But after today, the official events will be over! I’m so excited to see how wonderful you’ll look during your speech. I can’t wait!”
Watching Vivi, who was more thrilled than I was, I let out a sigh that turned into a wry laugh.
“Right, I just need to make sure I don’t mess up.”
The 100th-anniversary celebration of Biblos Academy, scheduled to start later this morning, would be today’s main event.
Since my speech was scheduled mid-program, I only needed to arrive by noon at the latest.
“Oh, right. Here, my lady. Sir Kyle asked me to give this to you. It’s a letter from Count Olson’s estate.”
“Really?”
It seemed the Countess Olson had contacted Diana.
Accepting the letter Vivi handed over, I raised an eyebrow and looked at her closely.
“But Vivi, why would Kyle ask you to deliver it?”
He could have come to me directly.
At my question, Vivi flinched in surprise and hesitated.
“Um, well, we just happened to run into each other! He said you seemed busy!”
“…Hmm, is that so?”
I narrowed my eyes and scanned Vivi.
Now that I looked closely, it seemed she had even put on some lip color today…
Smirking, I turned my gaze away.
“Ah, to be young.”
Kyle might be a bit of a chatterbox, but pairing him with Vivi didn’t seem like a bad idea at all.
“I’m rooting for you.”
“Excuse me?”
At my vague words of encouragement, Vivi’s face turned beet red.
Leaving behind the visibly flustered Vivi, I unfolded the letter.
As expected, it stated that Diana had been contacted, and the moonstones would be sold at a lower price, with plans to maintain trade as long as no major issues arose.
“As the Grand Duchess suggested, they are remarkable people. I believe they’ll make excellent trade partners in the future.”
The letter concluded with a note implying that they were quite impressed with Diana.
“Well, well.”
It seemed things had gone quite well.
Perhaps the problem in the original story had been their initial meeting.
Feeling satisfied that one of the issues Diana faced had been resolved, I allowed myself a moment of pride.
‘Although I’ll never meet her again as “El,”…’
Caught in a mix of relief and wistfulness, I stared at the letter for a while.
“My lady.”
Startled by the touch on my hair, I turned around.
“…Ian?”
♧♧♧
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