The sunlight pouring over my eyelids was dazzling. I tried to pull the blanket over my face, but I was already wide awake.
Maybe it was because I had slept on one side; my lower back ached, making it hard to lie down straight. I shifted my body around but soon gave up and threw the blanket off.
“Ugh…”
Why is my back so sore? I forced my heavy eyelids open.
Though my vision was hazy, I could see the surroundings had brightened, indicating the sun had been up for a while. I clumsily sat up.
“Oh, my back…”
Just sitting up was so difficult. Did I overdo it with exercise last night? As I tried to recall, suddenly—
“Good morning.”
A soft voice pierced my ears, and all at once, the memories of last night flooded back.
“Did you sleep well?”
Two large hands unexpectedly wrapped around my waist from behind.
“Karl.”
My hazy mind snapped back to reality. The warmth against my back was too familiar to be a dream.
“You must be tired.”
As he spoke, Karl pulled me closer. His warm lips pressed against my neck.
“Uh, um…”
“Karl. We agreed to call each other that.”
“Well, yes, but…”
The closeness tickled my skin. I could talk without our lips touching.
“You smell wonderful. You’re really sweet.”
The memories of last night were so embarrassing that I wished to dismiss them as a dream. It was a relief Karl couldn’t see my face from behind.
I couldn’t possibly show my flushed face in such a bright place.
“Ugh.”
“Why? Are you uncomfortable?”
Sitting was quite uncomfortable; I shifted my waist, and Karl quickly noticed my state, lifting the blanket to check underneath.
“Ah! No, no, I’m fine.”
What’s he looking at? I hurriedly snatched the blanket back to cover myself. This is crazy, crazy. That wasn’t a dream…
While waiting for Karl to finish his shower, I dozed off and dreamed of him climbing onto the bed. When I woke up, embarrassed, I found him sitting beside the bed, working.
It felt as if steam was escaping from my head, and my ears were burning.
“It might be uncomfortable. Just lie down, Celly. I’ll call someone, so it’s best if you don’t move around today.”
As if he understood my state, Karl smiled and loosened the grip he had on my waist.
He lay me down and even covered me with the blanket, treating me like a baby.
I couldn’t bear to look at his face, so I tightly shut my eyes and hid completely under the blanket.
How could I face him after doing something so embarrassing? My goodness!
I thought I heard Karl stifling a laugh, as if trying to hold back his amusement at my behavior, but I didn’t have the luxury to check.
After covering me, Karl pulled the curtains to block the sunlight.
He said I probably needed more sleep and that he would let me rest well, since I hadn’t slept much the night before.
How could this man be so nonchalant? Was I the only one feeling embarrassed? Amid all these thoughts, as I hid under the blanket, Karl kissed me on top of my head.
“Sleep well, Celly.”
The door clicked shut. Even after he left, my pounding heart showed no signs of calming down.
***
The departure was three days later than originally scheduled. Clovis, seated in the carriage, kept glancing at Karl, trying to gauge his mood.
Karl, fully aware of why Clovis was studying his face with such intent eyes, focused completely on the documents before him, seemingly determined not to give Clovis any openings.
During their ride, it was expected that only official conversations would occur, but during a brief rest for the carriage to be serviced, Clovis couldn’t resist teasing Karl without his permission.
“Your Highness, I think you’ve lost some weight in just three days.”
“Here we go again. Clovis, can’t you just be quiet?”
“What do you mean? I’m just concerned, truly.”
“We both know that’s not the case. You’d be better off not even trying to make such silly jokes.”
Karl could foresee Clovis’s every word, and he didn’t appreciate his playful attitude at all. Clovis’s lips twitched and moved as if he were pondering the most effective way to provoke Karl, and it irked him.
“……Was it good?”
After a long pause, Clovis’s question amounted to nothing more than ‘Was it good?’ Karl’s brow furrowed deeply at Clovis’s mischievous inquiry.
“I told you to shut up.”
“No, I sincerely meant to ask if you feel happy about having a family that belongs solely to the Grand Duke.”
With a brief sigh, Karl dropped the papers he had been holding. The tendons in his wrist and forearm stood out, an obvious warning sign.
It wasn’t surprising that Clovis wanted to tease him. The day he decided to leave Celeste and Valerie behind was not today but two days earlier.
That unexpected three-day delay made Clovis’s teasing not entirely unforeseen.
As Karl was about to warn Clovis again, he turned his gaze out the carriage window.
What good would come from pointless banter? He wanted to cherish this unexpected, meaningful time entirely on his own, without sharing even a fragment regarding Celeste.
“Oh? Your Highness, you’re smiling right now.”
Thinking of Celeste must have unconsciously brought a smile to his face. Not missing the opportunity, Clovis seized on the slight upturn of Karl’s lips.
“That smile is truly unfamiliar. What thoughts could bring you such happiness? It pleases me to see you happy, Your Highness…” and so on.
Karl had been listening to a constant stream of chatter, but he simply let it flow in one ear and out the other. He never expected that the departure would be postponed by three days. All he wanted was not to be separated from his wife, yet time had passed so quickly that every schedule had to be altered. It was truly unlike him to act this way.
He tried to hide a smile that seemed ready to escape, propping his chin on his hand and covering his lips as he sank into thought. There would be many tasks awaiting him upon returning to the capital. He needed to handle matters regarding Duke of Schwaben and conduct a thorough investigation into Valerie’s affairs.
Above all, he had to decide on the next occupant of the vacant imperial throne. He couldn’t even calculate how busy he would need to be; he merely assumed he would have to work much more urgently than before.
Despite this, Karl felt more at ease than usual. His calm expression reflected his state of mind. The cold poker face he had maintained was symbolic of Duke Albrecht, implying that he could never completely let his guard down.
Not showing emotions in negotiations was a fundamental principle of nobility. Through constant training, Karl had concealed his thoughts and feelings behind that poker face, and it was unusual for him to smile so freely.
Knowing this well, Clovis wanted to gauge his superior’s happiness, even if it meant making somewhat cheeky jokes. To Clovis, Karl appeared to have everything yet lacked the most important things.
Power, fame, wealth. Karl possessed extraordinary things that ordinary people could not have but had missed out on the simple and joyful family life and love that everyone should experience.
Despite his busy life, Karl harbored a sense of emptiness in his heart. Losing his father at a very young age had shattered his family, depriving him of the unconditional love everyone deserves. He endured each day by filling that void with education and training.
As he devoted himself solely to training while leaving the space for love empty, Karl grew into a deficient individual, always shadowed by a vague anxiety that the ground beneath him might collapse at any moment. Occasionally, he was struck by a suffocating fear that he might disappear from this world altogether.
He later reflected that this fear probably stemmed from the absence of love and emotion. Yet recently, he felt something beginning to fill that emptiness. Undefined emotions started to saturate his void.
Emptiness and fullness—two opposing words simultaneously filled his heart.
As Karl thought about how he hadn’t left the bedroom for two days since that night with Celeste, he kept adjusting his lips.
“Could it really be that good?”
Clovis pondered as he received a stack of documents from Karl. It was truly unlike Karl to let an unstoppable smile escape, popping out like that.
However, spending three whole days in his wife’s embrace was just as unusual for him. Clovis lowered his head and cleared his throat, suppressing a laugh.
