HSYR 13

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but to sit in the position of a count and manage a castle that has been passed down through generations like this… it’s an insult to the territory of Burwood, to House Ishfern, to the people of the domain who live relying on it—and further still, to the Empire that entrusted you with the responsibility of governing Burwood.”

She spoke with a patient tone, like an adult explaining to a child that the sky is blue.

“And if all a person needs is water and bread, then how are they any different from animals? Everyone has the right to pursue a better life. Are you saying you’re going to take that away from me?”

At her words, Benjamin’s gaze darkened.

“For someone so immature to speak like that.”

He continued in an even lower voice.

“You have no idea how many people on this land live without even a sip of clean water, a bite of soft bread, or a touch of warm sunlight. If you truly thought of those people, you wouldn’t even consider something as trivial as rose dew.”

“Benjamin Ishfern.”

Helena didn’t back down and spoke clearly.

“You’re treating me like some naïve, foolish person who doesn’t know how the world works—but that’s only because you don’t know me. At the very least, I’ve lived up to my role far better than some count who abandoned all his responsibilities and ruined a castle passed down for generations while chasing empty ideals.”

At her words, Benjamin frowned deeply. A long vertical crease formed along his smooth brow and straight nose.

But he seemed unable to find a proper rebuttal.

Helena didn’t miss the opportunity.

She lifted her chin proudly and declared, like a goddess of war raising a banner of victory:

“You may have been running this territory like a complete thug until now, but now that I’m here, I won’t let that continue.”

Then she swiftly climbed onto the bed and lay down neatly in the very center.

“Oh, and surely the noble Count Ishfern wouldn’t want to share a bed with a spoiled, childish girl, right? The bed will be used by the spoiled child, so the noble count may sleep wherever he likes—or not at all.”

Having said that, Helena stubbornly shut her eyes tight.

Benjamin stared at her in disbelief for a moment before responding in a voice thick with irritation.

“Do as you please. I don’t sleep in beds anyway.”

At that, Helena snapped her eyes open.

“Oh? So you do have a redeeming quality? I’ll sleep in the bed, so don’t even come near me. If you do, I won’t let it slide.”

She then turned her back on him as if she couldn’t stand the sight of him.

Benjamin glared at her small back for a moment before picking up his documents again.

“……”

But it wasn’t long before Helena began tossing and turning.

At the rustling sound of the sheets, Benjamin looked up from his papers to watch her.

Helena stretched her hands this way and that as if searching for something, then stared at the bedside table with a deeply disappointed expression.

Unable to ignore it any longer, Benjamin finally asked,

“What is it now?”

Helena immediately brushed off his question.

“Mind your own business.”

Then she began scanning the room with a gloomy expression.

Benjamin truly didn’t want to care. But the woman who had been so fiery just moments ago now looked so dejected that he couldn’t pretend not to notice.

In the end, he gave up on his paperwork, stood, and walked over to her.

“What on earth is the problem?”

Helena pointed at the bedside table.

“That.”

“What’s wrong with the table?”

“Why… why is there a table here? Why not a dresser?”

“I don’t know. That table has been there from the beginning.”

Benjamin replied patiently, suppressing the irritation bubbling up inside him.

“Do you need a dresser after the dew?”

“It doesn’t have to be a dresser.”

Helena lifted her moist green eyes and looked up at him pleadingly.

At some point, all the sharpness had drained from her face, leaving her looking lost, like a child who had wandered off. Benjamin hesitated.

She reached out and placed her hand in the empty space between the bed and the table.

“I can only fall asleep if I can wedge my hand somewhere.”

Only then did Benjamin understand what she meant.

Nodding, he said,

“If there were a dresser here, you could wedge your hand between the bed and the dresser.”

“Yes.”

“But since it’s a table, you can’t.”

“Exactly.”

Benjamin said calmly,

“Don’t say such nonsense. We can’t rearrange furniture in the middle of the night, so close your eyes and count sheep. You’ll probably fall asleep before you reach ten.”

“Again!”

Helena snapped sharply.

“You don’t know anything about me. Nothing at all—and you’re already making assumptions! I’m getting sick of it, so stop!”

At the word sick of it, Benjamin’s brow creased sharply.

“I was only trying to think—!”

But when he saw the desperation on her face, he swallowed his anger with a groan and stared up at the ceiling.

Regaining his composure, he spoke again.

“Fine. I won’t concern myself, since I know nothing.”

Benjamin returned to his seat and examined the letters that had arrived for him.

Half of them were debt collection notices. The other half were letters apologizing that repayment of money owed to him would be difficult.

He was sick of both.

Fortunately, the large sum that came with Helena’s dowry would help put out the immediate fire.

But even deciding which fire was most urgent was no simple matter.

As he sat there agonizing over the scattered letters, Benjamin suddenly looked up toward Helena—and flinched.

She was lying in an extremely uncomfortable position, one hand tucked beneath her body, staring at him with hollow eyes.

“…What is it?”

Helena was at her limit.

No—she had been at her limit for a long time. She had only endured out of sheer stubbornness, refusing to show weakness to Benjamin.

A single tear rolled down from the corner of her eye.

“What did I even do wrong… to end up like this…?”

“…?”

Benjamin couldn’t understand what she was saying.

She was the one who had been caught by the Empress and the Crown Prince’s fiancée while with the Crown Prince, and thus forced into this punishment-like marriage.

And yet—what did she do wrong?

Still, Benjamin wasn’t cold-blooded enough to say that to someone cornered and crying.

He gathered a handful of letters and walked to the edge of the bed.

Then he asked her,

“Is wedging your hand really that important?”

With a sorrowful expression, Helena nodded.

Letting out what felt like the hundredth deep sigh since meeting her, Benjamin lay down beside her.

Helena’s eyes, dulled by exhaustion, sorrow, and resentment, instantly sharpened into narrow slits.

“What? You said you don’t sleep in beds.”

Without a word, Benjamin took her small hand and shoved it under his waist as he lay down.

“Is that sufficient?”

“Ah—this method…!”

“You must repay this debt.”

At last, the tension drained completely from Helena’s body.

With one hand firmly tucked beneath his waist, she smiled in utter comfort. Pulling the blanket tightly around herself and settling into a sleeping position, she spoke again.

“But why didn’t you want to sleep in a bed? Don’t tell me it was because of me…?”

“Why would you think that has anything to do with you?”

Helena blinked slowly, her expression drowsy.

“Because you couldn’t sleep with a beauty like me beside you…?”

Benjamin kindly corrected her.

“It has absolutely nothing to do with you.”

After a moment of thought, Benjamin set the letters in his hand aside and spoke.

“…I’ve lived a life that had nothing to do with beds.”

Turning his head, he gazed into the darkness beyond the window and continued.

“I was a mercenary for a long time. The mercenary band I belonged to headed only for the fiercest battlefields—even in the monster-infested south. To survive there, you couldn’t lower your guard for even a moment. Always with your back to the wall, curled up, a sword held close to your chest—that’s how I lived.”

His voice grew quieter.

“Still, back then, there was hope. That someday, everything would get better…”

“Koooo—”

“….”

Benjamin turned his head to look at Helena.

She was fast asleep, as if her earlier sleeplessness had been a lie.

One hand was still tucked beneath his waist, the other clutching the blanket tightly, her head slipping off the pillow as she snored softly.

After watching her for a moment, Benjamin gently lifted her head and placed it back on the pillow.

Even when he touched her face, Helena didn’t twitch an eyebrow.

There wasn’t a trace of vigilance on her deeply sleeping face as she snored away contentedly.

From deep in his chest, a sigh slowly rose—and Benjamin barely managed to swallow it back.