EWEML 21

Chapter 21

“Pardon?”

It had been an incredibly long day.

As if what had happened to me at the Duke of Alloze’s estate wasn’t enough, I had also spent the entire night suffering from pain before finally arriving at Argenta.

So I thought I must have heard him wrong in my half-asleep state.

“Take off your clothes and sleep.”

But apparently, I hadn’t.

Dielo’s somewhat subdued voice reached me.

It was the same heavy voice I had noticed earlier.

“Um…”

I looked down at my clothes.

Even if I raised my arm and wrapped the bandages across my wound, since the dress only came up to my chest, the curves of my upper body would be rather plainly exposed.

“Your skin has become sensitive because of the pain. It’ll be bad if your clothes rub against it.”

Dielo explained.

―Plop.

As he said that, the outer garment that had been precariously covering my arm slipped down.

Without any fabric touching my skin, the pain was certainly lessened.

“…That is true, but.”

Once the fabric covering my shoulders was completely gone, I couldn’t help feeling my face grow hot.

I had definitely thought I was more shameless than this man, but perhaps I was wrong.

Or was his mind simply so pure that he wasn’t thinking anything at all?

I turned to look at him.

But I couldn’t exactly complain about this.

If I said the wrong thing, I might end up offending Dielo.

He had only told me to take off my clothes out of genuine kindness. There was no other intention behind his words.

“Um…”

Still, wasn’t sleeping together while I was this exposed a little too much?

Just as I turned toward him with a troubled look in my eyes, I realized that Dielo had apparently remained there after applying the medicine, because he was much closer than I had expected.

My reflection was completely captured in his pale blue eyes.

Those blue eyes, filled with goodwill, brought a smile to my lips.

“―You don’t have to worry about anything else, Crua.”

At that moment, Dielo gently took my hand.

He whispered from right beside me.

“We promised, didn’t we? We’d only hold hands and sleep.”

As if asking me to trust him, he gave my fingertips a brief kiss.

His eyes, looking up at me like that, were calm and serene.

I couldn’t tell whether his hand felt hot against mine, or whether it was my own hand that had grown warm.

A strange heat lingered between us.

I carefully lay down so that the wound on my back wouldn’t touch the blankets.

Dielo smiled reassuringly.

Then he placed a soft pillow in my arms.

“Tell me if it hurts.”

I had laid a soft, non-irritating fabric over the blanket, so my shoulder didn’t hurt too badly.

Even so, there was nothing I could do about feeling a little cold with my back exposed.

“…!”

The moment I unconsciously curled up as goosebumps rose across my skin, Dielo reached out toward me.

“!”

I flinched, and Dielo stopped in his tracks.

For several seconds, we simply stared into each other’s eyes.

“Pfft.”

Then, as if we had made some sort of unspoken agreement, we both burst out laughing at the same time.

Dielo raised both hands, as if to show me that he wasn’t going to do anything.

“Just a moment. Please excuse me for a moment.”

He whispered that before reaching his hand toward me again.

Without realizing it, my eyes followed his hand.

―Rustle.

But all his hand did was carefully pull the blanket over me before retreating.

He was careful not to let it touch my injured back.

“There.”

He raised both hands again, then lay on his side and looked at me.

The bed was large enough that even with some distance between us, sleeping wasn’t uncomfortable.

Dielo looked at me for a while before slowly closing his eyes.

“Sleep well, Crua.”

His blue eyes disappeared completely behind his eyelids.

Seeing him close his eyes first, I was reminded once again that this really was Dielo Argenta.

He looked like the sort of person who would soon fall into a deep, peaceful sleep and not notice even if someone carried him away.

“……”

As I quietly watched him, the lights in the room gradually began to fade.

The lights had been illuminated through Dielo’s ability, so he was obviously controlling them.

Shadows crept in from the corners of the room, eventually covering the bed.

And just as even the faintest light was about to disappear completely—

―Click.

The dimming light stopped.

As though time itself had stopped.

“Hm?”

Just as I blinked, Dielo gently opened his eyes.

Then, out of nowhere, he said,

“You’re making me hot, Crua.”

“What?”

What was he talking about?

He smiled broadly at my question.

“When you keep looking at me like that.”

His face slightly flushed, he picked up a pillow and placed it between us.

―Flump.

Now, instead of Dielo’s face, all I could see was a white pillow.

I blinked.

…Had I been staring at him that intensely?

Just as I scratched my cheek, Dielo’s voice came from behind the pillow.

“You don’t have to be on guard.”

It was a quiet whisper.

I blinked several more times before eventually bursting into laughter.

“I was just looking at your face.”

I reached out and took his hand, which was resting on top of the pillow.

I felt like I had embarrassed him for no reason.

His hand twitched slightly.

Surprisingly, it was very warm.

Was it because he was an Argenta of Fire?

“I’m not on guard.”

Silence followed my words.

…Did he fall asleep?

Just as I began wondering that, he suddenly asked,

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I answered immediately.

Then I heard him laugh.

“Why?”

I asked what he meant, as if to say, Why are you asking that?

But this time, the light finally went completely out.

“……”

I never got an answer.

But as darkness filled my vision, exhaustion swept over me in an instant.

The warmth traveling through our joined hands and the pitch-black darkness were more than enough to lull me to sleep.

I slowly drifted into slumber.

The next day.

Dielo was still asleep when I woke up.

“Did he fall asleep late?”

I watched him sleeping peacefully.

It seemed he had been quite worried because I was late.

―Click.

Just then, a maid who had come to announce the morning carefully opened the door.

I raised my index finger to my lips, signaling her to be quiet.

“……”

The maid’s eyes widened, and she quietly backed away.

I could see Pielle standing behind her as well.

Was something urgent happening?

“…Ah.”

Today was probably the day of the shadow supply, so someone needed to give the final approval.

I looked up at the clock.

It was already eleven in the morning.

It made sense that the servants had come to check on us.

“Should I do it?”

The final approval for the shadow supplies was basically just inspecting the goods, so it wasn’t difficult.

Of course, it was still troublesome and time-consuming.

If I handled it, Dielo might be able to sleep a little longer.

“Fine. I should at least make myself useful after yesterday’s treatment… Ah.”

I absentmindedly raised my arm to stretch, but immediately lowered it again when pain shot through me.

“I’ll take care of that and then look at the map.”

It shouldn’t take long.

I would check the shadow supplies first…

Preparing for the future was important. Yes, definitely.

After organizing my thoughts, I carefully loosened my body.

I still couldn’t stretch my arms fully.

But perhaps because the medicine was effective, I felt much better than yesterday.

“……”

Dielo remained deeply asleep even as I slowly moved around.

I quietly slipped out of bed.

Tiptoeing—

I approached the door, opened it slightly, and motioned for Pielle to come inside.

“Just something light for indoors.”

I whispered while holding my index finger to my lips.

Pielle entered without making a sound.

She then led me into the small dressing room attached to the bedroom.

After being helped into a light indoor dress, I left the dressing room and checked on Dielo again.

“……”

He was sleeping without moving an inch.

Only after confirming that did I quietly leave the room.

As I closed the door, I asked Pielle,

“Nothing happened during the night, right?”

“No. But…”

Pielle immediately answered.

Then she looked me over.

“Are you really planning to return to work immediately? It would be better for you to rest a little longer…”

“No.”

I firmly waved my hand.

Now that I had left the room, there was no need to move quietly anymore.

“If I don’t, won’t it look like something happened to me at the Duke of Alloze’s estate?”

It was true, of course.

Even if they didn’t discover that someone had branded me, if I returned from my family estate and suddenly had difficulty moving around, people would naturally become suspicious.

And the Duke of Alloze was probably keeping an eye on me.

Even if not on the fourth floor, there might be at least one of Alloze’s eyes or ears somewhere in this mansion.

“If I’m going to deceive them, I have to do it properly.”

I quietly said this while placing my index finger against my lips.

In the end, Pielle bowed her head.

“…Understood. But if it becomes too difficult for you, please tell me immediately.”

“Of course.”

Pielle’s worried gaze remained fixed on me.

It was genuine concern.

Pielle, the cleaner of Argenta, was gentle only toward those who belonged to the Argenta household.

Had she come to regard me as one of Argenta’s own as well?

Judging from the expression on Pielle’s face when she had spoken about the “first battlefield” before, I thought that might be the case.

It was a strange feeling.

“…All right, then. Let’s go.”

I turned around once more.

Beyond the closed door, Dielo was probably sleeping soundly.

Sleep well.

With gratitude for what he had done for me yesterday, I looked toward the door before walking away.

―Click.

The sound of the door closing echoed through the room.

At that moment, Dielo opened his eyes.

―Whack!

He grabbed the pillow barrier that had been separating him from Crua and tossed it aside.