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~Chapter 15~
Of course not…
Luke let out a dry laugh.
As expected from someone the Lord himself had brought in—her way of thinking was anything but ordinary.
“I came to see if you were still awake, but thankfully, it seems the sleeping medicine worked well.”
“…Well, yes, I suppose so.”
“But… did he go to sleep without even changing his clothes?”
“Ah… I guess the medicine worked a little too well. I’ll adjust it to be lighter from tomorrow.”
Shariette decided to leave out the small truth for the sake of what little trust she had earned.
With Luke’s help, they easily carried the insomniac patient to his bedroom.
Even while being carried, Noxian did not wake up—sleeping deeply enough to make it seem unreal. Luke struggled to suppress the sudden wave of emotion.
“Thank you very much, Lady Shariette.”
Startled by his heartfelt gratitude, she replied awkwardly,
“That’s… not necessary…”
Instead of explaining the deep feelings rising in his chest, Luke purposely lightened his tone.
“If the boss doesn’t go home, how could a subordinate possibly go home?”
“…You can’t?”
“No. No, we can’t!”
You’ve saved not just one life—several lives. If the boss can’t sleep, people like us will work ourselves to death.
Josef’s words came to mind. Shariette looked at Luke with sympathy as he seemed overwhelmed with emotion.
“The Duchess must have told you. You are our savior, Lady Shariette. Truly.”
“…Yes.”
“If you think the Lord might wake up too early, please help him go back to sleep.”
“That sounds like you’re telling me to make sure he never wakes up again.”
“I’m counting on you.”
He grasped her hands with both of his, thanked her again, and left the room.
Just what kind of life has this man been living…?
Shariette looked down at the peacefully sleeping man, who seemed to have nothing to do with all the terrible rumors.
When he kept his mouth shut like this, he looked like the man once called the noble son of Rubencher before the Argen family’s destruction.
But whether he was a noble or a devil, to her, he was simply a patient whose condition she needed to monitor.
Shariette checked Noxian’s breathing, pulse, and temperature, and recorded it in the chart.
She pulled a chair close and sat down, yawning quietly. It was going to be a long night.
The occasional sound of writing ceased, and the night passed. Between dawn and morning—
Noxian Rubellot slowly opened his eyes, caught by an unfamiliar sensation.
Cool, dim dawn light came through the window.
It was nothing like usual—when he lay there with his eyes closed but sleep never came. The silence was peaceful, different from the heavy stillness he knew.
The first thing he thought of was the infuriating woman who had forced him to sleep.
“If I don’t fix that habit, she’ll keep knocking people out whenever she feels like it.”
But the next thing he felt was a strange sense of freedom.
It was like he had closed his eyes for just a moment, yet had fully rested in endless, comfortable darkness.
Realizing that breathing felt easy made him understand—before, it had been like breathing underwater.
It was as if his mind had been rinsed clean in the blue morning air. The tense, taut nerves that reacted sharply to the slightest stimulus had finally loosened.
Something heavy that had been pressing down on his whole body seemed to fall away.
The lightness and peace felt unfamiliar—maybe even frightening.
Noxian slowly savored all these sensations.
Then he noticed the woman curled up in the chair by his bed.
“…Shariette.”
She was sleeping with her knees hugged to her chest and her head tilted to one side. In the dim dawn light, her hair seemed to glow faintly white.
A pen was about to fall from her fingers, and a notebook had already rolled to the floor.
He picked up the notebook.
Inside were hourly records of his condition, notes on strange medicinal ingredients, and scribbled formulas.
“….”
Carefully, he took the pen from her hand and straightened her drooping head.
His fingers brushed her cheek as he moved her hair aside. Unlike her usual tense expression, her face was unguarded in sleep.
“…Who are you?”
With such a different face, she said and did the same things.
She was afraid and anxious, but never backed down in her own territory, and never let go of the responsibility in her hands.
‘I’m the one responsible for your health, so follow my prescriptions and instructions.’
“I’ve hired a very stubborn doctor.”
He withdrew his hand.
Sasha had been like this too—staying by his side every time he took medicine, recording things stubbornly, and dozing off in the same way.
Noxian took a deep breath, as if to push away the suffocating weight in his chest.
One woman had vanished without a trace.
Another had fallen into his life as if from the sky.
They looked so much alike, but—
There’s no way they’re the same person.
He glanced again at the notebook. The messy handwriting was nothing like the Sasha he remembered.
Even so, he remained wrapped in the unfamiliar yet nostalgic peace, watching her as if catching fragments of a lost dream—until the blue dawn turned into a white morning.
Even putting aside the first day’s forced knockout, Shariette’s sleeping medicine worked perfectly every night.
It had been ten days since the long-time insomniac returned to a normal schedule—sleeping in the evening and waking in the morning.
Those who had been cautiously watching finally let out silent cheers.
The White Nights are over!
The mood at the Rubellot Duchy was like a holiday had been declared.
“Good heavens, this time you really did bring the right person. Call Miss Verdette—I must thank her personally.”
The Duchess, who had worried that her son might truly die from lack of sleep, was overjoyed.
“No more night shifts!”
“Half the paperwork will be gone now, right?”
“Please, let me go home!”
The servants, who had been buried in endless work and night duty because of their sleepless master, were equally delighted.
Even if a superior said, ‘Go rest’, how many subordinates could really say, ‘Yes, then, goodnight~’ and leave?
The happiest of all was Luke Elden, the heir’s right-hand man and personal aide.
“You seem in a good mood.”
“The sky is blue today.”
“Yesterday you said it was because the clouds were white.”
“The world is beautiful, isn’t it?”
The Rubellot Knights, however, were a bit more cautious.
“Who do you think is more dangerous—Noxian without sleep, or Noxian well-rested?”
“…Well… still, this is a good thing for the Lord. Loyalty!”
In any case, the new personal doctor’s reputation was skyrocketing—except with one person: Eden Evans.
“That woman is completely hopeless. The worst!”
The way she managed to get under his skin with that clueless face of hers… infuriating!
But unfortunately for him, Eden was the only one who spoke negatively about her.
“Her personality and way of speaking are a bit unique, but she’s a good person.”
“That’s right. The other day, I got hurt moving boxes, and she treated me right there.”
“Oh? Me too! I didn’t think she’d treat people like us who aren’t knights.”
“Well, Sir Heron is hard to see, and Sir Eden only gives us medicine with no mercy…”
Anyone who remembered the White Crow of Willow Hill would know Shariette wasn’t exactly kind.
It’s just that Eden was far more openly selective with people.
That kind of thing was normal in the Argen Marquisate, but the Rubellot family was different.
Either way, one thing was certain—Shariette’s presence was leaving deep scratches on Eden Evans’s pride and authority.
Damn it… is she teasing only me on purpose, or what?
The truth was… yes, it was on purpose.
