Chapter 35
I Like Sleeping with Your Highness
The sound of something hitting was definitely Klaud banging on the window hard.
A faint smile spread across Yuan's lips.
"I'm here-!"
Yuan jumped lightly and raised her voice a little.
"I'll go up when the sun sets!"
The curtains didn't budge.
She diligently trimmed the Cleaning Potion, and before she knew it, a lot of time had passed.
Yuan washed the sweat off her body cleanly, put on a loose dress that she wore as pajamas, threw a nightgown over it, and went to Klaud's bedroom.
Fortunately, even after the sun had set, he was in a similar state as during the day.
Sitting in the ever-creaky rocking chair, leaning his head back, and closing his eyes.
It was the image that always came to mind when she imagined Klaud in his bedroom, so she couldn't help but smile.
"I heard you walked around the bedroom a lot today?"
Yuan approached Klaud, who didn't answer.
Since she had just finished bathing, the subtle fragrance flowing from her nightgown gently brushed against Klaud's nose.
"You must have been very bored without me, right?"
"...Why would I be bored?"
"You're always watching me. Standing here like this."
Yuan leaned against the window and smiled brightly at him.
Only then did Klaud open his eyes and look at Yuan.
His gaze, which had lingered on her clear smile, immediately shifted in the opposite direction.
"I'm watching you. In case you do something useless and cause another accident."
Yuan looked down at his exposed neck without answering.
The wriggling black pain was preparing to rush towards his clean skin like a snake swimming in the mud.
"What did you talk about with the doctor?"
"Pardon?"
"...What did you talk about with that four-eyes?"
Klaud's question, which broke the strange silence, was a bit out of the blue.
Yuan stared at the movement of the pain that was about to engulf him, then blinked her dazed eyes.
In the short silence that returned, Klaud turned his head sharply and looked at her.
His eyes, urging an answer, stared straight at her.
"It's a secret."
"What?"
His stiff face crumpled dramatically.
Yuan fidgeted with her hands but persevered.
"It's a secret. I haven't told Henna or the butler yet."
"The maid and the butler?"
Klaud's face took on a mottled light, and he finally jumped up from the creaking rocking chair.
His eyes narrowed for a brief moment, as if the places pierced by arrows still hurt.
Yuan was startled and went into his arms to support him.
In an instant, Klaud's body stiffened.
No sooner had Yuan supported his back with her hand than she was pushed away.
It wasn't a rough movement, but it was a clear sign of rejection.
Yuan blinked in surprise.
Klaud was just as embarrassed, as he twitched the hand that had pushed her away and crossed his arms.
"You made a secret with the doctor? What are you trusting in?"
"It's nothing much."
"Nothing much, but you didn't tell 'the maid and the butler' and the man... the master?"
It was clear that Klaud's mood was severely twisted.
Especially at the words that it was a secret even from the maid and the butler, so it was a secret from you.
Yuan wanted to retort that it was all because she wanted to clean the West Annex and show it to you! But she pursed her lips, fearing that she might cry if Klaud said, 'Don't do useless things.'
She wanted to show him the already cleaned Annex so that he couldn't refuse.
"It's really nothing much."
"Then tell me. To your master. I'll listen and judge whether it's really nothing or not."
Yuan was momentarily speechless at Klaud's stubbornness and only moved her lips.
But Klaud was more adamant than she thought and didn't change his expression at all.
He couldn't have been more serious.
"Are you jealous or something?"
"Jealous?"
Klaud laughed briefly, and Yuan's face turned red.
Even she thought it was too absurd a question.
"Jeal. ous?"
"Then, then why..."
"Since you're going around saying I'm your family, let me give you some advice."
Klaud approached her, speaking as if he were chewing and spitting out each word.
Although he limped a little, the distance that had been quite far was quickly narrowed.
"Don't trust anything sent from the Imperial Palace."
Yuan's body was submerged in a huge shadow.
Like her, Klaud's scent came from inside the nightgown he was wearing.
The smell of Painkiller he chewed every day. The smell of cigars he seemed to smoke occasionally. Even the clean soap smell unique to someone who had just finished bathing.
Yuan raised her trembling eyes and looked up at him as he approached.
"There's no one to trust, whether it's a doctor or whatever. In this Mansion."
But the servants here are clumsy and blunt, but they are all kind.
They are anxious that I might leave someday, but if they see me adapting even a little, they are eager to give me something more.
They are afraid of you, but at the same time, they feel sorry for you.
Yuan hid the countless words swirling around in her mouth and continued to look up at Klaud, who seemed a little angry.
The movement of the pain trying to crawl up was unusual. Within minutes, he would be submerged in the swamp of pain.
"Do you understand? Don't give your heart away."
"...Are you saying this because you're worried about me?"
Yuan asked him in a slightly subdued voice.
Klaud was just looking down at her in front of him without answering.
Neither affirming nor denying.
"Or do you not trust me either?"
Yuan, who had been staring intently at Klaud's silent lips, smiled bitterly and stepped out of his shadow to busily prepare the medicinal tea.
Yuan called him weakly towards Klaud, who was standing in the same position that had trapped her.
"It's late, Your Highness. Please take your medicine."
He slowly turned around and looked at the warm, steaming medicinal tea and her at the same time.
Just as the pain was gradually creeping into his clean skin and his eyes were starting to become bloodshot, a low voice flowed from Klaud's mouth, who was gritting his teeth and enduring the pain.
"Take the medicine."
Yuan nodded.
"Yes. You're in pain."
Klaud stared at her face for a long time and let out a short, hollow laugh. Then he slowly approached, picked up the teacup, and swallowed the contents in one gulp.
The sound of the teacup being placed down roughly loudly broke the silence.
Klaud looked down at her expressionlessly.
"You're going to sleep with me in this situation. With someone who doesn't worry about you or trust you."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Why?
She had spent many peaceful nights with him, so why was he suddenly asking why she was trying to sleep with him?
Yuan was silent for a moment before answering.
"I don't like it when Your Highness is in pain."
"Why?"
Why does he want to know the reason? Even though he has no interest in me.
It was Yuan's heart that even Yuan couldn't understand, that she couldn't just ignore him now.
Was it because she felt sorry for misunderstanding that he might have made her sister unhappy?
Was it because she felt sorry for him for not showing such a miserable appearance to the Emperor if she hadn't done the Consummation Proof?
Was it because he provided a place to stay where she didn't have to be dragged to Pellieresse? Or maybe because he was someone she might continue to live with?
How could she explain this complicated feeling?
Yuan became impatient when she saw Klaud's pain rising to his chin.
"I just don't like it. What wife likes her husband being in pain?"
Klaud's expression crumpled subtly.
There was nothing she could say to him. No matter what he misunderstood, it was a hundred times better than wandering in terrible pain.
Yuan grabbed her fluttering heart without realizing it and stood up in front of him.
And she grabbed his cheeks, which were looking down at her with bloodshot eyes.
His hot breath, which had been scattered on the back of her hand, stopped abruptly.
"I like sleeping with Your Highness. So don't ask for reasons anymore."
Yuan's lips, standing on tiptoe, carefully touched the tip of his chin.
Above Yuan's lowered eyelashes, his swaying gaze landed.
A long glass bottle was filled with transparent green Potion.
It was a Cleaning Potion that Yuan had made by accepting Hille's advice. Hille was eager to use it quickly and urged Yuan.
"If this can really erase anything cleanly, Madam will become very rich."
"Not that much..."
"Medicines made for practical use in everyday life are rare, so they sell like hotcakes as soon as they are put on the market! Some people have to rub it twenty times, but if they only have to rub it five times, who wouldn't like it? Nobles don't care whether they rub it twenty times or five times, but commoners-."
Hille was giving a passionate speech when she realized her mistake and looked at Yuan.
Yuan was also the daughter of a Count and now the wife of a ruined royal, even if she was a commoner? She had made a big mistake because she had become too close.
"I'm sorry, Madam."
"It's okay. It's true... that's right. Nobles will spend money on medicines for eternal life rather than medicines that help with household chores."
Hille nodded enthusiastically, deeply recalling her respect for Pellieresse.
After that, it was smooth sailing.
Yuan headed to the problematic West Annex with a brush that Mazarin, the stable keeper, had made himself.
Hille had gone up to Klaud's bedroom for her morning treatment, so this time she was with Henna.
Henna had a dazed expression as she carried the bottle of Cleaning Potion, but when she arrived at the entrance of the West Annex, she seemed very embarrassed.
"Madam? Why are you in the West Annex..."
"I'm going to test the medicine. I thought it would be nice to clean this place up as a hobby."
"H-Here?"
"Yes. I heard that this is a place full of His Highness's childhood memories. He doesn't get any fresh air, so I thought if I cleaned this place up, he might come out."
Henna flinched at Yuan's words and slowly looked up at the Annex, which was the size of a small hut.
Yuan watched Henna's expression and soon shifted her gaze, following the whining sound.
A dog with sparse fur was wagging its tail in the distance. It was a dog that looked like a wolf that had strayed from its pack.
