5
Delia brewed tea from flowers she had dried and stored away over an entire season. For several days now, the end of winter had brought an unrelenting chill.
Golden tea slowly unfurled within the white teapot on the table. She stared at it with a distant gaze.
So another day comes to an end like this.
It was always the same day, yet she could never help but feel a quiet sense of regret when it ended.
Today, her reading had progressed more slowly than usual, burdened by an unusual number of distracting thoughts. Still, she would soon finish the foundational volume.
After her marriage, she had independently studied Introduction to Magic and Basic Materials of Magic. Over the past few months, she had moved on to Fundamentals of Magic, a text detailing actual magical practice.
Ordinarily, studying magical texts was not something done alone, but in tandem with formal instruction.
In that sense, the fact that she was mastering the material through self-study alone was proof of considerable aptitude.
It was lamentable that no one recognized it.
Just as Delia poured the brewed tea into a cup, the door suddenly opened with a sharp sound.
Eden entered, dressed in the uniform of the Skyler Knights. His presence immediately filled her vision.
He was a man who took immense pride in the Skyler Knight Order, always donning his uniform when important matters arose.
“You’re back? You’re in uniform.”
Delia’s expression, whenever she spoke of Eden, would sometimes soften into something like a clear, open sky.
Eden always noticed it.
“Yes. There was something important.”
“What was it?”
“The departure ceremony for a merchant vessel.”
His tone made it clear he had no intention of elaborating.
Delia simply nodded. It was rare for the two of them to be in the same room lately, yet silence still settled between them.
Within that stillness, she gathered a courage she rarely allowed herself.
“Um, Sir Grace.”
“Yes.”
He answered absently, his face already showing fatigue. Seeing that expression made her hesitate for a moment, but she slowly continued.
“Would you like to take a walk in Stas? The winter flowers are blooming.”
She was referring to the unusual blossoms also called snowflowers.
“They say they bloom even in the snow. Isn’t that fascinating?”
She cautiously observed his reaction, adding the words almost as an afterthought.
Of course, Delia did not believe he was the sort of person who appreciated romantic things like winter flowers.
It was simply that she had no other excuse to ask him to walk with her.
Unaware of her feelings, Eden let out a dry, incredulous expression.
Then, with a faint, dismissive laugh, he spoke—an expression that made her chest sink.
“Do I look that free to you?”
“……”
“Go alone. I feel like my body’s going to stiffen completely. I should take a bath first.”
At times like this, he seemed like a man capable only of cold words.
Delia lowered her gaze, embarrassed. Without reason, she traced the patterns on the floor, trying to steady her emotions.
Then Eden cast a cold glance at her, reached out, and rang the bell near the bedroom.
The head maid quickly entered the room.
When Delia was alone, only the regular maids or Luna would attend her, but whenever Eden was present, the head maid always personally served the couple.
“Yes, my lord?”
“Prepare a bath.”
“Yes. I will have it ready immediately.”
Shortly after the head maid left, servants entered carrying buckets and kettles of water.
In the bath chamber attached to the couple’s room, they prepared the bath efficiently.
The sound of water filling the tub echoed through the room.
Averse to wasting time, the servants hurried under the scrutiny of their impatient master.
“My lord, it is ready.”
“Leave.”
“…Shall we assist—”
“I don’t need it. Leave.”
At Eden’s words, the head maid briefly looked flustered.
“Yes, understood. Please call if you need anything.”
But she did not dare ask further. She bowed respectfully with the others and left.
Delia watched him with a faintly curious expression. It seemed unusual that he was refusing bath service today.
“You’re going to bathe alone?”
“Yes.”
“…Why?”
“Last time, I noticed…”
Eden trailed off uncharacteristically as he began undressing.
Seeing him remove his clothes right in front of her, Delia turned her gaze away toward a corner of the room, her face warming with embarrassment.
Eden noticed and smirked slightly.
“Has it become awkward for you to see your husband’s body after two years of marriage?”
It’s not that. It was just… still hard to get used to.
“N-no…”
“Last time, I noticed—”
“Yes?”
“You don’t take bath service.”
He spoke quietly as he walked toward the bath chamber hidden behind a partition.
“Last time?”
She searched her memory but could not recall the exact moment he meant.
Perhaps he had seen servants leaving after preparing the bathwater.
But to Delia, that was nothing unusual.
“I prefer bathing alone.”
“Did you always refuse service?”
At his question, she tilted her head slightly.
“Before marriage?”
“Ah… no. Back then, the old maids who served me were very familiar, so it wasn’t uncomfortable.”
“……”
Eden did not respond.
Instead, the sound of water beginning to flow filled the silence.
As he bathed, Delia relaxed slightly, letting her gaze drift aimlessly around the room.
A large space. A soft, spacious bed stuffed thick with feathers and straw. Clean furniture arranged according to her taste.
The couple’s bedroom. My room.
It was a place she had once thought she would love dearly, yet it still sometimes felt unfamiliar.
Lost in thought, she heard his voice again.
“Are the servants of the Grace family uncomfortable for you?”
The sudden question startled her slightly.
It was unlike him to ask something like this. Eden was not a man who paid attention to such trivial matters.
“No, not at all. I’m fine.”
“You are the lady of the house. There is no reason for you to feel uncomfortable with the maids.”
“……”
“If the head maid is inconvenient, call someone else.”
At his words, Delia ran a weak hand through her hair.
Should she be grateful for his consideration?
Or disappointed that he did not even realize the head maid never personally served her?
She honestly did not know.
“I understand.”
The sound of water resumed, and their conversation faded.
Only the faint sounds of Eden washing himself passed through the partition.
After sitting there aimlessly for a while, Delia stood up.
She decided she should take a walk in Stas after all.
It wasn’t that she desperately wanted to walk or see the snowflowers.
Rather, it was embarrassment from having just been rejected, and discomfort from sitting silently in awkwardness.
She quietly left the room.
As she entered the outskirts of Stas, a cold wind struck her sharply, tinting her cheeks red.
She rubbed her face lightly with her pale hand and looked up.
“The weather’s quite overcast. Maybe it’ll snow.”
Though it was cold, she felt strangely refreshed, as if something tight in her chest had loosened.
Step by step, she walked along the path of Stas.
Winter stripped the landscape of all color, leaving only silence, but the occasional pale-blue snowflower petals made her heart stir.
Then—
“Ah…?”
It was absurd, but just as she thought it felt pleasant, heavy rain began to pour.
It happened so suddenly there was no time to react.
“In winter? Not snow, but rain…?”
In an instant, she was completely soaked.
Without a servant or escort, she had no choice but to run alone. Though she tried to keep her dignity, she hurried back as fast as she could.
When she finally returned and opened the door, she froze.
“…Ah.”
Eden stood there, staring at her with a cold expression.
Her drenched figure made her feel unbearably embarrassed, like a soaked animal.
What should I say?
She fumbled silently, when suddenly he walked toward her.
He had apparently just finished bathing as well—water droplets still slid down his dark hair. A thick towel hung in his hand.
Without a word, he extended it toward her.
Delia blinked in surprise. That simple act of kindness felt strangely out of place on his cold face.
“…Is this for me?”
“Who else is here besides you?”
“……”
“Take it. Quickly.”
At his urging, she stepped closer. As she did, a strange feeling lingered within her.
Was this the kind of man Eden was capable of being?
And yet… she did not dislike it.
Wasn’t this what she had always dreamed of?
A life where she took care of him, and he took care of her in return. A marriage built on the smallest, quietest gestures of mutual existence.
A wish she had only ever dreamed of, never truly lived.
“This feels strange,” she murmured.
“What does?”
Even as he asked, his hand remained extended, holding the towel out to her.
“Being taken care of like this… it feels unfamiliar.”
His hand paused slightly.
Eden frowned again, his sharp gaze turning toward her.
Delia wondered if she had said something wrong. But before she could think further, he spoke with clear disbelief.
“Have I ever not taken care of you?”
