Chapter 15
Every Night
Moonlight quietly peered into Renar’s bedroom.
“Why…?! Why isn’t it working…!!”
Renar, who had just woken from a nightmare, hurled his teacup irritably. It cut through the air and smashed into the wall across the room.
The teacup shattered loudly, scattering into pieces.
Renar frowned.
Before going to sleep, he had drunk Libero tea.
He did it to avoid nightmares.
The night before, when Eloise had helped him fall asleep, he hadn’t had a nightmare.
When he woke up in the morning, he had been shocked.
For the first time in a long while, he had slept soundly without a nightmare.
It felt like nothing short of a miracle.
So tonight Renar drank Libero tea before sleeping.
He wondered if the scent of the tea Eloise had brought him had affected him somehow.
But he carefully inhaled the aroma and drank every drop—yet the tea had no effect at all.
If that was the case, only one variable remained.
“Eloise.”
The name he spoke himself carved deeply into Renar’s mind.
I have to bring Eloise to my bed. I have to bring her… to my bed….
An obsession began to take root in his subconscious.
It was a trait inherited from his father’s family line—the household of Emperor Ternut.
Gripping the blanket tightly, Renar’s clear reddish-brown eyes gleamed sharply.
* * *
“…You want me to bring tea every night?”
Eloise asked again, as if she had misheard.
Renar nodded firmly.
Golden spring sunlight bathed him as he sat across from her in the garden where a delicate tea table had been prepared.
Eloise and Renar were having tea together.
In the warm sunlight, the buttons of Renar’s shirt glittered faintly.
“The tea will be prepared by Douglas,” Renar said.
“All Your Highness needs to do is come to my room with the prepared tea. And occasionally… if you could pat me so I fall asleep sooner… that would be even better.”
Renar asked boldly.
As if he were simply requesting something that was rightfully his.
Eloise stared at him in disbelief.
On his arrogant-looking face, she noticed his tongue briefly wet his lips.
In truth—he was nervous.
He was afraid she might refuse.
“Could you… tell me the reason for such a request?”
When she asked, Renar averted his gaze.
His eyes drifted toward the distant garden beyond her shoulder.
Eloise waited patiently and lifted her teacup.
By the time she finished the now lukewarm tea and set the cup down, Renar had looked back at her.
Has he decided what to say?
“I… have nightmares every day,” Renar admitted honestly.
“But the day Your Highness brought me Libero tea… I didn’t have a nightmare. That night when you brought the tea and helped me sleep. I tried drinking the tea alone… but it didn’t work. I still had nightmares. That’s why I’d like Your Highness to bring me the tea. Just like that day… so I can sleep without nightmares.”
Eloise was startled.
She hadn’t expected Renar to be so honest without any scheme.
“Though it may be hard to believe…”
Misreading her expression, Renar added bitterly.
For most people, it really would be hard to believe.
Having nightmares every single day sounded like a fairy tale.
More likely, it could sound like a trick to lure a woman into his bedroom.
But Eloise was the only one who knew the truth.
She was someone who had transmigrated into the world of a novel—someone who knew the original story.
To her, his honesty carried weight.
Renar was clearly desperate enough to be this honest.
Renar, who lived his life through schemes and lies, was revealing the truth like this.
How desperate must he be to have no other method…
And she was surprised.
He hadn’t had a nightmare that night.
She didn’t know whether she had really affected his nightmares, but the fact that he could sleep peacefully without Castina’s help was miraculous.
Maybe… Renar just needed a loving touch…?
The thought briefly crossed her mind.
After all, she had stroked his hair that night like a mother soothing a child.
According to the original story, Renar had never been able to act spoiled with his biological mother during childhood.
Of course, Eloise knew his nightmares were caused by excessive magical power, so she didn’t dwell long on that idea.
Still, she felt happy.
Because she might finally be able to help the person who once saved her life when she was young.
If she truly could help him.
“Alright.”
After a brief silence, Eloise answered.
“So I just bring tea to your room every night? And occasionally pat you to sleep?”
Renar’s eyes widened at the unexpected response.
Eloise thought it was a simple enough task.
And if his nightmares disappeared completely, that would be even better.
My stray cat.
“Y-You said yes just now…? Are you serious…?”
Renar, who had been so arrogant while asking, now looked completely flustered.
“…Should I take it back?”
“…No! Not at all! Please don’t say such frightening things. Then… I’ll be waiting starting tonight.”
Renar’s face turned slightly red.
His flushed face blended with the golden sunlight, and seeing it made Eloise smile softly as she nodded.
* * *
From that day onward, Eloise brought Libero tea to Renar’s room every night.
Usually she handed him the tea, watched him drink it, and then left.
But sometimes she stayed until he fell asleep.
When he seemed fully asleep, she would quietly stroke his hair for a while before leaving.
After several nights of this, Renar realized something for certain.
It wasn’t the tea that removed his nightmares.
It was Eloise.
More precisely—the physical contact with her.
The only nights he didn’t have nightmares were the nights when Eloise thought he had already fallen asleep and gently stroked his head.
Renar found himself troubled.
After discovering this fact, whenever he looked at Eloise, all he noticed was her body.
And all he could think about was wanting to sleep with her.
However, despite the growing desire, there was no easy way to have her.
He couldn’t force her either.
To Renar, Eloise was a queen.
A woman of noble blood and high status.
Someone he could never treat carelessly.
He had even considered asking directly, just like when he asked her to bring tea.
But…
“So I just bring tea to your room every night? And sometimes pat you to sleep?”
That seemed to be her limit.
Asking such a noble lady to share a bed because of a fairy-tale nightmare felt impossible.
Even the fact that she hadn’t rejected him in the garden already felt like a miracle to Renar.
“I… have nightmares every day.”
His honesty had been impulsive.
But in that moment of honesty, Renar had felt fear.
Fear that his desperate sincerity might be rejected.
It was a feeling he had never experienced when using schemes.
He had never feared failing a scheme.
If one plan failed, he could simply succeed with the next.
But having his true feelings rejected—that felt unbearable.
Especially by Eloise.
Renar didn’t want to experience again the trembling fear he felt when he revealed his sincerity.
So instead of asking her directly to sleep with him, he decided—for now—to be satisfied with having a few nightmare-free nights.
But eventually, he still intended to bring Eloise into his bed.
Because he felt that if he spent the night with her, he might never have nightmares again.
To do that, he needed to win her heart.
After all, women usually gave their bodies to the place where their hearts went.
Winning her favor had been his original goal anyway.
The direction hadn’t changed much.
Only the final objective had been added.
Now Renar was thinking hard about how to make a place for himself in Eloise’s heart.
His intense thoughts continued until the dark ink-colored night faded and the bright morning sun rose.
* * *
Eloise continued bringing Libero tea to Renar every night.
Renar said his nightmares were getting better.
Since she began bringing the tea, he didn’t have nightmares at least once every few days.
And Eloise could see it too—the dark shadows beneath his eyes were slowly fading.
She was delighted and faithfully brought him tea every night.
To be honest, the task was a little fun.
Her daily life here was otherwise quite uneventful.
She usually woke up late, washed up, lounged around, and ate breakfast.
Afterward she read books or drank tea.
When evening came, she practiced chess alone before dinner and then went to sleep.
Since she had even stopped teaching Renar recently so he could sleep more, she had even less to do.
So taking care of Renar every night became a small pastime and entertainment for her.
It felt like playing a Tamagotchi game.
Watching the shadows under Renar’s eyes gradually disappear felt like raising a Tamagotchi character.
Now I understand why childcare simulation games were popular.
The joy of raising something.
That day was another night she brought Libero tea to her Tamagotchi Renar.
The sky was unusually dark with heavy clouds, but otherwise it was an ordinary day.
She picked up the tray Douglas had left in front of Renar’s door and knocked.
There was no response.
So she opened the door.
The window must have been open—because a breeze blew in, carrying the fragrant scent of Libero tea.
And then—
A bright blue flash suddenly burst before her eyes.
