Chapter 45
“Then, I’ll be going now.”
Even after finishing the entire bottle of wine Leo had prepared, their conversation had gone on until both of them sobered up. It was late enough to sleep.
It was admittedly funny that she’d come to “have dinner” in her nightgown, but Elaina began getting ready to return to her room.
However, when she opened the door—she nearly fainted.
Standing right outside, like a gatekeeper, was Sara, blocking the doorway.
“S–Sara?”
“You’ve finished your meal, I see! I’ll take care of the dishes.”
As if to ask where do you think you’re going, Sara quickly pushed Elaina back inside.
“My lady! I told you, didn’t I? It’s your wedding night! Where are you trying to go?”
Sara whispered sharply, her voice low. Elaina quickly turned her head, afraid Lyle might have overheard—but thankfully, he seemed not to have caught a word.
The maid who had come with Sara collected the dishes onto a trolley, while Sara began lighting incense in Lyle’s room.
“You must be tired. Please rest well.”
Before Elaina could react, the door closed with a snap. Until the very last moment, Sara’s eyes gleamed fiercely—as if to warn her don’t even think about coming out.
“Uh…”
Flustered, Elaina looked back and forth between the door and Lyle.
“A very competent maid you have.”
Lyle’s lips curved into a faintly amused smile—one you’d never see in his ducal mansion.
“Well, um…”
“Sara, was it? She’s right. It’s our wedding night. If word spread that we slept in separate rooms, it would only cause unnecessary gossip.”
So, he had heard everything. Elaina’s face turned beet red. That’s when she suddenly realized—she was still wearing her nightgown.
Of course. Sara wouldn’t have dressed her like this just for dinner.
Having grown up sleeping alone all her life, the idea of sharing a room—let alone a bedroom—with someone was completely foreign to her. Her eyes darted nervously, as if her entire world had tilted.
As she stood frozen, Lyle picked up a pillow from the bed.
“You can use the bed.”
“What about you?”
Instead of answering, Lyle walked to the sofa and lay down. His long legs dangled over the edge, but he didn’t seem to care.
After a brief hesitation, Elaina finally approached the bed. She slipped under the blanket awkwardly, shifting and fidgeting, but sleep refused to come. Her mind grew sharper and more awake instead.
Lying stiff as a board, she stared at the ceiling. The incense Sara had lit filled the room with a sweet fragrance. From the slightly open window came the cool night breeze and the sound of cicadas singing in the dark.
“Are you asleep?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“I can’t sleep.”
No wonder—how could she, in this situation? She had never shared a room with anyone before, and now that person was Lyle.
The incense, clearly chosen by Sara for its romantic mood, only made her more uncomfortable. Goosebumps rose on her arms. Finally, Elaina sat up.
She couldn’t take it anymore.
“If you can’t sleep either, should we… go for a walk?”
There was no way she could fall asleep like this. Lyle, who had been lying on the sofa, raised his head to look at her.
“A walk?”
“A night stroll. The garden around this villa is beautifully maintained. Maybe it’ll give us some ideas for the ducal mansion’s garden, too.”
The excuse tumbled out hastily, but Lyle quietly stood up and fetched his coat.
“You’re not planning to go out dressed like that, are you?”
The thin, fluttering negligee was far too light for a nighttime walk, even in spring. He draped his thick coat over her shoulders like a cloak.
“What about you?”
“I don’t really feel the cold. This is fine for me.”
He extended a hand toward her.
“Shall we go, my lady?”
It was a teasing tone, knowing full well how flustered she was. Not wanting to seem rattled, Elaina placed her hand in his.
It was a bright, moonlit night—the full moon shining so brightly it almost looked like daytime.
When Sara heard they were going out for a walk, she beamed and saw them off enthusiastically from the front door, saying what a wonderful idea it was.
In truth, Elaina had only suggested it to escape the suffocating tension of being alone together indoors. But once outside, she realized it had been a good decision. The air was crisp and refreshing, and her head finally felt clear.
As they strolled through the garden, Elaina began explaining the various flowers in bloom.
“This villa is actually my mother’s favorite. I used to come here often as a child.”
It was smaller than their other estates, but it held countless memories.
“I had a place like that too,” Lyle said suddenly.
Elaina tilted her head, prompting him to explain.
“My family’s villa—there’s one we often visited when I was young.”
“Oh? Where?”
“In the Deftia region. My mother loved it there. We used to visit every summer with my grandfather.”
A faint nostalgia colored his voice.
“I’d like to go back there someday, if I get the chance.”
“Deftia… That’s the coastal area, right? I’ve heard of it, though I’ve never been—it’s far from the capital.”
“You’d like it. It’s quiet, but there’s a lot to see.”
Their conversation trailed off. Only the chirping of crickets filled the silence as they walked through the softly lit garden. Then Lyle spoke again.
“I once mentioned this before—how Nox never really knew a family’s love the way I did. If I could, I’d like to take him there someday.”
Elaina looked at him, surprised. The expression on Lyle’s face was unmistakably that of a caring older brother.
“The Deftia villa…”
Most of the Grant family’s immense assets had been scattered among other nobles. The villa had surely changed hands too.
“Who owns it now?”
“Marquis Redwood.”
Lyle’s tone hardened slightly.
“He told His Majesty that he wanted that property as his reward for service. I don’t know why.”
Perhaps it was simply greed; the marquis, once his father’s subordinate, had visited the villa before. Lyle brushed it off lightly.
Then Elaina’s voice broke through the night air.
“Alright.”
“…Alright what?”
“Before we divorce next year, let’s go there—together with Nox. The three of us.”
“I just told you, that villa belongs to Marquis Redwood.”
He remembered mentioning the property during marriage negotiations with Diane. The marquis had flatly refused to sell, no matter the price. Thinking of that obstinate man, Lyle couldn’t imagine it happening.
But Elaina’s determination only burned brighter.
“The harder the goal, the more satisfying it is when you achieve it, right? We still have time. Let’s just wait and see. By next spring, we’ll be taking a trip to the Deftia villa.”
It was absurd. Redwood wasn’t the kind of man to give up what he wanted. His refusal to sell had been absolute.
And yet, strangely, Elaina’s words carried weight—conviction.
“…Alright. I’ll look forward to it.”
Rather than argue, Lyle simply answered quietly.
Elaina kept circling the garden several times over, reluctant to go back inside. The idea of returning to the same room was too awkward.
But after walking so long that her legs began to ache, Lyle finally suggested, “It’s getting late. If the maids find out we didn’t sleep, it’ll cause unnecessary fuss. Let’s go back.”
He was right—unfortunately. Elaina could already imagine Sara’s reaction if she discovered Lyle’s long legs hanging off the sofa again. She didn’t even want to think about it.
So she followed him back inside. By then, two hours had passed.
Elaina washed up first, then sat on the sofa while waiting for Lyle to finish. It felt wrong to crawl into his bed and fall asleep first.
After a long day of work and an even longer night walk, her body felt heavy—especially her eyelids.
‘He’ll be out soon. I’ll just rest for a moment…’
Leaning back against the sofa, she closed her eyes.
When Lyle came out of the washroom a little later, he found Elaina fast asleep, slumped to one side of the couch.
With a faint laugh, he approached quietly and scooped her up in his arms.
“Mmm…”
She murmured faintly in her sleep, shifting slightly as he carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently and pulled the blanket over her. Like a little caterpillar, she wriggled deeper under the covers, and he couldn’t help but smile.
Her earlier words echoed in his head—how she couldn’t sleep and had wanted to play a round of chess instead.
“Yeah, right.”
He chuckled, blew out the candle, and the room fell into darkness. Lyle lay down on the sofa again and closed his eyes.
Soon, the steady rhythm of another person’s breathing—something unfamiliar in his room—lulled him toward sleep.
