~Chapter 102~
“Umm…”
Aisha made a refreshed sound as she opened her lips a little.
Soon, she slowly opened her eyes.
‘I think I had a really good dream…’
It was like she had beaten up some bad people and cursed at them a lot—putting all her feelings into it.
But no matter how much she tried to remember, she couldn’t recall what the dream was about. She just felt very relieved inside.
Well, as long as it was a good dream, that’s fine.
Aisha blinked her sleepy eyes and thought about this, when—
“Good morning, Aisha Ashton.”
Kilian’s gentle voice touched her ear.
“…Huh?”
Aisha quickly woke up, startled. She realized she was lying with her head on Kilian’s leg.
“Huh, huh?”
Surprised, Aisha jumped up like a spring and looked at Kilian with a red face.
“What… What is this…?”
Before she slept, she was sure she had been sitting up straight. She had even lent her shoulder to him.
“Did you know?”
Kilian tapped his thigh.
“A person’s head is heavier than you think.”
“….”
“Yes, my leg was numb. That’s what I mean.”
“Uh… That’s…”
“What is it?”
“You should have woken me up. I would have moved right away.”
“Yeah.”
“Huh?”
“I could have done that.”
What kind of answer was that? You either wake someone or you don’t.
Aisha stared at Kilian with a confused face, but he just smiled softly.
“So, did you sleep well?”
“Well… Yes, I did. What about you, Duke?”
“I did too. I had a good dream.”
“That’s strange. I also had a good dream.”
“Did you dream about beating someone up?”
“I think so, but I can’t remember who it was.”
Kilian laughed.
She didn’t know why he was smiling, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.
Had she ever seen Kilian Winters smile so naturally before?
No, she didn’t think so.
“But we slept in really late.”
Aisha checked the clock and quietly mumbled with surprise.
“It’s already past noon. Normally, I should get up at six in the morning.”
That was true. Living in the Winters mansion, she had suffered so much because of all those rules.
‘Ugh, I just came back here, and now Sien will scold me right away.’
But since she was with Kilian, maybe it would be okay?
“Oh, that rule.”
But Kilian’s reaction was strange.
“Yes, there was such a rule.”
“…Excuse me?”
Did he hit his head when coming through the window? How could he say that about the rules he cared about so much?
“Yes, there were those rules. But is it really okay to ignore them?”
Aisha asked him again, and Kilian made a complicated face.
The Winters family had many rules. Sien always reminded Aisha about them.
There were so many rules, even the maids who worked there for a long time didn’t know all of them.
Kilian knew well these rules were just for show.
Still, the reason he insisted on following them was…
“I never had much affection for the Winters family. I’m not even proud to be from here.”
“…What? All of a sudden?”
“But I did want to avoid being criticized by other nobles as much as possible.”
Aisha paused at Kilian’s unexpected words.
“As you know, I killed the former Duke of Winters and my half-brother to take this position.”
“….”
“I always knew how people saw me, and what they said. Maybe that’s why, even though I never cared about the Winters family’s reputation, I didn’t want to damage it at all.”
“Duke…”
“If the family’s honor can be damaged just by breaking a rule, then it was never real in the first place. I never thought of that before. Isn’t it funny?”
“No. It’s not funny at all.”
Listening to Kilian made Aisha’s mind complicated.
She understood him.
He’d suffered abuse since childhood. Of course he wouldn’t love the Winters family.
But he wouldn’t want people to criticize him either. If Kilian ever acted less than “the perfect noble,” people would attack him like wolves.
She never noticed before, but Kilian was very sensitive.
He cared about all these things, so differently from the “original story.”
“I understand what you mean. We slept late today, but I’ll try to follow the rules again from tomorrow.”
Right. She could do that much, especially since she chose to come back.
“No, it’s not necessary.”
“Huh?”
“It doesn’t matter anymore what happens with those things.”
If the staff heard that, they would be shocked. Nobles might start gossiping.
But more and more, Kilian really didn’t care.
If Aisha Ashton was with him, what did old rules matter?
Especially if those old rules made Aisha uncomfortable.
“Oh no, maybe you really did hit your head. This is serious.”
But Aisha didn’t seem to be listening properly, and Kilian didn’t care.
“The important thing isn’t rules, Aisha Ashton.”
“That’s right. The important thing now is to go to the hospital.”
“The Sunday Exposé was just published, so you have some free time, right?”
“Of course. Even if I was on deadline, I’d always have time to go with you to the hospital. Do you think I’m cold-hearted?”
“Then that’s good.”
Suddenly, Kilian stood up and signaled for Aisha to follow. She nodded and went after him.
‘Maybe he knows a good doctor. I hope nothing’s really wrong.’
‘He’ll probably like where we’re going.’
The two of them left the mansion, each with totally different thoughts.
