Chapter 73

"…What?"

Lyssel's head snapped up in surprise.

"What? We're married. There's nothing weird about sleeping together."

That was when Rozelia, still dangling off Iberin's arm, shot out a thunderclap of a warning.

"No holding hands while you sleep! Absolutely none!"

"…Hm?"

Where had hands suddenly come from?

Iberin, who didn't know about the earlier exchange between Rotte and Rozelia, was lost.

Lyssel knew, which was its own problem.

"If you hold hands while you sleep, you could end up with a baby." That line.

Ether's face had gone pale too.

"You won't, right?!"

"…Don't hold them, please…."

Unlike the desperate two, Kal was forcibly stifling a laugh.

The kids looked so genuinely desperate that Iberin agreed without understanding why.

"I still wanted to sleep squished between Your Highness and Lady Iberin, though…"

Rozelia mumbled, regretting the lost chance to sleep next to Iberin.

Either way, Iberin was too tired to argue any further, so she settled things without another word and turned off the lights.

Then she lay down on the bed and stared hard at Lyssel, who was still standing there like a stone statue.

"You coming?"

When Iberin patted the space beside her, Lyssel approached carefully, hesitated, and finally lay down.

---

Lyssel had gone rigid as a plank.

He was staring stiffly straight up at the ceiling, and the sight of him finally cracked Iberin up.

Poke—

Iberin jabbed his side as if to say loosen up.

But Lyssel only stiffened further, turning his head toward her like it was made of wood.

"Try to relax a little."

"I — I am relaxed."

"You really aren't."

"…This is how I sleep."

"Oh, really?"

A glint of mischief flickered in Iberin's eyes.

She'd been lying more loosely than Lyssel, but still facing straight up — then she suddenly rolled onto her side.

And dropped her arm across his chest.

Whump.

Lyssel jolted and stared at her in shock.

He didn't quite dare push her off, just crossed both arms over his chest as a shield.

"Pffhaha!"

Iberin couldn't help bursting into laughter.

It was like the genders had been swapped.

Seriously — what did I even do to set him off like that?

She was incredulous and charmed at once, and she couldn't stop giggling.

"…Sorry. I was a bit startled."

Lyssel, who'd half sat up, apologized and lay back down.

He clearly knew he'd overreacted.

But he couldn't seem to shake the discomfort — he kept stealing glances before saying carefully,

"About your hand, though…"

"What, you don't like it? I don't have germs."

"…You don't have germs, no."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I'm not used to sleeping with anyone."

"Am I just anyone to you? We're married."

He was never going to win an argument with Iberin, and he had no interest in trying.

In the end he gave up and told her to do as she liked.

Iberin pressed herself against him like she'd been waiting for permission.

"By the way — back when the kids were pushing us to share a bed, what were you going to do if I'd said yes? You're this uncomfortable."

"It wasn't my idea. They said couples were supposed to. And I wasn't going to push it if you said no."

"Is that right?"

"That's right."

"What do you think — if we slept like this every night?"

"…My heart wouldn't survive it."

Lyssel pressed a hand to his chest as he answered.

"You're being honest."

"Is that honest?"

"Yes. Extremely honest."

"What about you, Iberin?"

Iberin wasn't quite as honest.

So she forced herself to ignore her racing heart.

Telling herself it was just because it had been a long time since she'd slept beside anyone.

"I'm not really sure. But I think the sleepiness is finally maxing out."

She was sleepy, that part was real.

She'd been sleepy for a while now — they just kept talking.

Iberin pushed her drooping eyelids up.

Lyssel let out a quiet laugh and reached up, brushing his fingers gently over her eyelids as he murmured,

"Sleep well."

---

The next morning.

Iberin had wrapped herself in the blanket and claimed the entire middle of the bed; Lyssel was at the edge, watching her.

He hadn't slept a wink all night, but somehow he felt good.

Watching Iberin sprawled out and sleeping easy was just nice.

"Your Highness… you didn't sleep…?"

Kal, who was as much a creature of routine as Lyssel, opened his eyes the moment dawn broke.

The first thing he saw was Lyssel's face.

Expressionless, but somehow gentle.

A shiver crawled up his back and he reflexively went to rub his arms — but his body wouldn't move, like it was soaked through with water.

"What the—"

He looked down in alarm to find Ether and Rozelia dangling off his arms.

"…Soon as Kal moves, Rozel and Ether come with him."

Lyssel offered the observation calmly from the side.

"That explains it. I had nightmares all night. Somebody kept crushing me in my sleep."

The two of them snorted at the same time.

---

Everyone except Lyssel and Kal woke up well-rested, and they set off again.

After a few more days of taking in the scenery and hunting down good food, they arrived at the Marquis Bilson territory.

The charity party seemed to have drawn a fair number of nobles — when the Lecashe party rolled in, plenty of nobles were already strolling around the streets.

The timing had probably worked out because they'd arrived right on schedule.

"Lady Iberin!"

The moment the knight led them through the marquis's gates, Lady Medinen Bilson came flying out in her stockinged feet.

"Welcome!"

Iberin hadn't expected this much enthusiasm.

She was a little caught off guard, but it wasn't a bad feeling, and she found herself smiling.

"It's been a while — thank you so much for the warm welcome."

"I've been counting the days ever since I heard you'd be coming yourself."

The young lady's eyes were locked behind Iberin, on the carriage she'd ridden in on.

That was when Iberin realized why she'd been so eager.

"Were you really waiting for me, or were you more interested in the cargo?"

"…That's a bonus! So — the goods…?"

"I brought a full load."

Lady Medinen checked the cart packed with eggs and Cheongyangs herself and lit up.

"Without these, I lost my appetite entirely."

She must've really taken to them.

To be fair, Iberin didn't know about eggs, but without Cheongyangs her appetite would probably go too…

Her body might be someone else's, but her palate was Korean — it couldn't be helped.

If she could just find garlic too, it'd be perfect, but she wasn't even hoping for that much.

"Please come inside. The young ladies you met at the party have only just arrived — would you care to join us for tea?"

"I'd love to."

"Grand Duke Lecashe — my father has urgent matters to discuss with you."

Lady Medinen rattled it off.

True to her word, before long the marquis himself came running out in his stockings to greet Lyssel.

The father and daughter looked startlingly alike.

"And the children can follow our nanny!"

Ether looked up at Iberin uneasily.

Rozelia did the same.

"We've prepared the Bilson family's special cakes and cookies just for our little guests — shall we go?"

But the second the nanny got that out, the kids turned on their heels without even looking back.

---

The tea with the young ladies was brief.

She needed to get ready, so after a quick light meal they all headed to the dressing room.

The charity party started late in the evening.

It bore the name party, but the focus was the auction.

Iberin had brought a jewelry set made from sapphires the jeweler had freshly cut for her.

She'd noticed it when he'd worked on the ijet — his skill was a cut above any other jeweler.

So with the auction piece set aside and her mask packed separately,

she finished hours of careful preparation and stepped out. As expected, Lyssel and the kids were already done.

Iberin took Lyssel's hand naturally and put on the mask.

Lyssel's was a white mask to offset his black hair; Iberin's was a purple one.

The kids each had a mask in their favorite color — Ether's was light purple, Rozelia's pink, Kal's green.

The auction hall was kept somewhat dim, so telling the nobles apart was harder than expected.

After looking around for a bit, Iberin and Lyssel went and sat at the nearest open seats.

"Hello there."

The noble already seated next to them greeted them warmly.

"Hello."

"I'm dying to know what'll come up tonight. Last time I bought a jewelry box — I'm still using it, actually. Hoping for something good tonight too."

The mask must have made it easier to talk freely, because the noblewoman was unusually casual.

"This is our first charity party, actually."

"Oh, is it?"

The noblewoman walked Iberin and Lyssel through how things worked, kindly explaining one thing after another.

By the time she'd finished giving the rundown,

the lights in the hall dimmed, and only the stage lit up.

The noblewoman whispered,

"It's starting."

The moment the words left her mouth, the host stepped out into the spotlight to greet the room.

"We'll now begin the charity party hosted by House Marquis Bilson. So many nobles have joined us tonight with such generous hearts, and perhaps because of all that goodwill, we have a truly exceptional collection of items on offer."

The host moved things along smoothly, and the first item soon appeared.

"This piece, ladies and gentlemen, will start at 40 million gold."

A bracelet made of diamonds.

The light caught it and made it glitter, and the nobles started calling out their bids.

She'd come, so she ought to buy something.

Past the bracelet, then a necklace, then shoes said to be crafted by Aleta's finest artisan, then dresses — every kind of thing came up.

"How about that one?"

Each time an item appeared, Lyssel asked what she thought.

"It's pretty."

And then Lyssel called out a number generously above the asking.

Maybe that was why every item so far had ended up Iberin's.

He kept piling them up, and even Iberin started getting flustered.

"Hey, what are you doing. Stop buying."

"You said they were pretty."

"You're buying everything I say is pretty?"

"I want to buy you all of it."

"No thanks. Even if you bought it all, I'd have no use for it. And I don't actually want any of it that badly."

"…You don't?"

"No. Forget mine — if something comes up that you or the kids could use, get that instead."

"…You?"

"What?"

"You called me you."

Lyssel's face slid into a small pout.

Iberin's mouth fell open.

"…You're wearing a mask. Calling you by name would give us away."

"My hair's already given me away."

"There's no light right now, so I figured they wouldn't notice."

"…"

"…So you want me to call you by name?"

"Yes. Why not?"