"I thought the dress fitting was over, but now I have to do it again!"
Lucy grabbed his head and messed up his hair completely. It seemed his patience had reached its limit.
"Please let go now, Your Excellency. Because of you, I have to redo the fitting."
He growled as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his apron.
"……."
Rose and I just stood there, staring blankly at each other.
"Your Excellency, please!"
Lucy forced his way between Rose and me. Then, he dragged Rose back in front of the mirror.
"Why is the madam's hair like this again... Did Your Excellency do this?"
"No. My wife, on her own—"
"You are truly impossible!"
Lucy covered his forehead as if he didn't even want to hear it.
When he gestured, the staff quickly rushed over and clung to Rose's back. The hair that would never come loose when Rose and I touched it slipped out as if by magic.
'I'm the only one being made out to be the bad guy here.'
It was absurd, but I quietly watched the situation unfold.
It was true that Rose had tripped on her own and was the first to hug me, but I had also played a part in causing it.
"Please just sit on the sofa, Your Excellency."
Having finally regained his composure, Lucy glared at me.
"Now you must help pick out matching accessories. Please look with your eyes only, and absolutely do not touch her."
"I'm telling you again, I didn't do anyth—"
"Hurry up!"
Seeing Lucy's fierce, bulging eyes, any further excuses seemed pointless.
I didn't know about anything else, but when it came to his creations—namely, clothing—I couldn't go against Lucy's words. That was a creator's pride and final bottom line.
Thump.
I had no choice but to sit on the sofa. As I looked ahead, hiding my sullen face,
"Hehe."
I saw Rose laughing quietly. But when our eyes met, she quickly hid her smile.
"Hah."
I, too, eventually ended up laughing.
'You said "as much as you want." '
She had promised to show me moving forward, so I just had to watch.
Seeing her declare it so confidently made me feel relieved, thinking she would do well according to our contract. That was probably why I felt so satisfied right now.
Without realizing just how massive a misunderstanding she was laboring under.
"How about this one?"
I began to closely examine the accessory being placed around Rose's neck.
**
"...in."
It was still dark outside. A low voice calling out softly brushed against the sleeping Rose's ears.
"Madam."
Then, the voice suddenly became clear, piercing through her consciousness, and—
"...Ah."
Rose jolted awake. She then realized she couldn't move, as if she had been tied up tightly with rope.
"Are you awake?"
A low, deep voice came from right behind her.
"...Yes, Your Excellency."
Rose cleared her throat with a cough as she replied. She then looked at the thick forearm that was wrapped tightly around her body, acting in place of a rope.
"Your Excellency, this is a bit..."
"Mm."
When Dane slightly loosened his arms, it became much easier to breathe.
"Huu..."
Rose let out a long breath and blinked repeatedly. Her hazy vision gradually cleared.
As she woke up, she felt the hot body temperature pressed completely against her back.
'I still can't get used to this...'
It had been a few days since she started falling asleep embraced in Dane's arms.
The catalyst had been absurdly simple. The moment they laid in bed together and looked at the ceiling,
'This sleeping arrangement doesn't befit a married couple.'
It had started with a single remark from Dane.
'Pardon? What do you mean?'
'If we are husband and wife, shouldn't we be sleeping together?'
'But we are sleeping together.'
'No, we are not.'
As Rose looked at him in confusion, Dane quickly pulled her in and embraced her from behind.
'This is what sleeping together means.'
'I-I...'
'We will seek sleep like this. It is to prepare for any potential surprise attacks.'
Rose didn't even have time to protest. Because Dane brought up surprise attacks, it was hard for her to refuse.
'R-Right. Because we are a married couple...'
Rose muttered those words and barely managed to calm her pounding heart.
For the past few days, she had barely slept properly, and as a result, she had been so exhausted yesterday that she had passed out cold.
"...Your Excellency."
While pressed against him like that, Rose was able to realize one fact.
"This thing behind my waist... it's a weapon, isn't it?"
That even when Dane was only wearing a gown in the bedroom, he carried a weapon on him.
The presence of something large and hard against her lower back was vivid. It seemed he intended to draw and swing it if there was an ambush.
"...That is correct."
"As expected. You are always prepared."
Dane's answer seemed to come a beat late, but she thought it was just her imagination.
"But it seems too big. Isn't it uncomfortable? You should probably use something a bit smaller..."
"I did not choose it."
"...?"
Dane's warm breath tickled her ear. It was a mystery why her entire body felt like it was catching fire, not just her ear.
She felt a dual desire: she wanted to stay like this forever, but at the same time, she didn't want it to remain just like this.
"I should get up soon."
Swish.
Dane pulled the drawstring and hugged Rose from behind once more. He masterfully avoided any potentially sensitive areas.
Rose couldn't endure it and squirmed.
"The maids will be here soon..."
"That is exactly why I am holding you like this."
"But—"
To think she had to greet the servants in such a disheveled state in bed.
She had waited for the maids with Dane before. But they had never been pressed this closely together.
Her heart was pounding, and her whole body flushed red from the rush of heat.
Her skirt had also ridden up precariously while she slept. She didn't dare move an inch, feeling like it would be dangerous if she shifted even a little more.
'What do I do...'
While sleeping pressed tightly against him all this time, Rose had never once turned around.
She felt she wouldn't be able to handle it if she came face-to-face with Dane at such a close distance.
'Actually, I... Your Excellency, I...'
She wanted to tell him that she liked him, that it wasn't that she disliked him, but rather, she liked him.
It was a feeling she had barely managed to keep hidden.
She had barely managed to build up the dam of her heart that threatened to burst like a flood. It wasn't the time to thrust her long-cherished affection onto him.
And she recalled the terms of their contract.
To faithfully fulfill the role of his wife. To not cross the line. To help him.
'Remember that no matter how much you may despise it, it is something you must do in the end. That is the contract.'
His face, frozen as if he would cast Rose aside at any moment. His voice, colder than midwinter air.
Her pitiful affection would only anger Dane further.
What he wanted was a perfect couple in the eyes of others, and an obedient wife who wouldn't encroach upon him or be a nuisance to him.
She had to remember that.
"Get used to it."
Dane's languid voice poured down like the morning sun waking the day.
"You haven't forgotten the 'contract,' I presume."
"...Of course not."
She dismissed the convenient delusion that he might actually have feelings for her.
Because when you liked someone, you wanted to interpret their every action to your own liking. You wanted to take everything in a way that was favorable to you.
'There is no way His Excellency would ever like me.'
It was an absurd notion. Something only possible within her own imagination.
Even the fact that he treated her this well now was simply because she was his contractual partner. And if she didn't seem to keep up her end of the deal, he would get angry in a heartbeat.
'Right, this is just a contract.'
Rose swallowed back the sorrowful laugh that threatened to burst out. She only engraved one resolution in her heart: to sincerely fulfill the contract.
"……."
Completely unaware of what Dane was thinking as he rested his face on her shoulder, nor did she notice him subtly pulling his 'weapon' back away from her.
"Excuse me."
"I will draw the curtains."
"Madam, please wake up."
Before long, the maids flooded into the room.
The maids were unfazed despite seeing the two clinging to each other on the bed. It was a look of familiarity now.
However, Sonya's gaze lingered on Rose longer than usual. It stayed particularly long on Dane's arm, which was wrapped affectionately around her.
'Just how much is she reporting back?'
Rose didn't know for sure, but Sonya was likely reporting everything she saw and heard to the Vikander family.
Even Dane's behavior when he was with Rose, like right now.
'She will surely mention this, too.'
Typically, noble ladies shared the most with their lady's maids, even revealing their innermost thoughts.
'Madam, how have you been lately? His Excellency is treating you well, isn't he?'
Because of this, Sonya would often talk to her, acting extremely fawning and overly concerned for Rose.
If it had been the old Rose, she would have been touched by that act and poured her heart out. But she didn't do that now.
'Of course. I am truly happy.'
She only hid her true feelings with fabricated words, never revealing her genuine emotions.
Because of that, she felt a little lonely. There was no one around her that she could pour her heavy heart out to.
Clatter.
After they finished breakfast together, they each went about their own business. Recently, Rose spent most of her time in the laboratory.
When she was deep in concentration and working for a while,
Knock, knock.
Dane would visit at around the same time. It was a routine that repeated like a daily schedule.
"Your Excellency, please come over here."
As always, she guided him to the chair.
"Are you doing it again today?"
"I apologize, but yes. That is correct."
"Alright."
Dane obediently took a seat without a word of protest. His expression remained as impassive as ever.
However, beneath that exterior, Rose caught a glimpse of a child begrudgingly doing homework he didn't want to do, and she secretly hid a smile.
Vroooom—
She activated the Magical Device, which voraciously sucked up the mana from the Magic Stone like a ravenous maw.
"Hmm..."
Rose narrowed her focus on the graph appearing on the gauge panel.
Ever since the first day she examined Dane, this waveform had bothered her. Because it was a distinctly different shape from when she examined herself.
'It suddenly plummets right here.'
Normally, when mana from a Magic Stone was channeled into a human body, a portion would be absorbed by the subject, and the rest would flow out.
But in Dane's case, something was strange. At a certain interval, the mana dropped abnormally and drastically.
As if it was being sucked away somewhere.
'It even goes into the negatives?'
The drop was so steep that it sometimes temporarily reached the negative range.
However, did that mean he was someone with a low mana pool? That wasn't the case either. If anything, he had far too much mana compared to others.
'Why is this phenomenon happening?'
Suddenly, the words Andersen had spoken on the day they met flashed through her mind.
'As you said, mana flows in one direction; that is the first principle. But what if that direction could be reversed?'