Chapter 53

As Aden promised, he stayed with Ilyin until the morning. The bride easily met eyes with the Duke of Winter, and no one on the seventh floor gave her actions a second look.

“So, you’re telling me, everyone knew already?” Ilyin narrowed her eyes at Etra, who had come to say her morning greeting and open the bulky curtains.

Etra bowed her head lower than usual, “I apologize, madam. We were instructed to keep quiet.”

The maids who had come in behind Etra looked at Aden lying next to Ilyin and seemed to understand the situation because they bowed their heads also. Their words were, of course, the same as usual. “His Royal Highness ordered us not to tell,” a maid said too much, and when she felt Aden’s gaze, she hiccuped loudly for some odd reason. Perhaps it was a nervous reaction to being in his presence.

Ilyin watched this, which gave her the impression that the maids weren’t afraid of Aden as she assumed they would be. Then again, this should be expected because Delrose maids were known to not freeze at the sight of their master. But this wasn’t all, the dynamics between noble and servant seemed different to where she came from, and she couldn’t help but frown at their casual behavior.

“Sorry, madam!”

The way the maids spoke was distinctly different from the way that maids would talk in the sunny lands. Ilyin thought back to the maids at the Viscount’s estate who would become stiff at the sight of the Viscount.

“If it’s an order, it cannot be helped.” Ilyin finally broke into laughter. She couldn’t be cruel to the poor maids who asked for forgiveness with such teary eyes. And they were not intentionally deceiving her. The maids were merely following orders. “The person who lied is the villain,” Ilyin added.

Aden suddenly decided to look out the window, staring into the far distance. The maids looked at each other without saying anything further and then looked to the floor.

“What time will the head of Delroses start working?” Ilyin asked Aden.

“It’s time to start the morning schedule now,” he replied as if it was someone else’s business, but it was his own.

Ilyin smiled with a twinkle in her eye as she asked, “Shall I walk you out?”

“It’s cold outside.” Aden tried to discourage Ilyin, but she stood up and pulled him to his feet.

Seeing this, Etra quickly placed a thick shawl over Ilyin’s shoulders. “It is quite cold outside the house, madam.”

“I will not go outside then.”

After getting washed and dressed, Aden eventually left the room, escorting Ilyin on his arm. She unexpectedly got lost in a strange feeling. Different families occupied the floors below them, so the two of them wouldn’t be able to wander around together like this so freely. But on the seventh floor, they were free to do as they liked.

In the privacy of the rooms, they could share secrets without worrying about anyone overhearing them. This place was far more comfortable than the Arlen estate, and the seventh floor was the most peaceful place of all. Ilyin thought it was like walking on fluffy clouds at times.

Following closely behind the two of them were the maids who carried items that helped fight the cold weather and extra warm clothes for the madam from the sunny side.

As they neared the staircase leading to the sixth floor, Aden slowed down and said, “From here, I must be the commander of the knights.”

In short, it meant that he couldn’t walk with her unless there were specific circumstances that required him to do so. Ilyin then turned to face him. When they were outside, she was able to look at him as much as she pleased. Feeling better, she smiled, “It is fine here. I understand.” Her voice sounded different as if she were imitating someone else. Rather than meaning it was “fine” because they were at the stairs, Ilyin copied what Aden had said before. Noticing this, Aden put his hand on his forehead.

It was then that Ilyin discovered herself acting strange and unfamiliarly. Teasing him with such a playful voice was unlike her. It was a side of her she had never seen in the twenty-something years she had lived in the Arlen estate. Aden’s momentary silence felt longer than it was, and a slight uneasiness crept up inside her. She worried that he could be angry with her.

Although the pause in conversation felt prolonged, it ended just like that when he said, “A commander that guides the Duchess around the place doesn’t sound so bad after all.”

A maid stood behind her, holding a pair of thickly lined gloves, and she then came up to her and slid them on her hands. And before she even realized it, someone wrapped a woolen scarf around her neck below her hair.

Seeing this, Aden waved his hand to send the maids away. As he extended his hand, a blue light glowed from his palm, and Ilyin’s eyes widened. It must have been his power which she had pondered over.

“Wow!” Ilyin exclaimed. In an instant, the temperature inside seemed to become warmer. The body heat under the scarf on her neck quickly began to feel hot.

Aden’s intentions were clear, and understanding the owner’s wishes to spend time with just the two of them, the maids quickly freed her from the excess protective gear except for the scarf and gloves. They then distanced themselves from the couple, and a small commotion between the maids followed.

Because they whispered, Ilyin couldn’t hear a word, but Aden did. The maids were contemplating whether or not to take off the scarf from Ilyin’s neck. When the maids saw Aden’s eyes on them, they immediately stopped talking among themselves.

Finally satisfied, Aden turned back to Ilyin. “Shall we go?”

Ilyin looked at him and then back to the maids who were now standing far away. As she looked at them, the maids bowed their heads down. It was a greeting to wish her a safe trip rather than a way to avoid her gaze. She couldn’t very well say no, so she smiled at Aden, entrusting herself to his hand.