Chapter 178

“Of course, I know,” Eckart pulled her in a little more toward him right after he replied. “But you told me that even though you knew how stupid it was, you couldn’t help but become jealous.”

She held her breath unconsciously. She felt the hard splint and the warmth of his arm behind her back.

“Sir Oustaschu said you shouldn’t overwork yourself.”

As if to blame her for making idle complaints, he cupped her cheek with his other hand.

She looked straight at him, so that his clear pupils could not avoid her, “So, you should be willing to bear it.”

His low voice and passionate expression made their subdued emotions run high again.

“In fact, I am a very selfish person, too.”

They kissed again. Hugging him hard as he leaned over her, she slowly closed her eyes.

Funny enough, she thought it would be ok if the rain came a little longer and scarier.

The next morning, the heavy rain that had been falling as if the heavens had opened, eased a bit.

She woke up late in the morning. She was alone in the spacious bed. Obviously, she went to bed after confirming that he was asleep last night, but when she woke up, there was nobody there. The table that had been messy was spick and span and pushed to one side.

‘I wonder if he pretended to sleep then slipped out of this room at dawn. I’m so sorry if he did. As the bed is so spacious, he could have relaxed here…’

Feeling empty, she stroked the bed next to her several times and slowly got up.

She felt refreshed thanks to a good night’s sleep. She swept her messy hair back and pulled the rope on the bed. While she was out on her slippers and a shawl, she heard a knock outside the door.

“My lady, good morning! Oh no, it’s daytime. Did you sleep well last night? ”

It was Cordelli who came in.

“Yes, I did. Did you also …” she shut up in the middle of asking her.

Cordelli was so excited while looking at her. Her chubby face was as flushed like a child sitting beside the fire, and her big eyes were full of excitement as if expecting something. It was as if she had everything she wanted to say all over her face.

“Cordelli. Let me tell you something. I only slept here and did nothing else. ”

“Oh my gosh. You really slept here! I’m so happy to hear that!”

“Yes, I only slept. That’s all!”

“That’s fine! What’s the big deal about it when you are already engaged? You don’t have to be shy. I will be serving you even after you marry the emperor. If you are shy about things like this, you will really find it hard to get by day after day.”

Cordelli waved her hands, making a lot of fuss.

Marianne sighed as if she was dumbfounded, and said, “You are not listening to me at all.”

“I don’t have to call your doctor separately, right? As you can walk normally, you don’t need to see the doctor. My mother used to tell me that it was the best to soak in herbal water to relax my muscles. I’ve already prepared everything in the bathroom next door, so you can just go there. ”

In an excited mood, Cordelli pulled her arm while babbling. Marianne sighed more than ten times, while she was being escorted by her.

“I’m sorry for throwing cold water on your expectations, but nothing happened last night. As for rinsing my body with herbal water, I had done it too many times after the Roshan accident. I think it’s better to put some perfume here…”

The bathroom door was locked. Cordelli said, while taking off the shawl worn by Marianne wore and her soft bedtime dress, “My lady, you can’t deceive me even if you deceive everyone in the world. Put your hand on your chest and answer. ”

She raised Marianne’s hand and pretended to put it on her chest.

“You really didn’t do anything? You didn’t even touch him last night?

Marianne retraced her memories last night as she was being questioned like a convict.

Although she didn’t do anything that Cordelli imagined, it was true that she touched and kissed him. For the first time, she kissed him properly, except for the short kiss they had exchanged as part of the engagement ceremony in Roshan.

Marianne touched the tip of her lips unconsciously. Her simple touch poured out all her memories last night.

His blue eyes had been full of strange heat, his voice had been low and ecstatic as if born in the deep sea, his fingers had trembled faintly while caressing her cheeks and his body had warmed her up. All this made her heart beat quickly when she recalled it.

‘Yeah, obviously something happened between him and me.’

But wasn’t it too negligible to be misunderstood?

“It’s not that close…”

“Come on. You can just be honest with me. Now, soak yourself in the bath. I’ll get your tense muscles to relax. I’ve prepared three different types of oil by asking Sir Kloud. ”

Changing the topic, Cordelli gently pushed her into the bathtub. She didn’t seem to want to listen to Marianne’s excuses any more.

In the end, Marianne went into the bathtub with a deep sigh.

The scent of the grass that she was familiar with tickled her nose. She recalled a small bathtub filled with Sant’s decoction, and the scent of the hemostatic plant paste that she smelled when she hugged his body that had been as cold as the ice sheet in Roshan.

She was thinking of Eckart even when she was recollecting her memories of that common scent. Obviously, she was deeply into him. It was an incurable malaise that the emperor’s primary physician, Ostaschu, or Dr. Raenek, the family doctor of the Lenox mansion, could not treat.

“Oh, lady! You promised not to play that terrible ghost game any more!” Cordelli said.

While hearing Cordelli’s grumbling, Marianne lowered her head into the water. Warm water hid the blush on her cheeks.

***

Eckart was busy writing something down on paper. He was composing an imperial order in his study with the lamp on instead of relying on the sunshine. He signed at the end of a new decree to be sent to Duke Kling and put down the pen for a moment. Then, he took a thin sheet of paper out of the drawer.

Half the paper was torn on the left. Instead, dense patterns were drawn in a row in the lower right corner of the paper. A piece of paper with floral patterns on the Meander pattern. It was the same paper on which Marianne scribbled last night.

He felt around the paper delicately and for a long time, like a blind man reading Braille.

Although he tore off and burned the spy list, which could be said to be worth reading, he felt around it again and again as if interpreting that nondescript pattern. When his fingertips touched the traces of ink without any warmth and life, they created heat hotter than the flames of the lamp.

Now it seemed that he even felt vain things. He leaned against the chair, mocking himself.

The only noise in his quiet study was the sound of rain outside the window. While hearing the roaring thunderstorm, he folded and opened his numb hand. His trifling actions made him miss Marianne’s face. His gaze naturally drifted into his memories of the tickling touch of her fingertips scratching the palm of his hand, her warmth humming in his blood, her emerald eyes that made him crazy with just a look, her arms boldly wrapped around his neck and her sweet and soft lips like the flesh of ripe fruit.

He was at a loss for words when she asked with a penetrating gaze.

When he thought how embarrassed he was back then, he belatedly blushed.

‘I think I am doing crazy things everyday. You always make me ….’

Eckart touched his lips with a sigh. Although it was past noon, he felt like their passionate feelings last night seemed to be still boiling.

He was always wary of his feelings and desires. He brainwashed himself into thinking that he should not go overboard on anything and led a temperate life until he met Marianne. But when he got close to her, he could not hide anything. Like a person walking in a thorny field, he was nervous and desperate. He stayed calm even in the presence of Mrs. Chester after she secretly put lethal water in his bedroom, but he was nervous when he gently touched Marianne’s body.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door and identified himself, “Your Majesty, it is Kloud.”

Eckart quickly hid the torn paper into his desk drawer as if he was caught stealing something.

He felt pain in his stiff arm again.

“Lady Marianne has just returned to the mansion,” Kloud said.

Kloud politely placed the imported tea set on one side of the desk.

“Did she eat?” Eckart asked.