CH 32.2

“Wow.  Lucy coming to the North feels like a dream to me.”

“When I talked about the special gift I’m about to give you, you seemed to have a sense of what it is. Isn’t that right?”

“When you told me it was a gift that Lecter would also like, I immediately assumed it was Lucy. They seemed to like each other at first sight.” Cherryl stared at Cade with shining blue eyes. “Again, thank you very much, Your Grace. I don’t know how to repay you.”

As if it wasn’t a big deal at all, Cade raised an eyebrow and smirked.

His lower abdomen tightened at the word ‘repay’.

“Thank you.”

Cherryl glanced around the outer part of the main castle with fresh eyes.

They had done a lot of work today.

Cole’s Coming-Of-Age Ceremony happened.

Lucy, whom she thought she would never see again, came to the North.

Cherryl talked to Cade a lot, and so on… including that public display of affection.

“Today is quite a long day. I can’t wait to go in and rest.”

Did she have to take a carriage to return to the spire?

How annoying~

Should she sleep here instead?

She already had her bedroom in the main castle, after all.

“Cherryl.”

Seeing a part of Cade’s elongated shadow falling at the back of her head broke her out of her reverie.

It happened before she turned around and saw Cade.

He slowly reached out to her to hug her back.

She looked down at the man’s hand slowly pinching her stomach as his even breaths dissipated in her ears.

“Then, go to sleep.”

“What?”

She could have easily misunderstood him if he wouldn’t specify where she should sleep.

Cherryl breathed out a sigh and bit her lower lip.

“W—Where, Your Grace?”

“Where do you think you are right now?” Still hugging Cherryl from behind, Cade whispered in a deep baritone. “I want you to sleep in my bedroom today.”

His men also said the same thing earlier.

He should have been embarrassed to suggest this  but he looked rather indifferent.

Cherryl’s body, which should have been sufficiently wrapped in just one arm, was now tightly wound in both of Cade’s arms as he  exhaled stimulating heated breaths at her sensitive nape.

He seemed apologetic for the behavior he had shown her in the bedroom.

However, Cade’s absurd suggestion, which initially caused her to be suspicious of her ears, felt more embarrassing compared to his locked embrace.

“Are you telling me to sleep in your bedroom?”

“Is it too much to ask?”

His response was a question that demanded affirmation.

“No. But… I was wondering what you wanted to do with me.”

Despite her hesitation, Cherryl bluntly asked what she wanted to know but she couldn’t hide the disturbance in her voice.

Cade smiled as if he just heard a funny joke.

His smile was breathtaking.

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“I know. I just wanted to ask to be sure.”

“Hmm. There are so many things I want to do to you but if I ask for it, you might run away from me, Lady Cherryl. ”

Cherryl’s round eyes blinked at the cryptic message.

“There’s a lot of things you want to do… to me?”’

Of course, she was not an ignorant fool!

She knew what would naturally happen between a man and a woman sharing in bed.

Expressing affection such as holding hands and kissing each other was bound to end up in something where two people become one.

So, shouldn’t there be only one thing he wanted to do to her on the bed?

How could there be so many?

Cherryl’s mind went into overdrive as she tried to divine Cade’s current thoughts.

“Why are you nervous? I just want to fall asleep with you in the same bed tonight.”

“Ah.”

He gently tightened his hands around her stomach.

“Aren’t you worried about me when you thought I couldn’t sleep well? You will cure my insomnia bit by bit if you stay with me.”

Cherryl burst out laughing.

“You’re ridiculous. Don’t mess with me.”

“If you don’t believe it, check it out for yourself tonight.”

Cade seemed unwilling to give up.

How persistent~

In fact, Cherryl was not as reluctant to close her eyes if she shared a bed with him.

The Grand Duke’s bedroom was strangely dark and empty, even the owner was using it.

The sheet was spread out on the bed without wrinkles and there was little trace of a person on the cushions except for a light scent.

She already speculated that Cade had terrible insomnia, but upon seeing the bedroom without signs of use, she somehow felt sorry for him.

Thinking that they would still keep each other’s boundaries to some extent, Cherryl eventually nodded in agreement.

Cade pressed his lips against her cheek in a rush of gratitude.

“Okay. Okay. You can let go of my hand for now.”

Cherryl clenched her fist and hit his arm playfully when he did not move.

Everyone’s gazes must have been burdened by their public kissing every time they glanced in their direction.

She heard a  lot of murmurs and sighs about it.

“I thought no one was paying attention to us during the Coming-Of-Age ceremony, but I had no idea they were merely pretending.”’

It’s past midnight now so nobody is here to see what we’re doing. I figured out you would get shy if someone caught you being hugged in the dark outside the main castle.”

“Let go of me, Grand Duke. Someone might see us out here.”

“I can’t.  You smell so good, Cherryl.”

“You can hug me as much as you want in bed when we get there, Your Grace.” Her subtle statement might be interpreted in another different direction.

Nevertheless, Cade decided to release her.

As Cherryl stepped back about half a step, he held her hand as if to stop her.

‘Hug her as much as he wanted in bed?  It was nice to hear it even if he knew what she actually meant.

Cade glanced down at her with an expression of a chef, who had received the finest ingredients, thinking about how  to prepare her into a scrumptious dish.

“What should I do?”’