“Hmm…”

As Adeline tossed and turned, groaning, Kael was slightly surprised and stopped.
He was about to touch Adeline’s face as she had fallen asleep.
He was carefully caressing her white, soft skin, tapping on the tip of her nose, and slightly touching her unusually red lips.

After returning to the castle, Adeline left her bed and proceeded with the grand duchess’ schedule without difficulty as if to prove that she was fine, but Kael couldn’t be fooled.
She fell asleep a lot more than before, and she behaved more languidly. She embraced the curse that had caused Kael to struggle with pain for days and purified it, so there was no way she wouldn’t be affected.
Adeline looked away whenever he was about to talk about it, and the doctor who had examined her several times due to Kael’s pestering had repeatedly diagnosed her as healthy, but the anxiety in the back of his mind was not completely erased.

“Ugh…”

While he was worried about whether he had interrupted her sleep, Adeline fell asleep again. Kael exhaled in relief. Suddenly, the situation was funny, and he laughed.
He couldn’t believe that the day had come when the one and only Kael would freeze in fear that his lover would wake up. He could fully understand why Zion and Vero looked at him as if they had seen a ghost these days.

‘Who would have done this to you? Why on earth?’

Adeline shuffled around and turned her back to him, so he could see the snowdrop carved into her body under the thin chemise.
Kael looked at the white flower and thought deeply.
He could hardly understand it. Who, why, and with what purpose did they brainwash Adeline and steal her memories? No matter how many times he thought about it, he couldn’t see a clear reason.
The Tien family hadn’t had enemies for generations, and they did not cause any trouble. There was no reason to aim for Adeline.

‘It wouldn’t be as bad if we could at least find something. We can’t get evidence easily.’

Zion and Vero were searching the empire with all their might, but there was still no noticeable achievement.
In order to fully protect Adeline, he had to quickly find the culprit, uncover the truth, and find the memories she had lost.
He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to find anything until they entered Repositio, where time was saved.

Knock, knock.

Adeline frowned slightly at the sudden knock. Kael stood up and looked at the door with fierce eyes.

“Ahem. I apologize, Your Grace. It’s something urgent.”
“If it’s not urgent, you better be prepared.”

The person who opened the door was none other than Zion. It was an urgent situation, so he set aside ten days to come running, but all that followed was a cold answer.

‘How can a person change like that?’

It didn’t matter when, but nowadays, Kael’s eyes had changed when it came to Adeline’s affairs. It seemed that if something happened to her, he would wipe out the entire empire.
Zion cleared his throat a couple more times for nothing, swallowing his grumbling as he wondered why the evening breeze was so frightening, how people change so much in an instant, and where would a person without a lover live in sorrow.

“It’s about Count Felix, Your Grace.”

It was a matter that he had no choice but to come running. Kael’s eyes sharpened when Jeffrey was mentioned.

“Count Felix’s butler has been very active. The frequency of going in and out of the house has increased markedly.”
“The butler?”
“Yes. I think he will stop his confinement soon.”

Kael was keeping a very close eye on Jeffrey. If he moved, they might get a new clue.

“Keep an eye on the Emperor too. There will be a reaction from either side once he really stops the confinement.”
“Yes, Your Grace. I have instructed the knights to monitor them closely.”

After giving the order, he naturally shifted his gaze to Adeline.
Kael quietly looked at Adeline, who was lying facing him again. He wanted to find out the truth quickly and let Adeline rest more comfortably.

“Ahem, Your Grace.”
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry, but you need to come to the office now. A lot of work has piled up. Of course, you worked for a long time yesterday, but since it’s the middle of winter…”
“I’ll be going right away, so wait in the office.”
“Are you really coming right away? You know you said that yesterday and only came two hours later, right?”

Zion urged Kael as if he were going to die of unfairness. He was filled with joy over the fact that his relationship with Adeline had improved again, and that he had decided to fully accept her, but work was a separate matter.
Even though Kael had never procrastinated or wasted time, the days when he wanted to stay by Adeline’s side without doing anything were increasing.

“I understand, so leave now. I won’t be late.”
“It’s a promise, Your Grace. Alright?”

Kael, who had become somewhat embarrassed, kept calm and let Zion go.

‘… Wouldn’t 15 minutes be okay? I’d like to see Adeline open her eyes before going. I think she will wake up in the meantime.’

His promise to Zion could not be kept today either.
The world that unfolded after deciding to fully enjoy love was particularly sweet, and Kael was drunk on Adeline every day.

***

Kael couldn’t leave Adeline’s side for a long time, so Zion came back again and had to drag him to the office.
He held out to see Adeline waking up, but he had to start working without seeing that due to Zion’s tearful efforts.
Others followed the cold gaze that made them shiver just by facing it, but Zion focused on his work without being affected in the slightest, as if he were used to it.

“There was less damage than last year.”
“Yes, Your Grace. It seems we were better prepared. From now on, we…”

While talking about the damage caused by the blizzard, there was a knock on the office door.

“Adeline?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. If you’re very busy, I’ll just go back.”

The person who knocked was Adeline. Adeline, wearing a dark green dress, looked at Kael and Zion.

“I’m not busy. Come in.”

He was busy. He was terribly busy. However, Kael called Adeline inside as if it was no problem at all, and Zion swallowed a sigh with an expression as if he had reached Nirvana.

“Really? There seems to be a lot of work. Is it alright, Zion?”
“Of course, Your Grace. I will step away for a second. Haha.”

Anyone could see that his laughter was fake. The usual Adeline would have quickly noticed and gone back, but today, she wanted to see Kael and pretended not to notice at all.
She woke up every morning next to Kael. There was always a warm gaze and strong embrace when she opened her eyes, but today Adeline was the only one lying on the bed.
She woke up a little late, so even though she had heard that Kael had gone to the office first, she felt unnecessary anxiety. Even though it was only once, her heart was pounding because he wasn’t there in the morning.
That was why she wanted to check it herself. She wanted to see Kael in person, make eye contact with him, dig into his embrace, and kiss him.

“I think Zion will curse us.”
“It doesn’t matter. Because I win.”

Kael, who had stepped forward to meet Adeline, leaned against the table and reached out to hold her hand, gazing at her childishly.

“What’s wrong?”
“Ah… It’s just… You know. Why I came here.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Liar.”
“I really don’t know.”
“It’s obvious. I’m here for the reason you guessed.”
“I want to hear it from your own mouth.”

Kael, who pretended to be ignorant as if he didn’t know anything, smiled leisurely and looked at Adeline.
It was obvious that she had come here because she didn’t see him in the morning, but Kael had no intention of stepping down as if he had to receive confirmation.

“Did you know that you’ve become very childish lately?”
“Someone said that. Love is just like that.”

Adeline’s heart softened even more when the word ‘love’ came out of Kael’s mouth.

“I wanted to see you. I didn’t see you this morning.”

Adeline was shy for a moment, but when she spoke honestly, Kael gave a soft smile and hugged her.

“If you’re running late, just wake me up.”
“I’m afraid you’ll be tired.”
“It’s fine. I don’t want to wake up alone like I did today.”

Adeline grumbled and leaned into Kael’s arms. She said Kael was being childish, but in reality, she wasn’t much different from him.
Although Adeline was always more mature than her peers from a young age and was never able to depend on someone easily, these days, when she was in front of Kael, she felt like she was a five-year-old child.

“I wished you would always be there when I looked back.”
“Are you still anxious?”
“A little.”

Kael nodded in understanding. He felt more sorry to know that the reason Adeline’s anxiety did not go away was completely because of him.

“Anyway, now that I’ve seen you, I’m good.”
“You’re already going?”
“You have to work. Look at the expression on Zion’s face earlier.”

Adeline smiled as if he couldn’t stop her and tried to leave the office. However, Kael grabbed her and put her back in his arms.

“You can’t. There’s still something you have to do.”

She was unable to ask what she had to do. Kael kissed Adeline without even giving her a chance to speak.
The light kiss grew deeper because of Kael’s refusal to let Adeline go. They heated up little by little, and Kael’s hands naturally loosened the straps of her dress.

“Kael!”

They were in the office. Adeline grabbed Kael’s arm in shock, but he continued to loosen the straps around her waist as he kissed her again.

Bam, bam!

But at that moment, someone knocked loudly on the door of the office.
Surprised, Adeline pushed Kael away and tightened the straps. Interrupted by time, Kael looked at the door with fiercer eyes than ever before.
Whether it was Zion, Vero, or someone else, Kael’s energy was so intense that she felt that they would not be safe, so she decided to calm him down.

“I apologize, Your Grace.”

The person who came in through the door was Vero. His face was somber from rushing there.
Kael, who was shouting that no one would leave him alone, and Adeline, who was standing next to him, felt an unusual energy and looked at Vero with a serious face.

“One of our knights killed an imperial guard knight.”

–