Hoping for My Death

06. A Particularly Long Night

The melody played by the skillful musicians was beautiful.

Music that seemed to relieve fatigue and tension just by listening to it resonated throughout the room.

That must have been the intention of Thelma and Wilcott as well.

Even though they were worried about him getting married at the king’s behest, they still congratulated him sincerely.

Their loyalty to Randall was indisputable.

However, Randell wanted to cry a little because of the slender body that was on top of him.

At the same time, resentment towards the Count of Fleurette and his wife also grew slightly.

How on earth did they raise their daughter…… to be like this?

It wasn’t a curse, it was a genuine question.

“Sylvia, you’ll get hurt at this rate.”

Randall said in a persuasive tone, trying not to squeeze Sylvia’s hand too hard.

But her attitude was adamant.

He didn’t know why the person who looked blank until just now suddenly had such clear eyes.

“Then you can let go of my hand.”

“…… please go down first. This posture right now is a little.”

“Ah, if you’re ashamed of me being on top, shall we change positions?”

“Please…….”

The nape of Randall’s neck and the tips of his ears turned red when he finally spoke in a pleading voice.

As if ashamed of it, he averted his gaze at an angle, and his jaw, which was stiff, caught her eyes.

The muscles in his neck stood out as if he was quite tense.

‘Oh my.’

Sylvia, who was looking down at the figure from above, opened her eyes wide without realizing it.

Soon after, she made a serious face.

I think I almost fell for him just now? Is this a honey trap? And I was unaware?

‘For now, I think I’m too taken aback, so should I just drop this?’

She thought he was a righteous person, but she didn’t expect him to be a person with too strong principles in this regard.

It was unexpected, and not a happy thing to her.

It seemed like it wouldn’t be easy to convince this man that they should carry out their first night when his heart is not in this.

Sylvia lightly shook the hand held by him to calm down both herself and Randall, who seemed about to pass out.

“Okay. I won’t do anything. You have to let go of my hand first…….”

Sylvia calmly uttered words that she didn’t mean, and then paused abruptly.

Randall, who had been on high alert, made a puzzled face when she suddenly stopped talking.

The moment he was about to say something, she blinked a few times before collapsing on top of Randall’s body.

“Sylvia!”

Startled, Randall hurriedly looked at Sylvia, without even getting up.

‘Damn, she never ate anything since we came here, or is it the aftereffect from encountering a demon earlier? Or some other reason?’

Randall’s face contorted fiercely, unlike a moment ago.

Sylvia had never been to any place other than Fleurette’s mansion and the Royal Palace.

So today must have been her first time seeing the scene where Randell and the other knights were slaughtering demons.

Even a well-trained, burly knight gets nauseous after a bout of combat.

After all, Sylvia was a noble lady who has never seen anything harsh before.

Surely the scene must have been shocking, but Jeffrey was injured and she herself looked so calm that he didn’t take care of her.

He was complacent.

Gritting his teeth in self-reproach, he was about to raise his voice and call out to the servants.

Between the gaping gown, a small breath landed like a butterfly on his exposed chest.

“……!”

Randall froze at the tickling sensation.

Unbeknownst to him, his upper body stiffened with tension.

“…… Sylvia?”

Randall whispered and removed his hand holding her.

When he lifted his upper body a little and looked at Sylvia, she had her eyes closed with a comfortable face.

Her breathing was even and regular.

“Ha…….”

Only then did Randall sigh, realizing that Sylvia had just fallen asleep, fainting from exhaustion.

The tension he felt eased.

His stiffened body relaxed and his upper body plopped down onto the bed.

He put his right arm on his face, covering his eyes and gave a forced smile.

He felt strangely dejected.

“She really collapsed and fell asleep.”

Sylvia’s physical strength must have been much worse than he had expected.

How could a person who was so enthusiastic fall down like a sack of air like that?

Determined to feed her properly starting from breakfast tomorrow, Randall moved her body quietly.

After his embarrassment subsided, he became deeply conscious of their position.

The two of them were only wearing black silk gowns for their first night, and the gowns were embarrassingly thin to be called clothes.

It meant that they weren’t dressed properly to be close enough where they can feel each curve of the body like now.

In any case, it would be uncomfortable for Sylvia to sleep on her stomach like this.

Randall tried to lay her down next to him, ignoring the parts of her body that kept trying to assert itself.

But Sylvia grabbed the hem of his gown just as her body was about to fall away from Randall.

‘…… Did she wake up?’

Randall held his breath and tensed.

He had never been more tense than now even when he was facing the demon races.

Fortunately, Sylvia just moaned softly and drifted back to sleep.

After confirming that Sylvia’s breathing had changed evenly, Randall swallowed a sigh of relief.

With more cautious eyes than before, he tried to move her body again.

But each time, Sylvia furrowed her brow and tugged at the hem of Randall’s gown.

As a result, her face, which was moving little by little, finally settled in the middle of his chest.

‘…… she’s sound asleep.’

In the end, Randall put everything down.

The more he looked at her, the more he could not believe that she was the king’s spy, but when Sylvia rubbed her cheek in his arms, he wondered if she was a high-level spy.

He stayed up all night, stiffening up whenever Sylvia’s breath touched him, and sometimes calling for God.

The night was particularly long and exhausting today.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Mmm.”

Sylvia frowned at the light pouring over her eyelids.

‘Is the curtain drawn……’

Her room at the Count of Fleurette was always dark.

It was only natural as the owner of the room rarely got out of bed, and spent most of the day sleeping.

Sometimes, however, the countess, worried about Sylvia’s health, would come to her room early in the morning and draw the curtains.

It was the same action as giving sunlight to a flower periodically.

So she was used to being tormented by the sunlight waking her up.

But she was not used to the bed being so warm, no, hard?

Sylvia, feeling something strange there, opened her eyes.

Through the unfamiliar window, beyond that, she saw a more unfamiliar landscape of the back garden.

Then the memory just before falling asleep flooded into her mind.

-Please…….

The first thing that came to mind was Randall’s red nape.

‘…… It was certainly an impressive sight.’

Sylvia, who immediately realized that she had fainted due to lack of stamina while trying to carry out their first night, shook her head and tried to pull herself up.

But as she naturally put her hand to touch the bed, she flinched.

It wasn’t the bed she was in, but Randall’s body.

“Are you up?”

A cracked voice was heard from a very close distance.

Surprised, Sylvia turned her head to see Randall’s face, which somehow seemed to have been haggard overnight.

He opened his mouth first, while she was lost for words for a moment.

“Where is it uncomfortable?”

“What?”

“I was worried that you were not feeling well because you suddenly collapsed. If you don’t feel otherwise uncomfortable, please move to the side first.”

Sylvia rolled her eyes at those words, taking one look at Randall’s body where she was on and at his gown, which was almost completely unraveled.

She asked, her face serious and troubled.

“Did we…….”

“…….”

“Do it?”

“I’m not a scoundrel who lays his hands on a sleeping person!”

Randall was about to jump, only to realize that Sylvia was still on top of his body, and his face contorted.

Sylvia was a little taken aback by his denial, which was more intense than she expected. Ah, no. Not that.

“I was afraid I might have touched you.”

Her mind had been tempered by her several lives, so it was highly likely that she was trying to achieve her goal even when unconscious.

Could it be that she attacked this young man who had righteous principles and might have overdone it?

In Sylvia’s position, it was a very reasonable and valid suspicion.

“…….”

So, it only made sense from Sylvia’s situation.

Randall, who had an indescribable expression on his face, covered his face with both hands.

What is this woman really?

＊ ＊ ＊

After all the twists and turns, the two of them met again in the dining room after tidying up their appearance in their respective rooms.

Wilcott and Thelma’s expressions contrasted sharply as they attended to the two.

Wilcott was saddened when he heard Randall ask what he had done that night.

While Thelma, who helped Sylvia, who said the music was so good and even asked for the name of the song, was smiling.

“I will bring you a meal.”

Wilcott bent down solemnly, as if to make up for last night’s mistake.

Randall nodded quietly and pulled out Sylvia’s chair, and after she sat down, he walked to the opposite side and sat down.

Randall had recovered a lot of his fluster and confusion as he was away from Sylvia and grooming his appearance.

His light green eyes, which had been unknowingly tensed, sank again in coldness.

It was indeed the eyes of the lord.

Meanwhile, Sylvia, who sat down with a light expression of gratitude, covered her mouth with her hand and softly yawned.

Her whole body felt heavy as if the fatigue from yesterday had not yet subsided.

‘I won’t get indigestion, right?’

Blinking a few times, Sylvia watched the servants carry the food a little absentminded.

At the Fleurette mansion, Sylvia usually had one meal a day or nothing at all.

That one meal was usually eaten on the bed.

It had been quite a long time since she had come down to the dining room like this and had breakfast on time.

Although she was a little worried, Sylvia had a subtle certainty about her physical condition.

So, she could guess her physical condition to some extent with the senses she had learned from overcoming death several times.

Her body was not yet so bad that she could not digest a light breakfast.

It was only natural that she had been overworking her body, only to the extent that it did not bother her as she was conscious of God’s eyes.

Right, so obviously a light breakfast…….

“……?”

It was then that she noticed something strange.

Sylvia tilted her head.

The procession of the servants somehow seemed to be endless.

The gap between her brows slowly narrowed until, finally, when all the food was on the table, it formed a small valley.

Sylvia picked up a small knife and poked at the food in front of her, with a rare crease in her forehead.

It was meat.

It was a pork that had been grilled whole while maintaining its original shape.

“Randall.”

“Please speak.”

“What is…… all this?”

Including what was placed in front of Sylvia, the table was lined with foods which were too much for breakfast.

She also seemed to see a snail-like food in the middle.

She glared at it, hoping she was wrong, but it was definitely a snail. It was also very big.

However, Randall calmly took the meat in front of Sylvia and cut it and said.

“You must have been tired all day yesterday, so I told them to prepare foods that are good for your body. Please eat.”

What did we…… do?

But we did not do anything?

I think I fell asleep before something even started?

Of course, I was tired, but I didn’t even work hard, so what’s with the healthy foods?

Sylvia, who was bewildered, decided to persuade him one more time while he was talking.

Dismissing the servants with a wave of her hand, she spoke earnestly.

“Randall.”

“Yes, wife.”

“When should we hold our first night that we didn’t do last night?”

Randall realized that this conversation was a continuation of the night before and put down his knife.

Swallowing a small sigh, he calmly affirmed.

“Sylvia. Didn’t I already say it? I don’t want you to be weighed down by duty and do something like that with me that you don’t even have in your heart.”

“But if that happens, I’ll suffer from being called a duchess who didn’t even have her first night.”

“There is no one in the North who has less of a character enough to make fun of something like that. I can assure you.”

Randall said firmly.

But that assertiveness felt a little funny to Sylvia.

‘Upright, but certainly still young.’

She tilted her glass of water to cover the corners of her mouth and smiled.

It was a mockery.

Even ‘Allysa’, who was dedicated solely to the prosperity of humans, was betrayed by humans.

No one would speak ill of her for not even having the first night that a ‘normal’ couple should have had?

He was naive at best, and foolish at worst.

But Sylvia pressed that down.

After all, Randall was her husband, and she needed to get along with him even if only to deceive the eyes of the god.

With Randell’s resolve so steadfast, continuing to talk about the first night would only raise his vigilance.

On top of that, there was a risk that it would look bad if they repeatedly quarreled like this.

So start with something small.

“If so, shall we make a deal?”