BEW 7

 “What? No! What are you talking about…!”

Barhan jumped up and shook his head vigorously. It seemed he wasn't lying.

“Then what? Is there a war? Are monsters pouring out? Or is the imperial family pressuring us? Is there some kind of plague in our territory?”

“None of that. The North is as peaceful as ever.”

Then why on earth!

“Then why does my husband work late every single night?!”

I banged the table, venting my frustration.

The day after I found out he came home at 4 AM, I decided to stay up and wait for Dante, trying to be a dutiful wife.

But by 3:30 AM, I couldn't fight off sleep anymore.

When I woke up, the sun was high in the sky and the spot next to me was already empty.

After that day, I stopped trying to wait for him.

I figured if he worked late for two nights in a row, he’d surely come home early to sleep.

But again, 4 AM.

The door opened and closed. The bed shook, waking me up.

Having been attuned to Dante for two days, my body automatically woke up at the slightest sound.

...It couldn’t be helped.

I was just waking up, and he was coming home from work.

And before I could say anything, Dante climbed into bed and fell asleep immediately.

However, the problem was that this became routine.

The next day too.

And the day after that.

4 AM.

As if it were his designated bedtime, Dante would crawl into bed in the early morning, waking me up.

For someone like me, who slept early and woke up late, it was nothing short of torture.

Fuming with frustration and fatigue, I glared at Barhan again.

“Barhan. What exactly does my husband do every night? Do you know?”

“Well, I’m not sure. There shouldn’t be anything particularly pressing these days…”

Barhan trailed off, tilting his head in confusion.

Which made it even stranger.

If there’s nothing urgent, why is he working late? Coming home at 4 AM, exhausted to the point of collapsing into bed.

No choice.

If even his closest aide doesn’t know the reason, I’ll have to ask him directly.

I’ll watch one more day. If he comes in at 4 AM again, I’ll confront him tomorrow.

---

That night.

I dreamt of “Water the Second Flower.”

It was a scene of Dante and the female lead, Flora, digging around each other.

Every night, Flora waited for Dante to come into the bedroom with her eyes wide open, and every night, Dante entered the bedroom at dawn.

But timid Flora couldn’t bring herself to ask Dante, “Why do you sleep so late?” Instead, she wondered if he came in late because he didn’t like her or didn’t want to sleep with her.

Indeed. The mindset of a master digger.

However, perfect digging sometimes leads to a key.

As Flora kept digging and digging, she ended up building an underground bunker out of sorrow and regret, and finally exploded with frustration.

〈It’s because of me that you can’t sleep, isn’t it?〉

〈…What?〉

〈You’re uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed with me. You don’t like it. That’s why you come in every morning, right?〉

Dante hesitated, unable to respond to the tearful Flora.

I remember how frustrated I felt watching that scene.

You need to respond quickly!

The longer the response is delayed, the more people think, “What’s this guy’s deal?”

Oh, this frustrating, clueless guy! This sweet potato of frustration! A well-cooked chestnut sweet potato!

In the end, Flora was deeply hurt by Dante’s lack of response and said with teary eyes:

〈…I think it would be better if we had separate rooms.〉

Surprisingly, the phrase “For you, Duke” was implied but unsaid.

Haha. Why do the leads always omit important words, causing unnecessary misunderstandings?

Slap, hit.

Hit, slap.

The readers were the only ones dying between the two who were unintentionally counter-punching each other.

Did they end up sleeping in separate rooms? No, they did not.

Thanks to a strange northern tradition, married couples must sleep together for at least a year. 

Except for unavoidable circumstances like scouting missions.

Was this the author’s grand scheme to keep the frustrating leads together, or the imperial family’s big plan to see descendants from the Richter family?

Thanks to this strange tradition, the two continued to sleep in the same bed, even while harboring misunderstandings.

…But that’s not what’s important right now.

What’s important is that Dante’s 4 AM bedtime continued even after he divorced me and married the female lead.

Realizing this shocking fact, I clutched my head and screamed.

“So, why does he sleep so late?!”

Then, the scene shifted swiftly, unfolding from Dante’s perspective.

The starting point was my sleeping face.

Huh? Me?

His mind was filled with images of my scared self.

Every time Dante lay in bed, he watched me pretending to sleep, holding his breath and curling up.

Dante silently observed my back, then lay down far away.

But neither of us could sleep for a long time.

Since then, Dante deliberately spent his nights alone in the office.

〈She should be asleep by now.〉

And only when he was sure I was completely asleep, at around 4 AM, would he cautiously enter the bedroom and close his eyes.

To avoid waking me up, he would leave the room early in the morning.

“...Idiot.”

I mumbled absentmindedly.

Idiot, fool.

How could he be so fierce-looking on the outside but so gentle and kind on the inside?

What a soft tofu heart he had.

Marshmallow? Crisp on the outside but melting softly inside?!

It felt like a heavy stone was pressing down on my chest.

I thought Dante was making me lose sleep, but it turned out to be the opposite.

Because of me, Dante gave up on sleep. My past self, who treated him like a monster and feared him, was tormenting him.

With a deep sigh, I opened my eyes wide.

It was dark all around, and moonlight was streaming in from outside the window.

“...What time is it?”

In a daze, I checked the clock. It was 3 AM.

Sure enough, the spot next to me was empty.

Gazing at the empty spot, I abruptly got out of bed.

Now that I knew the truth, I couldn’t stay still.

In the past, I might have been terrified at the sight of Dante’s shadow.

But not now.

Now that I knew he was a marshmallow, crispy on the outside but soft and filled with melty chocolate on the inside.

Even if Dante’s grandfather slept next to me, I wouldn’t mind…

…No, that might be a bit much.

Anyway!

Like an enraged bull seeing a red cloth, I snorted and charged forward.

My destination was Dante’s office, where he was wasting away the night.

---

In the dark office.

Dante was lounging in a chair, reading a book.

No, more like pretending to read.

His sleep-deprived eyes couldn’t make out the words.

As he read the same passage for the 12th time, he frowned and muttered.

“…Who’s Ricardo again?”

Ah, the protagonist.

His large hand closed the book. There was no point in reading any further.

His sleepy blue eyes glanced out the window, then at the clock.

3:05 AM.

Should he go to the bedroom a bit earlier today?

Briefly contemplating the overwhelming drowsiness, he shook his head, resting his back against the chair.

He didn’t want to wake his wife.

She must be having a hard time sleeping because of him.

Although he felt she might not mind sleeping next to him anymore.

〈I think I have a talent for growing herbs.〉

〈Duke, did you know wildflower roots grow well in the North? You didn’t know, did you? But I knew.〉

〈Come and eat. We all need to eat to live.〉

The fear she used to have around him was nowhere to be found.

But who knows what she really feels?

People can pretend to love or feel at peace quite convincingly.

For a long time, without anyone noticing.

So, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

He wouldn’t be able to sleep properly anyway.

Ever since his brother died, nightmares always haunted him.

〈I’m sorry, Dante.〉

A clear voice echoed in his mind.

Smiling bitterly, Dante closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Even if he couldn’t sleep, just pretending to sleep relieved some of his fatigue...

Bam!

“Duke!”

Instead of relieving his fatigue, his heart nearly stopped.

The unexpected guest made Dante open his eyes wide and leap up from his seat.

And he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“…Wife?”

“Yes! Your wife, who’s been sleeping alone every night.”

To his dazed call, Serafina answered vigorously, striding in with confidence.

Serafina looked around the room.

Especially at the desk.

Worried he might actually be working.

But the only thing on the desk was the closed book.

Relieved, Serafina briskly approached Dante.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?”

“No.”

“So, you have nothing to do right now? Right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Oh, great. Then you can go to bed.”

“Pardon?”

Unable to keep up with the flow, Dante asked again.

With a big smile, Serafina reached out and grabbed Dante’s arm.

“Come and sleep with me, Duke.”