“Sleep in my room. Your sister might be suspicious of us.”
“You really don’t know what you’re saying…”
He barely resisted the urge to say the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He had no intention of reporting all these situations to her. But he didn’t understand how she could make a request to sleep in the same room with him in a calm manner.
She must’ve noticed.
Is she testing my restraints?
Eventually, Lucius bit the inside of his cheek. He had no choice but to respond in a low voice.
“Alright. I’ll wash up first.” then he subsequently left the room.
Deatrice drank the rest of the wine as she stared at his retreating back. Sitting on a small chair on the open terrace, she read a book as she twirled a traitorous strand of hair that was braided to one side.
The summer nights felt cool to the skin. Usually, reading a book in a slow breeze like this would give her a sense of relaxation, but this time it didn’t work as well as before.
She couldn’t read more than two paragraphs because kept looking towards the door.
Curiously, he used to grow up here, but Deatrice couldn’t help but be more nervous because she knew she was in a dangerous situation. She had already seen how reckless he could be when they were in the same room back then.
Looking back at the door three more times, the knob finally began to twist.
With his hair still dripping wet, Lucius’ eyes met with hers as soon as he entered, his face full of question.
She pretended not to notice the meaning in his gaze and simply closed her book. Standing up, Deatrice said as she pointed to the sofa.
“You’ll sleep there.”
He looked down at the said furniture, already provided with a thin blanket and a pillow, and he burst into a short laughter. When he sleeps with her in the same room, she would always cutely prepare a separate sleeping space.
He grinned at her, then he calmly turned around and went towards the bed.
She cried out in surprise.
“What are you doing?!”
Sitting on the mattress, he said with a slightly cold face. “I am already here as per your wish, but that doesn’t mean I agreed to sleep uncomfortably.”
“Aren’t you a knight?”
“I don’t know how that’s related to this.” he pretended.
Deatrice tried to figure out if he was doing this just for the sake of arguing or if he was trying to get her out of bed.
She squinted her eyes, but he looked at her with a calm, merciless face. No matter how much she assessed, his words seemed sincere.
Dumbfounded, she folded her arms as she gave a childish retort.
“I am the owner of this room!” Her face immediately heated up at her immature response. But she reasoned to herself that he was the one who acted childish first.
Lucius laughed and expressed, “Then you should sleep in the bed too.”
“What?”
“Why? You have the gall to ask, but not the guts to do?” he tilted his head, “It’s your room.”
Deatrice glared at him
She did have the guts.
Still giving him the stink-eye, Deatrice took off her robe. As the gown fell, a night dress that showed off her thin body was revealed. She walked slowly and laid down on the other side of the bed he was sitting on. In any case, he did swear that he wouldn’t touch her no matter what.
No matter how rotten he might be, it didn’t seem like he would go back on his words.
Seeing her raise the blanket to her chin, Lucius remained motionless. After a while, he got up and snuffed out the candles.
In the darkened room, only the sound of each other’s breathing could be heard.
Deatrice looked straight at the ceiling, feeling the mattress sink with his weight as well as the duvet making rustling sounds when he went underneath them.
She didn’t know how far Lucius was from her or what his posture was.
Is his back against me, or is he looking at the ceiling like me…
“Deatrice.”
He whispered.
Deatrice realized after hearing his voice that his body was close to her, and he was looking at her. But he didn’t say anything after that. He just called her name.
Lucius himself didn’t even know if he really had nothing to say, or if he was just holding back what he had to say.
Deatrice blinked her eyes and spent hours stuck beside his unfamiliar presence. But in the end, it was her that fell asleep first.
Lucius watched her sleep with eyes accustomed to darkness and slowly stretched his arms.
His finger, which had been hovering above her nose for a few seconds, slowly retreated once he felt that the rhythm of her breaths was even, as if to truly confirm that she was asleep.
His hand, which was just a few inches above her skin, began descending down from her neck to her bulging chest, and then towards her stomach…
Lucius froze.
He clenched his hand into a tight fist.
Then he buried his face into the pillow and cursed at himself.