Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: The Duke's Midnight Visit
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Lately, Yelena had been having dreams more often.
It was because her heart was growing heavier with the wedding fast approaching, and there were more and more things she had to worry about.
Today, too, she was dreaming of the past.
She recalled the days when she had to handle everything alone while her parents hid from the debt collectors.
Now that she was in the North, it didn't stir any particular emotions anymore, but it had been different back then.
The people who openly insulted and pressured her despite her noble status had terrified her, making her want to bolt from the room.
But the thought that if she crumbled, her family would fall completely apart and everyone would be scattered kept her gritting her teeth through those years.
Today's dream made her relive those emotions vividly.
[Pay up right now, Lady Astria!]
[Come to think of it, I heard they're trading imperial noble ladies for high prices in the desert kingdom these days... Oh, Lady Astria! There you are!]
As she huddled in fear at their thinly veiled horrific threats...
Swoosh.
"Sleeping so soundly, you'd never notice someone carrying you off."
A cold voice laced with chill swept away her nightmare in an instant.
She felt a warm hand gently brushing her hair.
'This voice...'
In the dream, Yelena couldn't tell who it belonged to.
But for some reason, she thought it was a gruff yet deeply reassuring voice.
Slowly, very slowly, her consciousness rose, returning her to the warm room in the North.
When her blue eyes, buried in golden hair, slowly opened, a man was turning to leave the room.
It was Cassius.
"Your Highness...?"
Why was he in her room?
Was he the one who had just saved her from that frightening situation?
Cassius, are you a dream... or reality?
Not fully awake from the dream, she called out to him, pouring all those meanings into her voice.
It wasn't just a call.
Grab.
She unconsciously seized his rough yet warm hand.
Through it, she felt the man—who seemed as cold and unyielding as the North's snowy peaks—flinch.
Even though his strength was surely several times greater than hers.
Cassius couldn't easily shake off Yelena's hand.
"Is something wrong...?"
As he hesitated at her sleepy question, Cassius turned to face her.
Then, with deliberate slowness, he wrapped his other hand around the one she was holding him with and spoke.
"No, nothing's wrong. Sorry for waking you."
"Mm... If there's something..."
Cassius was in her room. At night, no less.
That fact kept trying to jolt her fully awake, but Cassius interrupted it.
Watching him act as if he felt guilty for waking her, Yelena felt a mischievous urge bubble up unbidden.
"Perv...!"
"...What did you say?"
"Sneaking into a grown lady's room late at night... How naughty...!"
It was phrasing she never would have used normally, but her sleep-addled mind and the cozy bed were making her bold.
"What are you... It's a misunderstanding."
"Heh heh... Don't tell me you're scared to sleep alone...?"
As she teased, Yelena pictured a young Cassius afraid of sleeping by himself.
She had never seen him as a child, but she bet he'd been utterly adorable.
"Ridiculous. Don't talk nonsense and go back to sleep."
"Then why did you come...?"
"Just to check if you were sleeping well."
"At this hour...?"
"...Yes."
From his faintly visible expression, it didn't seem like a lie.
In that moment, Yelena felt an inexplicable pang of disappointment.
She wasn't even his daughter, so he'd come in the middle of the night just to check if she was sleeping okay?
Just for that?
Of course, she didn't know what other reason she might have wanted...
But anything other than that would have been fine.
"...Hmph."
"...? Are you upset?"
"No...!"
By now, her mind was mostly awake.
The antics she'd just pulled were starting to embarrass her, but not enough to hide under the covers.
Instead, she took them as courage to draw out this midnight conversation further.
After all, it felt like they hadn't had such a quiet, prolonged talk alone in... well, maybe ever.
"...Your Highness."
"What is it?"
Cassius must have realized she was fully awake, as he sat unhesitatingly on the floor beside her bed.
Adjusting his posture so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable holding his hand.
Their hands remained clasped.
"In a few weeks... a lot will change, won't it?"
"Yes. A great deal will."
"Aren't you... afraid of those changes?"
Even she, who hadn't been in the North long, vaguely knew how much the coming events would upend.
What must it be like for him, who had lived his whole life here?
"As the Grand Duke, as the one leading so many, I can't afford to be afraid."
"What about as a man who might cast it all aside, without even a castle...?"
"...If I were just Cassius the human, maybe I would be."
"........."
"But that's not happening. I'm Cassius Winterguard, ruler of the Empire's North."
His resolve was already ironclad, unshaken by mere fear.
That was the mindset befitting the Northern Grand Duke.
Regrettably, Yelena couldn't fully grasp or understand his heart.
Because she was merely a Grand Duchess in disguise, no more or less than the viscount's daughter from the southwest.
But through this conversation, she caught a glimpse and felt like she understood.
The firelight from the hearth flickered in Cassius's steadfast eyes.
"...Kashu."
Seeing it, Yelena unwittingly called him by a nickname.
Any awkwardness or reluctance had long vanished.
"...What is it? Lena."
"...Nothing. I'm just... sorry. If you'd said you were scared... I was going to comfort you."
"Ha, and how exactly?"
In that instant, fueled by inexplicable courage, Yelena rose from the bed and approached him.
Then slowly, she spread her arms and pulled him into an embrace.
Whispering into the ear of the taller, bulkier Cassius, held in her arms.
"You'll succeed, Kashu. No matter what."
"........."
"So relax. Whenever you want... I'll hold you like this."
Cassius didn't react.
He stayed utterly still in her embrace, not even twitching a finger, frozen like ice.
Watching him, embarrassment welled up, but she found him endearing.
"...This is how I was going to comfort you. What do you think? Pretty Grand Duchess-like, right?"
"...Ha."
To ease any awkwardness on his part, she added an excuse about their sham marriage.
Thinking it was just her joking, Cassius let out a hollow chuckle.
"Even in the dead of night, your playful side comes out strong."
"Hee hee..."
"Then maybe I should want it now."
"Pardon? What do you mean... Eek!"
Cassius scooped up the bewildered Yelena in an instant and pulled her into his arms.
Surrounded on all sides by his massive frame, Yelena gasped without thinking.
"Eek...!"
As she froze and squeezed her eyes shut, Cassius chuckled softly and laid her back on the bed.
He tucked the blankets up to her neck and said,
"Next time, if you don't want to end up on the receiving end, don't play around. You can't fight back anyway."
"Ah..."
"Now go back to sleep. Sorry for waking you."
With that, Cassius left her room.
Yelena couldn't hear his final words.
Her heart was pounding too wildly to drift off right away.
Finding a direct line to the Emperor ultimately failed.
Instead... he ended up hugging Yelena.
'...As if she's some saintess.'
The way she held him with such compassion, stroking his hair.
Honestly, his heart had fluttered quite a bit.
Her stunning looks as the heroine didn't help when she tried to comfort him like that...
But luckily, realizing it was just teasing let him calm down fast.
'I got a counter in there, so she won't even think of messing with me again.'
Anyway, thanks to that—or not—he'd made up his mind about one thing.
Just send a letter straight to the Emperor.
The difference from before? He decided not to worry about the 3rd Prince.
He didn't fully know why he'd come to that decision himself, but it was probably due to that brief chat with Yelena yesterday.
Even if it was playful and short, it had truly comforted him.
"Alf, prepare a letter to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor."
"Understood."
And so, the letter to the Emperor set off toward the palace.