A Temptress's Promise
After finishing my work and having dinner with the family... I looked at Deviang, who was using the sofa as a makeshift bed, and spoke.
"Why are you lying there?"
Surely... he wasn't planning on sleeping there in his condition?
"Well, I've always slept here, haven't I?"
My husband's reply, delivered with wide, innocent eyes, sparked a sudden wave of irritation inside me. He had been unconscious for nearly two weeks. His body hadn't even fully recovered, yet he was insisting on sleeping on that uncomfortable sofa. Anger flared, and I raised my voice.
"You are a patient right now! Get to the bed this instant!"
Honestly, it was absurd. Does he not even realize the state his own body is in?
"Huh...? Wait, what?!"
Regardless of my thoughts, my startled husband let out a bizarre, bewildered sound.
"N-No! Men and women should maintain proper boundaries! How can we share a single bed?!"
Proper boundaries? I wondered where his usual intellectual, composed self had vanished to. It was so ridiculous that I couldn't help but fire back.
"We are married. What is so strange about a husband and wife sharing a bed?"
"Huh?"
Seeing Deviang look utterly blindsided, as if he never expected those words to come out of my mouth, I pressed on.
"Besides, if I let a sick man sleep on the sofa, what do you think people will say about me? Are you trying to make me look like a wicked wife? Now, get up."
I grabbed his wrist and pulled, lost in my own thoughts. Seriously, why is he trying to be so considerate of me when his own body is aching? To be perfectly honest, his foolishly stubborn attitude was exasperating. He had been hurt because of me, and he hadn't even fully recovered yet. Seeing him so cheerfully declare that he would sleep on a hard, uncomfortable sofa filled me with a deep, gnawing guilt.
Why do you care so much about me? You're the patient here. Shouldn't you be a little more selfish?
Grateful for his consideration, yet weighed down by the guilt of having given him nothing in return, I tugged at his arm with all my might... but Deviang, a grown, well-built man, didn't budge an inch. I scowled.
"Are you really not going to get up?"
So that's how it's going to be?
"Fine. If you want to sleep here that badly, I have my ways."
With that, I marched over to the bed, grabbed a pillow, and walked back to Deviang. He watched me with a thoroughly puzzled expression.
I looked down at him. "What are you doing? Move over."
"W-What are you doing?"
Ignoring his panic, I placed my pillow right next to him on the sofa.
"Since you refuse to sleep in the bed, I'll sleep here too. Move over."
Deviang stared at me for a moment before letting out a soft sigh.
"Sigh... Fine, I'll go to the bed."
Hehe. I won.
And so, we ended up lying side by side in the bed. But as I looked at Deviang, who had retreated all the way to the very edge, worry crept back in. It must be quite cold over there. It was the dead of winter, and he was barely pulling the blanket over himself, huddled at the far side of the mattress.
"If you stay right on the edge like that, you'll catch a cold."
I gently tugged at his sleeve, and Deviang replied, "It's a bit chilly, but... not enough to catch a cold."
He was acting so uncharacteristically foolish today. It felt strangely unfamiliar.
"Goodness... What are you talking about? Come over here."
Deviang sounded completely flustered. "Huh...? No, it's fine! It's warm enough here!"
Anyone could see he was freezing, yet he insisted he was warm. My worry deepened. Did the poison do something to his head?
But then, the realization suddenly dawned on me.
Wait... is he shy because we're sharing a bed?
His flustered tone and awkward movements suddenly made perfect sense, and I found it incredibly endearing. Well, it would be stranger if he didn't feel that way, sharing a bed with the person he loved. To be honest... my own heart was fluttering quite a bit too.
Still, I didn't want to see him suffer from a cold, so I feigned composure.
"Why are you so flustered? Stop arguing and come closer. Don't make me worry by catching a cold."
Thump... Thump...
I tried my best to sound relaxed, but my heart was pounding so hard I was terrified he might hear it.
"O-Okay..."
Rustle...
Fortunately, Deviang didn't seem to notice my racing pulse. He slid slightly toward me... but it was such a minuscule distance that I grew impatient.
"Are you not coming any closer?" I snapped, my voice sharp but playful.
"W-We're already quite close..."
The tremble in his voice was absolutely adorable. He was always so mature and dependable, so seeing him this shy and vulnerable was incredibly endearing. Still, I kept my voice firm.
"Hurry up and get over here."
Rustle.
Only after he slid over once more, finally occupying the center of the bed, did I smile.
"Good boy."
I gently stroked his hair. I had spent so many days stroking his hair while he was unconscious, praying for his recovery, that it had become a habit. I loved the feeling of his soft strands sliding through my fingers.
Hehe... Is he blushing?
Deviang flinched ever so slightly. Unlike when he was in a coma, having him react to my touch was so lovely that I couldn't help but tease him.
"Hehe. Are you embarrassed to be sleeping with me?"
"I am not embarrassed."
Deviang flatly denied it, but his voice sounded exactly like a child grumbling after being teased. A smile tugged at my lips.
Is he having... naughty thoughts because we're in bed together?
Of course, I wanted to become one with him too, but his body hadn't fully recovered yet. For his sake, I had to hold back and save it for another day.
If I say this... he'll probably think I'm giving him permission, right? But... will it sound too forward?
I worried it might, but he had endured so much for me, and waited for so long. I felt it was time to give him an answer.
Slide...
I gently stroked Deviang's arm, my touch soft and reassuring.
"Since you only just woke up... we can't do anything tonight. You have to behave, okay?"
Perhaps because my own body was growing a little warm, words I would normally never dare to utter slipped past my lips.
"So... focus on recovering. Once you're fully healed... I'll... I'll let you do it. Okay?"
My heart felt like it was about to stop. I had no idea how the heroines in romance novels managed to say such embarrassing things with a straight face. I could feel my cheeks burning.
Deviang flinched visibly at my words.
In a slightly brighter, teasing tone, I prompted him. "Your answer?"
I traced his tightly set lips, urging him for a response, knowing he must be utterly stunned by my sudden boldness.
"Uh...? Yeah..."
Hearing his foolishly dazed reply, a wave of embarrassment washed over me. Goodness... I sound like some temptress seducing her husband.
Blushing furiously, I quickly blurted out, "Goodnight, Deviang."
Perhaps because I had slept in this bed with him every single day while he was unconscious, his scent brought an immediate sense of peace to my mind.
I hope tomorrow is just as happy as today...
With that final thought, I drifted off to sleep.
I headed to the Grand Duke's Office early in the morning. Perhaps because it was the dead of winter, the corridors felt exceptionally chilly.
"Your Grace! Are you feeling alright?"
The guard stationed at the entrance gasped, his face pale with surprise. I offered him a warm smile.
"Yes, thanks to everyone's prayers, I'm feeling much better. How have things been?"
"Splendid, Your Grace! We heard you only regained consciousness yesterday. You should be resting!"
"Haha, I would love nothing more, but the thought of the paperwork piling up in my absence makes it impossible to rest easy."
With that, I entered the building and brewed a cup of coffee in the pantry. It had been nearly two weeks, but the familiar, unchanged atmosphere lifted my spirits slightly.
Well, shall we get back to work after all this time?
I opened the door to my office. The faint, blue light of dawn filtered through the window, casting a serene glow across the room.
"Wait..."
My jaw dropped. There was barely any floor space left. Towering stacks of documents covered every available surface, and my desk was crowned with a literal fortress of paper. Despair washed over me.
"Haaaa..."
My head was already beginning to throb. But I couldn't really blame anyone. Even though Theodora and Agrippa had undoubtedly handled what they could in their spare time, they had their own duties to attend to. It would have been impossible for them to clear everything.
"Still, to dump all this on someone who literally just woke up from a coma..."
Wasn't this a bit too cruel? But it wasn't as if I could just skim through them.
Clack.
I set my coffee cup down and began rapidly scanning the documents on my desk.
Oh? What's this?
It was a report seeking approval for the official launch of the Technology Investment Fund, noting that the accumulated capital had far exceeded expectations.
This is... beyond anything I imagined.
I wasn't exaggerating. The total investment pool was larger than the entire annual budget of the Empire. Stunned, I hurriedly flipped to the investor list, and the reason immediately became clear.
I clicked my tongue. From the high nobility to the minor gentry, almost every aristocrat had chipped in, even if only a small amount. They certainly had a keen nose for money.
Even Yohanes had invested in the fund. I wasn't sure whether to be pleased or concerned.
Shaking my head, I signed the document and moved on to the next file.
There was a report on the Chemical Fertilizer project, stating that full-scale research had finally begun... followed immediately by a request for more funding as their initial budget had run dry. I let out a sigh.
"No results yet, but they're already asking for more money."
Well... synthesizing chemical fertilizer was never going to be easy. Besides, future disbursements would be handled by the investment fund anyway. Fortunately, the coffers were still overflowing with the spoils of the last war, so I readily approved the request.
Huh? This one is already approved?
It was the proposal for the creation of the Information Department. Seeing that the signatory was Agrippa, I simply bypassed it. He would handle it well enough on his own.
Next, I reviewed the draft for the Imperial Tax Reform. The sheer volume of it was staggering.
"Sigh..."
There were five separate volumes, each easily exceeding five hundred pages. I felt another wave of despair.
On top of that, I had to review, approve, or reject death penalty sentences handed down by the courts. Looking at the backlog of verdicts and their supporting case files...
"Damn it... They could have at least handled these..."
Perhaps Agrippa and Theodora had deemed the review of judicial verdicts a low priority, or perhaps they had simply recoiled at the sheer, overwhelming volume of the files and left them untouched. Either way, the realization that I had to wade through this mountain of paperwork made my head throb with a vengeance.