Bad Sleeping Habits
Leo’s POV
“…….”
The next morning. The bright sunlight stabbing at my eyes made me frown before I was even fully awake. Since the window faced south, my room flooded with light the moment the sun rose.
Aria had claimed my bed for herself, so I’d ended up spreading a blanket on the floor last night. My neck and back ached from the hard surface. I had never slept on the floor in my entire life. Just how much hardship was that woman going to put me through?
That was what I was thinking when I opened my eyes.
“Ugh!?”
I nearly fell backward in shock. Something completely unexpected filled my vision.
Aria’s sleeping face. That beautiful face occupied my entire field of sight.
Her nightgown was more unguarded than usual, revealing the creamy skin from her neck down to her collarbones. Her normally neat silver hair lay tousled in a natural, effortless way, and her long, dense, silver-tinted lashes looked stunning against her closed eyes. Her slightly parted lips were unbearably seductive. The sweet scent drifting from the tip of her nose made my head spin.
But none of that was the real problem.
Why was this woman sleeping right beside me? She had definitely been in the bed last night. There was no way she had rolled over here in her sleep—if she had, I would have noticed and woken up.
“Mmm…”
At that moment, Aria’s body shifted slightly before she turned fully toward me and wrapped her arms around my body without restraint.
“……!”
The soft, full pressure of her breasts pressed against me with vivid clarity. Her slender arms held me so tightly I couldn’t even sit up. Panic flooded my mind and my thoughts began to whirl.
Then, as if to add insult to injury, her hand slid upward, grazing my side, my chest, my neck, until it finally reached my cheek and began stroking it with gentle affection.
What the hell was this situation? Damn it.
“Leo…”
“P-Princess?”
“Hehe… Leo…”
“!?”
Crazy woman. Crazy woman. Goosebumps erupted across my entire body as I cursed violently inside my head, but it changed nothing. After caressing my cheek with that soft touch, Aria draped one arm across my chest and slipped back into sleep with faint, peaceful breaths—still hugging me tightly, as if I were her favorite pillow.
My mind went completely blank.
What was I supposed to do now?
I was wrestling with that desperate question when—
-Click.
“!”
The sound of the doorknob turning. Right. This was exactly the time Hannah usually came to wake me…!
In a panic, I tried to pry Aria’s arms away, but her grip was surprisingly stubborn.
“Uung…”
When I struggled, she frowned and let out a small moan, then clung to me even harder. Before I could do anything more, the door swung open and Hannah stepped inside.
“Young master, it’s time to— Ah.”
Hannah froze mid-sentence.
Our eyes met.
There I was on the blanket spread across the floor, unintentionally locked in a deep embrace with Aria. Hannah stared at the scene with her eyes wide as saucers.
I genuinely wanted to die.
Master’s dignity, my ass. This situation was truly…
Hannah glanced back and forth between us—looking for all the world like we were passionately entwined—then gave a small, businesslike bow. Her voice was unmistakably flustered.
“I-I beg your pardon. Excuse me for interrupting.”
No, what interruption?! I didn’t do anything with her…!
-Creeeak.
Thud.
My desperate excuses never had a chance to reach her. Hannah slammed the door shut and fled.
Even through all of that, Aria remained blissfully unaware, still glued to my side.
“Leo…”
She called my name once more, her face the picture of happiness.
It looked like today was going to be an absolutely terrible day.
Aria’s POV
“Um… I’m sorry about this morning. It really wasn’t on purpose…”
I bowed my head and apologized to Leo for what had happened earlier.
“Ah… It’s fine. I didn’t think much of it.”
That was what he said, but… it had to be a lie. There was no way he wasn’t bothered. Not after something that shocking.
As proof, he refused to meet my eyes, answered curtly, and hurried away.
“Hwaaaang~!!”
Back in my own room, I rolled across the bed and screamed.
I must have lost my mind. I really had gone crazy. Only a crazy person would do something like that… In my sleep, I had done something outrageous to Leo.
I had woken briefly in the early hours and seen him sleeping on the floor. I only meant to lie down beside him for a moment to watch his sleeping face. That had been my mistake. I ended up falling asleep right there beside him. And then this morning I had done something even worse.
It was an old habit from my previous life that had slipped out unconsciously.
When we were engaged, Leo and I would sometimes sleep in the same bed. We would hold each other, stroke each other’s faces, and act sweet and affectionate…
“……!”
Just remembering it made my face burn.
Leo’s startled expression was still vivid in my mind. Of course he would be shocked if I suddenly did something like that. What if he thought I was some vulgar woman now…?
“Haa…”
Even so, my head was still filled with the scent of him that had lingered at the tip of my nose. Was this what sexual frustration felt like? My heart kept pounding, refusing to calm down.
I want Leo. I want to make him mine alone. I want to create a situation so final that he can never run away again.
Those shameful thoughts kept flooding my mind.
In my previous life, I had used excuses like premarital purity to keep him at arm’s length until the very end. Looking back now, it seemed incredibly cruel. The aching feeling in my chest showed no sign of easing.
Back then I hadn’t understood desire at all, so I assumed Leo felt the same. But having experienced it myself, I realized how agonizing it was to hold back. It must have been the same for him. For a man in his prime, enduring those feelings must have felt like torture. And yet he had held back out of consideration for me.
The more I learned about him, the deeper I fell.
Yes. In this life, I wouldn’t push him away. If the moment came, I would accept it naturally. I made that promise to myself.
Whether that moment would actually arrive was another question entirely.
Still… how was I supposed to face Leo now?
I replayed the morning’s events again and let out another long sigh.
**
“Um, young duke…”
“Ah, I just remembered something I need to do…”
…
“Young duke, if you have a moment…”
“Ah, my father is calling for me right now.”
…
“Young duke…! Just a quick word—!”
“I’m sorry. I’m rather busy at the moment. Please speak with me later.”
“……”
…….
He was avoiding me. Leo was clearly avoiding me.
I stood before his firmly closed door, shoulders slumped in despair. The morning’s incident had to be the reason. Because of it, he had taken breakfast in his room instead of the dining hall, and every time I tried to speak with him he rejected me without fail.
My heart was already in tatters.
At the very least, I wished he would give me one chance to explain. …Though honestly, there was no real excuse. To anyone watching, it looked like I had pounced on a sleeping Leo.
Still, he could at least let me tell him it hadn’t been intentional.
“Huuu…”
I was quietly sniffling, reflecting on my careless behavior, when a familiar voice called out.
“Lady Aria?”
I turned. On the opposite side of the corridor stood Hannah, arms full of what looked like documents she needed to handle today.
“Hannah…!”
Feeling like a drowning person grabbing at straws, I rushed toward her with a tearful face. Hannah looked slightly startled but spoke gently.
“My lady, is something wrong?”
“Well… you see…”
**
“……”
“……”
An awkward silence filled the room.
I sat with my shoulders hunched, fidgeting with my hands in my lap. Across from me, Leo scratched the back of his head with equal discomfort. He clearly hadn’t expected me to follow Hannah into his room; his face showed open dismay.
“Um, Young Duke Leo…”
I finally forced the words out. His gaze turned toward me. Swallowing hard, I squeezed out an explanation.
“About what happened this morning… It wasn’t intentional. I just have a rather severe case of bad sleeping habits…”
“Ah… I see.”
“……”
He didn’t believe a single word! The way he subtly avoided my eyes while answering was a habit Leo had whenever he was trying to brush something off. At this rate he was going to think I was some kind of harlot.
I had to clear up the misunderstanding. Desperately, I kept talking.
“I’ll be extremely careful from now on, so… could you possibly forgive me just this once…?”
“Yes, well… I’m not particularly angry, so please don’t worry about it. However, I believe we should establish clear boundaries regarding each other’s personal spaces moving forward.”
“B-Boundaries?”
“Yes. Since you yourself admitted your sleeping habits are severe, it would be best if you slept in your own room from now on.”
“Ugh…”
“Also, unless it concerns official business, I would appreciate it if you refrained from visiting my room. If you come and go frequently and something like this morning happens again, it will be troublesome for both of us.”
“Y-Yes… That makes sense…”
Even as I answered, I could feel my voice trembling slightly. His words were essentially a ban on entry.
I sneaked a glance at his face. He looked faintly displeased. Was he angry? Well, it was understandable. A villainess like me had pressed her body against him and clung to him. It was understandable, but… his cold attitude still made my chest ache.
“If that’s all, please leave now.”
“……Yes.”
At his chilly dismissal, I rose from the chair like a condemned prisoner. In the end, I never managed to bring up the imperial ball. I left Leo’s room weighed down by gloom.
Leo’s POV
“Haa…”
Only after Aria closed the door behind her did I finally let out the breath I had been holding.
Pretending nothing was wrong had nearly killed me. Seeing her shrink back with that teary, apologetic expression because of her mistake was honestly bad for my heart. I knew I shouldn’t think this way, but she had been too cute. For some reason she looked even more pitifully adorable than usual today.
I knew it was a deranged thought, but it was pure instinct. I couldn’t help it.
Of course, this morning’s incident was entirely Aria’s fault. I was honestly curious about the exact circumstances that had led to it. But it wasn’t just that. The memory of how soft her body had felt when she clung to me kept resurfacing, making it impossible to look her in the eye.
I had known she kept trying to explain herself, but I ran away every time for that very reason. If I tried to have a conversation with her right in front of me, I wasn’t confident I could keep my composure. I was afraid I might say something careless. Afraid I might give her the wrong idea.
I needed time to sort out my feelings.
I never imagined she would follow Hannah into my room, but in the end I thought I had handled it well. I hadn’t made any mistakes and had responded as gentlemanly as possible. Aria had looked a little disheartened by my attitude, but… that was the best I could do.
All I could do was pray she wouldn’t come near me anymore. At this rate, it felt like the day I would lose my heart to her was not far off.
“Ah, this is driving me insane…”
I scratched roughly at my hair and glanced at the mountain of documents piled on my desk. Whether I closed my eyes or opened them, Aria’s lovely face kept floating before me. I couldn’t focus on work at all.
Why did she keep doing things that confused me? When had she ever left so coldly before…?
What am I supposed to do in this situation, Father?
I called out to my poor father in my mind and let out yet another deep sigh.