Chapter 9

I slipped into a deep sleep, unrestful dreams not troubling me at all.

Since returning to the Sword Mansion after the Succession War, with nothing but its shell remaining, I hadn’t been able to sleep in a bed. Instead, I always leaned against a wall or a pillar, or lay against the bed like last night, endlessly repeating that action and facing restless dreams every day.

But why had my dreams been peaceful? It was because I had lain on the bed.

Even though I was startled by seeing Asulin’s face and hearing her voice as soon as I opened my eyes, the thought came to me that my rest had been so peaceful because I had fallen asleep on the bed where she had lain.

“I should probably stop doing that from now on,” I muttered to myself sarcastically.

Though it had happened suddenly, without any need or consciousness, the power of my accelerated awareness allowed me to savor the slow flow of time, which provided immeasurable help in organizing my thoughts.

“…”

No words came out even when I tried to think clearly.

It might be because it was just moments after waking up, despite having spent ample time earlier, that my mind still needed to warm up.

“It’s such a lovely morning, yet you don’t say anything even when I greet you. Even if I am lenient, it’s a bit disappointing…”

Asulin lay beside me, looking at me with an expression that could neither be taken as smiling, angry, nor joking, causing a sense of unfamiliarity.

“…”

Not a word came out of my mouth.

The problem was that no words came to mind, leaving me in silence.

Even the fresh scent of flowers naturally perceived through my nose, which seemed to declare the situation, did not help.

“This shouldn’t come out of my mouth.”

After quickly realizing it was something I shouldn’t say and clearing my head, I focused on understanding the current situation.

What on earth is happening? I distinctly remember putting Asulin, who was drunk, to bed and covering her with the blanket, then leaning against the bed to try to sleep.

“Ha ha…”

Why is my body lying on the bed where Asulin, with a faint smile, is looking at me?

“You didn’t listen?”

Asulin read the sentences written on the changing expressions of my unopened mouth, and she threw in a decisive statement.

Her clear and pure voice, coming from someone just waking up, continued without pause, reminding me of this fact.

“This I lifted you and laid you on this bed while leaning against the bed to sleep.”

Asulin’s expression changed again as soon as she spoke, as if to confirm that what she said was not a misunderstanding.

Although very subtle, there was a hint of pride in her expression.

I couldn’t understand why she felt proud, but in that fleeting moment, I thought her expression was cute.

Yet again, Asulin’s proud expression transformed.

While it’s common for a person’s expression to change, the transformation in Asulin’s face as she lay on the bed looking at me was shocking compared to the previous mix of pride and cuteness.

Even if only slightly, her cheeks puffed up and her eyes narrowed, making it hard to believe it wasn’t shocking.

If anyone who knew her saw Asulin like this, they would be shocked beyond measure.

Anyway, Asulin’s lips slowly opened after rapidly changing her expression.

“Why didn’t you lie on the bed instead of the floor? Did you have trouble sleeping on the bed, or did you drink the alcohol on the table while I was asleep, making you too drunk to lie down?”

Even though the sentence came out smoothly from someone just waking up, the anger directed towards me was unmistakable.

“Hmm, Asulin uses a respectful tone with a sense of intimidation when she’s angry. I should remember that.”

… Ah, now is not the time to think about this.

There’s a problem at hand. Why is Asulin angry with me now?

While my consciousness accelerated, countless hypotheses formed and vanished in my mind, but two answers quickly surfaced in my head.

It wasn’t anything grand.

Maybe she was angry because I didn’t lie on the bed, or perhaps she was upset because all the bottles on the table were empty.

And in either case, I felt I deserved to protest my innocence directly to Asulin.

Firstly, even if we were名义上的夫妻，我也不应该被要求扮演假夫妻的角色。她躺着的床，我怎么可能进去？

即使不考虑睡眠习惯，我和阿斯琳一起睡在同一张床上本身就是危险的。

仅仅听到我们在同一张床上睡觉的消息，剑令公可能立刻带着卡拉德博格刀北上，直奔我的脖子。

即使花香再甜美，如果不知道那是什么，贸然接近就等同于自投罗网。

我必须记住这一点，记住它，无论在心里重复多少次，也不能放松身体和心灵的紧张。

当我清理出第一个问题的答案时，处理第二个问题也变得容易起来。

桌上的空酒瓶提供了明确的证据，不需要我再多说什么。

“说到酒，阿斯琳，你喝光了所有酒。”

虽然我相信不久她就会意识到这一点，但我觉得有必要让她知道我现在是清醒的。

当时我不明白自己为什么会发出那种声音，就像一声呻吟一样尴尬，但现在我发现当我反驳时，从我嘴里出来的东西似乎有股奇怪的花香。

也许是因为旁边有一朵花，当我开口时，花香混入其中。

无论如何，我的反驳效果显著。尽管我没有很好地回答她关于为什么没有躺在床上的问题，

“……”

她的眼睛因为我的反驳而无法移动，仿佛被定住了。

“那……是什么……意思？”

阿斯琳的眼睛仍然没有与我对视，她的回答勉强挤出，失去了威严的声音表明她的话不是对我的反驳的正当回应，而是苍白的借口。

从她失去威严的声音中可以看出，我的反驳已经对她产生了巨大的影响。

这就可以了。陶醉于短暂的胜利感中，过度逼迫对方并不好，明智的做法是在这里停步。

就这样想着，我看着阿斯琳的眼睛仍然迷失方向，

“从这句话可以看出来，今天早上靠在床边睡觉只是习惯。这是因为在战场上一直保持紧张，这个习惯延续到现在。并不是因为酒的原因。”

我在半真半假的回答后，

“不过……”

我一边模糊地结束话语，一边从床上起身，依然注视着阿斯琳。

“感觉躺在这张床上很舒服，心情也很好。”

我告诉她我的努力没有白费，

“下次不会给你添麻烦了。谢谢你。”

我真诚地向阿斯琳表达了感谢。

虽然看到她生气的表情意外地愉快，但我想如果继续看下去，她不仅会表现出生气，还可能会以其他方式向我发脾气。

所以，我试图掩饰遗憾，想让她消气。

然而，不知为何，当阿斯琳听到我的感谢时，她的状态有些微妙。

仅仅是像刚才那样简单地表达感激，并没有什么特别之处。

“……”

阿斯琳盯着我，她的嘴巴长时间没有张开。

虽然刚才说话时她的口气中没有酒味，但随着时间的推移，她看向我的脸越来越红。

“明白了……好了。”

她轻轻鼓起脸颊，勉强压抑住生气的表情，接受我的感谢花费了一些时间。

“以后……我希望每天晚上都能像昨晚一样，在地板上睡觉就好了。”

虽然她说话有些结巴，但要求我每天都和她一起睡在同一张床上的要求却像闪电般迅速出现，

“那……行。”

我又一次不假思索地接受了她的要求。

‘你这疯子！怎么又用柔和的声音回答她，然后马上答应？’

我事后责备自己，但想起覆水难收的道理，我们的第一个早晨就这么忙碌地开始了。