Chapter 22: 21

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Even today Dooha looked at the Duke lying next to her with suspicious eyes.

It had already been three days since he began sleeping next to Dooha.

‘You’re really only going to sleep, but why do you have to come all the way here to sleep?’

‘Isn’t it alright to sleep in the study as usual?’

Even though he said that he came to sleep, she had never seen her husband sleeping.

“Didn’t you say that you can sleep well when I’m next to you?”

“I did.”

In response to her husband’s answer, she raised one eyebrow, dissatisfied.

“But I’ve never seen you sleep here.”

“Because you always fall asleep first.” 

“Then why don’t you go to bed early today? I need proof that I have a knack for treating insomnia.” 

“I refuse. I’m not good at falling asleep defenselessly when someone is watching me.” 

“Then wouldn’t it be better to just sleep alone?”

Leonhart turned his head at the words she spoke so naturally.

He smiled, looking at his wife’s forehead, which seemed somewhat full of dissatisfaction.

Did that woman know that she had a feature that completely showed her feelings on her face? 

She was usually like a fox, but at times like this, she was more like an innocent child. 

“My wife must be very uncomfortable going to bed with me.” 

“…I’m used to sleeping alone.”

It was a blatant lie.

In Bashal, since her childhood, she has had to sleep together with her brothers and sisters in a tent, so she was not keen on sleeping alone.

Meanwhile, Leonhart tilted his head when he heard her answer.

“I can’t believe it.”

“What?”

“For someone who hugs me every night, how can they feel uncomfortable…”

“I said it was a mistake!”

“Let’s say so”.

Dooha stared at her husband with a flustered face.

Surprisingly, Leonhart was not wrong.

She always found herself in his arms every morning when she opened her eyes.

At first, she was suspicious that the Duke might have pulled her into his arms while she was sleeping.

However, on the day she had rolled up the blanket and put it between the two like a partition, she realized that she had terrible sleeping habits. 

“I didn’t know my wife would have the habit of using a man as a pillow.”

The mischievous face that looked at her when she woke up using his chest as a pillow…

Dooha had no choice but to blame herself for sleeping with her arms and legs spread freely on her husband’s body.

Whenever she thought about the morning of that day, her face felt hot.

Meanwhile, Leonhart shrugged and turned his gaze towards the document.

“But regardless,  I’d rather sleep here for the sake of saving your face as the Duchess.” 

“I know, but…”

Dooha closed her mouth instead of trying to say something.

As he said, it was a good situation for the two to use one bedroom in many ways.

There were a lot of people who would see it, especially as there were still many people who thought of Dooha as a wife who had been treated like a fool by the Duke. 

This method was the most obvious way to make the relationship between the two look strong.

“…But…”

Dooha observed her husband with cloudy eyes.

Just like the first day they met, he was lying down with only pants and a robe on.

“If you are going to sleep, why on Earth are you not wearing clothes?”

She couldn’t get used to his bare body, even when she had been seeing it for an entire week. 

“It’s not like it’s the first time you saw a man without a top.”

‘True. I have seen it countless times in Bashal, but why can’t I get used to his body?’

There was no particular difference between the bodies of Bashal’s men and the Duke’s body.

If she had to argue, the Duke’s body looked a little paler, more defined, and smoother… so she kept looking at it. 

She felt thirsty for no reason when she looked at it.

Dooha slightly shook her head at the thought that she felt thirsty without realizing it.

“I’m just going to sleep.”‘

The moment she closed her eyes, a voice was heard from behind her.

“I guess you can’t sleep”.

“Why do you think so?” 

“You usually go to bed before I come, but you’re quite talkative today.”

Even though they talked to each other, there were normally only a few words exchanged.

Well, they had talked more than usual.

“It must have been uncomfortable, talking so much. I should close my mouth and sleep…”

“It’s not uncomfortable.”

“What?” 

“It’s fun. Listening to what you’re saying.”

Before she knew it, the Duke, who turned his head, was staring intently at Dooha.

There was a strange light in the blue eyes.

‘What does that gaze mean?’

While Dooha was contemplating the look in his eyes, he opened his mouth again.

“So talk a little more, wife.”

The Duke had a rough and mischievous expression before he knew it.

‘How can you tease me?’

As if she was dumbfounded, Dooha briefly sighed and turned her gaze towards the ceiling.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t like talking to myself.”

“If you want, I’ll be your conversational partner.”

“I don’t like to force myself to talk to someone who doesn’t have much to talk about.” 

“We are a couple, we can make it.”

Leonhart continued, turning over a piece of paper he was holding.

“You seem to know a lot about herbs. Did you learn about them?”

“No, I just found out.”

“…Just because?”

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“If you’re a Bashalin, you can’t not know about herbs. Grass and trees are all over the mountains and fields.” 

“That’s surprising. I heard that the Bashal Kingdom is in a very cold and dry area. Wasn’t there only a small part of the land where vegetation could grow?”

‘Is it because he was guarding the borders that he knows about Bashal?’

Leonhart surprisingly seemed to know a lot about the Bashal Kingdom.

“Cactus grows in deserts, too. Just because it’s cold and dry doesn’t mean that vegetation doesn’t grow.”

Rather, herbs grown in poor conditions had excellent medicinal effects.

It may be because they had strong enough vitality to overcome the harsh cold.

“So Bashalins are all strong. Whether it’s a plant, an animal, or a person.”

“…I see.”

‘Is the reason why this woman is formidable because she is a human who grew up overcoming the harsh weather of the land?’

Leonhart looked at Dooha with that thought.

“What? Do you have any other questions?” 

“I don’t know.”

There must have been something he wanted to ask, but he didn’t know how to bring it up.

It was the first time that such a thing happened to Leonhart.

When he closed his mouth to hide his embarrassment, the silence continued.

Dooha looked at the Duke for a long time, then slowly frowned.

‘Is this the end? You said that you would be my partner, so is this enough to call it a conversation?

You talked like a person who was going to chat all night.’

He seems to be good at arguing but not speaking.’

Speechless, Dooha asked back as if she were arguing with the Duke without realizing it.

“Is that all you’re curious about?”

“Do you want me to be more curious about my wife?”

Instead of answering, Dooha frowned.

Leonhart smirked at her stark reaction and soon put the document on the table as if he were throwing it.

He turned back to Dooha and pressed his chin on his palm.

“And you.” 

“What?”

“Do you have any questions for me?” 

“If I have any questions, will you answer them?”

“It depends on the question”.

“Do you want me to ask you a question that you can’t answer for me?”

“You can choose a question that I can answer. I think you can choose well.”

“…Really?”

Dooha breathed in quietly, turning towards him and lying down.

Before she knew it, the two of them were lying face to face.

They looked friendly, but the two parties themselves did not seem to notice.

“Okay, then I’ll ask you one thing.”

Dooha’s raised eyes became thinner like a playful cat’s.

“Do you normally speak so roughly from the beginning? Or was it just with me?” 

The Duke’s handsome eyebrows flickered at her question.

While watching her husband’s reaction, Dooha raised one corner of her mouth as if it were fun.

“I’m just joking.”

“…I think you’re very sincere about this joke.”

“No way. It’s just a joke.”

Dooha fluttered her eyelashes with the expression of knowing nothing like an innocent lamb.

“What’s wrong? Are there any places you feel guilty?”

“…No, not at all.”

“Really? You’re a lot more brazen than I thought.”

Leonhart couldn’t say anything when he saw his wife covering her mouth with surprised eyes. Indeed, she seemed to be born with the talent for playing with people.

This woman.

“You don’t seem to like me a lot.” 

“A person’s first impression doesn’t change easily.”

From the first night of their wedding to the announcement of using separate rooms… there was no way she could like such a man.

Besides, as the Duke had said before, it wasn’t even a marriage where they wanted each other.

But why?

The Duke’s words now sounded like he was disappointed that she didn’t like him.

Of course, if it sounded like that, she must have been mistaken.

“You don’t like me either.” 

“Did I say that?”

“You don’t have to say that for me to know.”

His words and actions towards her so far seemed far from ‘being liked’.

Of course, it was true that the Duke appeared like the wind and helped Dooha whenever she was in trouble.

But if she was asked if such actions were only for Dooha, she could confidently answer no.

Leonhart’s eyes, staring at Dooha still, narrowed.

“I don’t.”

In his blue eyes, Dooha was completely contained.

“Unlike someone, I’m not so nosy as to take care of humans that I don’t have in mind.”

Due to his meaningful words, Dooha’s forehead became narrower. 

“…What does it mean?”

“What does it mean?”

Leonhart looked at his wife’s embarrassed expression and turned up one corner of his mouth, displaying satisfaction.

“I’m not the type of person who wouldn’t hesitate to work hard for someone whom I didn’t like.”

Leonhard reached out and pulled a handful of Dooha’s long hair towards him.

“Unlike my wife, who visited the herbal garden for a man who is not even in her heart.”

Contrary to the face full of unpretentious beauty, his large hands were rough and expressed his sincerity at every word he spoke.

At a glance, his rough palm showed that he was a knight who did not neglect any efforts.

Leonhart played with Dooha’s hair for a long time and put it to the tip of his nose.

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“So if it’s just a favor, you’d better not give it carelessly.”

Eyes resembling a dangerously transparent lake stared straight at Dooha as if it were about to drown her in them.

“Unless you want to get the attention of a man you don’t want.”

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