***

Bibi single handedly defeated Duke Howard's knights. Did that make sense to the nobles? No, it didn't make sense.

When Seria saw the nobles sitting in front of Berg's mansion, she was very angry. It was the first time she realized that there were so many nobles desperately trying to recruit new knights.

On the one hand, she was curious.

Abigail rarely flaunted her military prowess unless she had a special purpose. What kind of windup had she suddenly gotten, and how had she managed to trample down all the knights?

"Bibi, it was my negotiation, wasn't it? Thanks to you, I was able to get the wizard firmly on board."

"I was helpful to you, young lady?"

"Of course you did. It's very impressive."

Abigail gobbled up the cookie with a satisfied look on her face.

Seria couldn't understand Alliot's reaction.

'Is it because Bibi broke Howard's heart?'

But Duke Howard didn't blame her either. He just asked to have another meeting with her.

Alliot also knew about this.

knows about this fact, though. Still, he was the Commander of the Berg Knights, so Seria told him in detail… She had no idea what on earth could have caused the rift between them to deepen like that.

"I'll go by myself from here."

"What?"

"I'll take a walk in the garden. You two can leave first."

The deadly atmosphere of the two knights seemed to choke her, so Seria let them go and walked through the expensive garden.

It took over an hour to reach the mansion because she had walked all the way there without riding a horse.

This was Laurel Manor that people without permission were never allowed to enter. Thanks to this, the place was as quiet as a small spring heaven separated from the world.

When she was picking up one of the flower clusters on the floor and holding it to her nose, suddenly, a hand grabbed her waist and spun her around. Before she could fully perceive the scene in front of her, her legs were in the air. Her body was lifted straight up.

The man holding her tightly by her thighs and waist was…

"Lesche?"

Surprised, Seria asked with a puzzled look on her face. She didn't have time to ask him why he came so early when he told her he would be here tomorrow. Lesche went straight to kissing her.

Perhaps he just finished his bath before coming out, a pleasant perfume smell came from Lesche.

His tongue, which penetrated Seria's lips desperately, was sexy and strange. Lesche's chest was heaving. Why a man who didn't even run breathing hard like this? What made him so excited?

Seria felt like she could understand nowadays why Marlesana had a crush on her husband, the Duke of Polvas, for so long.

She swallowed her desire to ask her if Lesche had missed her. She also hid the words that she missed him so much and hugged Lesche's neck tightly.

***

"Grand Duchess?"

Martha said with a laugh as she followed Seria into the bedroom.

"His Highness had a flower on his head."

Seria immediately sent Martha a sign to be quiet. She looked quickly out the window, but Lesche was not there.

"Lesche doesn't know, so don't tell him."

"The people at the manor are heavy lipped."

Seria chuckled.

It was at the end of their kiss that Seria noticed a flower in Lesche's shimmering silver hair. She was thinking of removing it, but it looked surprisingly good on him, so Seria let it be.

Alliot's eyes widened when he saw Lesche, but resolved themselves after a moderate amount of eye rolling from Seria. Alliot pretended not to see it, turned his face away, and coughed madly.

'I hope I don't see you forever.'

Seria stared at the fireplace at the back of the bedroom. While they did major work on the desolate garden of the Laurel Manor, they also repaired all the small details of the mansion. However, the fireplace, which always broke down, was left alone.

The fireplace, embossed with grape vines, was elegant and old-fashioned. Now that it was warm, there was no need for it.

Just when Seria was thinking that…

Crack!

She heard a sharp popping sound. Startled, she turned around. A wide glass bottle filled with fragrance was lying on the floor. The scent was quickly becoming thicker. The scent was so strong that it would cause a headache if she smelled it for too long.

"What shall we do, Grand Duchess? I think you have to use the other bedroom today."

"Huh?"

And so Seria was moved back to Lesche's bedroom.

As she sat on the large, fluffy bed, she thought long and hard.

Did they break the fireplace on purpose?

Everyone was so sneaky. Was she the only one who didn't know? Seria was in a state of deep suspicion.

"Lesche? Are you coming now?"

With the sound of the bedroom door opening, Lesche appeared. The flower was still on his hair. Seria tried not to laugh as much as possible.

"Seria."

Lesche stood at an angle right in front of her. Then he took the flower from his head and made eye contact with Seria.

Seria quickly pretended to be surprised.

"What kind of flower is it?" (Seria)

"You're asking because you don't know?" (Lesche)

"I don't know." (Seria)

One of Lesche's eyebrows lifted slightly.

"Ah…" (Seria)

Seria was surprised and took a breath because Lesche suddenly picked her up again. A beat later, she realized. She was in the same position as when they had kissed in the garden.

In that position, Lesche lightly wrapped his right hand around Seria's and brought it to the top of his head.

"Huh?" (Seria)

"You did it like this earlier." (Lesche)

"Did you see it?" (Seria)

"Yes, I did." (Lesche)

"Why did you do that? You didn't take it out on purpose?" (Lesche)

"How can I take it out when you're having so much fun?" (Seria)

Seria placed the flower neatly on Lesche's hair again. A giggle broke out.

"Are you going to keep laughing?"

Seria nodded without hesitation, and Lesche finally gave her a puzzled look.

"I'm sure it's like this again when I see you laughing."

"I'll only do it in the house out of consideration for you."

Lesche chuckled. Seria also laughed. Lesche knew he had the flower on his hair but he just let it there. He was just looking at Seria. At times like this, Seria remembered the past with Lesche.

It was really strange. She used to be really scared of him….

Since when did she start feeling Lesche was this cute?

"I like it whenever you're like this." (Seria)

It was a moment. Lesche's eyes shook unexpectedly. Seria didn't have time to ask why. Suddenly her lips were covered, and her heart skipped a beat at the sudden kiss.

Lesche's hands dug into her shoulders. Joanna's light gown with a thin knitting came off and was about to flow down. Seria pushed Lesche away with all her strength. Lesche didn't move but his lips dropped a little later.

"What's wrong, Seria?"

"Go to sleep."

''…Why?"

"Martha and Joanna are here."

"They're on a different floor."

"Still, I don't like it. This place is as big as Berg castle or the Imperial Mansion."

Though this green manor was also large enough, Seria just felt like that. Lesche raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Do you want to make it bigger? I will."

"What…no, I meant just go to sleep."

Lesche groaned and leaned his forehead against Seria's shoulder. She could feel the weight on her chest as it rose and fell after a deep kiss.

Lesche eventually set Seria down on the bed carefully. He didn't get up right away. He kissed Seria's forehead. She was getting serious because of the lingering contact.

'Why do I feel so good?'

'Why… Why am I so satisfied to see that Lesche can't touch me in the end even though he was impatient?'

Lesche stood up in the meantime and turned off the bedroom lights. She felt him lying down next to her, and in an instant, Seria was in Lesche's arms. He put his lips near her eyebrows, and asked with strength in his arms as he squeezed Seria.

''Is it alright to sleep like this?" (Lesche)

"If I say no, will you let me go?" (Seria)

"Please don't say no." (Lesche)

"I don't hate it." (Seria)

She could feel Lesche's lips, touching her forehead, drawing a thin reciprocal line.

"You know how to play with people's hearts." (Lesche)

"I'm charming by nature." (Seria)

Seria heard a low chuckle. Lesche's hand gripped between her fingers. Her heart fluttered for no reason and she squeezed her eyes shut.

A quiet, green manor. Even if the world was dying outside, it seemed to be quiet here.

… but the next day.

The next day, when Linon brought Seria the news with a pale face, Seria slapped herself on the cheek as if she couldn't believe it. Linon stopped her and said,

"Grand Duchess. I'm not going to let you kill yourself in front of me…"

"I was wondering if I'm dreaming."

"But can't you do it somewhere else, not in front of me?"

Her cheeks tingled a little. Seria asked slowly.

"Lina came back again…whose child did she have?"

***

"What about the Saintess?"

Kalis asked, exhaling hastily as he arrived at the temple late in the evening. He almost went crazy half way.

The priests who were taking care of Lina looked at him and said,

"The Saintess is still resting."

"She has been since she fainted last time….."

Lina tossed and turned at the sound of whispering. Kalis froze in place. The priests closed the bedroom door as quietly as they could.

Ironically, the sound of them closing the bedroom woke Lina up. As soon as she woke up, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

Lina's eyes fluttered chaotically, and she shifted her gaze to where she could feel the presence of people. Lina's eyes went wide when she saw Kalis.

"Kalis!"

"Don't run!"

Kalis shouted reflexively when Lina tried to run to him. Kalis hurried to his feet and Lina sat back in bed.

Kalis' words reminded her again of the shocking story she had heard earlier.

As soon as Lina heard the story, she couldn't accept the reality and fainted.

"How could I have gotten pregnant?" (Lina)

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