[TKOSINM] 142 - Early Night

“Gee, what are you going on about now!”

“Ha-ha, I’m just kidding. By the way, the Grand Duke, no, you don’t seem to be nervous anymore.”

“…what else now?”

Noel put his hand on his forehead, thinking of being caught up in Mulliman’s talk. All of a sudden, tiredness came. Come on, he had just wanted to get out of this position. However, at his subsequent words, Noel hardened.

 “Tonight. It’s an early night isn’t it.”

♔♔♔

At the same time, Irene was also in trouble.

The carriage, which departed from the private hall, stopped in front of the main building. And as soon as the carriage door opened, her maids took Irene to a room, stripped her of her tight clothes, and began to massage her in her warm bath. From her shoulder to her toes. Everywhere that could be cleaned was rubbed.

The scent of rose water that floated fresh floral aromas stimulated her sense of smell. It was a nice scent which made her so drowsy. But her maids did not let her rest. As the scent of roses permeated her body, the maids wiped the remaining moisture from her body and brought in a slip for her. It was dizzying to even go out and put it on. The pure white slip flaunted her supple white skin.

What the hell was this? In the midst of confusion, the maids left the room with meaningful words saying they were ready.

“Everyone on this floor has left. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Everyone had left, so she didn’t have to worry about it. What did the maids mean?

Irene, who was alone in her room, hid her embarrassing slip. Even when she first put on the silky gown hanging on the wall, she felt hot just thinking about showing it. She looked out the window and saw that the sun had already set, and it was night.

“Is this... wine?”

On the table was red wine: two glasses, and a plate of fruit. She was hungry, and Irene stopped herself from eating the fruit. In this chaotic situation, she could not seem to be thinking of properly digesting any fruit.

Irene found herself wandering from the door to her room mindlessly, and then flopped onto her bed.

‘What is Noel trying to do?’

Perhaps it was due to her memory being too vivid. Noel’s handsome face and gentle eyes ran around in her mind.

Fu. She hoped to be able to meet him tomorrow. She felt the comfort of the bed and sighed in anticipation when suddenly the servant’s voice rang outside her door and a knock echoed.

“Noel has come.”

“Noel?!”

Was her wishful thinking- did it come true? The moment the servant told Irene Noel had arrived to visit, Irene was startled and jumped up from her seat.

Immediately, she stood to open the door but was bewildered to see herself reflected in her full-length mirror. A pure white robe draped over her slip-on, which hardly concealed it, and her wheat hair was slightly damp.

“...”

No matter how she looked at it, it wasn’t an ordinary outfit.

“Young Madame?”

When no answer came, the servant knocked on the door once more. But still no answer came back.

The servant looked up at Noel with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Maybe something happened inside…?”

“… go ahead. I will go in.”

“All right.”

When the servant left, Noel knocked once more.

“Irene, can I come in?”

Noel noticed that she was standing in front of her door. But for some reason she did not return an answer. He was worried that something might have happened to her, but he could not barge in blindly.

“...Come on in.”

After a while, a small voice was heard. After receiving the answer, Noel opened the door and went inside.

Irene sat thinking deeply on her bed, and she covered her body with a blanket. Not understanding why she was acting like this; Noel tilted his head in question.

“What are you doing there?”

“Well, it’s a little cold…”

“Is it cold? Then, we will have the servants set the temperature…”

“Oh, no! I-, it’s not that. I guess I’ll just have to stay like this for a bit. But why did Noel come all the way here tonight…”

Irene couldn’t even finish her words. Irene’s reaction was rather surprising to Noel. Wasn’t it common sense to spend the first night after their wedding together?

But Irene was also perplexed. She had never even received a proper se. x education, and she did not even know she had to spend her first night after her wedding with her husband. Usually it was the relatives’ duty to educate her, so her servants also assumed she would know and did not tell her.

However, even if she did not know about the ‘early night’, she could tell that the atmosphere was unusual.

Slip-clothes, only one bed, and her husband’s visit in the middle of the night...

Irene blushed at this strange mood and spaced out, looking at nothing in the air to avoid Noel’s gaze.