Chapter 78
“I’m sorry.”
Once again asking for forgiveness, Kaas hesitantly reached out and took Linaria’s hand while watching her expression carefully.
In that fleeting moment, the fear of being rejected swelled in his chest so much that it felt like his heart might burst.
Fortunately, she did not pull her hand away.
Instead—
“…Hug me like before.”
She only mumbled that in a voice slightly smaller than earlier.
It was such a strange thing.
Whenever he faced her, one side of his chest would flutter.
He kept wanting more, wanting to touch her, sometimes feeling ashamed, and at other times his heart itched.
Even now, it was the same.
Kaas no longer pretended not to hear, and once again pulled her into his arms.
He had embraced her just moments ago, and yet—
This time, she suddenly felt lighter.
As if, if he squeezed too hard, she might disappear from his arms, so he stepped carefully.
Slow, steady breaths—
Before long, he could hear her breathing.
“Liri.”
Kaas gently called the name branded into his heart.
There was no response; she must have dozed off.
Seeing her peaceful face, Kaas suddenly thought that come morning, Linaria might forget everything that had happened tonight.
Just like last time, when she brushed it all off as a dream.
“Sweet dreams.”
Perhaps it would be a night only he remembered.
Kaas pressed his lips to her silvery hair and whispered.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—Linaria did not forget what happened last night.
“What on earth happened last night?”
Waking up late, she stopped Kaas and asked him directly.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t suspected it might have been just a dream.
But the scratches on her feet remained.
Doubt turned into certainty, and she immediately had Anna summon Kaas.
“Kaas, don’t you dare think of lying. I clearly remember what happened last night.”
“Ah, my lady! I’ll explain—!”
Kaas pressed his lips together and kept his gaze lowered.
In the end, Anna, who had been standing behind him, stepped in.
“Anna? You knew about this too?”
“Uh? Y-yes! Last night, you see…”
She started speaking, but when it came time to mention sleepwalking, the words stuck in her throat.
Since her seventeenth birthday, her lady had been suffering from it for nearly a year now.
Not only wandering the mansion at night, but sometimes silently crying—how could she say that in front of her mistress?
‘I just can’t say it!’
Just as Anna squeezed her eyes shut—
“Liri. Sometimes your mind sleeps, but your body does not.”
“W-wait!”
Kaas revealed the truth so plainly that Anna turned to him in shock.
But he showed no change in expression, as if ready to tell everything.
“What do you mean?”
It wasn’t something to laugh off. Seeing Linaria’s flustered look, Kaas explained:
“People call it sleepwalking. You went through something so painful that even when your body sleeps, your mind cannot rest.”
In that instant, scattered puzzle pieces seemed to come together.
If last night she woke up in an unfamiliar place—in Kaas’s arms—because of sleepwalking.
If that was why her feet, bare without slippers, had scratches as though she had wandered around.
It all made sense.
It hadn’t been some absurd situation where Kaas carried her asleep into the garden.
“…Since when?”
This time, Anna answered.
“Since your seventeenth birthday, my lady.”
“So you knew too, Anna.”
“I serve you most closely. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner.”
“No, you don’t need to apologize. I know you meant no harm.”
She must have worried that knowing the truth would shock her and make her condition worse.
Linaria couldn’t blame Anna for her silence.
She already knew she had frequent nightmares.
But sleepwalking? She had never imagined it was that serious.
‘Of course… how could I have completely forgotten.’
Clenching and unclenching her fists, Linaria met the worried gazes of the two before her and steadied herself.
She felt sorry.
She knew exactly why she suffered from sleepwalking.
But she could not explain it.
It was something that hadn’t happened yet—a future event.
An event that no longer existed.
‘I’ll probably suffer from those memories for the rest of my life.’
“Liri.”
Kaas called her name, kneeling before her.
He gently took her trembling hand and pressed it to his cheek.
“I can’t lie to you. Especially about you—if I ever had to, I’d rather stitch my lips shut.”
“…Mm. Thank you, for telling me honestly.”
Linaria stroked his hair with her other hand.
Watching that, someone else’s chest burned with anger.
It was Anna.
‘He’s acting like a sly fox!’
She could guess why Kaas revealed the truth so quickly.
He must have wanted to snatch Linaria’s praise for himself!
At this rate, it almost seemed like everything had been part of his plan.
So when Linaria asked her next question, Anna made sure to answer faster than Kaas.
“Then… you both struggled every night because of me?”
“The Duke is aware of it too, my lady.”
“Father? Since when?”
Anna hesitated briefly before replying.
“Later than I did. Around the time he recovered his health—it’s been quite a while.”
“…I see.”
Linaria lowered her eyes, as if in thought.
“Anna, there’s one more thing I want to know.”
“Anything, my lady!”
“The butler of this estate. What’s her reputation like? You’ve been mingling with the servants lately, so you must have heard something.”
“Huh? The butler… you mean Lady Sophia?”
“Yes.”
Anna was startled.
She had expected another question about the sleepwalking, not a sudden change of subject.
“If you don’t know, could you find out?”
“N-no, I know! The servants say she listens well and is generous. She’s not exceptionally skilled at her duties, but because of her good nature, everyone finds it easy to work under her.”
“Not exceptionally skilled? What do you mean?”
“Well, usually the butler oversees all affairs of the estate. But it seems Young Master Obel handles most of those tasks instead.”
“…”
“It wasn’t everyone who said so—just some of the longer-serving staff mentioned it briefly.”
“I see.”
“Shall I investigate further?”
“No, that’s not necessary. Instead, prepare the communication stone. I need to contact Father.”
The communication stone was an invention of the Ivory Tower.
When a pair of them were linked, one could not only hear the other’s voice but also see their face.
They were, however, incredibly expensive.
On top of that, they were very hard to obtain—but Linaria, having earned the Tower Master’s favor, had been able to procure one.
After sending both Anna and Kaas away, Linaria activated the stone and waited for her father to appear.
But instead—
[Linaria! Linaria!]
The booming voice that struck her eardrums did not belong to her father.
The communication stone projected Magnus’s face, along with his thunderous voice.
[You’ve wasted away since I last saw you! Are you eating properly?]
“…Tower Master.”
[What’s with that face? You look like nothing but skin and bones—don’t tell me those people are mistreating you and starving you?!]
“Tower Master!”
[My ears aren’t failing!]
“I know. But isn’t this Father’s communication stone?”
[You mean your father? He’s right here. But Linaria… you don’t seem happy to see me.]
His booming voice faltered slightly.
“Of course not. I was just surprised to see you instead of Father. Weren’t you supposed to be busy these days?”
[…]
“I heard you were so caught up in research you barely had time to think of me…”
The stone suddenly projected Dante’s face.
[To answer your question, the Tower Master comes to our house every day, saying he misses the madeleines we used to serve. Just in case you called—]
[If you’re going to spout nonsense, move aside!]
[It’s not only the Tower Master who misses seeing your face, Linaria, so there’s no need for him to be embarrassed.]
[You mean me?!]
[I also know you’ve been visiting every day, debating whether to connect the stone or not.]
[Th-that’s…!]
The sound of Magnus floundering in embarrassment rang loud and clear.
And Dante laughed heartily, indulging the old man who still looked like a youth.
