Chapter 0: Prologue

Prologue

The exuberant door to the bedroom opened without a sound.

Yelena entered the room while tiptoeing and closed the door behind her.

'He's sleeping. Good.'

The lamp she was carrying delicately illuminated the room.

Yelena swallowed once and approached the side of the room with the huge and vintage bed.

On top of the bed was her husband, Duke Kaywin Mayhard, who was lying down quietly without even a sound of his breathing.

Yelena once again swallowed.

'I can't make a mistake.'

This time, she needed to succeed no matter what.

As Yelena thought that, she looked at her husband who was lying on the bed.

His outfit usually looked proper and flawless, as if it were measured by a ruler, but he looked disheveled when sleeping.

Even if he were disheveled, only the collarbone under his loose collar could be seen.

Unknowingly, Yelena's face flushed red when she imagined the firm muscles existing under all that.

'No, get a grip.'

But it was only for a moment.

Yelena shook her head and suppressed her surging dark intentions.

I shouldn't forget my duty.

She wasn't here for that purpose today.

No, it was for that purpose, but it wasn't for such a simple ulterior motive.

'This is all to save the world.'

Yelena thought again as she placed the lamp on top of the table.

And so she pulled off the blanket that was only covering some parts of her husband's body.

"......!"

After she made sure to throw the blanket far away from the bed, Yelena climbed on top of her husband.

"......Yelena."

Yelena's husband, who got woken up from his sleep, looked up at her with flustered eyes.

The corners of Yelena's lips rose up as she felt a sense of accomplishment.

'I did it!'

She remembered how, previously, when she tried to sneak into the bedroom just like now, her husband rolled her up with the blanket and made her unable to move.

Do you think I would make the same mistake?

She eliminated the blanket.

Her uselessly gentle and nice husband definitely wouldn't shake her off by force, and picking the blanket up wasn't an option for him either.

The moment Yelena's eyes looked like they were filled with a sense of victory, her husband sighed and moved his hand.

SHRED!

'Shred?'

Without a moment to spare to think about what sound it was, Yelena's upper body was soon rolled up with some kind of fabric.

It wasn't until half of her body was wrapped in a sack that Yelena could tell what the fabric was.

'Bed sheets!'

The strings on the edges of the bed sheets were usually tied to the bedpost or foot.

Otherwise, the edges of the cloth would be shoved in under the mattress.

Which meant that it was a sound of the sheet being ripped off rather than it being thoroughly untied or pulled off.

She solved the question regarding the sound, but she was not happy in the slightest.

It was without a doubt that releasing herself from the sheet by squirming around would be beyond Yelena's ability.

She could move her body even when she was still rolled up, but there would be no meaning.

Because she couldn't pounce on her husband if she couldn't use her hands!

"It's already late."

Her husband just toppled over Yelena, who did a futile attempt, and laid her down right next to himself.

And then he wrapped her up in his embrace and patted her back.

As if he were hugging and coaxing a misbehaving child.

It was a tender touch, but she obviously didn't need this.

She really didn't need it.

Something like such an innocent touch!

Yelena clamped her lips together as she glared.

Even when he saw Yelena's expression, her husband still cuddled her and said,

"Are you thinking of getting rid of the bed sheets in advance as well next time?"

Yelena froze in her place when she felt like he read her mind, then he continued with a nice subdued voice.

"It's useless. Because there'll be the curtains then."

'Curtains!'

When she noticed the obstacle she didn't think of before, Yelena glared fiercely.

Now that she thought about it, there was a window right next to the bed, and reaching out to the window from the bed to grab the curtains didn't seem that difficult.

The drawback was that, to do something with that curtain, one needed to use their strength to rip off the curtain from the rings holding them on the iron bar above the windows. However...

"...The reason you're being called a monster is all because of that strength."

Yelena blurted out a complaint.

Her husband let out a chuckle that reverberated lowly and added,

"Still, since one can't sleep in a bedroom without the curtains, sheets, and a blanket, I hope you won't make me waste my energy anymore. Wife."

'Do you think I would give up if you say that?'

Hearing the nice words that indirectly implied for her to give up, Yelena just let out a snort.

She didn't have any intention in the slightest to back off.

'Just you watch. Who'll win in the end.'

She thought sneaking into his bed in the middle of the night to pounce on him would be the easiest and fastest way, but unlike her plans, it seemed like this method was no good.

'Then there's no other way but to find another method.'

There must be a way.

Because people always find their way.

And she was no exception.

At least, Yelena thought so.

"Will you be sleeping here with me like this?"

She was racking her brains, but then she heard her husband's voice.

Yelena thought for a moment before nodding.

It was very much a pity that she could only sleep meekly, but even so, being in her husband's embrace felt secure.

'Is it because of his large build?'

Her husband was around a head taller than she was.

'He has a lot of muscles too...'

The chest that was trapping her was as firm as a rock.

'If my hands were free, I probably would have poked and caressed it.'

When she imagined it, her sense of frustration increased twice as much.

Yelena knew it was impossible, but she opened her mouth.

"Please untie this. I won't do anything."

"I can't."

"I already failed today. Do you take me for a shameless person who would do anything to someone sleeping?"

The person who trespassed into the bedroom for that kind of purpose had no qualms to say that.

But Yelena was thick-skinned, while her husband was resolute.

"Yes. I do take you for so. I can't."

"......"

"Let's sleep now. It's late, so you would be tired too, Wife."

'He would probably untie it once I fall asleep.'

It was the case last time.

When she opened her eyes in the morning, the blanket that was wrapped around her like a cocoon was completely untied and just covered her body normally.

The servants said they never entered the room, and her clothes were as much of a wreck as they always were when she woke up.

Yelena's sleeping habits were quite rough.

She was the type to toss and turn in her sleep.

If her clothes turned out like that after tossing and turning, it meant that her husband released her before morning came.

He probably released her just a moment after she fell asleep.

She could clearly picture it.

'If only I were the type to wake up in the middle of my sleep...'

If not, if only she had the excellent talent in pretending to sleep.

But Yelena didn't have any aptitude in both.

Once she fell asleep, amazingly enough, she would never wake up until morning came. And even when she pretended to sleep, she would fall asleep for real in the middle of it.

'Useless body.'

Yelena sighed.

Maybe because her breath brushed against him, she could feel her husband's muscular body twitch.

But so what.

Even if she breathed against him some more, nothing would happen.

She tried it already.

Yelena blinked and then rambled on with words that wouldn't work.

"Okay. You don't have to untie this. But Dear, isn't it stuffy to sleep like that?"

"......"

Only

"I heard that sleeping with a bundle of clothes would be bad for your blood circulation. They say that the best way to sleep is by being naked."

"......"

"You're not in your teens anymore, so you should take care of your health more. That's why you should sleep naked—or if that's too iffy for you, then at least without your top..."

She didn't get a reply.

Yelena rambled on for quite some time but then gave up and shut her mouth.

'Next time, I shall......'

Leaving behind her frustration, Yelena closed her eyes inside her husband's embrace.

And so the night fell.