Rudis, who had been out for a while had also now returned, and called her attention with a cautious voice.
“Madam?” Rudis began while Max still sat, and she wanted to ask how much longer she planned to stay at the dining hall.
Max glanced out at the window. It was all dark outside.
Was Riftan still outside until this time? No matter how tough a man he was, Max was worried. She wished he could take a break for a while and come home. Finally, Max knew she could not keep the rest of the servants waiting for she, too, would worry them. Her food also had grown cold.
“Bring it to the room, please.” Max finally answered a curious Rudis and got up from her seat.
She looked at the flames burning in the fireplace, flaring up the firewood meaninglessly one last time before starting her way up to her room. The day at Calypse Castle was both very long and short. It felt difficult when she was busy, but she was satisfied here compared to when she lived in her father’s castle as if she were a dead person.
Was Riftan also satisfied living here? Max wondered.
Recalling Rudis’ words during the day, Max scrunched her face in deep thought. Through observing the attitude of the knights alone, Mac could tell how unfairly Riftan was treated by her father. He had no choice but to blame himself. But he was trying to do better somehow and gain her father’s approval.
Frankly speaking, she didn’t quite understand why he was acting that way. No matter how much she thought about it, she didn’t have an attractive side to entice other people. She had neither a dazzling beauty, nor any extraordinary talent, nor was she full of wit.
The only best thing to claim was that she was descended from Duke’s eldest daughter. But even that was not a big deal if she stood side by side with a princess. What part of her did he like so much for him to go through such lengths?
‘Whatever the reason is… It must be a lot of luck for me.’ Max thought absentmindedly and let out a sigh.
She admitted bitterly what her father had said. She thought that the sum of her father’s violence had become an unexpected luck for her because it led her to Riftan. Max firmly prayed to make sure that this happiness would not pass away.
“Hmm…” Max stirred as she felt a sudden chill enveloped her body. Her long and firm fingers gently wrapped around her chest in an attempt to warm her skin.
Max awoke from her nap and looked at the faint morning dawn that was leaking from the window. It seems to her that she fell asleep while reading a book after dinner.
With her shoulders curled up against the chilly dawn air and her stiff eyes blinking faintly, Max suddenly felt a strong forearm tightening around her waist.
Max was startled by this and turned her head behind her to look. She saw Riftan sleeping next to her.
When did he come back?
He was lying on his side, wearing only a pair of bottom trunks. She glanced doubtfully into his face.
‘Is he pretending to be asleep..?’ Max thought
She had been fooled by him several times, so she squinted her eyes and looked at him for a long time wondering if he was truly asleep.
But Riftan only breathed slowly, lay still and didn’t budge. When she pushed his hand carefully because she thought he was really asleep, he unexpectedly loosened his arm.
Max turned around carefully so that her husband wouldn’t wake up.
‘Are you… tired?’ Max asked Riftan in her head. He was in deep sleep and she could not help but wonder at how tiring the previous day was for him.
Max gently touched his finely sculpted face, which was covered by the bluish light of dawn that filled their room. His hair that had grown long was disheveled like a bird’s nest. She saw his forehead wrinkled when the hair poked and tickled his eyes, so she pushed the strands over. At this moment he looked so vulnerable that Max slipped a smile.
She did not know what’s going on inside her head. She couldn’t fathom her love for this man, who was at least 1 kvet (about 30 centimeters) taller and twice as big as she was.
However, Max crawled impulsively into his arms and buried her face against his firm chest. When it seemed certain that he had fallen asleep deeply, the urge to take a more daring action soared within her.
She put her face near to his neck and took a deep breath. A mixture of masculine body odor and fragrant soap, and the remains of intense sunlight, gave off an inexplicably sensual fragrance to her. As she inhaled the smell deep into her lungs, a mysterious heat trickled through her stomach.
Max carefully touched his chin. Riftan was indeed a dazzling presence to behold.
His firm, and yet smooth skin seemed to glow faintly even in the dark, and his face, with his long eyelashes, looked innocent and lovely while he slept.
‘I think my head is getting weird…’ Max thought to herself as she stared at Riftan’s sleeping face.
Only a few months ago, Max had never dreamed of using the words naive or lovely to describe Riftan Calypse.
But now, she was feeling the strange urge to rub her face deeper in his arms, as if he was a soft cotton pillow. However, she was holding back the crazy impulse to do so.
Not only did she have no courage to do so, but she didn’t want to wake him up from a deep sleep she knew he deserved after a long time of not being able to rest properly.
Max slipped out of bed so he could rest well without interruption, picked her robe and left the room.
There was a chill of dawn that greeted her in the corridor.
She put on a thick robe over her thin woolen dress and went straight down to the kitchen. When she arrived at the place she thought happily that she was right, indeed there was as much warmth in the kitchen as she thought.
