Celia hurriedly moved her hand, hiding the key deep within her sleeve.
Did he see it?
Lucius’s unreadable gaze slid beneath the hem of her skirt before slowly returning to her face.
While she was internally cursing the ridiculous excuse that had escaped her lips, he simply smiled as though nothing at all were strange.
“You came to see me?”
Lucius smiled with infuriating sweetness. The tension that had hardened his brow melted away, and a distinct curve rose at the corners of his lips.
“I’m happy.”
His voice was thick and sweet, like honey melted over low heat. In the end, Celia bit down on her own tongue. The metallic taste of blood spread through her mouth.
“……”
It seemed he had not noticed, yet she could not decide whether to feel relieved or disgusted.
Perhaps it would have been better to remain an intruder sneaking into his office rather than pretending she had come looking for him. Regret crashed over her in waves, extinguishing her motivation completely.
I want to go back.
But before she could even turn around, Lucius brushed past her with his usual slow, graceful stride and stopped in front of the door.
His long, elegant hand wrapped around the doorknob she had struggled so desperately with moments ago.
“My feet brought me here by chance. I couldn’t sleep, so I wandered wherever they led me… and this was where I ended up. And then…”
The heavy door swung open soundlessly. From the gap drifted the tangled scent of moonlight and the breath of the night.
The rich smell of leather mixed with dried herbs and a faint trace of wine.
“Maybe it’s because I meet you here so often?”
Stepping lightly through the doorway, Lucius glanced back at her.
At the slanted gaze and that completely unhinged remark, Celia’s lips parted rebelliously.
“As if! You were a workaholic. Your body probably remembered and dragged you here.”
The retort burst out before she could stop it.
She immediately turned her head away, her breathing suddenly shallower.
“……”
Lucius, who had paused by the door, turned toward her instead.
Moonlight spilling from the office stretched softly across the floor along the line of his body.
His shadow grew from beneath her feet, slowly climbing upward as though wrapping around her.
“I worked that much?”
His voice was low.
At the deep resonance, Celia’s fingertips twitched faintly. Without moving her head, she shifted her eyes toward him.
How would I know?
“Yeah.”
“How much?”
I said I don’t know.
“All day.”
The answer slipped out almost reflexively.
She wondered if she should really be saying these things, but her composure soon returned.
Well, it’s not entirely wrong.
A shadow briefly crossed beneath Lucius’s dark lashes, but Celia, having turned away, failed to notice.
“……If I worked that much, then I doubt I had much time to spend with you.”
Why was that what he cared about right now?
“That’s not really important.”
“……”
Lucius’s fingertips moved slowly along the back of his neck.
After a brief pause, he turned fully around and smoothly changed the subject.
“The nights are cold. Why don’t we go inside first and continue talking there?”
Celia’s expression soured.
Her foot pressed firmly against the floor as irritation built inside her. She glared at the back of Lucius’s head as he stood with his back to her.
“You look cold. I’ll pour you some warm tea, so won’t you drink a little before you leave?”
The I don’t want to rising in her throat never made it out.
A shallow voice of reason whispered in her ear that this might be her last chance to see Lucius’s office again.
If it weren’t for Father’s orders, I’d ignore a bastard like him and leave.
Something cold and hot churned simultaneously deep inside her.
It was not a pleasant sensation.
Come to think of it, why am I the one watching his mood?
He had willingly opened the office door for her. All she needed to do was take what she wanted.
Resolving herself, Celia strode past him and entered the room.
With the darkness of the hallway behind her, moonlight from the office flowed through her hair. The silver strands shimmered softly in the air before brushing against the shadow stretching from behind him.
Without meaning to, her gaze drifted toward him.
Their eyes met, and he smiled.
Lucius smiled more with his eyes than with his lips—a completely useless detail for her to notice, yet a strange warmth spread through her anyway.
It felt as though time itself had stretched into glass, trapping only the two of them inside it.
……Annoying.
Crossing the threshold, Celia discreetly looked around the office.
The room perfectly reflected Lucius’s personality: function over extravagance, order over decoration.
Heavy bookshelves lined the walls, filled with books arranged neatly by size. Before the broad windows stood a sturdy desk covered with stacks of paper and open books.
Clean. Precise. Everything exactly where it belonged.
Celia absolutely hated interiors this cold and rigid, devoid of any warmth of life.
“Don’t stand by the door. Come here.”
Lucius guided her toward the dark blue sofa facing the heavy table in the center of the office.
His hand naturally supported her arm.
So natural it almost felt rude—smooth and practiced, far too familiar.
Without realizing it, Celia followed.
“Would you like some warm tea?”
“……I’m fine.”
The moment she sat down, the shawl loosely draped over her shoulders slid slowly down her left side.
“For someone who says she’s fine, the tip of your nose is red.”
Lucius let out a soft laugh as he looked at her flushed nose.
His curved gaze drifted to the fallen shawl, and his hand moved naturally toward it.
Before she could even realize her shoulder had been exposed, his hand slipped carefully down behind the backrest.
Through the shadow he cast, his fingers reached her.
As he lifted the shawl back into place, the warmth of his hand brushed against her shoulder. The sensation spread slowly across her skin like a thin shard of ice tracing over it.
“May I ask what brought you here so late at night dressed so lightly?”
Suddenly, the wound from biting her tongue began to sting again.
“Celia?”
Her shoulder twitched slightly.
Though tension spread beneath her skin at the realization that his hand still rested on her shoulder, Celia straightened her back even more stubbornly.
“I was just… taking a walk.”
Lucius quietly watched her profile.
His gaze stayed fixed on her without wavering. Celia looked down at the floor for no reason at all. Irritation climbed to the tip of her tongue, yet her breathing only grew hotter, and her toes curled unconsciously.
“Same for me. I was lucky—my steps led me somewhere you were waiting.”
He spoke a beat later.
At the same time, his fingertips slowly slid along the edge of her shawl.
When he slipped a finger through the fold he had lightly rolled up, Celia’s eyes widened.
The movement was unbearably slow, as though tracing the warmth of her skin.
The sensation traveling down her spine soon drifted along her arm. Past her upper arm, over her elbow, brushing her wrist before finally resting atop the back of her hand. His touch was light, almost without pressure, yet it enveloped her from behind.
“You…!”
“Celia.”
The short protest she spat out was swallowed whole by him.
“I want to kiss you right now.”
His low, unhurried voice brushed against her ear.
“I want to go further than this. Will you allow me?”
A large hand cupped her cheek, his thumb pressing gently against her lips.
That was the limit of Celia’s patience.
“Stop saying weird things!”
Celia jerked her head upward. Her heart pounded violently before her voice finally burst free.
“This is weird?”
“Yes…!”
But before long, her once firm voice faltered.
As Celia tilted her head back, the back of her hair pressed lightly against his chest, and the distance between them narrowed to scarcely more than a single breath.
His jaw brushed against her hair, and his irritatingly sharp nose was close enough to nearly touch her cheek.
“We’re married. What’s strange about this, hm?”
“Just because we’re married doesn’t mean everyone acts like this…!”
“Maybe it’s because we were friends before becoming husband and wife. Perhaps this still feels awkward.”
“Ah—”
His voice grazed teasingly against her neck.
“Then let’s grow used to it slowly. Teach me.”
As he lowered his head slightly, shadows fell over her hair, and his breath drifted softly by her ear.
The motion of lifting the hand resting beside her leg was smooth and effortless. Bringing her hand toward his lips, he held her firmly in place.
“Tell me with that mouth of yours what you don’t want me to do… and what you do want me to do for you.”
“And if… I tell you?”
His gaze lingering on her fingertips slowly rose to meet her eyes.
“As much as you allow, I’ll make you happy.”
Lucius leaned against her palm as though burying his face there.
“And…”
The sharp lines of his sculpted face became painfully vivid. His eyes, like a forest soaked in dew, drew closer.
“As much as you don’t allow… I’ll make you cry.”
The lush green she hated most came rushing back toward her.
