Chapter 305: Daily Life
Compared to the cold air outside, of course staying warm under the blankets is better, everyone knows that.
When the first light of morning triggered his biological clock, Armand squinted his eyes and rubbed his head against the pillow.
“...Mmm.”
As he lightly touched the blanket, he heard Evelia softly hum beside him. The pink-haired girl was curled up in his arms, wearing only thin clothes. She had taken off her uncomfortable undergarments, and the soft white of her chest, no longer restrained, relaxed and rested gently against the bed.
Evelia used to be an assassin, the “Red Crow” who never had a peaceful sleep. But now that she was his wife, Armand wanted to help her live a safer, calmer life, including making sure she could sleep peacefully now.
In fact, Evelia had already woken up when Armand moved a little. But having become familiar with his presence, she quickly realized she was in his arms. As long as he didn’t urgently call her to get up, that meant everything was fine and she could safely continue resting.
Because she believed in Armand. She believed that once he made a promise, he would definitely keep it.
“Go back to sleep. It’s still early,” Armand whispered softly into her ear as he gently smoothed out the messy strands of hair at her temple.
“......”
It was a blissful moment, just like a newlywed couple, and Armand’s hand was reluctant to leave her forehead.
But maybe it was because of this warmth and happiness that Armand still hadn’t found the right moment to tell Evelia what was on his mind.
He selfishly enjoyed this quiet moment and didn’t want the burdens he carried to be like a stone dropped into calm water, breaking the peaceful surface they had waited so long for.
Everyone would probably feel the same... After all, they’re only human.
Just like how Evelia had spent her life surrounded by darkness, and after finally touching the light, she longed so deeply for a world outside the shadows—
Armand, who had always been alone, felt like he had opened a new door after meeting Evelia. After enduring for so long and struggling with himself for so long, he finally chose to let go of the knightly ideals he had held for years and proposed to his “old rival.”
They were the same kind of people at heart. That’s why they met, and why they were drawn to each other.
After making sure Evelia had fallen back asleep, Armand got up and checked the time.
His small clock was placed together with the calendar so he could easily check the date and time.
Ever since his mind had started to become a little foggy, Armand developed a habit of crossing out each day on the calendar. He had even asked Evelia to help him mark the calendar if he ever forgot, calling it “the wedding countdown.”
From the marks on the calendar, he could see that one day was crossed out by Evelia. After all, everyone has a unique way of writing, and Evelia had no reason to imitate his handwriting, so Armand immediately recognized her touch.
Since she marked that day, it meant he probably wasn’t doing very well at the time.
“...Sigh.”
Armand let out a quiet sigh without meaning to, then nervously glanced at Evelia, afraid she had heard him. He couldn’t let himself show even a hint of sadness in front of her.
He wasn’t trying to hide anything on purpose, he was just trying to find a way to fix it.
If it turned out there was no way to fix it, then of course he would tell her. He would tell her everything, about the problems in his body, about how maybe one day he might suddenly not be there anymore.
At the very least, before the wedding, he would tell her.
Right now, Armand was still enjoying the happiness of being engaged to Evelia. But when it came time for the actual wedding, he probably wouldn’t be feeling as optimistic as he did now.
At the very least, before they decided on a wedding date, before their future together was truly settled, he needed to deal with the problems with his body. And if things really didn’t work out…
“……”
This time, he held back his sigh as much as he could, but it still made his chest feel tight.
If it really didn’t work out, then he would have to prepare for the worst.
Before the wedding, Evelia’s new identity documents would be approved. He would still have a bit of time to “make arrangements,” and try to make sure that even if he couldn’t protect her anymore, Evelia would still be able to survive the battle for the throne.
Of course, all of this was just part of a plan. His mind was in such a mess now that he couldn’t even remember if certain things had really happened or not.
Sometimes he felt like he was in the real world, but other times it felt like he was trapped in a dream. The sudden sleepiness that hit him without warning made it hard to tell what was real and what wasn’t. Many times, when he woke up, he couldn’t even remember what had happened recently, and that had thrown his whole life into chaos.
Still… for now, he could just barely tell the difference.
Even though the dream world and real world seemed more and more alike, he could still rely on his instincts to tell what was true and what wasn’t.
As for those so-called instincts… well, they were really just instincts.
The only problem was that he didn’t know how much longer he could keep relying on them.
Once his brain truly turned to mush, those instincts probably wouldn’t help anymore, right?
But that would be the worst-case scenario. He really hoped his condition wouldn’t get that bad.
If he actually went to find help, maybe there would be some way to cure or at least ease his illness?
He took out his fountain pen and marked the day on the calendar. As he looked at the date getting closer and closer, he realized the engagement banquet with Evelia was just around the corner.
There was also a little notes section on the calendar, and in one of the empty squares, Armand had written the word “Clothes.”
Even though he couldn’t quite remember when he had written it, he figured it must have been a reminder about the outfits needed for the engagement.
Anna had already promised that she would take care of the engagement clothes for both him and Evelia. She even took responsibility for the wedding dress and suit for the ceremony. Anything related to the clothing design or preparation, she had it all covered.
Thinking about that, Armand let out a helpless smile. It was supposed to be his engagement party to thank them, but in the end, it seemed like they were the ones doing all the work.
Armand put away the pen and picked up the shirt that Evelia had probably pulled off roughly and tossed aside the night before.
Evelia could be pretty wild too. When he looked at the shirt, he saw the stitching had come undone, and there was a big tear when he held it up.
“Looks like I really need to buy a few more…”
Muttering to himself, he pulled out a fresh shirt from the wardrobe. Then he stood in front of the full-length mirror in the bedroom, looking at himself wearing only a pair of sleep pants.
The marks on his body were still very clear, red spots here and there, and even some scratch marks on his arms that looked… rather suggestive.
“Oh man…”
He put on the shirt with an even more troubled look on his face than before.
He would be heading to Anna’s clothing shop soon to try on the engagement outfit… If he had known this would happen, he would’ve asked Evelia to be a bit gentler last night.