I Found a Wife Whose Engagement was Broken Off in the Neighboring

Two hours later, Miss Citroen and I stood facing each other in the bedroom.

"I know this is awkward, but... please just pretend I'm not here, like air or something."

I bowed my head, and Miss Citroen's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh no, not at all. I'm the one who's imposing, but..."

She bowed her head too, so I instinctively bowed again.

My father and the Crown Prince had strictly ordered me not to lay a hand on her until the wedding, so at my own mansion, we had separate bedrooms and living quarters.

But during this journey, what was I supposed to do?

I could explain, "We have separate bedrooms until the wedding," and ask for a separate room here, but if I did that, it might start strange rumors again.

Oh, that lady didn't work out again, it seems.

I was really struggling with whether to emphasize modesty or give the impression that she was loved. And now, another problem had emerged.

The problem was that Miss Citroen might be targeted.

Just an hour ago, after an intense debate among the Knights.

"Commander, separate bedrooms are a bad idea. It's dangerous in many ways."

Everyone said that, so I decided to follow their conclusion. Even Raul, who constantly kept an eye on things at my mansion to prevent me from touching Miss Citroen, agreed.

They wanted to be able to deal with anything that happened immediately.

I suppose they felt safe with the 'Winter Bear of Tidros' nearby.

Well, the one most likely to attack her is probably me, so this might be dangerous in its own way, but I just have to suppress my instincts with an iron will.

"So, I'll just sleep over there."

Grabbing a pillow, I pointed to the sofa. As expected of a count's residence, the guest room was quite spacious. There was a sofa, a fireplace, a counter bar, a four-poster bed... and apparently even a balcony.

"A prince on a sofa! I'll sleep on the sofa!"

Miss Citroen raised her hand so decisively that I burst out laughing.

"No, you can't call yourself a prince if you make a girl sleep there."

"A-A girl...? I'm not that young anymore, you know."

Miss Citroen was blushing and looking embarrassed.

No, isn't someone barely twenty still a girl?

"Um, then... why don't we just sleep together in this bed?"

Miss Citroen looked at me with such earnest eyes that I almost recoiled.

"Please think of me as air or something. I'll just stay still on the very edge."

No, the problem is whether I can stay still.

"...No, I'll take the sofa..."

"Then I'll sleep on the sofa too. Together. Which do you prefer?"

"Huh?"

"I can't let a prince sleep alone on the sofa. So, I will sleep on the sofa too."

"I... I don't quite understand..."

"If you don't understand, then choose. Will you sleep on the sofa with me, or on the bed?"

She pressed me.

"...Then, on the bed."

No, I actually wanted to sleep on the sofa.

Because it's clearly more conducive to closeness than the bed, isn't it? Even if we were close, I could say, "It's narrow, so we have no choice." I could make excuses, couldn't I? We could cuddle and sleep together. We could just relax together.

BUT.

Could my self-control really hold up then?! Could I really say I wouldn't lay a hand on her?! Really?!

No.

It's IMPOSSIBLE!

I know myself best.

I'd lay a hand on her.

Definitely, I'd lay a hand on her.

And if I'm going to be utterly depressed afterward, it's far better to just patiently endure on the edge of the bed.

"Okay, then I'll just stay still over there."

Miss Citroen smiled in relief and then, with a little grunt, climbed onto the bed. She crawled on all fours to the far end of the bed.

At that moment, the hem of her sleeping gown shifted, and I caught a glimpse of her remarkably white calf. I instinctively averted my gaze. This was bad. I was about to stare.

And her movements were so... like a small animal. So cute.

It's like...

It's like, come on! Just a little more!

I wish she'd move a little more like a man! Otherwise, my self-control won't last!

"Is this far enough?"

Miss Citroen sat down, plonking herself right on the very edge, and tilted her head at me.

...Yes. I think that's an appropriate distance, and one that avoids a critical situation.

That's excellent.

"Don't go too far to the edge and fall off, okay?"

I gave a wry smile, and with a slight grunt, sat down on the near side of the bed. The springs creaked.

Now that I think about it, Miss Citroen moved all over the bed and didn't make a sound. She must be light, I thought, and at the same time...

The phrase "Miss Citroen moving on the bed" caused me to fall into my own wild fantasies, and I ended up sulking to myself, "Oh, I'm such a hopeless guy."

"Is something wrong?"

She called out to me, and when I looked at her, Miss Citroen was holding a pillow to her chest, tilting her head. What now? She's like a little bird.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. Oh, that's right."

I couldn't just keep dejected. I forcibly changed the subject.

"About that drink earlier..."

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, I spoke to Miss Citroen. It was about the incident with the peach.

"It seems something meant for another lady was delivered by mistake... They apologized profusely."

"Is that so? Um... please don't make a big deal out of it."

She lowered her eyebrows and spoke apologetically.

Well...

It was a complete lie.

In fact, the butler hadn't been found.

Lady Eaton's maid saw the butler who handed Miss Citroen the glass, and Raul and several knights searched based on his appearance, but he was nowhere to be found.

I checked with the head butler, and there was no butler with such physical characteristics in the first place. That's when both the knights and I became wary, or rather, felt a sense of crisis.

This meant she was being targeted.

Miss Citroen.

I didn't know the reason. She had only just arrived in this country. She hadn't done anything to be disliked, and there hadn't even been a formal unveiling yet.

"Pay the utmost attention."

Ultimately, that's what I ordered. I have no choice but to protect her myself, from the closest possible distance.

"Aren't you tired?"

Miss Citroen narrowed her violet eyes. I must have worried her by suddenly falling silent.

"I'm fine. You too, Miss Citroen... Oh!"

At that, I shifted my rear end and turned to face Miss Citroen. She looked at me, puzzled.

"Oh, right. I thought about it earlier, but when it's just the two of us, how about we speak Tania?"

When I spoke in Tania, Miss Citroen's violet eyes went wide.

"I say 'how about we speak,' but my Tania honorifics and polite forms are terrible. I can only speak slang like this."

I scratched my head. I only ever used foreign languages for interrogating bandits, so I hadn't learned them properly.

"No... that's not a problem. But why would you want to do that?"

But she replied in beautiful Tidrosian.

"Well, you've been speaking a foreign language all this time, haven't you? Don't you miss your native language sometimes?"

She hadn't returned to her home country for several years.

In Luminous, she was forced to be on guard and deal with harsh treatment, all in a foreign language. It was the same here. I could tell that she was living on edge, determined not to make any more mistakes.

"Of course, in public, you'll have to speak Tidrosian... but when it's just the two of us, let's use Tania."

"Even though my Tania is terrible," I added with a laugh.

But.

Miss Citroen's expression remained stiff, and she gripped the pillow in her arms so tightly that I became confused.

"...Citroen?"

I gently called her name.

Had I upset her?

That was my immediate thought. Had my idea been no comfort to her at all?

Or.

Was she angry, thinking I was making fun of her? I felt a chill.

"Why are you so kind to me?"

Miss Citroen's peach-colored lips spoke in Tania. I was relieved. She wasn't angry, it seemed.