CH 36

The time Livia passed sitting by Cardien’s bedside wasn’t boring or difficult. It was because she had a book in her hands that she thought she would never see again.

The Duke of Mercedes’s bedroom was purposefully the most moonlit room in the house. Thanks to this, Livia had no trouble reading by moonlight.

Despite being an old book, it was well-maintained, so the sensation of flipping through the pages was pleasant.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t read it in a long time.

She found herself getting more and more immersed in the book. It was when the night was completely ripe–

“–Ugh…….”

Clasp.

“……!”

Startled by the sensation of someone grabbing her wrist, accompanied by a groan, Livia quickly lifted her head.

Instinctively, her gaze turned towards Cardien. As soon as she confirmed his condition, her expression hardened.

Cardien, with a pale complexion and cold sweat dripping down his face, was gripping her wrist with strength.

Like a person clinging desperately to a tenuous rope.

Livia knew instinctively that he was having another nightmare.

‘Is it that dream again?’

The one where he was being tortured by men bearing the symbols of an ancient temple. Even if it wasn’t that dream, Livia could tell that it must have been a dream just as harrowing as that.

How long had he been haunted by nightmares?

Livia sighed deeply at his distressed appearance and wiped away the duke’s cold sweat with her sleeve.

“As if reality isn’t tough enough for you.” Livia spread her palm over his forehead and murmured gently, “May you be at peace, at least in your dreams.”

Poof.

A radiant silver light settled over the duke’s forehead. She wondered what kind of happy dreams she could give him at this moment.

“……You’re dreaming of being in the warm sunshine, feeling the cool breeze, and relaxing with the people you love,” Livia whispered softly, as if casting a spell.

‘So, stay in the warm future, not the lonely past, at least in your dreams.’

Although she couldn’t know who his precious people were, it seemed like her words had worked, as Cardien’s expression soon relaxed.

She stayed by his side for a while longer, then returned to her room.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

* * *

Cardien was sinking to the bottom of a swamp. Strong hands grabbed his hands and ankles and pulled him down.

No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t escape that grip.

It was always like this. Cardien had never escaped this darkness even once.

Before long, Cardien realized the true nature of this swamp. It was the darkness that existed within him.

It was a power tormenting him, a heart filled with hatred toward someone, and the curse of self-denial.

The moment he realized this, he gave up trying to resist. A terrible sense of helplessness overwhelmed him.

He knew, once he was completely submerged like this, he would open his eyes, writhing in agony.

As always.

But…….

“……You’re dreaming of being in the warm sunshine, feeling the cool breeze, and relaxing with the people you love.”

His world of darkness began to crack at the sound of the voice. A warm glow seeped through the crack.

The slowly permeating light quickly pushed away the darkness and illuminated the space.

Unconsciously, Cardien reached out his hand toward the light. And just as he thought he finally grasped it.

The slimy swamp that had engulfed him had vanished without a trace.

He looked around, dazed.

It was then.

Suddenly, a voice sounded at the edge of the space.

Cardien swiftly turned his head. The place beyond the boundary of light was the edge of a hill.

There stood a beautiful willow tree, casting a warm sunlight like an umbrella and providing refreshing shade, like a gentle touch.

Beneath the shade, a lovely picnic mat was spread out, and on the mat were a cute picnic basket, sandwiches, desserts on a tray, and simple tableware.

Cardien’s gaze gradually lifted. Finally, he discovered the figures of two people. A small one and a slightly larger one.

The two figures were facing each other, laughing. Carden stared blankly at the scene, like a person peering into someone else’s home.

Who are those people? Why do they look so happy?

At that moment, when unknown emotions welled up within him.

The slightly larger figure turned to face Carden.

And he was startled.

Even though it was just a silhouette, Cardien felt as if their eyes had met. At that moment, something surged up in Cardien’s chest.

Self-loathing? Anger? No, this was…

‘Envy.’

Cardien was envious of those two people.

He had never experienced such warmth even once. He wanted to belong there too…

‘Foolish.’

Cardien sneered and mocked himself.

There were times in his childhood when he had wished for someone else’s warmth. 

But every time, what returned to him was a sharp, cold gaze, like a well-honed blade.

The more it happened, the more Cardien’s sense of expectation eroded, and eventually, he stopped wishing for anything at all.

Don’t look. If you don’t look, you don’t envy, and you don’t expect.

Cardien tried to look away, as he always did.

“……en!”

If it weren’t for the distant voice.

Startled by a sudden loud noise that reached his ears, Carden hesitated and slowly turned his head.

He saw someone waving at him.

“Cardien!”

The person was clearly calling out to him.

Suddenly, the spot where Cardien was standing began to change. 

The blur of light faded away, and Cardien found himself standing in the same location as them.

Then slowly…… the person’s figure began to become clearer.

The person was smiling widely at Cardien.

“You are…….”

At that moment, Cardien woke up from his dream.

* * *

Swish. Carden opened his eyes and reflexively frowned.

The sunlight shining through the large window was too blinding.

Eventually, Cardien slowly got up from bed. It was then.

Knock, knock.

The door swung open with a knock. Cardien turned to face it.

The one who entered was Winston, holding a stack of documents.

“Your Grace, the documents you mentioned…….”

As Winston spoke and raised his head, he froze in place, stunned by the scene before him.

Normally, at this time, Cardien would be focused on work with a face like a sharp blade. Knowing that, even without a response, Winston quietly entered…

Unlike usual, Cardien wasn’t sitting at his desk, nor did he have a chilling face that could freeze everything.

Instead, he was sitting on the bed, disheveled, staring blankly at Winston.

Winston, suspecting his own eyes had deceived him, blinked and dropped the stack of documents, but Cardien showed no reaction.

‘What, what is going on?!’

It had been well over fifteen years since Winston had watched Cardien, but he had never seen him in such a disheveled state before.

“Your Grace, have you been sleeping?”

In response to that question, Cardien muttered while looking down at his own hands.

“Butler.”

“Yes, yes?”

Then, Cardien slowly looked back at Winston and parted his lips.

“What time is it now?”

* * *

‘You must have slept well, right?’

Livia stared blankly outside the sunny window, lost in thought.

Should she have stayed and watched him a little longer yesterday?

She had an early class with Vincent this morning, so she left early, which bothered her.

Maybe she could ask him later.

While Livia was lost in such contemplation, Vincent suddenly put down his pen and exclaimed, “I finished them all!”

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

Upon hearing those words, she snapped back to reality and smiled.

“Should we check?”

Livia started grading, but as the grading continued, her expression changed from surprise to amazement.

‘No way.’

She had just given him a test to review what they learned yesterday, and he got all of the questions right!

In a voice filled with admiration, Livia murmured, “That’s amazing; you got it all right.”

In response to her words, Vincent, who had been subtly tense, smiled faintly with a relieved expression.

“Heehee…….”

Livia looked at Vincent in amazement.

She honestly hadn’t expected him to keep up so well. Livia was genuinely impressed.

She’d read the original story, and Winston had warned her about it, so she’d promised herself that she would be understanding and tolerate Vincent’s somewhat rebellious attitude.

They would just take it slow and make steady progress.

But despite her resolution to do that, Vincent did a great job of following the class.

Even so, the concepts they learned yesterday were a bit difficult for a 10-year-old to understand, so Livia had planned to go through the material more slowly for a while.

His quick uptake was admirable, but at the same time, it was a bit strange.

Vincent’s attitude in class was diligent, but even at the time of yesterday’s lesson, his understanding of the concepts wasn’t perfect to this extent.

So how could he be able to…… 

‘Wait a minute. What?’

“Vincent.”

“Yes?”

In response to his tutor’s call, Vincent’s eyes widened in surprise. He looked attentively at Livia.

She stared directly into those eyes and asked, “Did you study this by yourself yesterday?”

“Uh……”

Vincent’s eyes widened even further at the question. Eventually, he trailed off instead of answering.

That became the perfect answer.

‘Oh my.’