“Hey, hey, hey, hey. Miss, you’re kidding. What are you thinking?”
Alana, who was asleep in her bed, opened her eyes when someone spoke to her. The man standing beside her was Benito, a secret agent she had hired. He made no effort to hide his discomfort. He frowned and crossed his arms while Alana slowly raised her body.
“Benito, it’s been a long time. Did you heal your injuries before coming here? That’s good.”
He sat down on her bed with a thump, not forgetting to snort in the sullen atmosphere.
“It’s not ‘good’, it’s not good at all. When I found out, I thought my eyeballs would fall out. Why are you married to Baron Barcelo? Emilio is the one with the silver hair. Are you crazy?　Are you stupid?　You think you have a hundred lives, don’t you?　How dare you take a man who’s trying to kill you as your husband? Have you lost your mind? You know, you should put yourself in my shoes. ‘It’s okay. You won’t be killed.’ What? What’s okay about this situation?”
Benito ruffled his own chestnut hair, “You’re an annoying girl. “
“That’s not all I want to say. Why are his subordinates in the castle? They are secretly sneaking into the knights and servants, calling themselves aides from Nogueira. There are more than fifty people counting roughly. Hey, there are too many enemies. The soldiers in your castle are all incompetent. I, unlike you, don’t think I have a hundred lives, not even a little.”
“I’m sorry, I gave permission.”
“Huh? Permission? Explain.”
Suddenly Alana raised her index finger in front of her lips. “Benito, people are coming. Can you get out from the secret passage?”
He twisted his neck, seemingly unconvinced. “I don’t feel anything?”
“Well, whatever. Even if you have a flower garden as your head, you are my master. Therefore, I’ll heed your orders.”
He walked to the mantelpiece without making a sound in his footstep, and turned the little bird ornament to the right. Then a mechanism on the bookshelf clicked into action. Benito opened it like a door and walked out.
Alana made sure that the mechanism was back in place and lay down on the bed again.　It wasn’t long before the door was knocked on twice.
“Please.”
The man who entered the room was Emilio, who had officially become her husband three days ago. He knew what would look good on him. He was dressed in black with no unnecessary ornaments, which accentuated his slender limbs.　As he approached, he looked around the room just as the sunlight fell from the light fixture. His silvery eyelashes and hair glistened in the light.
“It looks like someone was here.”
Alana slowly woke up and shook her head, “No.”
Emilio stared at the edge of her bed and then sat down. That was where Benito was sitting. He was aware. Still, Alana did not move her eyebrows, and she looked at him with no expression.
He was also looking at Alana. Although the two married three days ago, there had been no special ceremony. It was partly because neither Alana nor Emilio wanted to, but also because none of the nobles in Armenia were happy about the marriage. The idea was spurred by the fact that the two had separated the rooms and acted separately. This was the first time Emilio had visited his wife’s room as a husband.
“You’re feeling sick. I heard from Callisto.”
“I was a little dizzy. But I’m fine now.”
Emilio looked at Alana’s nightgown and then at her chest. His eyes squinted.
“It’s already past one in the afternoon. Shouldn’t we change? I’m sure you haven’t eaten yet.”
“I think Callisto will be here soon.”
“To change your clothes?” He raised the tip of his nose in mockery.
“Callisto is a man. I’ve been wondering for a while now, why are you so comfortable exposing your skin to him? Why do you let him wipe you after bathing? Didn’t you learn that a woman is not supposed to expose her skin to a man other than her husband? Besides, he is a married man, or is he the open paramour of Queen Alana?”
“No, that’s not it.” Alana said, squeezing the blanket around her.
Callisto still asked her to spend the night with him, but she refused. However, she knew that she was the one who was responsible for this, because she could not do anything without him. She was the one who’d been relying on him all this time.
“Priscilla told me that her husband would not come to her, that she wanted to have a baby as soon as possible, but he was adamant that she would not share his bedchamber. Alana, don’t you think you’re keeping him too close to you?　Women’s jealousy has been quite formidable since ancient times.”
Even after their marriage, Callisto was still devoted to Alana and remained by her side, as he had always been. He would touch her chest and hug her at every turn.