Misfortune ss8

Side story 8

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"………………What did you just say?"

Roan asked, utterly dumbfounded. But Delnia repeated her words, her chin lifted haughtily, her expression unchanged.

"I said let's sleep together."

It was hardly the manner befitting an older noblewoman. Yet Delnia remained unapologetically confident throughout.

That attitude only confused Roan further.

He replayed the day in his mind. Certainly, when they left for the forest together early that morning, everything had been as usual.

He had been drenched in a deep perfume on the way back, carrying her on his back. So he'd mustered the courage to ask about the past he didn't know, but she had cut him off as if she knew everything. Then came another long silence.

Even after arriving at the castle, she acted as if nothing had happened, so he thought it was just being brushed aside like that.

But then, suddenly, Delnia Eperne was tempting him into her bedroom.

A momentary sensation of dizziness made Roan slowly close his eyes.

After returning safely alive, he had never once entered her bedroom. Because he had a history of hurting her terribly in that bed.

But could he truly resist her seduction?

No matter how much he agonized over it, he couldn't find an answer. In truth, it was closer to searching for a way to deny the answer that was already clear.

"Then get ready and come to my bedroom. I'll be waiting."

Leaving the still-dazed man behind, Delnia calmly disappeared.

Prepare? Prepare for what?

Unlike his mind, which stuttered in utter confusion, his body moved steadily.

With the efficient, no-frills movements of a soldier, he finished preparing and soon stood before her door.

But unlike his previously unhesitating stride, his hand on the doorknob wouldn't turn easily.

How long had he been hesitating like that?

A sound came from beyond the door. He reflexively pulled back, and the door slid open.

"What are you doing here?"

Delnia, clad in a snow-white slip that thinly outlined her figure, looked up at him blankly and asked.

Roan didn't know how to answer, his mouth merely moving. Finally, growing impatient, Delnia grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

"Come in."

Roan was helplessly led by her touch. He had no time to consider how ridiculous it must look—a man of such imposing bulk being dragged along by a woman who seemed barely half his size.

But the atmosphere inside the room felt strangely off.

Delnia still used the room she'd occupied since childhood. Though he'd ordered all the furnishings replaced, so everything gleamed like new.

Not much had changed now, yet the scene, softly tinged by the light of sparsely lit candles, felt infinitely delicate and gentle.

The plush, soft duvet, the generously stuffed pillow, the bundle of dried lavender by the bedside, even the glass of water steaming faintly, out of season.

He was speechless, staring at the scene whose purpose was painfully obvious.

"You haven't been sleeping well lately, have you?"

Delnia, driving home the topic Roan had desperately tried to avoid, led him—still half-dazed—to the bed and sat him down.

"Just so you know, if you had any silly ideas, you'd better put them aside. My goal today is your sound sleep."

A dull groan escaped Roan's lips, impossible to tell if it was disappointment or relief. Still, the fact that it leaned slightly more toward the latter offered some comfort amid an inexplicable sense of misery.

When it came to Delnia, he had no choice but to be exceptionally cautious. He was desperately struggling just to stay by her side. Insisting on formal address was also a way to remind himself of his place.

Of course, the body constantly tested for patience was another matter entirely.

"Here, drink this."

Roan took the cup of water she offered without protest. A familiar scent wafted to his nose. It was likely herbal tea, said to aid sleep.

The warm liquid slid down his throat. The night breeze seeping in through the slightly open window pleasantly cooled the heat spreading through his body.

As soon as he finished the cup, Delnia moved on to the next step as if she'd been waiting for it.

"Once you've finished, lie down here."

Delnia patted the pillow beside her sternly.

Roan obeyed immediately, as if transported back to his days as a trainee obeying an instructor. He tried to suppress the corners of his mouth that kept wanting to turn up, but it wasn't easy.

"Now close your eyes and empty your mind. Relax your body, breathe slowly."

Roan obediently followed Delnia's instructions to meditate. He hadn't tried these methods before, and he didn't bother mentioning that they hadn't particularly worked for him.

"Why are you grinning?"

A firm press against his cheek made Roan quietly open his eyes. A scowling gaze, like that directed at a troublesome student ignoring the teacher, fixed on him.

"It might sound ridiculous, but you need to focus."

"It's not ridiculous."

Roan retorted immediately.

She should just be careful around him. No, nothing about Delnia could ever be funny to him. She clearly still didn't know him at all.

"Hmm..."

Delnia, who had been staring down at him as if gauging his sincerity, suddenly lifted the blanket and pulled it up over his head.

Caught off guard, Roan found himself buried beneath the covers with her, blinking his eyes. Her breath, now suddenly close, washed over him.

"Doing this reminds you of when we were kids. Right?"

Delnia whispered softly, her tone identical to before, her smile unchanged.

All of it instantly transported Roan back to a distant past.

That night when he couldn't resist the whining about not being able to sleep and sneaked out to find the young lady in the dead of night while everyone else slept.

Her face, full of excitement, as she stood on tiptoe to open the door for him, like a mischievous child secretly stealing drinks from the kitchen.

The night they hid together under the covers, startled by a sound before he could calm his racing heart.

“It feels like just the two of us are left in the world.”

That girl, who had silently smiled like that, her lips parting without a sound, was now standing before Roan.

"You held me like this back then."

Delnia pulled his head against her chest. Then she gently stroked the back of his head. Just like the days when he'd pat her to sleep.

Truthfully, after Delnia fell asleep that night, Roan had sneaked out of the room only to be caught by a patrolling servant and beaten badly. It was an afterstory she would never know.

Beyond that time, he was often tormented in places she couldn't see. It was the work of servants jealous of the young lady's favor.

But he never once showed it in front of her.

He thought it was stubborn pride, a child's way of protecting his dignity. But looking back now, it was nothing but a stubborn delusion.

Back then, he simply wanted to protect her tender heart. Because if she found out, she might suffer. She might even distance herself, thinking it was for his own good.

He could no longer deny that version of himself—the one who couldn't bear her drifting away more than enduring the beatings.

"Remember?"

At the soft question falling by his ear, Roan looked up at her and nodded slowly.

If possible, he wanted to stroke that young boy's head back then. Tell him he did well. That he tried his best. That he no longer resented his own patheticness.

For some reason, tears threatened to spill. It was the moment he forced his eyes shut tight to hide his pitiful state.

"But why are you frowning?"

Delnia asked, tapping his brow with her fingertips in a displeased tone. Her pouting expression suggested she’d completely misunderstood.

Roan decided honesty was better than explanation. That alone would suffice.

“It’s the glare.”

“What?”

“You… you’re blinding me.”

Roan burrowed into her embrace as if shielding his dazzled eyes. An overwhelming sense of happiness, almost suffocating, washed over him.

Even now, he often dreamed of being left alone on a deserted island. A nightmare where she wasn't there, and so he too felt like he was slowly being erased from the world.

Whenever he felt like he was being toyed with by the heavens, he wished he could just die. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was all because of her.

You kept me alive. Just as you always had. Even when life felt like punishment.

So, to survive, he could never leave her side forever. No matter what name their relationship might take from now on. Even if, as he told the Emperor, he became Eperne's new son-in-law.

Of course, following the path of the man he had hated most his entire life required its own resolve.

But he would be fine. There was one crucial difference that prevented him from becoming exactly like that man who had been miserable to the end.

That Roan Barthez loved Delnia Eperne.

That he had always loved her, and always would.

Therefore, he could never be unhappy.

***

The end. ❤️❤️

**TL’s note: I wish there were more lovey dovey moments between the two, and the wedding and children, lol.