(Lucia’s POV)
“…Ugh.”
“-Devil?”
“Ugh, stop…”
“Devil!”
Lucia’s eyes immediately opened and she frowned at the sudden brightness.
She felt like she was suddenly pulled back to reality after she dreamt of sinking into black water and she couldn’t bring back her senses due to her sudden dizziness, but she heard a soft voice right next to her.
“My lord, are you okay?”
“…Shud?”
Shud was sitting on the floor right next to her with his knees bent, while looking at her with a worried face.
“Where am I?”
“You’re at your office right now. It’s kind of late, but the lights were on and I could hear a noise inside, that’s why I came in…”
Shud wiped his forehead with a handkerchief since he was dripping with cold sweat as he tried to drag out his words.
It was then that she slowly became aware of the situation. Her body which had been lying limply on the sofa and thick books were scattered all around her.
‘Oh, that’s right. I tried to meditate.’
Lucia got up and sat down.
She then wet her dry throat with the water that Shud brought her. Then, Shud asked worriedly.
“Did you have a bad dream?”
“Yeah, something like that…”
‘But, that wasn’t exactly a dream.’
‘I was just too lazy to explain it in depth, so I skimmed over it. I didn’t think that he’d understand if I tried to explain it in detail.’
However, Shud began to pry even more.
“Do you usually sleep well? Or do you often wake up in the middle of the night, or do you often have a stomach ache…”
“Shud, I’m used to this kind of thing, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“You’re used to it?”
“Ahh. Yeah it happens often.”
“Often…”
‘So don’t worry about me.’
Lucia was trying to say that she was okay. But somehow it seemed to have the opposite effect. His expression changed from concern to seriousness.
“Next time, I will serve tea and food that is good for a good night’s sleep.”
“No. There’s no need to do that… More than that, are you really a prince? Why are you so used to treating someone like this?”
‘Now that I see him, it wasn’t just cooking that he was good at. He was generally homely.’
It was the same for Tina as well as for me. He even hand-washed Tina’s school uniform, who was returning back to the academy, and he also took care of her belongings.
Even now, naturally, he was cleaning the books that were lying around him by himself.
He stopped picking up a book at my question and said slowly.
“… Well, it’s because I have a lot of older sisters…”
“Ah…”
Lucia already understood his situation.
