Ilyin spent long nights with the duke afterwards.
“Call my name.”
He asked as he explored your body.
He seemed dissatisfied with her calling him ‘Your Grace’.
When she called his name, he seemed to kiss her more tenderly and acted differently than the day he asked her to share secrets with him and seemed even more careful than before.
Ilyin thought he knew the reason and vaguely remembered his words:
"You want to know if he's safe?
He's safe.
He can be happy now."
Ilyin did not remember what he was like in the morning.
Aden had taken her several times and while he stopped whenever the sensations were too much and waited until Ilyin's breathing calmed down, he came inside her again and again after each pause.
Another long night passed like this and Ilyin had to bring the doctor in as his muscles ached all over.
"Madam!" Ves looked like he was going to burst into tears as he ordered the Delrose people to bring all the good herbs from the Empire.
Aden might have heard something from Ves for becoming so careful.
“Aden” Ilyin murmured the still strange name.
“Aden of Biflten.”
They had shared little secrets the last few nights, Aden had mostly asked about her dreams.
He seemed to think she was lying, even after seeing the avalanche.
Ilyin's heart skipped a beat whenever he thought about that day.
She had dreamed of the future her whole life, but she was worried about whether she had told him the wrong thing or not.
Ilyin feared that he might suspect her, even if just a little since she didn't want to be treated as a liar or cursed here, as she had been at home.
She first thought that any treatment received here would be better than the treatment she received at Arlen Estates and convinced herself that she would be satisfied with mere indifference.
“Are you scared?” He asked her.
“Do you have any questions about me?” She didn't respond.
She became greedy after meeting Aden and spending time with him, and while Ilyin thought she should be satisfied with little things, she now wanted something more, she wanted to be happy here.
Therefore, Ilyin could not ask the questions he wanted to know the answer to, as she thought it might make him uncomfortable.
‘Do people freeze when they see your eyes?’
While the mansion's servants didn't look him in the eye, Ilyin found herself more certain of something, especially seeing the knights returning, without anyone being frozen.
“I’ll be back safely today.” Aden had told her his scheduled battles, most of them unknown to the mansion and he was leaving more often than she realized.
Aden trusted her with the information, despite needing to control who knew about the information.
In addition, there were three other families.
However, Ilyin wasn't trusting him completely.
"Serious?" she murmured.
‘Would I freeze?
Aden, is this rumor true?’
“Ma’am, it’s Annie.”
Ilyin glanced at the door as he returned to the present moment.
Annie, her manners teacher at Delrose, was someone she spent as much time with as she did with Aden these past few days.
If she spent the night with Aden, she spent the day with Annie.
“You arrived earlier than usual today.” Ilyin looked at his watch and saw that Annie had arrived two hours early.
The day in Biflten starts at ten o'clock because it is very cold.
Therefore, Annie usually arrived around one o'clock, but today she arrived even before lunch.
This was not his usual schedule.
“I apologize for not letting you know sooner.” Annie bowed in apology, but Ilyin waved his hand.
She would already be in the Empire and wouldn't mind it.
“What brings you here so early?” she asked.
“I have been selected as Delrose’s maid who will help with her succession ceremony.”
Ilyin blinked upon learning that Annie was considered one of the nobles by the Delroses.
Ilyin now knew that the Delroses and the other three families were more of a group, as opposed to blood families.
Many families belonged to each of the four, the Red Delrose, Blue North, Bright Elo and Green Mille were more of a group name.
Of course, some families used 'North', 'Elo' and 'Mille' as their surnames.
These were the families of the elders, Annie had taught Ilyin this in the past few days.
“Do we need to prepare anything?” asked Ilyin.
“Nothing much, but…” Annie spoke after thinking things over, “There is a procedure whereby the bride receives the Divine Objects before the ceremony.”
These would be the items belonging to each family and Ilyin looked at the blue cloth on his head.
“Blue North already gave you theirs, so we can skip that.” Annie explained still with a smile.
"The carriages carrying the Bright Elo and the Green Mille Divine Objects have just left and therefore, the procedure has been postponed.
The ceremony will begin as soon as they arrive."
Ilyin tilted his head:
“What about the Red Delroses object?”