A Sleepless Night (2)
I remained silent as I rose from the bed and turned toward the door.
Is it really all right to leave like this?
If I walked out of this room now, the King of Adamanth would have no choice but to fall asleep alone. After all, it was far too late to summon a woman whose identity was certain and who posed no threat to His Majesty’s safety.
Besides, he hadn’t truly wanted someone to attend him through the night in the first place.
“…If we’re deciding who committed the first offense, it would be me.”
At my words, Kaiden’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“I would like to help you, if only to be forgiven for my own mistake.”
Kaiden slowly turned his back to me. He brought the water bottle to his lips, his mouth moving.
“Are you saying that sincerely?”
“If it gives this humble nanny the chance to apologize for the rudeness I showed Your Majesty.”
It would be troublesome if Kaiden decided to make an issue of what had happened today, even later on.
People’s hearts can flip like the back of a hand without warning.
This was the same man who had casually told the Emperor that the hospitality had been lacking. For a capable king like him, turning a threatening joke into a joking threat would be child’s play.
“To be honest.”
I clasped both hands together politely and looked at him.
“It’s not a difficult task.”
Until the day I died, I had lived among filthy men. I had even stripped and jumped into streams with them to survive missions. Sharing a bed for one night was nothing.
“…Not difficult.”
Kaiden stared at me as if I were some strange object.
It was only natural for him to find it odd—an unmarried woman offering to sleep beside a man so readily.
“I will stay until dawn breaks.”
I quickly climbed onto the bed and settled myself against the headboard.
“Please sleep now.”
Kaiden looked at me sitting there as comfortably as if it were my own bed and let out a short laugh. But he didn’t seem displeased, for he made no move to drive me out.
“Then I won’t refuse.”
He slowly climbed onto the bed and took the spot beside me. He lay down facing the ceiling for a moment, then turned his body toward me.
“Are you really going to stay like that?”
“Is there a problem?”
“It must be uncomfortable.”
It seemed my posture bothered him. Kaiden gazed at me with disapproval as I sat with my back perfectly straight.
“Why don’t you just lie down?”
“I’m used to it, so please don’t concern yourself.”
“…Used to it?”
This time my answer seemed to catch his attention; Kaiden’s eyes widened slightly.
“You spend the entire night in that position?”
“…I have insomnia, so I often fall asleep sitting like this.”
In truth, it was simply a habit born from never letting my guard down, always staying ready for an attack at any moment. But I could hardly tell him the whole truth.
“Well.”
Kaiden rolled his eyes around for a moment, then gave a small nod as if accepting it.
“If you say so, then it must be true.”
He buried half his face in the pillow. Yet his gaze remained fixed on me.
“If you keep staring at me like that, it will be difficult for you to fall asleep.”
I deliberately avoided looking in his direction.
“Close your eyes.”
“…You seem quite accustomed to putting people to sleep as well.”
I was more accustomed to killing than to putting people to sleep.
Though lately I have grown rather used to the latter.
Instead of answering, I quietly lowered my head.
“Is it because you are a nanny?”
“Perhaps the reason Your Majesty cannot sleep is not because there is no one by your side, but because there is?”
“…You have a remarkably polite way of telling someone to shut up and go to sleep.”
Kaiden let out another soft chuckle and closed his eyes.
For someone who looked as though he had never listened to another person in his life, he was surprisingly obedient.
Can’t sleep alone, yet listens surprisingly well.
He really was like a child. Though calling a man of his size and appearance a child seemed a bit of a stretch.
Besides, he’s far too…
Handsome to be called a child.
Honestly, anyone would find Kaiden’s face beautiful as he lay there with his eyes tightly closed, seeking sleep.
I wonder if Edwin will look like that when he grows up.
I was idly comparing Kaiden to Edwin’s future appearance when the king suddenly spoke.
“…Just asking, out of curiosity.”
My heart tightened, wondering if he was about to scold me for staring at his face.
But what came out of Kaiden’s mouth was something entirely unexpected.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
The golden eyes hidden beneath his eyelids revealed themselves once more. Eyes that, in this moment, reflected only me.
Have we met somewhere before?
We met in the garden. I hadn’t realized the King of Adamanth was related to goldfish.
“Besides that time in the garden, I mean.”
“…I’m not sure.”
I answered with my eyes closed.
“Where would a lowly nanny like myself have the chance to meet the king of a nation?”
“…Is that so.”
I could tell without looking. Kaiden was staring at me intently.
My face might burn a hole through.
I spoke again.
“I was an orphan. I entered the palace to become a nanny for the imperial princes. The first time I met Your Majesty was in that garden.”
“You were an orphan?”
Kaiden asked, sounding slightly surprised.
“You weren’t a noble?”
“I am now. I was adopted by a count’s family.”
Was he displeased that someone who wasn’t even a pure-blooded noble had dared to occupy the space beside the king?
“Perhaps.”
I hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“Are you uncomfortable because I am not a noble?”
“It would have been more uncomfortable if you were.”
“…Ah.”
I had forgotten. They said the King of Adamanth was a commoner by birth.
Kaiden looked at my expression and let out a soft laugh.
“Well, never mind.”
He waved his hand lazily and turned away.
“Forget what I said earlier. It was just something I threw out there.”
After those words, no more sound came from him.
I carefully turned my head toward Kaiden.
He’s already asleep?
The young king was now lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, sleeping peacefully. Watching his chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm left me speechless.
To be so defenseless with a stranger right beside him.
Was it because he had an easygoing personality that didn’t think too deeply, or was it overflowing confidence in his own abilities?
Perhaps both.
I stared openly at Kaiden’s face. It was the kind of face that was hard to look away from once your eyes landed on it.
Now I understand why women try to cling to him despite being so afraid.
A smooth forehead, a high nose bridge, lips that were pleasantly full. Straight brows and long, neatly arranged lashes.
Looking at Kaiden’s perfectly harmonious and balanced features, I was reminded of a statue of a young god that might appear in mythology.
He really does resemble him.
I found the similarities between Kaiden and Edwin and let out a small laugh.
Beautiful things all seem to look somewhat alike.
Come to think of it, this might simply be an extension of my duties. After all, putting children to sleep was one of a nanny’s responsibilities.
The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it seems.
Before I died, my main job had been to secretly kill people in their sleep. Now I was guarding the bedside of others while they slept.
Of course, I didn’t dislike my current work. It was simply still awkward.
“Haa.”
I let out a quiet sigh and turned my head. The darkness outside the window told me that dawn was still a long way off.
It seemed I wouldn’t be getting any peaceful sleep tonight.
Swish. Swish.
Kaiden slowly opened his eyes at the sensation of hair tickling his eyelids.
A cool morning breeze was blowing in through the slightly open window.
He reached out toward the empty space beside him. The slightly crumpled blanket still held a trace of warmth.
“…Leaving without permission.”
His voice, hoarse from sleep, carried a hint of laughter.
In truth, Kaiden had been awake since the early hours when Rachel had slipped out of the bedroom.
What a strange woman.
Rachel Brown, the nanny of the Third Prince.
Truly, astonishingly, that woman was not afraid of him. On the contrary, she had looked him straight in the eye and spoken her mind without hesitation.
To think he would find such courage and spirit in a petite woman—something even the knights who had crossed battlefields with him lacked.
Kaiden rubbed his face with one hand and burst into quiet laughter.
“…So it’s not just the eyes that resemble each other.”
As he muttered those cryptic words to himself, a knock sounded at the door.
“Your Majesty, it is I.”
At the familiar voice of his aide, Kaiden rose lightly from the bed. He picked up the pants lying nearby, pulled them on, then grabbed the water bottle.
“Enter.”
At last, with his permission, Oliver stepped into the room. His appearance was far too disheveled to suggest he had just woken from a good night’s sleep. The black hood and leather armor he wore were covered in grass and mud.
“Did you sleep well, Your Majesty?”
“Well enough.”
“I haven’t slept a wink since arriving in the empire, carrying out the orders you gave me, yet you managed to sleep decently. I’m glad.”
“To be sarcastic to your superior first thing in the morning… looks like you could stay up two more nights without issue.”
“I apologize, my lord. Please forgive me.”
Kaiden pulled on a fresh shirt hanging on the wall and continued.
“So, what did you find?”
“Your Majesty’s prediction was correct.”
Oliver bowed his head respectfully toward his one and only lord.
The final traces of the ‘Angel’ were discovered within the empire.