Chapter 28 - Deep Slumber

“Hey, can you hear me?”

She was relaxed the whole time they talked and had even fallen asleep in front of him. Not even his strong master had shown such a defenseless state towards him. Max had no choice but to marvel at her. 

‘This is annoying.’ He was bothered by her laid-back attitude and impolite manner of speech. Upon remembering his top priority, which was to deal with the source of his annoyance, Max reached towards the woman’s neck with narrowed eyes. But without realizing it, his hand stopped where her lips were. The tip of his finger lightly brushed against them, but the woman continued to sleep soundly.

‘She is so dull.’ Max frowned and brushed away a few strands of hair that clung to the woman’s face. ‘She’s so troublesome that even I’m beginning to feel tired…’

When he became aware of this odd sensation, Max hardened his expression. ‘I’m feeling tired?’ After witnessing numerous deaths on the battlefield, he had never let his guard down. But Max felt himself becoming drowsy and his eyelids growing heavy; this unfamiliar sensation was definitely fatigue. He blinked and tried to keep alert, but exhaustion swallowed him whole. 

‘I can’t fall asleep here…’ His determination to observe the woman lost strength. The young man who had resisted falling asleep eventually admitted defeat. ‘…I’ll just rest for a little bit.’

Max blew out the candle and curled up near the foot of the woman’s bed. The warm blanket that covered his body made him feel even more drowsy. When he closed his eyes, he felt a comfortable sensation that he hadn’t felt since his mother passed away. 

* * *

A vicious dragon was ravaging the empire. It was like a natural disaster had swallowed the empire whole, inflicting harm even when barriers had been set up and people were being evacuated. 

I quietly hid at home when the dragon began attacking our mansion. When it spotted me, the creature approached with flaring nostrils. Before it was too late, my father appeared to fight it. 

“How dare you aim for my daughter,” he said. “I won’t let you go!”  

Although it was clearly a dream, I felt happy when I woke up. ‘Dragons, huh.’ It seemed like a lucky dream. For some reason, I felt like today would be a good today. That was… until I saw the man sleeping near the foot of my bed. 

‘Why did he have to fall asleep here out of all the places? Does he like my bed?’ I sighed and observed the man’s face. Now that his red, warlike eyes were closed, he looked docile. ‘Although he has bad manners, he’s definitely handsome.’

I suddenly became worried about what would happen if someone saw him in my room. Perhaps they would think that the vicious Lady Floyen had kidnapped and imprisoned a handsome man. While it was true he was more attractive than Mikhail, I wasn’t very fond of this situation. ‘He should leave before someone misunderstands the situation…’

The maids didn’t come into my room without permission, but I didn’t want to risk it. I locked the latch on my door and shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up. 

“Hey… huh?” The man pushed me so hard that I flopped on the floor. I was lucky there was a carpet, otherwise, my back could have become injured. 

“What are you doing?” The man who had just said what I wanted to say loomed over me. His eyes shined brightly. 

* * *

Max hadn’t felt such warmth and comfort in a long time. He wanted to sleep like this forever, but when he realized that someone was approaching him, goosebumps prickled his skin. After surviving many battles, his body had become extremely sensitive to changes in his environment.

Even before he had fully awakened, Max pushed the person who briefly touched him. He climbed over the body and instinctively tried to grab the person’s neck. That’s when he saw a pair of blue eyes. There was only one woman who had eyes akin to periwinkle flowers floating on a serene lake. 

‘Oh, I remember what happened now.’ When his senses gradually returned, so did his reason. Then he realized what he had done. ‘I’ve become insane.’

He had originally planned to leave after resting for a while, but he somehow lost control of himself and fell into a deep slumber. He couldn’t find any traces of the drowsiness that had dominated his body, but the aftermath impacted him greatly.

‘I can’t believe I let my guard down in front of this woman.’ He reprimanded himself, then saw Jubelian staring at him. 

‘She’s not even agitated.’ His actions could’ve been fatal, but she didn’t even look frightened. 

“What were you trying to do?” he spat out, attempting to scare her.

Contrary to his expectations, the woman broke out into a smile. The corner of her eyes creased and her red lips widened to reveal pearly teeth. When her cheeks brightened to complement her beautiful face, he was reminded of a flower in full bloom. Max tried to look away, but an irresistible force kept him from doing so. He forgot how to think for a moment and stared blankly at her face.