Chapter 28

Awakened by the streaming sunlight and the chirping of small birds from the garden, Diana found her body enveloped in warm arms.

Failing to grasp her situation at first, she blinked her eyes in confusion.

The soft sheets wrapped around her body.

More than that, she was feeling the touch of warm bare skin against hers.

“Good morning, Diana.”

When she raised her face, there right before her was Alan’s melting, tender smile.

“Ah…!”

As Diana finally comprehended her situation, her cheeks dyed a bright red.

(That’s right, last night, with Lord Alan…)

Drawn close by his sturdy arms, she buried her face against his broad chest.

Thud-thud, her heart kept pounding noisily.

Even though getting married and sharing a wedding night were not experiences entirely new to her, she was as nervous as a maiden, her entire body rigid with tension.

Though it was indeed her first time in this lifetime, beyond that, everything was utterly different from any marital life Diana had ever known.

(T-to be desired so intensely, so passionately…)

Just remembering it made her face grow hot.

If that was what a marital relationship was truly like, then what on earth had the acts she recognized as marriage been until now?

Alan’s voice whispering hotly against her ear.

He had claimed her over and over, showering her with endless kisses.

All through the night, yielding to his embrace… by the end, her memories were no longer even entirely clear.

And then, waking up in the morning, she found herself held bare in Alan’s arms.

“…!”

Alan’s fingers stroked Diana’s cheek.

A gentle, cherishing movement.

The eyes with which Alan gazed down at Diana were likewise filled with a soft, radiant light.

“Diana, how is your body?”

“I am well…”

Within Alan’s arms, Diana gave a small nod.

The image of his wife, so fragile and so fleeting, was deeply burned into Alan’s mind.

In the couple’s bedroom, lit only by the glow of the candelabra and the moonlight, her pale skin had stood out in striking relief.

Though his reason had snapped at her sheer beauty, the sheer delicacy of her frame had left him plagued by a constant anxiety that he might accidentally break her if he held her too hard.

He held his wife’s slender body gently, yet firmly and with strength.

Already, the sun had climbed high into the sky.

Yet, within the newlyweds’ bedroom──there was no sign of the curtains drawing to a close.

The two of them finally emerged from their room for a meal on the evening of the day after their wedding night.

When Diana attempted to rise from the bed, her legs could not support her, resulting in Alan having to pick her up and carry her.

(I am so glad we came to the detached residence…)

Such a sight could never be shown to the servants back at the main estate.

It would be too embarrassing to be seen by the servants she had known for years, and entirely troublesome to have the newly hired staff whispering all sorts of rumors about her.

A spacious dining room and a large table.

Even before the dishes laid out across it, Diana’s appetite was scarcely stirred.

That was because, sitting as she was right upon Alan’s lap, she was far too nervous to focus on a meal.

“If you have no appetite, shall I feed you?”

“I-I’m quite alright!”

The voice echoing right beside her ear was meltingly sweet.

Fearing she might worry Alan or the servants watching from the wall, she somehow managed to reach out for a piece of fruit, though the sweetness of the berries barely registered at all.

Though the fragrance of the berries bursting in her mouth was undoubtedly there.

(…Can I truly be this happy?)

Combining her first life and her second, she had never experienced a time so utterly fulfilling.

And it was all thanks to Alan being right here beside her… Thinking that made Diana’s chest burn with warmth.

If she let her guard down, her eyes threatened to grow moist at any second.

The man she had yearned for so desperately in her past life, the man whose tragic death she had wept over, was undeniably right here as her husband.

“What is the matter, Diana?”

Perhaps sensing her subtle change in mood, Alan leaned in to look into her face.

Gazed at straight into his blue-gray eyes, Diana timidly parted her lips.

“I was just thinking… I am so overwhelmingly happy, it almost feels frightening.”

At the murmured words, Alan blinked for a moment before his expression softened into a tender smile.

“Indeed… I feel the exact same way.”

Gently embracing his young wife seated upon his lap, he stroked her back.

“But this is no dream… isn’t that right?”

“…Yes!!”

At Alan’s words, Diana gave a strong, resolute nod.

(Alan is alive, without a doubt… He is alive and right here with me…)

To grasp this happiness, she had worked so hard throughout her second life.

She reminded herself of that fact once more.

His large palm gently stroked Diana’s cheek, and their foreheads tapped softly together against one another.

“I, too, shall strive to ensure this reality lasts for all eternity.”

“Lord Alan…”

With him by her side, she was certain she could overcome any hardship whatsoever.

No doubt about it, she would push through it all.

As Diana renewed her determination, her ears caught a deliberate sound.

──Ahem.

A thoroughly affected cough echoed through the room.

When she raised her head, the escort knight Ian stood there with a somewhat troubled expression, persistently averting his gaze.

“What is it, Ian?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it hard to watch, exactly, but I certainly didn’t know where to look…”

Only then did Diana realize she was still cuddling on Alan’s lap, causing her cheeks to dye a vivid crimson.

As she flusteredly tried to compose herself, any semblance of dignity as the heir to a ducal house was already long gone.

(Truly, coming to the detached residence was the right choice after all…)

Shaking his head with a long-suffering sigh at the sight of them, Ian extended an envelope he held in his hand.

“The results of the investigation are in.”

“Thank you, I shall look them over.”

The eyes of Diana as she accepted the documents shone with a fierce intensity.

Narrowing his eyes at her demeanor, Alan leaned in to peer at what she held.

“An investigation?”

“To accomplish anything, one must first secure the means to do so.”

“Are we talking about merchant guild management?”

“Indeed, though this matter is intertwined with that as well.”

Nodding at Alan’s words, Diana wore a smile so dazzling it would put any rumors completely to shame.

“Lord Alan, would you care to join me on a trip to see the sea?”

A small port town located within the former domain of the House of Duke Moncrief, one of the Five Great Noble Families that had since been abolished.

If she could manage to acquire that place, the balance of power moving forward would undoubtedly shift dramatically.

Diana’s eyes were brimming with a resolute determination fixed firmly upon the future.