A few days later, we were busy getting up early in the morning to prepare for meeting our long-awaited grandmother, yet I couldn’t have been more excited.

Not only was I thrilled to see my grandmother after such a long time, but leaving the duke’s mansion to visit an unfamiliar place—especially the Grand Temple—made my heart race with anticipation even before I went to bed.

Andrea was completely preoccupied from the crack of dawn, bustling about to pack our luggage.

“Pack this! And that too! Load everything onto the baggage carriage. Hurry up, everyone, we’re running late!”

Hmm. Andrea certainly has charisma.

Thanks to Andrea, who had prepared everything we needed since dawn, we didn’t have much left to pack ourselves.

“Madam! You must also take this!”

Right before boarding the carriage, Andrea handed me motion sickness medicine.

“Thank you, Andrea.”

I gave Andrea a bright smile and then climbed into the carriage.

‘Whew. What a whirlwind.’

Because we’d boarded the carriage so early in the morning, Kian Blake had half-open eyes, still not fully awake—and he looked so adorable that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Kian. If you’re sleepy, just go ahead and sleep. We’ll be traveling for several hours anyway.”

Normally, Kian would have asked whether it was really okay to sleep right away, but today, he seemed so drowsy that he didn’t even ask.

Kian closed his eyes completely and fell asleep, and now Sikar Blake, looking entirely accustomed to it, gently lifted the sleeping Kian onto his lap.

Soon after, Sikar Blake also fell asleep. The sight of the two of them sitting and dozing off together was so perfectly matched that I chuckled.

‘Truly, no father-son pair could be more picture-perfect.’

I considered trying to get some sleep myself, but because this was my first long-distance journey, my excitement since yesterday kept me wide awake.

Somehow, the world had already bid farewell to winter and was slowly preparing to welcome spring. The further south we traveled toward the Grand Temple, the warmer the weather became.

‘Spring has already arrived.’

The Grand Temple was located on the outskirts of a city in the south.

Since we planned to stay there for several days, we brought along quite a lot of luggage.

In addition to our own carriage, a baggage carriage loaded with desserts and various food ingredients, as well as another carriage carrying the servants, followed behind us.

Upon arriving at the Grand Temple, we found my grandmother and a priest waiting for us right at the temple’s entrance. Kian seemed practically itching to run toward his grandmother.

“Kian. In moments like this, it’s perfectly fine to run and hug your grandmother.”

“Really, Mother?”

“Of course. Your grandmother will be overjoyed.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Kian, beaming with delight, dashed toward his grandmother.

“Great-grandmother!!!”

Hearing Kian’s voice, my grandmother spread her arms wide in welcome.

“Come here, my great-grandson!”

This harmonious, heartwarming scene of beloved family members reuniting after a long separation—this was exactly the scene I had longed for.

I glanced sideways at Sikar Blake and saw that his expression, too, looked pleased. After all, this kind of scene must be entirely new to him as well.

“Hmm. Shall we also hurry along, then?”

Sikar Blake didn’t run like Kian, but he walked steadily toward my grandmother.

And I, too, quickened my steps to meet my grandmother sooner.

I felt relieved seeing that my grandmother’s complexion and expression looked much healthier than before.

She wasn’t wearing the lavish clothes I’d seen her in at the duke’s mansion, but just as I’d felt then, her dignified bearing remained unchanged.

Seeing her looking so well somehow made my eyes unexpectedly well up.

“Grandmother, I’m so relieved to see you’re doing well.”

Grandmother stretched her arms out toward me as if urging me to come and embrace her.

I went into her arms and hugged her. Sikar Blake and Kian Blake also joined me, and for a while, all of us nestled in my grandmother’s embrace, sharing the joy of reunion.

But soon, the joyful reunion was short-lived. We all froze in place, confronted with the reality of the Grand Temple.

Upon arrival, we realized there wasn’t even lodging for the servants, let alone for us. Thus, all the servants had to be sent back.

The desserts we’d brought were enchanted with permanent preservation magic, so their freshness would last anywhere—but since there was no proper storage, we distributed them among all the temple’s worshippers.

We also decided to donate all the food ingredients to the temple.

But the real problem wasn’t that.

Grandmother was currently residing in the dormitory where the priests lived.

However, no matter how senior she was in the duke’s family, all rooms were assigned strictly one person per room—so she, too, was using only a small single room.

Thus, we barely had time to properly savor our tearful reunion before we were stunned by this revelation.

‘No rooms?!’

“Everyone who comes here is simply a son or daughter of the gods. Nobility doesn’t entitle anyone to a larger room—not that such rooms even exist here.”

In other words, Grandmother meant that our little family of three would have to share one small room. This was truly an unforeseen turn of events.

So, for the first time, we ended up sharing the same room. Well, I accepted that much as unavoidable.

But.

Only one bed? This, too, was an unforeseen development.

‘We didn’t come to a hotel—it’s understandable there aren’t enough rooms. But a room with only one bed?!’

I sighed involuntarily as I entered the room carrying my luggage, but Sikar Blake, seemingly unfazed by the idea of sharing a room, appeared perfectly relaxed.

Sikar Blake, who looked as if he’d never dressed himself in his life, efficiently pulled clothes out of his luggage and neatly arranged them in the wardrobe.

Must be nice to be so carefree.

“Sikar. You’re surprisingly good at organizing clothes.”

“In the battlefield, you do all these things yourself. No one does them for you.”

I didn’t think I looked like I was hesitating because I didn’t know how to unpack my own luggage.

“I’ve lived alone for a long time—I’m good at tidying up too.”

I was just teasing Sikar a little, but to Kian, it apparently looked like we were having some kind of boasting contest.

Kian, pulling items out of his small luggage bag, said,

“I’ve also lived alone for a few days, so I can organize my things well too.”

‘Yes. You always make me laugh.’

But I still had to organize Kian’s luggage myself. After all, I’m his mother.

“Oh, no. Kian, I’ll take care of yours.”

“No, Mother. I’m seven years old! I can handle my own luggage!”

I grabbed Kian’s luggage bag and said,

“No, Kian. I want to do it—for you, as your mother.”

Kian, evidently pleased by my words, opened his mouth wide in a big smile, then quickly covered it with both hands.

Clearly, he wanted to rely on me more than anyone else, but he was trying hard to appear grown-up.

Just as I was about to start organizing Kian’s things, Grandmother walked in.

“This small room must be very inconvenient for three people to share, isn’t it?”

At that moment of despair, Grandmother’s words felt like a refreshing downpour—I nearly thanked her profusely just for offering to remove Sikar Blake from the room.

But as a granddaughter-in-law, I couldn’t say that outright, so I politely declined.

“No, Grandmother. It’s fine.”

“Fine, my foot.”

Only my grandmother could see right through me like that—she knew I was saying something I didn’t mean.

“So, here’s what I propose: I’ll take Kian to sleep with me, so you two can use this room.”

“What? Grandmother?”

“Isn’t it natural for a married couple to share the same bed? Why are you so surprised?”

‘Is this what they mean by trying to remove a wart only to grow a bigger one?’

“Oh, no—it’s just that I’m worried you might be uncomfortable…”

“I’m perfectly fine. Don’t feel guilty about me taking Kian to sleep with me. The room is small—it’ll be much more comfortable for just the two of you.”

Ah, I didn’t mean I’d be uncomfortable handing Kian over to you—I actually meant I’d prefer it if Kian stayed with us…

To Grandmother, it was perfectly natural for a married couple to share a room—but for us two, who’d never shared a room before, it was deeply awkward.

Sikar Blake was equally surprised. He’d never shared a room alone with a woman since birth—he must have been utterly startled.

“Then, Kian. Shall we go together to my room now?”

Kian didn’t immediately follow Grandmother—he glanced worriedly at me.

“Um… is it really okay to leave Mother and Duke alone together…?”

“Of course it is! There’s even a saying that even if a married couple quarrels, they still sleep in the same room. So don’t worry—come along with me, my great-grandson.”

Kian clearly looked somewhat uneasy, but he didn’t protest further and picked up his luggage bag.

“Yes, Grandmother.”

“There’s much you need to learn to live here—come downstairs after you’ve unpacked.”

“Yes, Grandmother.”

After Grandmother left, I let out a long sigh.

Living alone with Sikar Blake—in this tiny room? Was this really reasonable?

Even if it were just the two of us sharing a room, if it were the size of my bedroom back at the duke’s mansion, it would at least be breathable—but this room was considerably smaller. It was only slightly bigger than the room I’d lived in before coming here.

No matter how far apart we slept—with me on the bed and Sikar Blake on the floor—we’d still be able to hear each other’s every breath.

“As you know, this is my first time sharing a room with a woman. But I’ll try my best to do it well.”

I was too busy sighing when Sikar Blake suddenly said something strange beside me—I was so startled that my sigh caught in my throat.

“What do you mean, ‘do it well’? It’s just sharing a room.”

“I mean, although it’s my first time sharing a room, I’ll make an effort to share it properly with you.”

What was there to “do well” or not when sharing a room? What exactly did he mean?

I was trying to think it over when Sikar Blake suddenly stepped closer and leaned his face toward mine.

“For example, what if I climbed onto the bed while you’re sleeping?”

“Are—are you insane? Of course that’s absolutely not allowed!”

“Or what if I stared fixedly at you while you’re changing clothes, making you uncomfortable?”

“When I’m changing clothes, you’d better leave the room!”

“And also,”

“And also, what?”

“What if I accidentally walked out of the bath wearing absolutely nothing?”

What? Why was he saying such strange things?

“J—just you try it!”

“If I did…?”

“I—I wouldn’t just sit there quietly!”

Sikar Blake stepped even closer and asked,

“How…?”

His gaze, now only a hand’s breadth away, felt suffocating.

“So… how exactly would you not sit quietly?”

“If you did something so indecent, I—I’d scream!”

“What?”

“What?”

Sikar Blake smiled meaningfully, as if something amused him greatly. His curved eyes felt overwhelmingly, blatantly intense.

“What did you say? You’d scream?”

“You… I mean, if you…”

Before I could finish organizing my thoughts, he slowly said,

“Would you scream because I saw you changing clothes in the room we’re both using? Or because I climbed onto the bed while you were sleeping? People already know we’re married, don’t they?”

Why was this man so frighteningly saying such things again?

If I yelled, “Hey, you lunatic!” he might actually do something crazy—so I couldn’t say it. Honestly, not a single word of what he said was wrong.

We’re married. It’s not strange at all for a married couple to share a room—so screaming would be the strange thing.

Wait. Rewinding Sikar Blake’s words… did he mean he’d try not to do those things?

“So, Sikar. You mean you’ll make an effort not to make those mistakes?”

“I thought about it.”

“Huh…?”

What’s going on? Why is he about to say something strange again?

“I thought about it, but I’ve changed my mind.”

“Wh—what do you mean?”

“Since we’re stuck sharing one room anyway, we might as well share the bed too.”