Jemina's eyes wandered uncertainly as she sat atop a smooth stone in the river, unsure where to look.
Below her, a man knelt in the water, carefully brushing her toenails with the same focus and precision he usually reserved for battle plans.
He had already bathed her.
He had washed her clothes as well, and they were currently hanging beside the makeshift tent he had built for them.
At the moment, she was completely naked.
And embarrassingly aware of it.
When she had been a duchess, she had shamelessly flaunted her body in front of him. She had walked around their bedroom without a shred of modesty, entirely convinced that one day he would finally lose his composure.
Instead, she was the one struggling now.
After all, he had spent the last hour examining every inch of her for injuries. What had begun as concern over a few scratches had somehow evolved into a meticulous inspection of every bruise, scrape, and scar she possessed.
He was doing more than her attendants ever had.
"Uhm, my dear? How much longer?"
Even asking the question felt awkward.
Noctellis looked up.
Instantly, her hands flew up in a futile attempt to cover herself.
Far too late, of course.
Her body had simply reacted on instinct.
"Do you feel cold?" he asked.
"It's fine," Jemina replied. "But you've been kneeling there for quite a while."
"I'm fine. I'm almost finished."
He returned to brushing her nails.
Jemina sighed.
A full day had passed since she had taken him away from the village and into one of the safer regions of the Null Forest.
Safer, of course, was a relative term.
Those areas were only secure because she had tamed enough monsters to establish control over them. The creatures she had bonded with protected her from those that remained wild.
The truth was that she still had no idea what she was doing.
She wasn't ready to return to the village.
She wasn't ready to explain anything.
Especially after Noctellis had decapitated Cyrinne.
Originally, she had imagined introducing him to everyone as some grand surprise.
Now she desperately hoped nobody would be surprised at all.
She only needed a little time to think.
Time the goddess had stubbornly refused to give her.
Yet even after a full day, she remained completely lost.
Mostly because Noctellis kept making everything more confusing.
After she had given him her command, he hadn't argued.
Hadn't complained.
Hadn't questioned her.
He had simply followed.
Waited.
Stayed beside her.
And stared.
Constantly.
The attention unsettled her.
He had never looked at her like this before.
I ordered him to love me, she thought. But he hasn't actually done anything romantic.
She paused.
Then slowly began reviewing everything he had done since then.
And suddenly, realization struck.
He's expressing affection through acts of service.
Jemina stared at him.
Then decided to test her theory.
"My dear, I can do it myself. Give me the brush."
Noctellis did not respond.
Instead, the gentle brushing became noticeably faster.
The sensation tickled.
Jemina squeaked before losing her balance entirely and falling backward into the river.
Laughter burst from her before she could stop it.
A second later, strong arms lifted her from the water.
He held her securely against his chest.
And for some reason, she started crying.
The laughter vanished.
Tears appeared without warning.
"Why are you crying?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe because I forced you to love me, and now I feel pathetic. Somehow, both my feet and my heart are ticklish."
The confession only made her cry harder.
Noctellis simply held her.
Steady.
Patient.
Unmoving.
"I am aware of the actions that led to your decision," he said. "You do not need to feel guilty for it."
"You would have destroyed my village."
"I might have destroyed the village," he admitted. "But I would not have harmed you. I would have found another way to detain you and prevent you from using your abilities."
Jemina looked up at him.
"Do you still feel like putting chains on me and locking me away?"
A shadow crossed his expression.
"Please forgive my actions in the past. I only wanted to keep you beside me."
"You wanted a proper duchess," Jemina replied. "Divorce wasn't easy to obtain, but it wasn't impossible either. Did you really choose chains instead of legal papers because you loved me?"
"Yes."
The answer came immediately.
"Now that I understand my feelings, I can say that honestly."
Jemina stared.
"So you're only realizing it now? After I gave you the order?"
"Yes."
"And you're telling me that you loved me all along. You were simply terrible at showing it."
"Yes."
Jemina fell silent.
Not because she was shocked.
Not because she had run out of questions.
She was simply trying to process what had happened to him.
Noctellis remembered everything.
Every choice.
Every action.
Every mistake.
Yet his mind now interpreted those memories through the lens of love.
She knew that wasn't entirely true.
He hadn't kept her because of love.
At least not then.
She had been convenient.
Manageable.
Harmless.
The emperor had chosen her for those reasons.
And Noctellis had kept her for those reasons.
If the goddess had given her more time, perhaps she could have crafted a better command.
Something more precise.
Something less cruel.
But the goddess had offered her only a minute.
Whether out of impatience or amusement, Jemina would never know.
Regardless, the responsibility remained hers.
If only she had been wiser.
Then perhaps she wouldn't be drowning in guilt now.
"I can tell from your expression that you don't believe me," Noctellis said.
"That hardly matters."
Jemina looked away.
"It doesn't change how you feel now."
"No."
There wasn't even a hint of resentment in his voice.
No disappointment.
No frustration.
Nothing.
Jemina imagined grabbing her own hair and screaming into the forest.
Unfortunately, that would solve absolutely nothing.
Eventually, Jemina reached a decision.
The following morning, she packed their camp and led them westward through the forest. To make the journey faster, they traveled atop an owl-snake.
Several hours into their journey, they stopped beside a small clearing to rest.
Jemina was busy giving water to the owl-snake when Noctellis disappeared into the surrounding trees.
When he returned, he carried a handful of granite berries.
Jemina's eyes widened immediately.
The berries earned their unusual name because of their texture. Their outer skin felt almost as hard as stone, only to crumble into powder the moment they were chewed. Despite that, they possessed an intensely tart flavor that many people loved.
The first time she had tasted them was years ago when merchants from a neighboring kingdom had brought them to the Empire.
After relations between the two kingdoms deteriorated, trade ceased entirely.
She had not eaten them since.
"Oh!"
Delight instantly brightened her face.
"I didn't know granite berries grew here!"
Without hesitation, she took one and popped it into her mouth.
The familiar flavor exploded across her tongue.
For a moment, she looked genuinely happy.
Noctellis simply watched her.
As he had been doing constantly lately.
The look in his eyes was warm.
Painfully warm.
At this point, Jemina could no longer pretend she wasn't noticing.
"How did you know I liked these?" she asked.
"I should know."
His answer came easily.
"You are my wife."
The berry suddenly tasted more complicated.
Jemina looked away.
"Well, that's convenient."
Noctellis tilted his head slightly.
She sighed.
"You can still connect your memories to love."
His expression remained calm.
"You can look at something you did years ago and tell yourself it was because you loved me."
Silence.
Jemina stared at the remaining berries.
"But if we went through every memory one by one..." she continued quietly, "...would you still say the same thing?"
Noctellis didn't answer.
The silence itself felt like an answer.
Immediately, guilt followed.
She knew she was being unfair.
He hadn't asked for any of this.
Neither of them had.
"Forget what I said," she muttered. "I'm just emotionally unstable right now."
Noctellis sat beside her.
"You are trying to understand something that cannot be understood through logic alone."
She narrowed her eyes.
"That's rich coming from you."
"This situation is indeed confusing."
Jemina immediately glared.
How was it possible that the man who had been magically forced into loving her appeared less confused than she was?
The injustice of it thoroughly annoyed her.
Eventually, she sighed and popped the last granite berry into her mouth.
Noctellis watched.
Then asked quietly,
"May I have a taste as well?"
Jemina blinked.
"Oh."
She swallowed.
"I'm sorry. I ate them all."
Noctellis lowered himself toward her.
Then kissed her.
Jemina froze.
When he finally pulled away, she stared at him in complete disbelief.
Noctellis looked entirely unbothered.
"I would rather kiss you than discuss the rationality of things," he said. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Jemina opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
No words emerged.
Noctellis continued calmly.
"This is what we have now."
His hand brushed against hers.
"Can we not simply enjoy it?"
Jemina stared.
The role reversal felt almost absurd.
For years, she had been the emotional one while Noctellis analyzed everything.
Now she was the one overthinking every possibility while he seemed strangely willing to accept the situation as it was.
Meanwhile, she had spent the last day giving herself headaches.
Deep thinking simply wasn't one of her talents.
Most of her life had been guided by instinct.
And her instincts were currently screaming for her to stop making everything complicated.
"...Yeah," she admitted.
A reluctant smile appeared.
"Why not?"
She paused.
Then, immediately pointed a finger at him.
"But kissing right away feels unfair."
Noctellis raised an eyebrow.
"We haven't done this in a long time."
Jemina nodded seriously.
"So let's start with cheek kisses."
For a moment, Noctellis simply stared.
Then he smiled.
Actually smiled.
Not the tiny, polite expressions she occasionally managed to drag from him.
A genuine smile.
His eyes curved shut.
The severe Hero of the Empire suddenly looked absurdly young.
Almost boyish.
Jemina completely forgot what she had been saying.
"Oh no."
"What?"
"That's illegal."
Noctellis looked confused.
Jemina groaned.
"I've never seen you smile properly before."
The smile widened slightly.
That somehow made it worse.
Jemina grabbed his face immediately.
"Screw it."
Then she kissed him.
Noctellis looked genuinely surprised.
Only for a moment.
Then he returned the kiss.
Several moments later, Jemina pulled away, flushed, breathless, and thoroughly overheated.
Noctellis, unfortunately, seemed completely unsatisfied.
He immediately leaned forward again.
"W-Wait!"
Jemina pushed against his chest.
"You're devouring me!"
"I am?"
"Yes!"
Noctellis considered this.
Then asked,
"May I kiss other places?"
Jemina blinked.
"What other places?"
His gaze slowly drifted downward.
"No."
Disappointment appeared instantly on his face.
The sight was unexpectedly devastating.
Jemina felt guilty immediately.
"Where?" she asked cautiously.
Noctellis brightened.
A dangerous development.
His gaze began traveling downward again.
"Lips!" Jemina blurted out. "Let's continue kissing!"
Noctellis looked pleased with this compromise.
Unfortunately for Jemina, she soon discovered that what she considered kissing and what Noctellis considered kissing were apparently two very different things.
It didn't take long for her legs to lose all strength.
By the time he finally pulled away, her lips were parted, tears clung to her lashes, and she could barely remember her own name.
All because of a kiss.
Just a kiss.
Jemina decided that it was deeply unfair.