“I apologize, Your Highness. I am sorry to make you stay in this small room for the night.”
At night, Sandrag arranged the accommodations for Anke and Vera.
Because space was limited and Vera needed to ensure Anke’s safety, the two of them would be sleeping in the same room tonight.
“It is fine. It is only for one night. Besides, this place looks quite nice. It has a bed, a table, and chairs; it is just a bit small.”
Anke sat on the bed and spoke to Sandrag.
The wall torches illuminated the room, which was about ten paces square.
The wooden table and low bed gave off the scent of freshly planed pine, though the stolen silk bedding exuded the luxury of the old nobility.
“I am glad you can get used to it.”
As Sandrag spoke, he pulled several snow-white candles from his robe.
He picked up the bronze candlestick on the table, inserted a candle, and lit it.
Then, he removed the torches from the walls and replaced them with the burning candlesticks.
“I have left the spare candles on the table. If Your Highness and the Knight do not plan to rest so early, you can change them at any time. If you have other needs, you can call the Night Watchman outside at any time.”
Sandrag carefully gave his instructions to Anke and Vera.
“Understood. You should head back and rest early as well, Sandrag.”
Anke nodded to Sandrag.
“Very well. Then I wish Your Highness and the Knight a pleasant rest tonight.”
Sandrag bowed and withdrew. The light click of the wooden door closing severed the connection between the inside and the outside of the room.
“Your Highness should rest early. You walked quite far today.”
Vera urged Anke while she walked over to the table and pulled out a chair to sit.
However, Vera saw that Anke did not take off his shoes and go directly to bed.
Instead, he took down his cloak from the wooden rack and spread it out on the floor.
“Your Highness, what are you doing?” Vera asked in confusion.
“I am making a bed on the floor to sleep. It is quite late, though. Vera, do you not plan to rest yet?”
Anke folded a makeshift pillow for himself and then lay on his side on the floor bed, looking at Vera.
“I can just sit here for the night. As for you, Your Highness — you clearly have a bed, so why are you not sleeping in it?”
Vera rested the weight of her chest against the table, supporting her face with one hand as she answered Anke.
“I am sleeping on the floor so I can give the bed to you, Vera. If you do not sleep in the bed and just sit in a chair all night, how could your body handle it?”
Anke sat straight up.
“Your Highness, this is inappropriate. You are the Lord, and I am your retainer. There is no rule where a retainer sleeps in the bed while the Lord sleeps on the floor. It does not follow the rules.”
Vera shook her head.
“But I am a boy, and you are a girl. I believe boys should take care of girls. Furthermore, Vera, you put in more effort today. You deserve the bed more.”
Anke insisted.
“This is not a matter of gender or how much effort was spent.”
‘His Highness is using that strange logic again,’ Vera thought to herself after she spoke.
“How about this then? We will both sleep on the bed, but we each take half. We will have a divider in the middle so that no one touches the other.”
Anke made a proposal to Vera.
“?”
“If you do not agree, then I will stay up and sit in the chair with you all night!” Anke added as a condition.
“Sigh, fine. As long as Your Highness does not find it too crowded.”
Seeing Anke’s stubbornness, Vera could only agree. After all, Anke was a human, not a Mimic Beast. If he did not sleep for one night, his body would not be able to take it, and he would fall ill.
Whether it was intentional or an oversight by Sandrag, there was only one set of bedding on the bed.
Vera could only place her clothes and cloak between herself and Anke to separate their bodies.
After extinguishing the candle, Vera curled up under the covers.
In the pitch blackness, she spoke to Anke, who was behind her.
“Let us sleep, Your Highness. We have to return to the Border City early tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Vera.”
Anke’s voice came from behind her. He sounded exceptionally quiet, different from his usual self.
Vera carefully sensed Anke’s movements on the other side.
Then, she quietly stretched one hand out from under the covers.
The flesh on her hand writhed for a moment, splitting off a black Mimic Grey Rat familiar.
Under Vera’s control, the grey rat nimbly jumped out of her palm, climbed onto the window, and squeezed through the gaps in the shutters.
Then, the rat found a hidden corner to hide in, its eyes fixed on the surroundings as it began its duty as a sentinel.
After ordering her split familiar to watch the night, Vera closed her eyes and controlled herself to enter a state of light sleep.
However, before Vera could rest for long, Anke suddenly spoke again.
“Vera… Vera, are you asleep?”
Anke’s voice sounded a bit nervous, like a child who had done something wrong.
“Not yet. Does Your Highness need something?”
Vera did not know why, but she had subconsciously responded.
She clearly should have pretended not to hear him to brush it off.
“I cannot really sleep. Maybe it is because I am not used to the bed.”
“…”
Vera was silent for several seconds before she spoke.
“Does Your Highness need me to hum a lullaby to coax you to sleep?”
As Vera spoke, she imagined the scene of herself humming a lullaby to coax Anke to sleep.
It felt a bit strange.
“Yes! Oh, wait… no, no thank you. I am not some Junior Wa.”
Anke’s voice stammered a bit, and he used a term that was hard to understand.
“Junior Wa?”
“Just a certain type of person. It is not important. But I am not sleepy right now. Vera, can you talk with me for a while? If you talk with me for a bit, maybe I will feel like sleeping.”
“Of course. What would Your Highness like to talk about?”
Vera, who had been lying on her side with her back to Anke, turned her head and eyes slightly toward him.
“Hmm… let us talk about those Dwarves we saw today. Vera, you are truly amazing. You actually understand Dwarven script and customs! Where did you learn all that? That is knowledge that even the most learned professors at the Royal Academy do not know.”
“I learned it from the master who took me in. She knew many things about extinct races.”
“Then your master really knew a lot. Is she still around? Can we invite her so I can ask for her guidance on some things?”
“Master is no longer with us… And Your Highness, the history of extinct races is like dried roses. No matter how beautiful they are, they will still prick your fingertips.”
Vera’s voice was as faint as a sigh.
“I am sorry… I did not mean to bring up a sad memory.”
“It is fine. Your Highness does not need to apologize. I do not mind.”
“I—I am going to sleep now. Goodnight, Vera.”
Anke’s voice carried a hint of awkwardness. After he finished speaking, he fell silent as if he were trying to sleep.
However, the way his body moved from time to time still told Vera plainly that Anke remained awake.
Feeling helpless, Vera could only roll over. She gently rested her hand on Anke and began to hum a lullaby to coax him to sleep.
“Elves spin the moonlight, silver threads long and fine, woven into a cradle’s net, softly shimmering with a faint light. The magic forest is silent, the evening breeze carries the scent of flowers. Close your little eyes; there are treasures in your dreams. Sleep, sleep, the mist descends like a veil, stardust fills the window, the cradle gently sways. Elves spin the moonlight, spinning the scent of peaceful sleep. The world is quiet as I accompany you into the land of dreams…”
In the darkness, as Vera sang gently, Anke’s body was tense at first but gradually relaxed.
His eyelashes finally stopped trembling, like a young bird returning to its nest and folding its wings.
‘Sleep, Anke.’
‘Sleep…’