His entire body stiffened. After taking a panicky moment to gather his thoughts, he remembered that he and Louise and had planned to go out together, so they could prepare to fulfill Simon’s wish of celebrating his birthday like in their childhood. In order to be faithful to the ‘childhood’ part, Ian and Louise had decided to go out and buy food and gifts.
Louise must have woken up at dawn, while Ian weakly refused to get up in the morning. He thought it was cruel for one to lose out on their morning sleep.
‘I didn’t want to make Louise Sweeney do something terrible.’
It must have been on instinct based on kindness.
‘I didn’t mean to pull her into bed to make her sleep…’
Ian sighed and brushed her hand with his hands. Her silken blonde locks felt pleasant between his fingers.
‘…Should I warn her to be more cautious next time?’
But if he said that, it wouldn’t happen again.
Then again, it shouldn’t happen again.
‘No…’
His life felt empty and insignificant at the thought of it never happening again.
Louise s.h.i.+fted slightly, and her hair fell in gentle waves over her face. He carefully swept her cheek, and he frowned when he saw the thin red line there. He had wanted to contact a priest, but she had strongly objected. If Mr. Sweeney found out about this, Ian may just have to shovel dirt for a month in the greenhouse. Ian would still do it, of course.
‘It must have hurt quite a bit.’
Until recently, the skin around the wound had been a little swollen.
“Sorry.”
He murmured his apology to her, and Louise’s sweet face scowled in her sleep. What the h.e.l.l. Ian really liked this ugly expression. As he studied her, he noticed the small gap of her lips. He didn’t mean to stare, but the wetness of her mouth through her parted lips drove his thoughts wilder. His fingers gripped her harder in tension.
His grip seemed to have disturbed Louise, and slowly her eyelids began to flutter open. A moment later, her eyes widened suddenly, the same as when discovered Louise this morning.
“Are you awake?”
He greeted her in a deadpan voice. He thought it was funnier when she was fl.u.s.tered.
“Oh I…I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“You’ve been working hard lately.”
He pulled the duvet over them.
“You must be tired.”
Louise’s eyelids became heavy again as she melted into the warm sheets. She felt convinced when he said she was tired, and could sense her physical and mental exhaustion. Ian’s scent wrapped around her as his heartbeat echoed in her ears. It had been so long since she last heard the heartbeat. It seemed to pound a little fast…it was probably because of his poor health that he couldn’t get up in the morning.
Louise dug further into his arms, and he squeezed her more tightly and pressed his hhead into her hair. Each breath he exhaled tickled her, and she wanted to ask him why he breathed so much.
“Do you want to sleep more?”
She heard his murmuring whisper in her ear, and she was tempted to stay put. However, Simon’s birthday was tomorrow, and they had to prepare. Louise gently shook her head. She pulled away to look up at Ian, and their eyes met.
“No.”
“Then…alright.”
“Are you still sleepy?”
Louise looked at him worriedly as she gently placed her palm on his face. She stared at his eyes, cheeks, and even his jaw.
Ian knew that the touch was meant to wake him up, but her hand was so…soft. To the point that his thoughts started to lean in another direction.
“Well, shouldn’t you stop touching me now.”
“Why?”
“…Because my mood is going to get better.”
“That’s a relief.”
Judging her smiling reply, Ian could see that Louise didn’t even understand half of what he was saying.
Understand…should he help her understand? He quickly shook off the thought. No matter how much he thought about it, that would be a terrible idea.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was just realizing what a vulgar-minded person I was.”
“Ah, at least you’ve come to honest self-reflection.”
“Don’t get too fond of it.”
Louise laughed so hard that her eyes squinted shut, and Ian couldn’t help but kiss the lovely corners of her eyes.
“You must be having a difficult time.”
“Not really…”
Louise had been summoned by the ethics committee several times in the past few days.
“I can only imagine how much the pompous old men would have ganged up on you.”
“It wasn’t me they targeted, but Stella.”
She was Professor La.s.sen’s sponsored student after all. Ian gave a soft chuckle. He was satisfied that Stella was reaping her reward, but Louise would complain if she knew he thought this way. Louise was one of the kindest people in the whole world, and had probably forgiven Stella for her atrocities.
“What about the professor?”
Louise s.h.i.+fted her body and tucked her hand under her chin.
“Which professor?”
“Professor Hill, of course.”
“That still needs some time.”
Professor Hill’s case was complicated. He was an irreplaceable a.s.set to the Academy, and the dean seemed to have found an excuse to keep him.
“Wait, so will Stella continue to go to the Academy?”
Louise spoke in a careful voice, remembering that Ian was legally the head of the Lapis family.
“Yes.”
Louise faintly replied, “I’m glad.”
“So, today and tomorrow—”
Ian tapped Louise on the forehead, filled to the brim with complicated thoughts.
“I want you to smile and be carefree. Like now.”
“It’ll be Simon’s birthday.”
“Yes. Birthdays should be fun.”
Ian pushed up his upper body from the bed. This was the end of his laziness, and now they really had to go out shopping for Simon’s birthday party. Louise quickly followed suit. She hadn’t noticed this when they were lying down, but now she found it hilarious how Ian’s hair stuck up in disheveled spikes. Louise laughed and patted down his hair, then kissed his forehead. Blessing Ian with a kiss on his forehead was a privilege reserved only for Louise.
“…Anyway.”
He sighed, and when she looked down, she saw that his arm captured Louise’s waist tightly.
“There’s one thing I need you to understand right now.”