My Former Disciple Wants Me as His Bride

“Your order is ready.”

When Eris reached for the wrapped bundle of food, Ciel snatched it up before she could.

“Please give that to me. I can’t have you carrying the luggage, Lord Ciel.”

“If your hands are full, you won’t be able to draw your sword when something happens. Just focus on showing me the way. Like I said earlier, I’m not very good with directions.”

Ciel firmly pushed Eris’s hand away.

His hands were already full of the shopping bags from everything he had bought that day. At this point, it was difficult to tell which of them was the guard and which was supposed to be under protection.

They had already argued over the matter several times on the way back, but Ciel showed no sign of yielding.

With a crowd packed outside the restaurant and even a line forming at the entrance, Eris could hardly continue making a scene, so she reluctantly started walking.

By then, the sunset had completely vanished, leaving the streets bathed in bluish darkness. The air still held the lingering warmth of midday, and the sloping alleyway leading toward their lodgings felt unusually quiet.

Perhaps because Eris had been through far too much in her life, this sort of silence only made her more alert.

Yet by the time they reached the house, the only things that had truly kept her nerves on edge were Ciel’s heavy, rhythmic footsteps behind her and the clean scent of him, reminiscent of the sea.

When they stepped inside, cool, empty air greeted them.

Before putting away their purchases and sitting down to dinner, Ciel announced that he wanted to shower first.

“There’s nothing unusual in the room.”

Determined to prevent a repeat of yesterday’s unfortunate incident, Eris checked the room’s security beforehand. She inspected the windows to make sure none had been opened or broken and searched for any signs or messages that an intruder might have left behind.

Ciel’s room was as immaculate as it had been before they left.

“If you’re that worried, why don’t you sit here and wait, Miss Eris?”

Ciel approached from behind while she was meticulously inspecting the room and caught her by the wrist. When Eris tried to step back, his grip tightened, and he guided her down onto the bed.

“What? Why all of a sudden…?”

“You’re supposed to protect me when I’m at my most defenseless, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes, that’s true, but I thought you might be uncomfortable with me doing that.”

“I’m not uncomfortable at all. As long as you don’t have any ulterior motives, that is. But you already said you don’t, didn’t you? You even said I’m not your type. If that’s the case, I have even less reason to feel uncomfortable around the person who’s supposed to protect me.”

“…Then do your subordinates from the Tervanne Empire take turns guarding you like this as well?”

“I suppose they do. This is foreign territory, after all, and I’m quite precious.”

So he was well aware of how valuable his life was.

And yet this very same man had entered a foreign kingdom all by himself. How did any of that make sense?

Eris nearly argued, but the more she spoke to him, the more she felt as though she were getting tangled in his pace. Swallowing a groan instead, she rose from the bed.

“Then I’ll stand guard here.”

Once his people arrived from the empire, Eris would inevitably have to enter this room whenever her turn came to guard Ciel anyway. If he treated her simply as a mercenary rather than making special allowances because she was a woman, there was no reason for her to feel uncomfortable about it either.

Of course, if another awkward incident like yesterday happened… she had no idea what she would do.

“Then guard me well. I’ll go wash up.”

Ciel flashed her the gentlest smile imaginable before turning away.

With that picture-perfect smile as his parting gesture, he disappeared into the bathroom, leaving only the lingering trace of his scent behind. The ensuing silence was so profound that even the air seemed to grow thin.

Eris busied herself checking the innocent room again and again. Eventually, the space began to feel strangely stifling, so she opened the terrace doors and stepped outside.

The night had deepened since their return, and cool air now drifted around her. When she drew in a long breath, the tightness in her chest seemed to clear all at once. Even the lingering image of Ciel that had been quietly tormenting her thoughts faded, leaving her refreshed.

Yesterday, she had been too flustered and overwhelmed to really think about it. But now that she was standing guard inside Ciel’s room, it finally sank in that the two of them were truly living alone together in this house.

Perhaps because he was the boy she had never been able to stop worrying about after leaving the Tervanne Empire, Eris kept finding herself swayed by Ciel despite knowing better.

“Should I just tell him everything…?”

Resting her chin on the terrace railing, Eris let out a troubled sigh.

If she told Ciel that she was the teacher who had given him swordsmanship lessons all those years ago, perhaps he would stop with all these unnecessary jokes and teasing.

Though it would probably make her feel even guiltier about the fact that she had been sent here to spy on him.