A Crusader with System in the Middle Ages

”Go to sleep,” Eric said, pressing his hand to his forehead with a sense of helplessness.

....

「Early morning.」

Eric woke very early. In truth, he hadn’t slept well.

Jeanne simply wouldn’t let him go.

Because Jeanne had clung to him so tightly, Eric had been worried he would roll over onto her in his sleep. As a result, he’d spent the entire night drifting in and out of consciousness.

It was an awful feeling.

Eric awoke shortly after the first glimmer of dawn filtered into the room.

He immediately felt something wet on his arm. Slowly, he withdrew it and found it covered in Jeanne’s drool.

He took off his white shirt and changed into a gray one.

Then he left the room.

Although it was dawn, the inside of the castle was still gloomy, a state that would persist until noon.

None of the Knights had emerged from their rooms. They had been carousing late into the night.

Eric had to get to Eleanor’s room before they woke up so he could be seen leaving it with her.

’After all, it would be strange for a Baron, returning to his castle for the first time in six years, not to spend the night with his wife.’

Eleanor’s room was at the far end of the corridor.

Eric walked to her door and knocked twice, softly.

The sound of knocking carried into the room. Lying on the bed, Eleanor stirred and rubbed her eyes.

She hadn’t slept well either. Her nervousness about Eric had kept her awake in her room, waiting for him.

Although she knew she couldn’t escape if he was determined, she had prepared herself to have a serious talk with him.

But when midnight came and he still hadn’t appeared, she had eventually fallen into an exhausted sleep.

Eleanor sat up, squinting. She hadn’t even taken her clothes off the night before. Sleeping in her dress had been incredibly uncomfortable, and she had sweated under the blankets.

Incidentally, she usually preferred to sleep naked.

She sat up, slipped off her long dress, and unfastened the ornament in her hair. Her long hair tumbled down, draping over her fair neck. It was a color somewhere between brown and gold.

She lifted the covers, about to slide back in.

But just then, another knock came from the door.

This time, she heard it clearly. She threw on a pale blue robe that was lying nearby and went to open the door.

”Ejiva?”

She opened the door and found Eric standing there.

She stepped aside to let Eric into the room, and he closed the door behind him.

Eleanor clutched her robe tightly and turned her head, avoiding his gaze.

”I need to stay here for a bit. If I’m going to play the part of Alan, it would be too strange not to be with my wife on the first day back.”

”Um... do you... want to sit down for a moment?”

”You don’t look like you slept well last night.” Eric bypassed Eleanor and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

”Well, that’s because... Never mind. It’s nothing,” Eleanor said, lowering her head.

Eric sat up. The room was filled with a rich fragrance.

”What is it?” Eleanor asked, pulling her robe tighter as she walked toward him.

”This scent. Do you have something fragrant in the room? It’s a very unique smell.”

”Oh, that.”

A smile blossomed on Eleanor’s previously tense face. She walked quickly over to Eric, crouched by the nightstand, and took a small glass vial from the drawer. Extending her hand toward Eric, she said, ”Give me your hand.”

Eleanor unstopped the vial, and the fragrance grew even more intense.

Eleanor took Eric’s hand and poured some of the liquid into his palm. It was a viscous, transparent, pale green fluid.

Her fair fingers gently rubbed it into his palm.

”It’s the scent of roses. I extracted it myself, using an ancient formula—a bit of ancient wisdom. I call it rose oil. Just a tiny drop makes the scent linger for a long time. If you’re lucky, it can last for two or three days.

”I usually dab it behind my ears, but for some reason, almost no one ever seems to notice, aside from Ejiva. I just assumed it was because a woman’s sense of smell is more sensitive.”

Using the same fingers, now coated in the oil, Eleanor rubbed the spot behind her own ear. Her mood seemed to brighten considerably.

She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and then slowly exhaled, savoring the fragrance.