Please Fall in Love with Me! – A Villainess on Her Second Loop, using 'Seduction' to Avoid Ruin! - Chapter 3.5

“Lord Siegvard… you haven’t been sleeping well, have you?”

Siegvard suffered from chronic insomnia.

To be precise, he couldn’t sleep at night, in the darkness. The only time he could rest was during the brief hours between dawn and morning when the night’s shadows had fully receded.

It was the result of deep-seated trauma.

When he was a child, his own mother had tried to kill him. One night, as he slept, she had suddenly straddled him and wrapped her hands around his throat—

But that mother was not the Grand Duchess of Argento.

The truth was, Siegvard was not the son of the Grand Duke of Argento—he was the emperor’s illegitimate child. He and Prince Gerald were half-brothers.

Only a handful of trusted individuals, including the emperor and the Grand Duke, were aware of this fact.

His biological mother had been a mere palace maid.

What had transpired between her and the emperor was unknown—the game’s script never detailed it, and even the official setting materials contained no information.

What was known, however, was that after receiving the emperor’s favor, the maid had grown arrogant, causing trouble that ultimately led to her dismissal.

After being cast out of the palace, she later discovered she was pregnant.

Believing that carrying the emperor’s firstborn would grant her a luxurious life, she immediately sent word to the palace—only to be met with suspicion.

It was inevitable. Too much time had passed since she had left the court, and without proof, no one could be certain the child was truly the emperor’s.

There was no such thing as DNA testing in this world. Paternity was judged based on physical traits—hair color, eye color, facial features.

Enraged at being doubted, she gave birth to Siegvard on her own, convinced that once he was born, those who had scorned her would be forced to acknowledge the truth.

But—

The child she bore had jet-black hair and amethyst eyes.

Not only did he lack the emperor’s golden hair and golden eyes, but he didn’t even share his mother’s brown hair and sepia-colored irises.

With no one willing to recognize her son as the emperor’s child, she found herself cast adrift, left to wander the streets with him.

Two years later, the nation celebrated the birth of Prince Gerald—the true firstborn son of the emperor.

The entire empire rejoiced at Gerald’s arrival. The emperor and empress were radiant with happiness.

And in her madness, the woman succumbed to jealousy—blaming everything on the helpless child before her.

“If only you hadn’t been born with black hair!”

“If only you had inherited his golden eyes!”

“I could have been happy—!”

Siegvard had been only two years old. He couldn’t possibly have understood the meaning of those words.

But the terror of nearly being killed—that had been burned into his very soul.

From that night on, he could no longer sleep.

Even after the Grand Duke of Argento rescued him from his mother’s grasp at the emperor’s request—even after he was formally adopted into the ducal house—the scars never healed.

A peaceful night never came.

When Siegvard’s past was finally revealed in the game—when he spoke of it to the heroine and the player—I had been unable to bear the pain in my chest.

And when he finally fell in love with the heroine, allowing her to heal his wounds and move forward from his past, I had cheered through my tears.

But now—

By seeking to marry Siegvard myself, I was taking away the heroine’s role as the one who healed him.

Of course, I intended to do everything I could to ease his pain.

But I wasn’t the heroine.

I had no idea if I, a villainess, could ever heal his wounds.

Still—if I wished to marry him, then I at least wanted to do something.

Even if only a little, I wanted to help ease his insomnia, to grant him a brief moment of restful sleep.

That was the least I could do.

“…How do you know… that I can’t sleep…?”

“Well… I happened to notice a faint shadow under your eyes the few times I saw you before. Ah, but only faintly! I don’t think anyone else noticed.”

In the game, the only person who had realized Siegvard’s insomnia was the heroine.

Of course, Siegvard himself had taken great care to hide it—even from his servants. But even as a nobleman of the Grand Duke’s house, he was, first and foremost, a Holy Knight. Since he only participated in social events when absolutely necessary, it made sense that no one had picked up on it.

That night at the soirée when the Saintess awakened, he had spent the evening alone in the garden, hadn’t he?

He always followed the same pattern—offering the required greetings, then withdrawing to spend the rest of the night in solitude.

Never opening his heart to anyone, carrying the weight of his secrets and scars alone—

“…………”

Siegvard’s expression shifted—his wariness now evident as he studied her intently.

Ah… Of course.

She had expected this reaction. It wasn’t a surprise, but…

“I-I apologize if I was mistaken. I swear, I haven’t told anyone, and I never intend to. I only hoped to ease the burden on your body, even if just a little…”