The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 234: Caught Sleepwalking

Chapter 234: Caught Sleepwalking

On the bed, Madeline kept turning sideways while hugging a pillow, trying her best to force herself into getting some sleep tonight, but the more she tried to draw it in, the farther she could feel the sleep drifting away.

There were a lot of things that occupied her mind these past few days, and it kept driving away her will to sleep. She wanted comfort, but unfortunately, her mind and restless heart wasn’t ready to offer her any of those suggestions.

Giving up, she opened her eyes with a sigh and sat up on the bed. Her gaze scanned the spacious room idly, taking notice of its emptiness. She wondered if Cassian was still sitting outside, and the temperature in Whitebridge city’s capital tends to drop more than the temperature in Carmarthen.

"What if he catches a cold?"

Getting out of bed, she moved to the wardrobe to check for any thick quilt she could find, and to her delight, there were three more bed quilts left. Grabbing one of the neatly folded quilts, she gently closed the wardrobe and stepped out of the room.

Showing up at the stairs and making her way down to the living room, she spotted the young lad still sitting outside, just as she had expected. Opening the door quietly, Cassian was already asleep on the chair with the book resting on his chest.

Just as Madeline predicted, it was cold outside.

"How can he sleep out here?" She muttered, rubbing both her arms to keep herself warm. She knew if she woke him up, he wouldn’t agree to come inside the house with her, and Madeline didn’t have any ounce of strength to force him into doing anything.

Spreading the quilt, she gently draped them on the sleeping Cassian. She adjusted them to make sure it covered him properly before standing straight. Looking at him, she crouched down to have a good look at his face, a slow smile creeping onto her lips at how his features softened.

Falling asleep is really the only place one can escape from all the harsh realities of life. Stroking his hair lightly with pure love in her glimmering eyes, she finally rose to her full height, but on doing so, it awakened the young lad whose eyes slowly fluttered open.

As though she could save herself from being caught staring at him, she immediately closed her eyes and pretended to sleepwalk towards the door. She wanted to escape into the house so he wouldn’t suspect she had snuck out here.

Cassian, whose sleepy eyes were now opened, looked behind him to find his wife sleepwalking towards the entrance of the house. At first, he was baffled, and that alone was enough to wipe the sleep away from his eyes, but looking down at what filled his body with noticeable warmth, he took notice of the quilt that was nicely draped on his body.

With a half smile tugging his lips, Cassian gently rose to his feet, packing the quilt in his hand. He looked at the woman who was pretending to sleepwalk, and then he followed her behind, his footsteps approaching her with unnoticeable steps.

Madeline, who had no idea that her husband was no longer sleeping and currently following her, tried to steal a glance behind her to confirm if he had truly gone back to sleep, but her body stiffened when someone placed a hand on both her shoulders, and he brought his handsome face close to her neck.

"Are you really.... Sleepwalking? Or did you defy me when I asked you to sleep." He whispered, sounding less authoritative than usual. His warm breath sent tickles to her earlobes, but Madeline tried to keep up with the act and not react to his sensitive touch or approach.

She tried to continue walking with her eyes closed, but Cassian’s hand resting on her shoulder didn’t give her that chance. He added slight pressure, keeping her still so she wouldn’t run away.

"It’s not safe to sleepwalk around these parts," he continued. "To ensure your safety, I’ll have to take you up the stairs and into the room, okay?"

To Madeline’s surprise, he suddenly lifted her up in princess style, but she dared not open her eyes and peek at the young man who must have discovered her lie. To her surprise, he pecked her lips, and her cheeks burned, selling her out to Cassian who knew from the beginning that she was only faking it.

Shaking his head lightly at how adorable she looked right now with her face all red, he took her up the stairs.

Making it to their room, he carefully laid her down on the bed, and when she still refused to open her eyes, he crouched beside the bed and whispered.

"To make sure you don’t repeat this sleepwalk, I’ll have to remedy it with a deep, long, wet kiss." He sounded wickedly delighted about the remedy, but Madeline didn’t appear to be in agreement with his remedy.

She could feel his face hovering above hers, getting closer, and closer till his lips brushed hers in the softest caress. Madeline refused to be played with in this manner and immediately turned the other way on the bed, stirring around while pretending to have just woken up.

"Cassian? You’re here?" Her voice faked a sleepy tone as she blinked at him, as if his presence had left her startled, and Cassian blinked, finding his wife even more surprising, and he decided to go along with it.

"Yes, you were sleepwalking." He drawled the last word, propping his face with his hand, and Madeline cleared her throat, trying to make it come out embarrassing.

"You were heading to the rooftop." He added, equally feigning seriousness, "if I wasn’t there to stop you, you’d have jumped, and what will I say to Mother when I return to Carmarthen? I’m not ready to lose my wife yet."

Madeline wanted to strongly deny his accusation, but she couldn’t refute his words, and he knew this.

"T...Thank you." Was all she could say even if he didn’t deserve it. He was about to take advantage of her little play, and here she is, thanking him for saving her for a cooked up story he made.

"I’ll sleep now." Grabbing her pillow and hugging it, she turned away from him and closed her eyes to sleep, not willing to let him see the pink hue that painted her cheeks.

Within a minute, she could feel the bed sink a little when he joined her on the bed, but what she never expected was for him to take her hugging pillow away from her grip, and her eyes snapped open.

"You don’t need this." He tossed it aside and pulled Madeline into his arms, wrapping her own slender hands around him. "Hold on to me instead."

Madeline could hear her heart beating at the soft allurement of his tone. Unable to contain her smile, she remained in his arms instead, succumbing to his warmth while her head rested on his chest. She could feel every uneasiness slip away, and she didn’t even realize when she fell asleep.

Cassian didn’t sleep immediately as he watched her, his finger toying with a strand of her hair. He suddenly remembered his conversation with Lily, and the worry he didn’t want Madeline to see displayed on his face.

Somehow, he’ll just have to make up an excuse and visit the mountain Cave Lily told him about, and he’ll do it alone. He wouldn’t want to involve Maddie in this since she already has a hard time controlling her powers, and he won’t let Jeremy be an obstacle in her way.

He’ll just have to look for a way and see what Jeremy is up to, and who his new acquaintance may be.

The next day, Madeline and Cassian were just getting out of bed when they heard Osvaldo calling their names from downstairs.

"Cassian, Madeline, are you awake? Cassian!"

"Urgh! The volume of his tone is enough to keep me awake." Cassian grumbled irritably, confused and at loss for Osvaldo’s reason for disturbing them this early morning.

"Let’s see what he wants." Madeline rubbed Cassian’s back soothingly before they both moved to the top of the stairs, and as expected, Osvaldo was waiting for them downstairs.

"Great! You’re awake!" His smile brightened.

"What do you want? And If your reasons are not good enough to justify why I’m awake this early...."

"This is for a good reason." Osvaldo reassured him, a bit frightened by the intensity of Cassian’s dark gaze.

"I wanted to ask, are these your properties?"

He gestured towards his left, pointing at something. With tired eyes, Cassian and Madeline followed the direction to where his fingers were pointing, and their eyes instinctively widened, the sleep vanishing immediately from their gazes.

Orson, Elian and Inna stood at the entrance with their hands chained. Two armored guards stood behind them along with Monica, and Inna’s face brightened at the sight of her brother and Madeline.

"Brother!"

"Why are you three chained? You have five minutes to explain." Just like that, Cassian discarded his sister’s excitement as he approached them, and immediately, the three of them knew they were in deep trouble with Cassian.