Tristan was finally drifting.
The weight of the day pressed heavy on his body, and for the first time in hours his consciousness started to slip away. The faint glow of the magic stones lit the chamber in a muted haze; the steady rhythm of Ivy's breathing beside him oddly… grounding. He let his chest rise and fall, muscles easing, sleep creeping in.
Then—
The air shifted. Too faint for most to notice, but unmistakable to a man who'd spent years sleeping in war camps.
His eyes snapped open.
At the same moment, Ivy's lashes lifted. Her gaze met his instantly, sharp and clear in the dim light—as if she hadn't been asleep at all.
They held each other's stare in silence.
Tristan wondered if Ivy was pretending to be asleep this whole time, because there was no way a noble woman who's known to have zero magic and combat skills would have sensed the presence that suddenly accompanied them. Because whoever entered their room was clearly highly skilled.
From the corner of the room, the shadows stirred. A figure slipped closer, soundless, patient.
Tristan's fingers twitched, then an icy dagger formed in his hand.
Ivy's lips curved, the faintest flicker of amusement in her eyes.
Years of being an assassin had turned her into a light sleeper. Any slight change in her sleeping environment would wake her. So as soon as there was another presence in the room, she woke.
"Ugh, couldn't they let a bride sleep? Today was a tiring day. Should I pretend to go back to sleep?" she grumbled internally.
She was about to wake up and fight the intruder, then she remembered that she was supposed to be the magicless, weak Ivy. She was okay with him knowing that she had a different personality from what everyone knew, but she wouldn't let him know that she could fight.
She tugged at his hand. "Tristan..." she said in a soft voice that sounded slightly scared. "There's someone here." she whispered, her voice loud enough for the intruder to hear, causing him to freeze his movement.
His magic was flawless; how the hell did the useless bride know that he was there?
The intruder's magic ability was presence-masking. He can mask his presence with air itself. Even the most skilled mages would have a hard time sensing his presence, so how did this magicless girl sense him?
His job was simple: kill Tristan when he's asleep. Tristan was a skilled mage, but even the most skilled mage is slightly vulnerable when he's asleep, especially on his wedding night.
To hell with it, he was still going to try his luck.
Tristan stared at her, surprised. The intruder's presence was so faint that most mages wouldn't pick it up, so how did she when she doesn't even have magic?
If it wasn't for the fact that she looked scared right now, he'd think she was skilled enough to take the intruder down herself.
He felt the intruder rushing towards him with killing intent. In a blink of an eye, an ice sculpture stood by the bedside, dagger in hand. Ivy let out a scream, grabbing Tristan's hand in the process.
Tristan looked down at her trembling state, his gaze softening. "I guess she's still just a noble woman after all," he thought before turning to the man he had just frozen.
He unfroze the man's head, causing him to cough as his lungs finally received some air. "You're quite bold to try something like this with me," he said, his voice amused.
"What a useful ability you have there," Tristan said, getting up from the bed. "You would have used that ability for the betterment of the kingdom, but I guess you lack the brains to think about that. Because if you did, you wouldn't have accepted to get this suicide job."
The assassin struggled against the ice, trying to break free but to no avail. "Just kill me. I'm not going to tell you anything," the assassin said through gritted teeth, earning a chuckle from Tristan.
"Oh, don't worry, you'll die in due time. And I won't bother asking you useless questions like who sent you." He turned to face Ivy, who was no longer trembling. "You recovered fast."
She smiled. "Well, he's not a threat anymore, now, is he?" She stood from the bed and went to stand next to him.
She stared at the frozen assassin with intrigue. "So is this ice around him, or did you freeze his organs?"
Tristan sat on the bed as he stared at the frozen assassin. "Take a guess." Ivy thought for a while before giving her answer. "It's around him."
"What makes you so sure?" he asked because of how certain she was with her answer. Her answer was a statement, not a question to ask if she was correct. "Well, if you froze his organs, he'd be dead. Now that I think about it, my previous question was dumb."
While this odd couple was having a casual conversation like they hadn't just survived an assassin attack, the said assassin was really starting to freeze to death.
Was that their intention? he wondered. He started to struggle against the ice, gaining back the couple's attention.
"I'm rather curious: who would be dumb enough to send an assassin to someone with a reputation like yours? Isn't everyone scared of you or something? I mean, that's how my maid made you sound," Ivy asked, staring at the frozen assassin.
"I can name a few," Tristan replied. "What should we do with him?" he asked after a while.
Ivy paused for a bit before replying, "Kill him. Is there another option?"
Her reaction kind of shocked him because most noble women tend to avoid killing. But then again, she hadn't been acting like a typical noble woman since he met her.
"And how do you suggest we do that?" he asked, not expecting her next answer. "We can pierce him with ice. He did disturb my beauty sleep, so his death has to be painful." The glint in her eyes made a chill run down the assassin's spine.
There was definitely something wrong with this couple.