I’m Just a Counselor

I stopped and looked back at him. His brow, which had been perfectly straight just a moment ago, was now furrowed.

 “Mm.” 

He finally put a hand to his chest. The hem of his shirt crumpled in his grasp.

 

I furrowed my brow with him and decided to wake him up. Insomnia is insomnia, but I couldn’t let him suffer like that!

 

I sat up quickly and shook his shoulders.

 “Duke, Duke!” 

To my relief, he opened his eyes quickly. His chartreuse eyes looked up at me with a dazed expression.

 “…Miss Vanessa?” “Are you all right?” “I’m…” “Did you have a nightmare?” “Ha.” 

He groaned and ran a hand through his silver hair. His hair was now drenched in sweat.

 

Jeremiah sounded dejected.

 “I guess Miss Vanessa didn’t help, either. I guess that was just a fluke.” “…….” “I’m sorry I asked for a favor. You may leave.” 

Jeremiah pointed toward the door.

 

I looked at him wearily, then stood up and headed in the direction he indicated, but didn’t leave the room.

 

Dimming the lights, I turned back to him and sat down beside him. Jeremiah stared at me, puzzled.

 “Duke. Tell me what you dreamed.” “Look, Miss Vanessa,”

Jeremiah said coolly.

 “I told you not to be so presumptuous.” 

He wiped his forehead and muttered in annoyance.

 “You can’t do anything against me unless I give you permission.” “…….” 

He drew a line in the sand and pushed me away.

 

Last time, I’d given in and backed down, but this time I was going to ignore him. Obedience to someone like this wouldn’t help me at all.

 

I looked him straight in the eye and moved my mouth in a provocative manner.

 “I can help you, Duke.” “…….” “Once you ask for help, you’re stuck with it. I won’t refuse, and I won’t shirk.” “Without fear…” 

Jeremiah laughed, as if he was full of energy. But I didn’t look away from him.

 

He was suffering in front of me, and I wasn’t about to ignore it.

 

He could call me an ass. I had no intention of letting him be discouraged.

 

It was not yet dawn; there was still plenty of time to listen to him.

 “What I’m about to tell you is for Miss Vanessa’s benefit alone.”  

Jeremiah frowned slightly when I showed no sign of giving up.

 

When I nodded at his words, Jeremiah sighed and spoke in a low voice. His hair shimmered faintly in the darkness.

 “My parents died when I was ten. Estella was four when they were attacked by a demon, and she was with me.” “…….” “My parents died trying to wrap their arms around Estella, and while they were able to save her, she saw them torn to shreds by the beast’s claws right before her eyes.” 

My eyes widened at Estella’s traumatic past.

 “I don’t think Estella knows this now.” 

Apparently, this was something that was left out of the original story.

 “After that, Estella didn’t speak for a while. It was three years before I saw her speak again, and she didn’t remember our parents.” “…….” “I’m ashamed to say, I wasn’t able to take care of Estella at the time, because I had to take over the title right after our parents died, and… the sudden accident was a tragedy for me as well.” 

I understood. Jeremiah was only ten years old at the time.

 

It must have been difficult for him to rise to the lofty position of duke before he had even gotten over the shock of his parents’ deaths. He couldn’t have grieved properly afterward.

 

Who else could have taken care of his sister in that situation?

 

‘Jeremiah would not have been able to show weakness.’

 

When you’re in a position of power at such a young age, there are usually people who want to take advantage of you.

 

To keep them at bay, Jeremiah would have had to hide his weaknesses as much as possible.

 

As if to confirm my suspicions, Jeremiah muttered to himself.

 “I’ve had my hands full just trying to keep what my parents gave me.” 

There was still a faint note of pain in his voice.

 “It wasn’t until later that I started to care for Estella, but that was literally an afterthought.” 

I could see why Jeremiah was so unusually protective of Estella. And why he called her unstable.

 

In Jeremiah’s eyes, she must have seemed like someone who could fall off a cliff at any moment.

 “Honestly, I doubt the carriage accident was an accident at all.” “…….” “Miss Vanessa, you asked me what I was dreaming about?” “…….” “I dream of the day my parents died, and after that scene, I dream of Estella dying in front of me, and I see it and I can’t do anything about it.” 

Jeremiah is a possessive and controlling type, which means his sense of responsibility is many times stronger than others.

 

I had my doubts, but now I am convinced.

 

‘He was just saying something about how he had to be in charge of the whole territory.’

 

If he was the alpha of a pack of wolves, he would be the one to take responsibility for all the problems in the pack.

 

‘He has a very high wall, but once you get over it, he’s unconditionally accepting…’

 

Not being in charge must have been a very painful issue for him. Jeremiah’s greatest fear would have been helplessness, especially when it came to his family.

 “Okay, now it’s your turn to speak.” 

When he finished, Jeremiah looked at me.

 

There was a mild sneer in his eyes, something like,

“What can you do?”

 “How are you going to help me?” 

In other words, Jeremiah’s dreams are a kind of trauma switch. It was nothing like simple insomnia.

 

Treating trauma is difficult with light psychotherapy, especially for someone as self-conscious and stubborn as Jeremiah.

 

‘He doesn’t like to talk about himself, and persuasion won’t work…’

 

It’s funny to feel stuck now that I’ve said it out loud, but I also didn’t want to look at Jeremiah and see how he would react if I said it.

 

‘It wasn’t just Estella.’

 

I looked at him, muttering to myself. Still, I couldn’t just walk away and do nothing.

 

I decided to start by asking myself why Jeremiah was able to sleep so well when I was around. There must be a reason he didn’t have nightmares when I was around.

 

‘In general, I would say it was because he felt safe.’

 

After all, people sleep when they’re relaxed. But why did Jeremiah feel comfortable with me?

 

I started to speculate.

 

There are many possible explanations, so it’s not easy to come to a conclusion, but the most plausible one is.

 

‘Because I’m there to take the pressure off?’

 

Let’s leave aside the issue of his parents, because it’s too late to fix that. Jeremiah’s biggest problem right now was Estella.

 

He was feeling incredibly overwhelmed by his responsibility for her, which was probably contributing to his stress.

 

But then I showed up. Estella’s favorite and well-behaved. Someone who could make her happy.

 

Seeing me and Estella might have relieved him of the pressure of feeling like he was the only one responsible for her.

 

‘If you think about it this way…’

 

I finished my thought and turned to Jeremiah.

 “We should try again.” “Do what?” “I’m going to put you to bed again, Duke, but this time you lie down here.” 

I patted my legs. Jeremiah raised one eyebrow at the offer of a lap pillow.

 

He gave me a fierce glare, but I ignored it. You have to be a little brazen to do this kind of thing.

 “Are you kidding me?” “I’m completely serious.” “What the hell did I expect…” 

With a small grunt, he slashed my legs and lay down. A heavy weight settled on my thighs.

 

Jeremiah looked up at me. I looked down at him and admired him a little.

 

‘You’re handsome even this way.’

 

How does a man have such a blind spot? Maybe I should give Estella a knee pillow.

 

As I was thinking to myself, I noticed a pair of light green eyes staring back at me.

 “Close your eyes.” 

Jeremiah, who looked like he was going to argue again, surprisingly complied. I lifted my hand and gently placed it over his eyelids, the flutter of his lashes tickling my palm lightly.

 “From now on, when I count to three, the Duke will fall asleep.”