When she opened her eyes again, the first thing she felt was an unfamiliar peace.

The pain in her sole, which once felt like being stabbed with a knife, eased somewhat, and was just barely bearable.

‘How much time has passed?’

She pushed her heavy eyelids open, and brilliant sunlight struck Adela’s eyes.

Like someone seeing light for the first time, Adela could not see anything for a moment.

‘This is…’

The annex. Her bedroom.

She tried to move her foot as a test, but her body had no strength to give. Instead, what caught the edge of her vision was the back of a man slumped precariously over the side of the bed, asleep.

Disheveled black hair and a rumpled dress uniform. And a large hand holding her foot against his chest as though it were a lifeline.

‘I thought it was a dream.’

Adela drew a breath.

Somehow the tension drained from her when she realized the hands that nursed her all this time belonged to Leon.

He was clearly a man she ought to hate.

He was the one who treated her like a wh*re and pushed her onto that stage. But she could not deny the warmth of the hands that stayed by her side.

The tenderness that touched her in his unguarded moments hurt more than the cold words he forced out.

Just then she heard a small stir, and not trusting herself to face him with open eyes, she quickly shut them.

A rustling sound came from beside her, and soon a heavy hand settled on her forehead.

“Still a slight fever.”

A quiet sigh fell over her head. A moment later, a large hand firmly cupped her chin, and she felt her breath nearly stop.

Every nerve in her body stood on end wondering what he was about to do, and then a hot, soft sensation covered her lips.

“……?”

Was it like this all along?

The moment she realized that the cool stream of water she sought in her haze passed through his lips, Adela’s heart lurched violently.

Before she could even determine whether it was a hallucination born of terrible fever or a reality sweeter than any dream, Adela sank back into deep darkness. Only Leon’s cool breath remained at the edge of her lips.

* * *

Two weeks passed since she regained consciousness.

Adela swallowed a groan and put her weight on her uninjured foot. From the bed to the chair by the window was only three steps. That short distance felt like a sheer cliff, and by the time she barely managed to perch on the edge of it, the back of her chemise was already damp with cold sweat.

“…Ah.”

Even reaching for the armrest was precarious. After she came to, Leon vanished again.

Out of concern for Adela, he sent Sofia back to her side. Since then, only a few maids came and went, and Leon himself was nowhere to be seen.

Through the window, the lively commotion inside the castle drifted in. The bustling energy of the castle, like a festival was approaching, stood in cruel contrast to the suffocating stillness of the annex.

“They say Ingram Kasvah has returned.”

The maids’ whispers seeping through the gap in the door gnawed at Adela.

That Leon gave Ingram the most lavish guest room in the castle. That the entire empire was anticipating the union of the two.

In truth, she foresaw this from the start.

She knew Leon had a former fiancée, and she knew how meager her own standing was to be at his side.

‘I only want to save you.’

She repeated it to herself countless times, yet every time she imagined Leon and Ingram together, her shoulders trembled faintly.

For a moment she felt like a forgotten ornament left behind in a room whose owner was gone. Leon, with Ingram’s hand in his, might never look back at her again.

Just then, the heavy door of the annex burst open with a force that seemed ready to tear it off its hinges.

Leon entered the room, radiating murderous intent.

He strode over quickly, shut the window, and drew the curtains to block out the light, then seized Adela’s chin hard and yanked it up.

“Are you out of your mind? The physician clearly told you not to move.”

“It’s not that… I was just too stifled…”

“Did I not tell you that your life belongs to me? How do you intend to compensate for lying ill and failing your duties?”

His shadow swallowed Adela whole. Her pinched chin ached, but Leon did not stop.

“Don’t fool yourself, Adela Valent. I kept you alive only because if you died like this, my revenge would end too soon.”

The cool stream of water that once flowed through his lips seemed to have turned into a burning coal.

She knew this was not his true feeling, yet she never seemed to build any immunity to the cruel words he spat.

But what mattered right now was holding onto him.

“I heard there’s talk of a marriage…”

Adela carefully opened her mouth, and Leon finally released her chin with a rough jerk.

He leaned against the window frame and took out a cigarette, lighting it. As the bitter herbal scent filled the bedroom, Adela could not hold back a cough.

She covered her mouth and coughed softly, and Leon scowled and ground the barely half-smoked cigarette out on the floor.

She had to stop him from going back to Ingram at all costs. If she could keep him by becoming a lowly slave at his feet, that was preferable.

Afraid he would leave her like this, Adela instinctively reached out and touched his waist.

Her sick body could not hold him by force, and she could not command him with a princess’s authority. If this was the only thing she, in her wretched state, could offer him.

Face burning, Adela fumbled her way to the words.

“About those duties… would you like me to use my mouth?”

The air in the room froze.

Leon’s face looked like he was staring at the most revolting filth in the world.

“Where did the noble princess of Valent go? Is it really true what they say, that you can’t go even a moment without a man? In that state of yours?”

Every word he said drove into her chest like a blade. She had no idea what rumors he meant, but the fact that he held her in contempt was unmistakable.

A sudden headache made Adela groan, and Leon cursed under his breath and caught her without hesitation.

He laid Adela on the bed, called for a maid, and walked straight out of the bedroom.

The veins on the back of the hand that closed the door stood out sharply.

* * *

“D*mn it!”

Leon stood beyond the closed door of the annex and let out a rough curse.

‘Would you like me to use my mouth?’

Adela’s small voice seemed to burrow relentlessly into his ear. It was an unpleasant, disgusting, appalling suggestion.

But the most wretched thing was that his body responded to it for a moment.

He was afraid someone might know he harbored such a desire for a patient who could barely manage three or four steps on her own.

In truth, even while nursing her, he never fully rid himself of these ugly feelings.

That was perhaps why he was angrier at Adela.

‘That wasn’t what I intended.’

After she regained consciousness, he would briefly check on Adela while she slept and then leave.

He turned back every time, unable to face her, but today’s visit was impulsive.

A sudden dread washed over him that Adela might simply die.

But when he saw her calmly sitting in the draft, irritation surged up in him.

‘Is she trying to get herself killed?’

While the fever raged, she could barely keep medicine down.

“…Hah.”

Adela’s condition was one problem, but an even more troublesome matter arose.

Leon pressed his throbbing brow.

Three days ago, Ingram Kasvah crossed the castle threshold carrying a secret imperial edict bearing the Emperor’s seal. It was obvious her reason for coming down here in person was not a simple courtesy call.

Ingram dropped the Emperor’s secret edict onto the spotless parlor table. The red wax seal stared up at Leon like a grotesque eye.

“……”

Leon stared at the seal bearing Emperor Abarus’s mark for a long time.