Things had been tangling strangely, and now they felt like they were heading toward something even worse.

When Rubenstein had proposed the contract to me, I had thought that once Tito Tymveck’s remnants were dealt with, I would simply return to being a commoner, shed the name I had been using, and live freely and peacefully. It seemed that was not to be.

“My lady, I don’t really know, but.”

Melly looked at me and scratched her cheek.

“I think…… it would be better not to think too much today and just rest. The doctor said so too.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“My lady, really, only now are you curious about your own body?”

Starting from there, she told me many things. She said I had been unconscious for less than a full day. The physician had come and gone, and had given a prescription out of concern over how often I was collapsing.

“What does the doctor think made me collapse?”

“Well.”

Melly rested a hand on her cheek and continued.

“The doctor said it seems the tension you had been holding for so long released all at once, and your body, which had been pushed too hard, simply gave out. But……”

Melly leaned toward me and whispered.

“The…… the nurse told a different story.”

“Hmm?”

“She said that…… from the, the marital relations…… you had pushed yourself too hard…… since the nurse examines the body instead of the physician…… she said your whole body gave out from overexertion.”

“…… What.”

Listening to Melly, I was so mortified I didn’t know what to do with myself and covered my face with both hands. I wanted to crawl into any hole I could find.

“So what was it she said…… the impact would be comparable to being charged at full force, repeatedly, by a large wild beast……”

“Stop.”

I covered my face with both hands and struggled to stop her.

“I understand. Did she give any medicine?”

“Ahem…… yes.”

Melly finished speaking, gave a short cough, and quietly showed me a small jar of ointment.

“This can be applied even to delicate areas, so apply it and let it air out, she said. I’ll leave it here.”

Melly whispered as she set the ointment on the nightstand. My face was so red it felt ready to burst. From pain, or from embarrassment. Perhaps both.

“Thank you.”

“Well, I’ll be going then.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

I gave a vague nod and closed my eyes weakly.

I hadn’t known hearing the word ‘marital relations’ from Melly’s mouth would be this much of a shock.

Even so, I was grateful just knowing that the people around me were aware I was hurting. Especially that nurse, who had identified my situation so precisely.

Comparing Rubenstein to a large wild beast had been a stroke of genius.

Rubenstein’s body was solid, and when he moved with full force it really did feel like being struck by something. My whole body still ached like it was being crushed, so that was accurate.

It hadn’t been this bad in the morning…… but after the intense fright of today, the muscle pain throughout my entire body had become truly severe.

“…… Goodness, my lady, the duke is so devoted to you, I don’t know whether to call this a blessing…… or ask if you’re all right……”

Melly murmured with drooping shoulders. I must have looked that pitiful.

Well, my body was covered in marks, after all. Camille had said the same thing earlier.

In that moment, I thought of Camille too, looking at me earlier as though I were the most wretched person in the world.

And the image of his back as he stepped in front of me and threw himself into the fight came to mind along with it. Was he all right.

“Thank you, Melly. Do you happen to know whether Sir Herus or Count Dynyak are all right?”

The moment I whispered to her,

“Oh!”

Melly leapt to her feet in a sudden panic, as though she had touched a flame. Her complexion had gone pale as a ghost.

“What, what is—”

Following her gaze, I turned my head and stopped moving at the sight of the large figure standing in the doorway.

Rubenstein again.

The moment I confirmed it was him, I let out a long breath I had been holding. Exhaustion washed over my entire body.

“My wife seems to worry about other men before me.”

“I was simply concerned about someone who was in the same place.”

I kept my expression firm and pushed back in a small voice.

“I was there too.”

“…… Pardon?”

“Ah, my wife had lost consciousness.”

Rubenstein blinked slowly and crossed his arms.

“So I was the one who saved you, and I don’t even get a proper word of thanks.”

“That’s not true.”

There he goes picking at things again. I frowned and was about to argue back, then closed my mouth entirely.

Even right before losing consciousness, there was no way I wouldn’t remember his voice. …… It had been like a savior’s.

But how could I say something like that. Whether or not he knew I was struggling, Melly quickly stepped away from me and bowed to the duke.

“I, I, I’ll be taking my leave.”

Melly tucked the basin under her arm, shot me a meaningful look, and hurried out. Rubenstein ignored her bow entirely and strode over to the head of my bed.

“……”

Our eyes met. But neither of us was quick to speak. The room that had been filled with Melly’s chatter fell silent again.

“The others who were attacked with you are fortunately all right. Including that ‘Count Dynyak.'”

The man said it to me in a languid voice and looked down at me.

Good grief.

The moment ‘Dynyak’ came out of his mouth, I stubbornly looked down. I was afraid that if our eyes met, he would start picking at things again like he had this morning. I didn’t have the strength to deal with that right now.

That was when it happened. The man let out a small breath.

“Showing this openly that you dislike me. Because of what happened this morning?”

Rubenstein spoke with an expression of disbelief.

“What? What happened this morning?”

And the disbelief was mutual.

“You dismissed what I do and called it ‘that’—”

The moment I raised my voice and looked up.

Rubenstein cupped my chin in one hand.

“Got you.”

He pulled my face toward his and smiled with satisfaction. Unless I was imagining things, he was pleased that our eyes had met just now.

“You’re right. It wasn’t nothing. It was very important, and you were serious about it. And I was the one being emotional.”

And then he apologized out of nowhere. Unbelievable. Wondering what was happening, I held his gaze for a moment.

Even in the dim light, I could see the shifting expression in the man’s eyes. When our eyes met, his seemed to curve faintly. I remembered the look in his eyes on the first day, the day he returned.

Had his eyes looked like this then too? Back then he had seemed to feel nothing, and that had frightened me. This is strange……

Almost as though caught under a spell, I couldn’t look away from those eyes. Back then I had thought those dark, sunken eyes were frightening. And yet in only two days I had become someone who could argue back and make noise at him.

“I shouldn’t have sent you off alone. I was only being petty.”

“……”

Was the reason those eyes no longer frightened me that I had forgotten my fear, or that he was being gentle with me? I looked at him, almost in a daze, and gave a small nod.

“Thank you for…… coming right away and saving me.”

At my quiet whisper, I thought I heard a faint laugh.

“Think nothing of it.”

“But how did you know about the attack…… I mean.”

I thought back to the man who had come charging in, firing his long rifle. Firearms had been used in war for quite some time. They had become common enough to carry around, like Camille’s. But that long rifle was far too large to carry as a personal sidearm the way Camille did. It was almost as though he had brought it on purpose, knowing I would be attacked.

But how had he known I was being attacked? I was blinking and wondering whether to ask when I noticed the man drawing closer to me. It wasn’t my imagination. His face was getting closer.

Wait, could it be, though it might be my imagination, was he perhaps about to kiss me. But today……