“Of course. The Grand Duchess sent me in the first place. She’ll actually be relieved to hear you left quickly.”

The mention that the Grand Duchess had sent her brought a sense of ambiguity. Thea had thought the Grand Duchess wouldn’t let them go, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

She could only think of her as an unpredictable person.

However, despite her frustration, her words flowed smoothly.

“Tell the Grand Duchess I’m grateful. We’re in a hurry, so we’ll depart first.”

“Understood. Should I prepare a carriage for you?”

“I’d appreciate that.”

They could have taken the carriage Margaret arrived in, but Acel would surely be uncomfortable with that.

She remembered he didn’t like traveling with other people.

Since she was his wife, he seemed fine with her, but Margaret was different.

With that brief order concluded, Thea glanced lightly at Acel and Margaret before shifting her gaze to the window. He looked around.

He seemed to be checking if there was anything they needed to take.

But soon realizing there was nothing, Acel moved toward Margaret.

“You there.”

“Yes, Count.”

“Why are you here? I heard you were scheduled to go inspect another town.”

“I was originally going to leave, but there was a problem in that area, so it was postponed to next week.”

“I see. Then you’ll be free until next week.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

He watched Margaret answer clearly, then crossed his arms.

“Then while you’re resting, I’d like you to help my wife.”

“Help your wife?”

“Since the former Count is critically ill, my wife will be busy. So I’d appreciate it if you could assist her.”

Though he phrased it as a gentle request, she could easily tell his true intentions were dark and sticky.

His expression, his trembling fingertips, his tone—everything made it clear.

The moment Margaret realized she couldn’t refuse—

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Thea gently pushed Margaret’s back to get her out of there and shooed away the maid as well.

Thanks to that, the two chased into the corridor could only stare at each other’s faces and blink.

* * *

Having sent away the unwelcome guests without a word, Thea glared sharply at Acel. Margaret was her subordinate.

‘Not yours.’

Why had he issued a threat she couldn’t refuse? He must already know she wasn’t someone who couldn’t find the hidden meaning in his words about helping her.

“Why did you do that?”

“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

At his slippery attempt to brush it off, Thea bit her lip hard. She bit so hard that blood seeped out slightly.

Seeing her draw blood again, he sighed.

“Did you hate it that much? My suggestion to help you.”

“How far do you plan to keep my life in your hands? Haven’t you gripped it tightly enough already?”

“I have no intention of strangling you.”

At Acel’s monotone answer, Thea shook her head roughly several times, telling him not to lie, then whispered softly.

“No, you’re… dragging me deeper and deeper into the mire.”

No matter how hard she tried to soothe her feelings and pretend nothing was wrong, she swayed like a reed at the speck-like emotions he created.

He couldn’t deny this. He must feel it from time to time himself.

He was someone extremely sensitive to others’ emotions. Sensitive enough to notice feelings before she even recognized them herself.

For such a man to claim he didn’t understand this situation was child’s play.

“Tell me, honey. Am I wrong?”

Don’t you want to push me into an even deeper mire so I can never escape? Though she cried out desperately, shuddering, he remained quiet.

Rather, he was like someone watching the eye of a distant storm.

With an expression suggesting there was no more precious sight than this.

The way he seemed unable to even come close because it was so precious—in the end, she let the emotions she’d pulled up drop back to the floor.

Since she’d done it so many times, shaking it off was quite easy. It’s just… she felt like one side of her chest had been hollowed out.

“…Never mind. What’s the point of talking with you? Let’s hurry back to the estate. They’ll be waiting for us outside.”

At her attempt to brush it off lightly, he rubbed his stiff neck gently and said, “If you don’t want it, I’ll send Margaret somewhere else.”

It was a ridiculous suggestion. Even without her, there were plenty in the estate who would serve as his eyes and ears. A subordinate might actually be better.

“That’s fine too. Let’s just go back already. We’re not going to keep standing here, are we?”

Barely covering her seemingly emptied heart with the shawl draped over her shoulders, she turned her back on him and stepped into the corridor.

There she saw Margaret, who had prepared the carriage and was touring the estate. She must have quite liked it, because her eyes sparkled the whole time.

Seeing that she didn’t look upset, Thea was glad she’d sent her out early. If they’d stayed together, Margaret would have been uncomfortable and wouldn’t have known what to do.

‘Right, I’m the only one who needs to be upset. There’s no need to make others uncomfortable too.’

As soon as they returned to House Winter, they could see the household staff gathered in the lobby.

Every one of them ran around with pale faces, holding hot water bottles and wet towels in their arms.

The claim of illness wasn’t a lie—everyone was busy nursing the patient.

In the chaotic situation, as she stiffened her body and stared ahead, Margaret, who had been following behind, also jumped in surprise.

She said it hadn’t been like this when she left.

“When did he become this ill?”

“A patient can have problems at any time, can’t they?”

“But it’s too sudden, isn’t it? I definitely saw him recovering before I left, sunbathing in the garden.”

“The garden?”

Who would have suggested such a dangerous thing? Everyone knew the father-in-law had been bedridden for quite some time due to a long illness.

“No wonder he’s sick.”

Acel, his displeasure evident on his lips, roughly kicked with the toe of his shoe at a pile of medicinal herbs rolling at his feet.

He grumbled continuously, seemingly displeased that they were using herbs for an illness he had created. Soon he grabbed a passing servant.

“You there.”

“What is it, master?”

“Where is my father?”

“The former Count is in the west annex.”

“Why is he there? Before I left, he was in the sickbed.”

It didn’t seem like a good place for his father to stay. The annex the servant mentioned was a place where they sent those on the verge of death, those beyond hope.

In other words, it was practically a place of confinement. The father he remembered had still been healthy enough not to belong in such a place.

“His illness is so severe that Dr. Brown moved him to the annex where there’s less foot traffic.”

“Severe? Since when?”

“Since this afternoon.”

“That type of illness doesn’t become critical so easily.”

Knowing it was a disease derived from a curse, he couldn’t shake the thought that something ironic had happened at the mention of it being severe.

‘How severe must it be…’

For them to send him all the way to the west, quite far from where he originally stayed? 

Just as he decided he should go see the wretched state right away—

The servant began cautiously watching his reaction. A sign there was more to tell.

“What is it?”

“A priest from the Temple of the Sun that Dr. Brown called will be arriving soon.”

At the report of a priest, his face turned ice cold. If they called one to examine him right now, there was a high possibility they’d notice the aftermath of the curse.

That couldn’t happen. They needed to meet after the illness had subsided a bit. If they met now, the secret he’d built up for so long might crumble in an instant.

Licking his drying lips with his tongue, he asked, “When did they say they’d arrive?”

“Probably tomorrow evening.”

“Tomorrow evening.”

“They haven’t departed yet, so if the estate needs preparation, couldn’t we delay it a bit more?”

Sensing the ominous atmosphere, the servant offered his opinion. It wasn’t a bad suggestion.

Buying time before they departed first didn’t seem bad.

“Good, let’s do that.”

“Then should I relay the message through the butler?”

“No, I’ll go handle it myself, so don’t worry.”

Dismissing the servant lightly, he turned to look at Thea. Like he had something to say.

Though she felt his gaze, she pretended not to notice and turned her eyes elsewhere. He only let out a deep sigh, told her to rest, and left.

Once he disappeared from view, Margaret lightly touched Thea’s arm.

“Are you sure you don’t need to follow him?”

“Is there any reason I should?”

He’d probably just go to the study, bedroom, or office anyway.

Rather than worrying needlessly, it would be better to handle the matters before them properly.

“Margaret, let’s go to the west annex.”

“Right now?”

“Then when? It’d be better to go before the sun sets further. We need to prepare Father’s meal too.”

Once he’d been moved to the annex, unless someone took special care, no one in the estate would pay attention.

Then shouldn’t she at least care? Even if things had become a mess, what needed to be done still needed to be done.

‘Better than having one corner of my heart pricked painfully.’

Just as she consoled herself that it was all to ease her own conscience, she found herself standing before the shortcut to the annex.

Even during the rushed move, they’d cleaned the path thoroughly. Judging by the deep marks remaining on the ground, they seemed to have laid her father-in-law on a large cart to transport him.

At the sight resembling a beast being dragged to the slaughterhouse, a bitter laugh bloomed profusely at her lips.

He had said he would never be dragged away by another’s hand.

‘You were wrong, Father.’

Not so long ago, on a certain day, Thea and her father-in-law had conversed while watching the dusky sky, and that exact topic had come up.

A chat about whether he’d be dragged away like a beast in the future or not. Naturally, her father-in-law had chosen the latter, and she had chosen the former.

Amusingly, reality had unfolded in the exact opposite way.