Chapter 4 (Part 5)

Jeremy Richard was not a flawless man, as the rumors claimed.  

That didn’t mean he was a womanizer or someone who caused drunken rampages.  

Like anyone, he had some secrets he couldn’t easily reveal, and today was one of those days.  

After handling an urgent matter, he returned to his hideout late in the afternoon.  

Since his appearance was a mess, he couldn’t return to the ducal residence directly and stopped here instead.  

After removing the bloodstained clothes, he poured water from the well over himself.  

The rancid, sticky smell of blood was something he could never get used to.  

‘…Hah.’  

From the day he first drove a sword into an enemy’s body as a child, Jeremy’s life had been stained red.  

‘Will there ever be an end to this?’  

No matter how many enemies he cut down, countless more appeared before him.  

Though his estate within the Empire was vast, ironically, Jeremy felt most at ease in this small, shabby space.  

In the forest, there were only animals, so there was no need for the Duke to maintain appearances.  

It was a place free from the excessive praise of the Empire’s people and his mother’s suffocating obsession.  

When he visited this place, he would chop firewood or carve small wooden figures.  

During those moments, his life felt a little more ordinary.  

But today, for the first time, a visitor had come to his hideout.  

It was none other than the Duchess of Richard—his wife.  

‘I can’t let her find out.’  

That was why he had desperately hidden the bloodstained clothes and weapons.  

And then, he was overcome with a hollow feeling.  

‘No one in this world truly knows me.’  

This realization left Jeremy profoundly lonely and on edge at the same time.  

The woman in his arms was undoubtedly his wife, as sworn before Goddess Diana.  

‘Yes. Will you become my only family, or will you drive a sharp blade into my chest?’  

The twisted thought spilled out of his lips with a mocking tone.  

“It’s raining heavily, so it seems we’ll have to spend the night here.”  

“It might just be passing rain.”  

Therese didn’t seem pleased with the situation of being alone with him.  

‘Does she dislike me this much?’  

The unpleasant thought that she might be rejecting him because of that man from Pasa enveloped him in discomfort.  

“P-please move away.”  

Watching the terrified Therese beneath him, Jeremy’s lips twisted.  

“…This.”  

When Jeremy extended a finger toward Therese’s lips, her body shrank even further. His long finger slowly brushed her lips, and she shuddered, tightly shutting her eyes.  

‘Those frightened eyes are just like a rabbit’s.’  

The more she avoided him, the more Jeremy was overwhelmed by the urge to touch her.  

Suppressing the strange emotion, Jeremy slowly withdrew his finger.  

“There was marshmallow on your lips, Madame.”  

“……” 

Only then did Therese open her eyes wide and look at the Duke’s finger. But no matter how much she blinked, there was nothing to be seen.  

‘What on earth was there?!’  

The Duke’s expression remained serious, making it difficult to tell whether he was joking or being sincere. The only thing certain was that her heart was pounding too hard.  

Therese, her cheeks flushed, parted her lips slightly, but the Duke spoke suspiciously.  

“Madame, what exactly were you imagining?”  

“N-nothing at all.”  

But it would have been hard for anyone to believe her at that moment.  

Therese’s voice trembled like a dragonfly’s wings.  

When the Duke simply stared at her without reacting, Therese, feeling embarrassed, gave him a strong push. 

“…!”  

The Duke, startled by the sudden attack, let out a small groan.  

The strange atmosphere that had surrounded them broke apart in an instant.  

“Are you hurt?”  

Therese carefully examined the Duke as he straightened his posture. She couldn’t shake the thought that the scent of blood she had smelled earlier might have been his.  

“It’s nothing.”  

“Hold on a moment.”  

When she firmly grabbed his wrist, preventing him from avoiding her gaze, the Duke could no longer hide it.  

As Therese cautiously rolled up his sleeve, she found a deep wound above his elbow. The wound hadn’t been treated, and blood was still oozing from it.  

“Why haven’t you treated this wound?”  

The wound was large and deep, and just looking at it made Therese feel as though she were in pain herself.  

“It doesn’t hurt much.”  

He wasn’t exactly lying. A cut like this wasn’t considered a serious injury to him.  

‘But isn’t this feeling rather nice?’  

It had been a long time since someone had worried about his injuries.  

‘Jeremy! Do you not understand how valuable the blood you shed for the Empire is? Stop crying right now. A man must never cry.’  

When he had first returned from the battlefield with a severe injury, his mother had said those words to him.  

‘Ah, so wounds like this are nothing. Men must not cry.’  

Under Maria’s teachings, young Jeremy had learned to conceal his pain. Gradually, he stopped showing any emotions on his face.  

“If you don’t treat this quickly, it could lead to complications.”  

The sound of fabric tearing snapped Jeremy out of his memories.  

“…?”  

“For now, I’ll wrap it with this. But you must get proper treatment when you return to the residence, Your Grace.”  

Her hands, skillfully tying the makeshift bandage, moved with precision.  

‘She’s done this more than once.’  

Jeremy’s spirits, which had been slightly lifted by Therese tending to his wound, dimmed as his eyes narrowed.  

“Did you treat that man the same way?”  

Though he didn’t mention a name, it was clear he was referring to Roshan.  

“I don’t understand why you’re so interested in Roshan.”  

Therese retorted coldly as she tidied up the remaining scraps of fabric.  

The rain tapping against the small window showed no signs of stopping.  

‘So it’s not just a passing shower.’  

At that moment, a loud noise echoed through the log cabin.  

*Grrrrrr~!*  

There was no need to guess the culprit. Both their stomachs had growled at the same time.  

“…Hm.”  

The two, now facing away from each other, cleared their throats awkwardly.  

It was unbecoming for the Duke of Richard and the Duchess to reveal their hunger in such a manner.  

“Wait here for a moment.”  

Leaving those words behind, Therese stepped outside and returned with some potatoes and carrots.  

“What exactly are you trying to do?”  

The Duke frowned as he watched her holding freshly washed vegetables.  

“We’re hungry, so I’m going to prepare something to eat.”  

“That’s not something you should be doing.”  

Jeremy couldn’t comprehend the situation.  

It was natural for noble ladies to grow up without ever lifting a finger. Yet here was Therese, acting like a maid working in the ducal residence.  

Large droplets of water dripped from her fine silver hair.  

“Then are we just supposed to starve?”  

Shrugging her shoulders, Therese silently began peeling the potatoes.  

“……”  

Jeremy, who hadn’t expected such a reaction from her, simply watched for a while.  

After some time, he quietly stood and took the knife from her hand.  

“This is small but sharp, so it’s quite dangerous.”  

Holding a potato, he began peeling it diligently, but his hands were so large that the small potatoes kept slipping and falling to the floor.  

“Your Grace, you don’t have to do this.”  

Noticing how his injured arm seemed uncomfortable, Therese suggested he rest, but the Duke stubbornly refused.  

“I’ll help.”  

The cooking space near the fireplace was too cramped for two people, and every slight movement caused their arms to brush against each other.  

‘Ah, this is uncomfortable.’  

Therese thought about giving up on cooking altogether but shook her head as she watched the Duke struggling.  

‘I still need to eat.’  

Meanwhile, the Duke finally succeeded in peeling a large potato down to the size of an acorn.  

“Your Grace, at this rate, there won’t be anything left to eat.”  

“…Ah.”  

At her reprimand, the Duke’s hands became more cautious as he chopped the carrots.  

Once they finished preparing the ingredients, Therese poured water into a small pot and added everything they had prepared.  

“Can I use this?”  

She tore pieces from the smoked ham hanging on the wall and added them to the pot before placing it over the fire.  

“Now we just have to wait a little.”  

“……”  

Naturally, the two sat near the fireplace.  

As the fire crackled, Jeremy broke the silence.  

“Have you cooked before?”  

Even if Baron Demori’s title had been purchased, the family was wealthy. It seemed strange for their only daughter to know how to cook.  

After hesitating for a moment, Therese cautiously replied.  

“We had a butler and a nanny at home, but if both of them were sick, there was no one to cook.”  

Baron Demori, who had difficulty trusting people, did not keep many live-in employees.  

During major floods or snowstorms, the gardener and cook, who commuted to the estate, were unable to come. At such times, Sophia naturally took over cooking, but if even she fell ill, cooking became Therese’s responsibility.  

‘The first stew I made was completely burnt, and I had to throw it out.’  

Smiling faintly at the memory, she noticed steam starting to rise from the pot lid. Therese quickly stood and seasoned the stew roughly with salt and pepper.