Chapter 5 (Part 5)

“Are you about to say your type is someone with black hair and red eyes?”  

“…What?”  

There was only one person with such features. She had no idea why he was so obsessed with Roshan.  

Therese replied dryly.  

“Roshan is like a brother to me…”  

“Are there nobles who treat slaves as brothers?”  

Annoyed by his constant snide remarks, Therese scratched his scalp roughly. What business was it of his whether she treated Roshan as a brother or not?  

“…Ah.”  

The Duke let out a small cry of pain, but his face still wore a smile.  

‘Why does he keep smiling? It’s unsettling.’  

Therese could count on one hand the number of times Duke Richard had smiled at her. In fact, it was rare for him to smile in her presence at all.  

‘How can someone be so irritating?’  

She remembered a similar moment from before when she had failed to give a proper response.  

‘Are you thinking of someone else while I’m right here?’  

‘I’m afraid so.’  

Now seemed like the perfect time to say what she hadn’t been able to before. Wiping her wet hands on her apron, Therese braced herself.  

“I have someone I like.”  

“…”  

Suddenly, silence filled the bathroom.  

“It’s not me, is it?”  

Though his voice still carried a teasing tone, the Duke’s closed eyelids tensed noticeably.  

Therese clenched her fists, struggling to maintain her composure. She knew how ridiculous it sounded to say she liked someone else.  

‘Especially after he found my journal not long ago.’  

Her journal had been filled with praise for Duke Richard’s achievements and radiant beauty.  

‘I can’t let him keep thinking I like him.’  

“It’s different from the foolish feelings I had when I was younger.”  

“So, who is it?”  

“They call him the Night Wolf.”  

“…Ah.”  

The Duke’s tightly pursed lips trembled briefly before returning to calm.  

“The criminal His Majesty the Emperor ordered to be killed?”  

“I don’t think he’s a criminal.”  

The Night Wolf only intervened in horrifying cases that the law couldn’t resolve.  

She recalled a recent incident.  

A merchant’s beautiful daughter had taken her own life after being horribly wronged by a nobleman. However, the nobleman, being wealthy and powerful, was declared innocent in court.  

‘Only the dead woman was pitied.’  

On a rainy day, that nobleman had slipped and fallen to his death from a bridge. Everyone believed it was the Night Wolf who had punished him, as he left no evidence behind.  

“Since His Majesty has declared him a criminal, such words are dangerous, Madame.”  

“Regardless, he’s the one I like.”  

When Therese emphasized it a second time, the corners of the Duke’s lips twitched.  

“Your Grace, why are you smiling?”  

She had expected him to get angry or scorn her, but the Duke showed none of the reactions she had anticipated. 

“I’m not smiling. My eyes are stinging, so I’m tearing up.”  

Jeremy extended his left hand, pretending to rub his eyes to hide his expression.  

When Therese carefully wiped the corners of his eyes with a damp cloth, Jeremy finally lifted his head.  

Gazing at the steam-filled bathroom, he spoke slowly.  

“I feel like marrying you was a good decision. To receive such affectionate care…”  

“…”  

She was certain she had made it clear she wanted a divorce, yet here he was, casually saying how happy he was about their marriage.  

‘Did he get cursed while dealing with monsters in the frontier?’  

There was no such thing as an affectionate touch between the two of them. Therese’s forehead creased deeply as she clutched her apron.  

On the other hand, Jeremy Richard’s mood was at its peak. He liked the way Therese flared up and became conscious of him.  

Blood began to seep from his injured right arm as he lifted it slightly, and the corners of his lips twisted.  

‘This isn’t so bad.’  

Jeremy slowly recalled the early hours of dawn when he had gotten injured.  

It was a time so late that even the beasts were not yet awake.  

Cigarette butts were piled high at Jeremy’s feet as he leaned against the wall. It was a sign that he had been waiting for quite a while for someone’s bedroom window to open.  

By the time his body grew stiff from standing in one position for too long, there was a creaking sound.  

‘She’s like a flying squirrel.’  

His sharp gaze followed his wife’s unusual movements.  

‘I knew she wouldn’t listen when I told her not to go out.’  

He had known she would leave him behind, despite his offer to escort her. But witnessing it firsthand still left him in a foul mood.  

‘Am I really that untrustworthy?’  

In truth, no one in the empire could match his strength.  

‘Especially not those Pasa bastards.’  

Jeremy Richard’s eyes, looking upward, turned fierce. Anyone would feel irritated in this situation, regardless of who they were—even if it was a partner in a political marriage.  

‘Even so, I can’t just let this go.’  

He couldn’t stand by and watch Therese face danger in his absence, nor could he stomach the idea of her laughing and chatting with another man.  

‘She’s a member of the Richard family.’  

For reasons he couldn’t fully explain, he found it hard to take his eyes off her.  

Grinding his teeth sharply, Jeremy noticed that Therese was almost all the way down. As he reached out his arms to catch her, his leg cramped up.  

‘…Ugh.’  

When Jeremy’s hand accidentally brushed against her ankle, Therese swung her dagger mercilessly.  

If he had blocked her first attack, he wouldn’t have been injured. But Jeremy deliberately extended his right arm instead.  

‘It stung quite a bit.’  

There was always a price to pay to gain something.  

Thanks to his minor injury, he now had an excuse to spend the whole day with Therese, who hated being near him. In the end, it wasn’t a bad outcome.  

‘This is a good opportunity to figure her out properly.’  

“I think I’m done washing, so I’ll get up now.”  

Without any warning, Jeremy stood up abruptly, causing water to splash out of the bathtub. Therese’s dress hem, unable to escape in time, became soaked, and his completely bare body was revealed in an instant.  

Beneath his broad shoulders, firm back muscles rippled, and water droplets rolled down his well-defined waist and long legs.  

“…Ahem, ahem.”  

Therese cleared her throat awkwardly, unable to find a place to rest her eyes.  

Hurriedly, she grabbed a robe and draped it over his shoulders.  

She thought she could finally relax, but she was wrong.  

“Madame, I can’t tie the robe because of my hand.”  

At his troubled words, Therese sighed deeply. The robe had to be tied no matter what. Otherwise, every time the Duke moved, the robe would flutter open.  

‘That’s absolutely unacceptable.’  

Closing her eyes tightly, she stood in front of the Duke.  

Because he had just been sitting in hot water, his body radiated the heat of a midsummer breeze.  

As she fumbled for the robe’s belt and grabbed it with both hands, she could feel the Duke tense slightly.  

“Can you do it with your eyes closed?”  

“As long as you stay still, I can manage, Your Grace.”  

Jeremy’s black eyes, watching Therese as she kept her eyes shut, held a mix of emotions.  

‘Do you hate looking at me that much?’  

Normally, he would have been furious, but today, for some reason, he felt fine.  

‘To think you like the Night Wolf so much….’  

As he shrugged his shoulders, the belt was tied so tightly that it felt like he was being bound. He could barely breathe.  

“…Ugh!”  

“All done.”  

Jeremy straightened his back and met Therese’s blue eyes, which had finally opened. The blue in the steam-filled room was as vivid as a hydrangea soaked in dew.  

‘If I reach out, will my hand be stained blue?’  

Then, an image of the high, blue sky of the north came to mind—a sky where the cold wind blew. He couldn’t remember it clearly, but under that sky, he had lost something precious at his fingertips.  

“…Ugh.”  

The shock caused Jeremy to sway violently, and the startled Therese reached out to catch him.  

“Your Grace! Your Grace! What’s wrong?”  

“I must be dizzy from losing so much blood.”  

With Jeremy’s low whisper, the moisture still clinging to him soaked Therese as well.  

“I’ll take you to bed.”  

She managed to help the Duke to his bed. His still-damp hair instantly made the pillow wet.  

Therese covered him with a blanket and replaced his wet bandages. During that time, the Duke groaned softly, too dizzy to say much.  

“Should I call for a physician?”  

“I’m… I’m fine.”  

The Duke’s face, partially covered by his left hand, was filled with pain.  

After finishing her tasks, Therese sighed as she stood by the bed.  

‘He has moments like this too.’  

With all the heroic tales and rumors surrounding him, Therese had thought the Duke was more than a normal human, someone immune to pain or sorrow.