And now there were rumors on top of everything else.

Thinking it over again, she had caused an extraordinary amount of trouble in every possible direction.

“I should go apologize to the captain in person.”

“Oh, my lady, you don’t need to do that. I heard the master already apologized to everyone involved on your behalf.”

“……The duke did?”

She stared at Maribel, unable to believe that a man so arrogant he only bothered to nod when he felt like it had actually gone to apologize. The maids smiled shyly.

“We were all so stunned when we heard he jumped into the sea himself to save you. He’s always been remarkable, but this time every single one of us was moved to tears. Truly.”

“Ah……”

Hearing that, Liz had nothing left to say. She had managed to lose her balance even in the lifeboat and end up in the water, so that part made sense. But she still couldn’t understand how he had thought to jump from that height into the sea without a second thought.

And then, in that vast open ocean, to find her and pull her out.

How is he still alive.

It was still hard to believe that a great nobleman who had presumably spent his whole life at a desk could do something that irrational.

Even so, she was grateful he had saved her from drowning.

He had jumped into the sea himself for a woman he had only met that day. Whatever people said about him being cold, he clearly wasn’t quite that.

Liz touched her lips without thinking. The thought of him led naturally to the kiss, and her face grew warm.

The duke was her first kiss too.

She had given up on marriage long ago, and she had never imagined she would have her first kiss at twenty-three. The one at the wedding she could excuse, with all those eyes watching. But a second time as well.

It was artificial respiration.

She shook the thought away, telling herself it meant nothing. Then she spoke, looking a little sheepish.

“Then I should at least…… apo, apologize to the duke……”

“Oh my, my lady, are you still cold?”

Her voice came out unsteady, and the maids fluttered around her in alarm and steered her back into bed.

“No. I need to see the duke……”

“Later. Your face is still pale.”

The maids declared it absolutely out of the question and began hauling in every quilted blanket in the cabin. Their fussing was embarrassing, but she really was cold. The chill just wouldn’t leave her, no matter what.

“You’ll catch cold at this rate. Is the fireplace still not working?”

“Well…… since summer is almost here, no one thought it would be needed, so it wasn’t prepared. I’ll go ask again.”

The maids, fretting over Liz’s shivers, stamped their feet and went off to find a crew member.

Liz pulled several layers of blankets tight around herself and shook. She had eaten hot soup, but the cold had seeped all the way into her bones.

She felt like she had been this cold once before.

When you’re cold, liquor is the answer.

The memory surfaced of her father laughing heartily on a winter hunting trip. The Clairmont family, relatively poor as they were, had often drunk to warm themselves in winter. Liz had sometimes helped with the farmwork after school and shared a simple drink or two with the tenant farmers.

She uncurled slightly and called out to Maribel, who was still in the room.

“Um…… Maribel.”

“Yes. Is there something you need?”

Maribel had been struggling to carry over an extra blanket and rushed over at once. She looked worried and ready to fetch anything at all. Liz hesitated at the earnest expression, then slowly opened her mouth.

“I was wondering…… is there any liquor?”

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Bang!

A heavy crash was followed by a man’s groan.

It was a remote section of the ship used for storage. The cramped, dim space reeked of musty wood and damp sea air.

“Get him up.”

A flat, toneless voice cut cold through the darkness.

At Johann’s order, his men grabbed Philip, who had crumpled after a blow to the stomach, and hauled him roughly upright. His face was already so covered in blood and grime it was barely recognizable.

The men poured ice-cold water over him without mercy.

“Gah! Ugh!”

Philip broke into violent coughs, his sleeve hanging limp and ragged, his whole body trembling. He looked up at Johann, who stood without a single thing out of place, and begged.

“I’m…… I’m sorry. I never intended to take anyone’s life.”

Johann loosened his tie and drew an elegant silver case from his br*ast pocket. With a click, and he pulled out a slim cigarette and set it between his lips.

Scratch.

A match struck, and a small flame caught at the tip, flickering faintly.

A thin stream of pale smoke eased out from between steady lips. He took one slow drag, then began to walk.

“If a single apology were enough to settle this, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

“Please…… please, no! Aaagh!”

The polished heel of his shoe came down deliberately on the back of Philip’s hand where it pressed against the floor. Philip screamed in pain.

His face was cold, but the anger behind it was unmistakable. Even his own men stiffened. They knew better than to expect any mercy. Philip, too foolish to understand that, kept making excuses to the last, clinging to Johann’s shoe.

“Just this once…… please forgive me. If I’m being honest, I couldn’t stand watching that woman anywhere near a man I respect as much as Your Grace. You must not let that pretty face deceive you. Because of her, more than ten women from Bellum Girls’ Academy dropped out and disappeared.”

Johann had not blinked at a single apology. Now his eyes sharpened. A slight lift of his chin, and Philip went down again with a blow to the back.

Johann glanced down at the man clutching his broken nose and groaning, then dropped the half-smoked cigarette without a second thought.

“On the honor of the Ashworth Dukedom, I can say with certainty that the only path ahead for Marquis Elliot is police custody, bankruptcy, and permanent ruin.”

He turned and spoke to his men.

“Hand him over to the authorities at the next port.”

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Back on the first-class deck where the VIP suite was, Johann stopped outside the closed door and drew a slow breath.

“This isn’t like you.”

Kyle’s words settled over him. Johann swallowed and said nothing.

He knew. He admitted it to himself and pressed his fist closed. He had let his composure slip in a way that wasn’t like him at all, and wasted time on someone worthless because the rage had surged up at how close he had come to losing Liz right in front of him.

“Liz.”

“She seems to have recovered, fortunately.”

The report that she had stabilized in his absence made Johann dismiss Kyle and the others and slowly push the door open.

The room was quiet. The bed was still under the faint wash of light, which meant she was asleep. He moved without sound and settled at the edge of the bed. The mound of blankets piled up like a small hill hid her face entirely.

She must be cold.

He understood the pile of blankets now. He leaned in to pull up a blanket that had slipped, and the bedding suddenly flew back.

Liz sat up and blinked at him slowly. Her wheat-colored hair fell loose and disheveled around her face, and her hazelnut eyes opened and closed in long, unhurried blinks.

In the soft light of the bedroom, her dewy skin and flushed cheeks stood out all the more.

“……Your Grace?”

“Did I wake you?”

Before he could finish wondering at the slightly slurred quality of her voice, Liz called his name and smiled at him. He lost his train of thought for a moment at the sight of those pretty eyes curving up at him. Then she suddenly curled in on herself.

“Ugh, I’m cold.”

Her glossy wheat-colored hair slid down past her nape like silk.

“That’s because you went and……”

He was about to say something about her hunched shoulders when a small figure burrowed straight into his arms, and he went rigid.

The slight body nestled against him shifted and wriggled, pressing its face into his chest.

“Ah, warm.”

“Liz, what are you……”

“Johann.”

He had started to pull her arms away, flustered, when the familiar use of his name stopped him cold.

It was the first time she had called him that. Something ached faintly in his chest. He had barely caught his breath when a faint smell of alcohol drifting from her slight frame made his eyes narrow.

He exhaled slowly.

“I can’t believe this. You nearly drowned, and you’ve been drinking?”

“Mm-hm. I did.”

Liz lifted only her head and confessed without any resistance, then parted her lips in a small smile. She had been inches from drowning, and she had gone ahead and ignored the doctor’s orders to rest and drunk anyway. He had been about to look stern, but her drowsy, guileless expression left him staring.

“Who on earth gave you liquor. Never mind. I’ll deal with them myself.”

Johann moved to stand and sort it out, and Liz grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

“Mm. Where are you going.”

Her small hand slid up along his chest, feeling its way. Her fingertips brushed the buttons of his shirt, and one by one they came loose.

Her slender fingers slipped through the gap and found his chest, and Johann drew a sharp breath.

“……Liz.”

“Mm, warm.”

Whether it was the alcohol or pure instinct against the cold, her hands kept moving over him, completely unguarded.