Fortunately, the hole in the back of my hand was healing with the help of holy water.

Thanks to the adrenaline that exploded from fear and tension, it was a crazy thing to do even thinking about it now.

But it was also a gamble worth taking. If I had said I couldn’t do it there, neither of us would have been safe anyway.

If I could get away with just one hand, it was rather cheap.

Erasing the unpleasant memory of Klaus from my mind, I ran towards the upper part of the circular arena.

Far away, I could see Michael inside the arena. As I was running towards the nearest stairs to get to him, a hand suddenly grabbed me.

Regaining my balance that I had lost without realizing, I turned around to see Ilion panting.

“…Your Grace?”

“I have something I want to ask.”

Does he want to talk about what happened earlier? Or about Michael?

“What is it, Your Grace?”

Though I was in a hurry, I asked without showing it.

“About you, perhaps…”

His red eyes examined me as he asked. What could he want to ask?

Could he be asking if I’m really dating Michael? No, that can’t be.

If not that, then…

Suddenly, an ominous feeling began to creep up.

Who said there’s always another mountain to climb? Just when I thought I had escaped from Klaus…

Thinking I might have been found out, I waited for his words in a half-resigned state when the arena suddenly became noisy.

A loud boom echoed, and then my body tilted.

I realized what had happened when I saw black hair fluttering in the wind against the bright blue sky that filled my vision.

“…Your Grace?”

I called out to Ilion with an uneasy voice. There was no answer.

I quickly freed myself from his arms that had hurriedly embraced me and got up. Ilion was lying there motionless.

“Ah, Miss. Are you alright?”

I saw Michael running towards us, startled by the commotion.

“Michael, what’s going on? Why suddenly…”

“There was an accident. The machine suddenly changed direction…”

Machine? The one we tightened the screw on earlier? No, that wasn’t important right now.

“Michael, please call a priest. No, take the Duke with you. That would be faster.”

“Don’t worry. Right now…”

Michael, who was about to speak, quickly bowed his head. Not just Michael, but all the people who had gathered around knelt down and looked in one direction.

Trying to hide my anxiety, I looked back. There was Klaus, walking towards us with a leisurely expression.

“My, the Duke seems to be badly hurt.”

Although he put on a worried expression, his tone was utterly disgusting.

“Why again…”

Artia, who had followed behind him, covered her mouth at the horrible scene and trailed off. Then she quickly regained her composure and moved towards Ilion.

“Artia. Don’t act on your own.”

But she was immediately restrained by Klaus.

Artia stopped in her tracks and looked at Klaus.

“But Your Majesty, the Duke…”

“What do you think you can do for the Duke?”

“…Are you doubting me?”

Artia asked sharply.

“Don’t you think you’re forgetting your place? Although we’re treating you as a guest, the fact that you’re a prisoner from an enemy country hasn’t changed.”

Such useless conversation when time was of the essence. It seemed that the fallen Ilion wasn’t even visible in Klaus’s eyes.

Unable to bear it any longer, I bowed my head before him.

“Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting your conversation, but if it’s alright, I’d like to take the Duke to the temple.”

Large boots stepped closer. Then he lowered his body and whispered to me softly.

“Sure. Go ahead and take him. It would be troublesome if your future husband were to die.”

Surprised, I unconsciously raised my head, only to be met with eyes that looked so delighted it sent chills down my spine.

***

Three days had passed since that incident.

Although all external wounds had been treated, Ilion still hadn’t woken up.

In the original story, Ilion never collapsed. He easily saved the Saintess and avoided the accident.

‘All the screws were tightened. After you disappeared with Dimitri, Miss, I checked thoroughly again. There was definitely no problem, but the machine suddenly changed direction…’

I recalled Michael’s words as he explained about the accident.

The machine suddenly changing direction, and Klaus appearing as if he had been waiting right after the accident, couldn’t be a coincidence.

Not to mention, Klaus knew my identity exactly.

Whether it was revenge for daring to try to deceive him, or a ploy to get rid of Ilion who was a thorn in his side, I couldn’t be sure.

However, what was certain from this incident was that Klaus held hostility not only towards Ilion but towards me as well.

“What are you thinking so hard about by yourself?”

“Ah, Miss Spinel.”

“Your expression is unusually dark. It’s unlike you.”

Spinel said as she sat down across the table.

“Is that so? I was just lost in thought…”

I answered, deliberately being vague.

“Don’t tell me you think this incident is your fault?”

“……”

I kept my mouth shut at her question that hit the mark.

“Well, you did do everything you were told not to do.”

Ugh…

“Now that I think about it, it does seem to be your fault.”

Spinel’s words were merciless. Yet I couldn’t refute because every word she said was true. Whatever the intention was, this was the result.

“Of course, it’s better that he got hurt than you.”

Spinel muttered nonchalantly as she munched on cookies brought by a maid.

“Aren’t you going to check on him?”

“If you’re talking about the Duke’s condition, I receive daily reports from Sebastian.”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to visit him directly instead of bothering the butler?”

“……”

It wasn’t that I didn’t know that. I just couldn’t trust myself anymore.

I wasn’t even sure if it was better to get involved in Ilion’s affairs or to distance myself like this.

That’s why I couldn’t go see him.

“I thought humans stay by the deathbed before someone dies, but I guess not.”

“…Miss Spinel. The Duke hasn’t passed away yet.”

I corrected Spinel’s words with a forced smile.

“How do you know that? No one knows if he’ll die today or tomorrow like this. He was already on the brink of death anyway…”

Slam!

I stood up, hitting the table and cutting off Spinel’s words.

“I’ll go back to my room first.”

“You’re taking out your anger in the wrong place.”

Spinel shrugged at my reaction and put the last cookie in her mouth.

Spinel’s words weren’t wrong. Ilion was hurt because of me, it was true that I was bothering Sebastian while not visiting Ilion myself, and it was also true that I was venting my anger at her words.

My feet, which were heading back to my room, suddenly stopped in front of Ilion’s room.

“Making people’s hearts uneasy with unnecessary talk about deathbeds and whatnot…”

After pacing in front of the door for a while, I took a deep breath. Then I slowly opened the door and entered the room.

The room was quiet.

On the spacious bed, Ilion was sleeping as if he were dead.

…Ah, from now on, the word ‘death’ is forbidden. I don’t want to jinx it.

Shaking my head, I moved closer to examine him.

He looked peaceful, as if he was having a good dream. It’s the first time I’ve seen him sleeping like this.

“What kind of good dream are you having, to keep sleeping like this?”

While I feel like my blood is drying up with each passing day.

“Your Grace, you have a lot to do. It’s uncomfortable to have your nagging piled up. So wake up quickly.”

I voiced my complaint-filled wish that he couldn’t hear anyway.

At that moment, Ilion stirred slightly, and his long eyelashes moved slowly.

Ah, wait a minute. I said wake up, but I didn’t mean this suddenly.

Ilion blinked a couple of times as though his vision was blurry. Seeing this, I quickly hid under the bed.

I don’t know why, but I just felt I had to hide.

I take back what I said about waking up earlier. Go back to sleep quickly. Quickly!

As I was praying with my hands clasped under the bed, a low voice was heard from above.

“…What are you doing there.”

“……”

“Ravenne?”

No, can you see me? Even though I hid so perfectly? When I turned my head, I saw a few strands of hair that I hadn’t managed to hide sticking out from under the bed.

Having long hair is really useless at times like this.

Unable to help it, I crawled out from under the bed and smiled awkwardly at Ilion.

“…Th-There’s so much dust on the floor. I should tell the maids to clean.”

At my words, Ilion stared at me for a moment before letting out a small laugh.

“To see something like this as soon as I wake up…”

Even as he said this, he reached out and brushed off the dust that had stuck to my hair.

“Judging by the way you talk, it seems you’re not hurt anywhere.”