“How could I possibly get hurt?”

I hastily replied to his words.

“Right, how could you get hurt? Not with Michael around. Isn’t that so?”

“Haha. Why bring up Michael?”

“Or should I call you Canaria?”

“……”

I froze, sitting awkwardly on the floor. Why do ominous feelings always turn out to be true? As expected, Ilion knew I was Canaria.

Klaus, and now Ilion too. Do they have a third eye or something?

I composed my startled breathing and stood up.

It was nice to be able to look down at Ilion, but that was about it. I thought it would be better than looking up, but Ilion was still Ilion. He was never easy to deal with.

“Who’s Canaria? Are you talking about another woman in front of me?”

“Another woman?”

“I’m really disappointed. I was the one by your side when you collapsed, Your Grace, but you’re only talking about some woman named Canaria. Is she someone you’re seeing behind my back?”

Ilion quietly watched my brazen act and quickly admitted his mistake.

“I see. I made a mistake.”

He’s giving up this quickly? It was a different reaction from what I expected, thinking he would persistently question me.

Just when I thought my lie had worked due to his unexpected apology, he pulled my arm and sat me down. More precisely, on his lap.

While I was blinking in surprise at what had just happened, he was looking at me with a dazzling smile that was almost hard to look at.

“There’s not enough time to talk about just you.”

“Y-Your Grace?”

As I tried to get up from the awkward position, the arm holding me didn’t budge. His chilling smile remained unchanged.

“C-Come to think of it, we should call people. Everyone should know that you’ve woken up…”

“Let’s take it slow. I don’t want to be interrupted during our time together right now.”

That’s not the expression of someone who doesn’t want to be interrupted! The fake smile had long since disappeared.

“Um, first, if you could let go of my hand…”

“Before that, why don’t you tell me where you were and what you were doing on the day of the academic festival? As I said, I want to focus on your story.”

“Ahaha, my story…”

At this point, I realized my shallow lie had been exposed. Feeling cold sweat running down my back, I lowered my head.

In the end, unable to resist Ilion’s questioning, I spilled everything that had happened that day. Except for the part about Artia.

“Haah.”

After hearing my story, Ilion let out a long sigh.

“Really, I don’t know where to start getting angry.”

“Then maybe you could choose not to get angry…”

I grinned and spoke thoughtlessly, but quickly shut my mouth when I saw Ilion’s fierce expression.

“Your hand.”

“Pardon?”

“Did you treat it properly?”

There was nothing to worry about on that front. Thanks to the effectiveness of the holy water, not even a scar remained.

When I showed my hand to Ilion, relief settled on his worried face.

However, the relief was short-lived, and soon he frowned and started nagging.

“Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For putting you in danger.”

At my words, he let out another small sigh.

Somehow, it felt like déjà vu from a few days ago. Was Ilion thinking I was just saying what he wanted to hear again?

“Th-This time I’m sincere. I’m truly reflecting on my actions.”

I was genuinely regretting ignoring his warning and going out, and trying to deceive Klaus.

It was all my fault that he ended up like this.

As I was bowing my head like a criminal, waiting for the scolding to pour out, I felt a sharp pain on my forehead with a ‘thwack’ sound.

Holding my forehead, I looked at Ilion, who was reprimanding me with a stern expression like a teacher.

“You don’t need to apologize for my injury. It wasn’t your fault. More importantly, why do you keep jumping into dangerous situations? Do you know how dangerous it is to try to deceive His Majesty? If something had gone wrong…”

Ilion, speaking like this, swallowed once. It looks like he was trying to control his anger. Then he looked at me with a slightly softened expression.

“What would have happened?”

Ilion, who had been quietly looking at me, ran his hand over his face once.

“I thought if I didn’t let you out, you wouldn’t get hurt somewhere…”

“……”

“Are you sure you’re not hurt anywhere else?”

“I’m fine, thanks to you, Your Grace.”

Nevertheless, Ilion, as if he couldn’t believe my words, took my hand and examined it. Feeling somewhat strange, I wiggled my hand and asked.

“Um, were you… worried?”

“You’re quick to ask.”

I looked up at his face. The sarcasm confirmed it was indeed Ilion, but his expression as he examined my hand seemed a bit serious.

Feeling the atmosphere becoming somewhat strange, I quickly pulled my hand away and grumbled.

“…Y-You didn’t have to flick my forehead, you know.”

“That was punishment for lying.”

How childish. With a sulky expression, I rubbed my forehead and apologized once more.

“I’m sorry for… worrying you.”

“If you understand that you caused worry, please don’t do such dangerous things in the future.”

I can’t promise that, I thought, trying to avoid answering, but true to his nature, Ilion persistently asked once more.

“Your answer?”

“…Yes.”

In the end, I reluctantly nodded.

“And there’s one more thing I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

Just when I thought the conversation was about to end, Ilion suddenly spoke in a low voice.

Could he be asking about Klaus? It might be better if he doesn’t know about that yet.

While I was thinking about how to answer to avoid the topic, Ilion opened his mouth.

“Are you really not involved with Michael at all?”

“…Pardon?”

Why are you asking that with such a serious expression?

***

With the news of Ilion’s awakening, the mansion began to bustle with activity again.

Worry disappeared from Sebastian’s face, and Spinel occasionally visited to tease him.

However, just because Ilion had woken up didn’t mean all problems were solved.

The really important issues hadn’t been resolved at all. Ilion and Artia, and Klaus who had just interfered.

Thinking about these three people was enough to make my head explode.

In the original story, Ilion was close to the Saintess, which made him a thorn in Klaus’s side, but now Ilion showed no interest in Artia at all.

Even receiving the blessing was something he did almost at my begging. Thanks to that, I ended up having an accident in the mine.

“Oh, Lily. About that time in the mine…”

“Y-Yes?”

As I called Lily while drinking tea, she looked at me with excessive surprise.

“Why are you so startled? The accident in the mine.”

“Ah, yes. The, the accident.”

What’s wrong with her? The flustered Lily seemed somewhat different from usual.

“Was anyone else hurt besides me?”

“Oh, no. Everyone was outside because it was lunchtime.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief. But do you know why the accident happened? Actually, I think I heard something like an explosion…”

“I, I’m not sure about that.”

Lily, who had been shaking her head awkwardly, suddenly remembered she had something to do and rushed out.

Why is she running away like that when I just asked why the accident happened?

Feeling suspicious about Lily’s reaction, I went to find Sebastian and asked the same question.

“Well, construction sites are inherently dangerous, you see.”

Sebastian, as he spoke, also had an expression that strangely seemed to want to avoid answering.

“More importantly, Miss. About the preparations for the party, what should we do? Should we cancel it even now?”

“Why cancel it?”

“Since the master hasn’t fully recovered yet, I thought it might be better to postpone it.”

Of course, it was a reasonable suggestion, but I had no intention of canceling. My outdoor ban hadn’t been lifted yet.

Rather, it was a good opportunity to push Ilion.

“No. Proceed as planned. We need to show that the Duke is still strong.”

As I smiled slightly, Sebastian nodded, saying he understood.

Watching Sebastian skillfully avoid the question, I became more certain. He was definitely hiding something.

Judging by their reactions, it seemed everyone knew except me.

Pondering what to do, I immediately turned my steps towards Ilion’s office. If everyone but me knew, there’s no way Ilion wouldn’t know.

The office without its owner was quiet. Although it had been vacant for a few days, the desk was clean without a speck of dust.

As I rummaged through the desk drawers like a thief, I found a document that looked a bit different from regular reports.

The report contained information about a person named Bert and explosives found in the mine.

“Explosives?”

It seems the bursting sound I heard that day was indeed the sound of explosives detonating. According to the report, it looks like it was set up with the intention of killing someone.

Considering how the schedule changed urgently that day, the bomb probably wasn’t aimed at me.

“Could this incident also be…”

If this incident was also planned by Klaus, then perhaps the relationship between Ilion and Artia wasn’t as stagnant as I thought.

Or Klaus had a different purpose.

I recalled the episode from the original story where Artia escaped from the Imperial Palace. The story of her being caught by the Emperor while trying to escape and being confined in the palace again.

It seemed I needed to visit the Imperial Palace as soon as possible.

***

Staying still in the room was torture. Despite having fully recovered, the people in the mansion wouldn’t let him go anywhere, fearing something might happen.

It was excessive overprotection, even for a patient.

Sebastian went even further and took away all the documents he had been looking at.

It was a rare free time after a long while, but it was worse than not having it at all.

With no choice, he got up and started walking around the mansion, noticing that the maids’ movements seemed somewhat busier than usual.

‘Why are they moving around so busily?’

Thinking they seemed strangely excited, Ilion frowned when he saw the entrance.

“…Sebastian?”

“Ah, Master?”

“What is all this?”

The flowers decorating the entire entrance were not something he had ordered.

“Well, this is… preparations for the party…”

Sebastian trailed off, smiling awkwardly.

“Party?”

“Yes. A party to commemorate the 7th anniversary of your accession, Master.”

Who on earth came up with such a useless idea?

No, there was no need to ask. There was only one person who would do such a thing.

“Why did you allow this?”

Ilion questioned Sebastian, criticizing him for proceeding with something without reporting to him.

“But Master, didn’t you say so yourself?”

“What?”

“That we should do whatever the young lady wants. Except for going outside.”

“When did I ever say such a…”

Oh, I did.

Ilion put his hand to his forehead, remembering the words he had uttered himself a few days ago.