‘……I wanted to go straight home.’

Radilt’s gaze fell to her feet. She didn’t want to imagine how terrible the inside of her shoes looked. She wanted to throw them off immediately but couldn’t do so in Pendlore’s presence.

‘At least I’ll ride in a carriage.’

That should prove more comfortable than walking home.

Radilt thought, just endure a little longer, and changed into her dress. She looked in the small mirror, adjusted her clothes and disheveled hair, and just as she opened the door—

“……!”

She stepped back in surprise. Pendlore stood guarding the door like a sentry. Radilt calmed her startled heart and asked him.

“Did I keep you waiting too long?”

Had he come to the door because he couldn’t wait any longer? Though tidying her appearance took some time, it hadn’t been that long.

As Radilt wondered if she should apologize, Pendlore silently extended his hand. Then.

“Eek!”

He swiftly lifted her into his arms. Though she tensed her body, Radilt’s arms reflexively wrapped around Pendlore’s neck. Her already pounding heart beat even harder. That scene from Duston mansion overlapped in her mind, making her face turn pale.

Those strong arms easily lifting her body. The ribbon ties flowing down. The man’s breath seeping between her neck and chest.

“S-Sir Duston, we agreed not to…!”

“Do you intend to make me a man who cannot protect one delicate woman?”

Her green eyes widened at the unexpected words whispered in that low voice.

“……Pardon?”

“Limping and dragging your feet like that.”

Feet. Radilt wiggled her feet suspended in the air as if wanting to hide them.

He saw.

Though she had carefully moved slowly to avoid notice, Pendlore had sharply observed everything.

Seeing Radilt’s speechless expression, Pendlore clicked his tongue.

“A man making his stumbling lover walk on her own. Could there be a more pathetic sight? If you intended to trample my dignity, it was quite an ingenious attempt.”

“No! That’s…… well…… My feet are somewhat injured, but not so badly I can’t walk.”

“If you wished to hide it, you should have kept it from my sight, madam.”

“If you couldn’t disguise it perfectly, you shouldn’t have shown your awkward walking.”

“……”

She had no excuse. Radilt felt Saldat’s blank stare and lowered her head deeply. Her neck and ears turned red and burned with heat. Though extremely embarrassed, she couldn’t demand to be put down since Pendlore’s words weren’t wrong.

Pendlore looked down at Radilt before turning around. Without sparing a glance at Saldat standing in the corner, he spoke briefly.

“I’ll leave it to you then.”

“Yes, yes!”

Saldat answered while bowing deeply like a servant. Pendlore carried Radilt out of the workshop.

The deepening afternoon sunlight swirled around and enveloped them. Radilt still couldn’t properly raise her head and secretly glanced around. Fortunately, she saw no one except the carriage, coachman, and servant.

“Bring clean water, cloth, disinfectant, wound medicine, and bandages.”

Pendlore instructed the servant who opened the carriage door. Then he seated Radilt inside. As soon as the door closed, Radilt hurriedly spoke.

“I have medicine at home. Just taking me home would be fine. I’ll treat it myself.”

“You should have said that before showing me your injured feet working.”

Pendlore’s voice held a faint coldness. His cool blue-gray eyes looked down at her feet huddled beneath her dress hem.

“Why would I leave a woman who can’t properly care for her own body?”

This is all because of you.

Indignation filled her throat, but Radilt suppressed it. She couldn’t deny her responsibility for leaving late in the morning and stubbornly continuing to move on painful feet.

So instead of saying it was his fault for forcing this attire on her, she made a different request.

“……Then take me to a doctor. I’ll pay for the treatment myself.”

“Mrs. Brill.”

Right after hearing that low resonant voice, a large hand instantly caught her slender ankle. Radilt’s back sank deep into the seat as one of her legs was lifted high.

“Wait—!”

Her dress flowed down, revealing her snow-white calf. The man’s gaze slid over the soft skin that had been thoroughly hidden under fabric, never exposed to sunlight. Her trembling lips, rapidly rising and falling chest.

Though the weather was hot, she should have properly worn multiple layers of petticoats. However, this woman wore only a single summer dress, perhaps finding multiple layers uncomfortable and cumbersome to change.

Such a vulgar appearance—if he lifted it just a bit more, her round knees, soft thighs, and even more intimate parts would be fully exposed to his eyes.

His hand unconsciously tightened around her ankle. Radilt could only pant, unable even to scream.

Looking down at the poor woman frozen like a bird shot by a hunting rifle.

“You’re lighter than you look.”

Pendlore slowly raised the corner of his lips.

“……Let me go!”

Her belated high voice rang through the carriage.

Radilt curled up her body and twisted her leg free. The hand that she expected to grip like shackles surprisingly released her easily. The flowing fabric once again completely covered her ankles.

Green eyes, darkened with anger, glared sharply at Pendlore.

Pendlore raised the hand that had held Radilt’s ankle and spoke nonchalantly.

“You said you would show your bare feet to a doctor without hesitation. This much should be nothing.”

“It’s just getting treatment for wounds. Sir Duston, you’re truly old-fashioned. Stories of women suffering internally rather than exposing their flesh are from more than a hundred years ago. Not now. Moreover, there are even a few female doctors.”

Many women still hesitated to be examined by male doctors, true. But certainly not to the extent they couldn’t show their feet.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“……Pardon?”

Just then, knock–knock, a knocking sound came. After Pendlore’s permission, the carriage door opened, and the servant handed over water, bandages, and medicine. When the door closed again, Pendlore looked at Radilt with faint interest in his eyes.

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I treated your wounds myself.”

“No, that’s…!”

Swoosh, a bowl of water slid toward Radilt’s feet. Her eyes trembled greatly.

“Wait, Sir Duston!”

“Don’t be modest. I must be more comfortable than an unfamiliar doctor.”

“A-a doctor is a professional. It’s different! You’ve never treated someone else’s wounds even once, have you? So—”

“Wrong.”

Her ankle was caught again. Pendlore quietly answered the woman who pressed herself against the seat back while glaring at him.

“I’ve had to do this kind of treatment dozens of times.”

“That can’t be…… Ah!”

Her shoe came off. The sudden stimulation to her wound made Radilt inadvertently cry out.

A small foot stained with blood appeared under Pendlore’s eyes. Her heel was scraped raw and red, while her little toe was swollen with a burst blister, the toenail slightly lifted. In a word, a mess.

Foolish woman.

A deep furrow formed between Pendlore’s eyebrows. Radilt, not noticing his expression, kept fidgeting, trying to escape from his touch.

“If the carriage continues to shake and moans keep escaping.”

Splash, Pendlore continued speaking while soaking a clean towel in water.

“We might receive quite interesting looks.”

“……What?”

“‘What passionate lovers, even before sunset,’ they’ll say.”

“……!”

Radilt’s face turned bright red as she belatedly understood his meaning. At the same time, her struggling abruptly stopped. Her lips also firmly closed, trembling.

Taking advantage of Radilt’s stillness, the wet towel began cleaning her foot.

“Ugh……”

A small sound escaped from the stinging pain. Radilt looked down at the man holding her foot, her eyes reddening. A scene she never imagined filled her green eyes completely.

She felt embarrassed and ashamed. All sorts of negative emotions swirled hotly beneath her chest.

Such a rude and arbitrary man.

Yet contrary to those sentiments, his handling of her feet proved attentive and respectful. Pendlore willingly bent his waist and carefully cleaned her wounds.

Seeing this side of him, completely different from his cold sarcasm, Radilt bit her lower lip. Her captured foot felt hot. Her heart pounded as if it had fallen to her toes.

“Your toenail won’t come off.”

“……You seem quite knowledgeable.”

“Because mine have come off several times.”

At Pendlore’s words, Radilt momentarily forgot the current situation and asked curiously.

“Not just once, but several times?”

Why would this wealthy nobleman…

“I enlisted as a common soldier.”

Pendlore spoke calmly while skillfully disinfecting and treating Radilt’s wounds, then wrapping them with bandages.

“Completing 1.5 years of military service with a B grade or higher grants all adult rights regardless of age. One becomes recognized as a man capable of taking responsibility for oneself and family, making it much easier to prove qualification for title succession.”

“……I’ve heard something about that. You lost your parents early and struggled to reclaim your title, ouch!”

The other shoe came off too. Again, Pendlore diligently cleaned the bloody foot without flinching. He didn’t even wrinkle his brow at the smell of blood.

“It was what I had to do and the place I rightfully needed to return to.”

He spoke of all those arduous efforts as natural duties. He neither showed pride nor sought sympathy. From beginning to end, he remained composed.

“Avoid wearing uncomfortable shoes and walking long distances for a while.”

Did his occasionally stiff manner come from his military service? Radilt looked at the man concentrating on bandaging with fresh eyes.

Lady Fond’s staff said he reclaimed his title at eighteen. How young must he have been when he endured the harsh military life?

She knew little about the military. She only knew that major wars no longer occurred. However, minor disturbances still happened at borders, and the military also handled bandits and dangerous beasts.

Did he have to travel to the barren border, far from home? Did he walk that long distance? How many times did blisters form on his feet, and how many dozens of times did he treat others, to become so skilled at wrapping bandages?

How many things must have happened? At such a young age.

“……”