Pfft! I almost laughed out loud.

Of course that’s impossible.

How on earth would I know someone from 130 years ago? Just admit you’re curious.

Looking up close at this man with legs so long they barely fit on the bed, and a body that, though roughly wrapped in a blanket, was clearly solid and impressive, I couldn’t help but wonder about his face too.

No, no, it’s not like that.

This is someone who collapsed half-n*ked in my castle’s pond, so I’m just trying to identify him. I’m not some pervert ogling a stranger!

Even though no one was watching, I shook my head vigorously.

Strangely, my face felt hot. I cooled it with the back of my hand while hesitating, then finally crept toward the bed and glanced at the man’s hand.

His nails were neatly trimmed, but his hands had small cuts all over them.

Could these be injuries from climbing over a wall?

Just from this, it was difficult to guess his occupation or status.

Then what about the pants he was wearing……

This was also somewhat ambiguous.

They were soaked through and covered with moss and dirty mud from the bottom of the pond.

They looked ordinary and simple compared to Hubert’s butler uniform, but clothes could be stolen.

So I guess it comes down to his face?

Even if he’s a stranger, somehow I feel like I could tell if he’s a good or bad person just by looking at his face.

So I carefully approached and lightly touched the hair draped over the man’s face.

His dark brown hair, curling from being wet, was surprisingly thick.

When I brushed his hair from his cheek toward his forehead, a smooth forehead like a sculpture and firm, high cheekbones were revealed.

Long eyelashes like a woman’s cast dark shadows over his closed eyes.

A high, delicate nose bridge and lips that were slightly fuller on the bottom.

When all these features came together, an unbelievably handsome face appeared before me.

Add to that a long, sculptural neckline and straight, broad shoulders.

I’ve never seen such a perfect face and physique, even on screen.

Let alone seeing it in person……

I could hear my own breathing becoming rougher.

What color would his eyes be? What about his voice?

How would it be when this unrealistically handsome man opened his eyes, started moving and speaking……

!!

Gasp!

When I came to my senses, a pair of eyes as blue and cool as a midsummer sky were staring directly at me.

While I stood frozen in shock, suddenly a large hand shot out and gripped my wrist tightly.

“Ah, wait a minute…… uh……”

The world suddenly spun around.

***

When I regained my senses, I was lying on the bed.

The strange man was straddling me, pinning down my arms so I couldn’t move.

“Huff, huff! What is this, who are you! You.”

The man asked in a low, threatening voice while breathing heavily.

He had a strange smell—a mixture of leather, smoke, sage, and the stench of dirty pond water.

“Let go of me right now! You crazy bastard!”

I squirmed, trying to kick between his legs, but the man’s strength was no joke.

When he firmly pinned down my wrists, I couldn’t move my body at all.

“Hey! Stay still! I……”

The man’s face, which had been threatening me while keeping me tightly trapped between his thighs, suddenly went blank.

“Hey! This place…… I…… I mean……”

He seemed to want to say something but couldn’t quite remember, as he opened his mouth and looked around.

At that moment, two things happened at once.

First, something dropped onto my face.

I looked up in surprise and saw drops of blood flowing from the back of the man’s head, down his neck and hair, and falling onto my face.

As we both stared at the blood in shock,

“Aaaahh! What are you doing, you son of a b*tch! Get off our Miss right now!”

Along with a thunderous shout, a loud CLANG! echoed through the room.

Marina, who had just entered the room, had struck the back of the man’s head with the tin basin she was carrying.

The man’s bright blue eyes, locked with mine, widened.

As I watched, frozen and unable to move, his eyes slowly closed again, and he collapsed on top of me.

His heavy body pressed down on me, making it hard to breathe.

But the moment I felt his soft lips touch my ear as he lost consciousness and fell, I snapped back to my senses.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

***

“It’s done!”

The door opened slightly, and Hubert beckoned us.

Judging by his sweaty, glistening forehead, he must have struggled quite a bit on his own.

We had offered to help, but the short, bald butler firmly closed his mouth and stubbornly refused.

‘Even though we’re living here in a complete mess, throwing away all formalities out of necessity, there are still things that simply aren’t done!’

‘There are only three of us here, so who would know? If we all work together, we could change his clothes quickly……’

‘He would know!’

Hubert pointed at the man lying unconscious like the dead.

‘How can we trust someone who didn’t recognize his lifesaver and dared to lay hands on you, Miss!’

‘But I don’t think he meant any harm.’

I recalled those blue eyes that suddenly went blank with confusion.

‘He just woke up, was startled by the unfamiliar environment, and his head was a bit……’

I remembered how I had thoughtlessly touched the man’s soft, thick hair.

‘That’s no excuse. Absolutely unforgivable! Who knows what he might say or do to stab us in the back later. What if nasty rumors spread in the village!’

Hubert shook his head with a resolute expression and shouted at the top of his lungs.

‘Anyway, hurry up and leave with Marina! I can change him by myself!’

So a few minutes later, when we entered the room, the situation had been resolved.

Hubert was sweating profusely, and the man was lying there, neatly changed into shabby but clean clothes.

His head was wrapped in bandages, and his arms and legs were spread wide and tied to the four corners of the bed with rope.

Considering the danger I had almost faced earlier, it was satisfying in a way, but it was still a strange sight that made me feel odd.

“What is this, like some pervert?”

The words that popped out without thinking pretty much summed up my feelings.

“It’s all my fault!”

Hubert panted.

“I shouldn’t have carelessly brought a stranger into the house. Almost…… Miss almost……”

The poor butler was so horrified at the thought that he couldn’t even finish his sentence, gasping for breath.

“I’m fine. I’m still alive and well. Thanks to Marina, not a hair on my head was harmed. Thank you so much.”

I turned to Marina and said sincerely.

My hands trembled slightly from the shock of experiencing something like this for the first time, but with the other two making such a fuss, I had no choice but to pretend to be calm.

And to be fair, the surprising things that had happened to me weren’t limited to just this one incident.

“What a relief. If you had been hurt even slightly, I would have wrung that fellow’s neck with my own hands.”

Hubert said, his hands trembling.

Well, I doubted those hands could even touch that robust man’s neck, let alone wring it—they had taken quite some time just to remove his wet pants—but of course, I didn’t say this out loud.

Looking at the butler’s serious face suddenly made me emotional.

Until now, I’d never had anyone worry about me like this, or even take an interest in my affairs.

“Well, um, judging by the blood coming from his head, it doesn’t seem necessary to wring his neck. How’s the wound?”

I quickly changed the subject to hide the lump in my throat.

“Ah, the back of his head was split open.”

Hubert said, needlessly touching the back of his own head.

“Oh no! Was he injured because I hit him?”

Marina asked, placing one hand on her chest.

“What if he wakes up and takes revenge on me or something……”

“That’s not it. The blood was already dripping before Marina came in.”

I pointed to my clothes, stained with drops of blood from the man’s head.

“He must have been injured when he fell while climbing over the wall. That’s why he was lying in the pond.”

“In any case, it’s clear he was trying to break into the castle.”

Marina nodded firmly.

“While n*ked from the waist up?”

“What?”

“You said the same thing earlier, Marina. The castle wall looked extremely high and dangerous. I wonder why anyone would take off their clothes to climb it.”

“Well…… now that I think about it, maybe he had bad intentions from the start. Perhaps he was targeting the fact that there are only the three of us in this castle.”

“No, that’s even stranger. Why take off the top? The pants I could understand.”

Hmm.

Even in this world from a hundred years ago, I could clearly feel that ‘moment when the atmosphere suddenly turns cold.’

The butler’s bare forehead seemed to be processing complex thoughts about how the gently raised only daughter of a baron could possibly know what “bad intentions” meant, and the fact that one would need to remove pants rather than a shirt for such acts.

I could tell because he suddenly narrowed his eyes, pressed his lips tightly together, and went quiet.

“Hmm, then…… perhaps he wanted to show off his physique even in that situation? It does look quite firm……”

Just as a cautious voice broke the silence,

“Marina!”

Hubert’s angry voice echoed through the room, causing the man with closed eyes to flinch.