When I said my name, the man frowned. It seemed that wasn’t the answer he wanted.

Well, it was only natural. I’m not famous enough that revealing my name would tell him who I was.

I awkwardly smiled and tried to pull my hand back, but it was no use.

How is he so strong?

I struggled to free my hand, but it was useless. It seemed the only way was for him to let me go himself.

“Could you please let go? I just found you collapsed here while passing by, and since you seemed injured, I was trying to… undress you to treat you. I really had no other intentions, so please don’t misunderstand.”

I couldn’t bring myself to address him as Your Grace.

A strange woman not only touched his injured body but also knew his identity?

It was a highly suspicious situation.

Even though the situation wasn’t clear, I had to avoid as much suspicion as possible.

Despite my efforts, Duke Berzel didn’t erase the wariness from his eyes.

“You expect me to believe you ‘found’ someone in this weather while just passing by?”

The man asked, seemingly suppressing a groan to hide his pain.

Even to me, it sounded like a highly suspicious excuse, but I felt wronged.

“It’s true. I just came out to check on the crops because I was worried about the heavy rain this season. Then I found you lying on the ground, bleeding.”

Even after hearing my words, the man didn’t remove the suspicion from his eyes for a long time. As the tense silence dragged on, I had to endure his gaze while swallowing dryly.

Eventually, the man sighed and let go of my hand.

My wrist tingled, so I retrieved my hand and rubbed my wrist where he had grabbed it.

“If you try anything funny, I won’t let it slide.”

The sharp-eyed, handsome man warned me, and my mouth went dry without me realizing it.

I had expected this kind of treatment, but wasn’t it too much for someone who saved his life?

I felt a surge of anger.

“Do you think I’m going to assault you or something?”

“What?”

This damn mouth, speaking without consulting my brain.

I quickly covered my mouth with my hand and watched the man’s reaction.

“Whatever you think you heard, you heard wrong.”

“……”

His displeased gaze was piercing. I averted my eyes as much as possible.

It was too late to make excuses…

The man sighed heavily and slowly moved his body. I didn’t know why he kept sighing in front of me.

Feeling guilty, I watched him cautiously.

“I’ll take off my clothes myself.”

In the meantime, the man slowly began to undress.

“Ugh…”

He groaned with every movement.

For some reason, I was curious about his condition, so my eyes kept drifting sideways.

But this was purely out of concern for his condition, not because I wanted to see his bare skin.

Yes, I had to see it to check his wounds anyway.

While I was convincing myself, the man’s groans grew fainter.

“May I look?”

I thought it best to ask for permission, so I did.

The man’s hollow laughter echoed in my ears.

Hearing his sudden laughter made my face feel hot for some reason.

“Go ahead.”

The man’s body was like a sculpture. His firm muscles clung gracefully to his body.

The knights of the lord’s castle had good bodies, but none could compare to this man.

And he was handsome to boot.

The only problem was the long scar on his abdomen that caught my eye first. Just looking at it made me feel pain.

“The wound is bigger than I thought.”

It was hard to believe he had undressed himself with such a wound. Just lying still with a wound like that must have been painful.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll bring some tools to treat you.”

Yes, if I secretly treated him and sent him away, he wouldn’t meet Miss Veronica.

The rainy season usually lasted over a week, so it should be fine.

When I was about to get up, the man grabbed my wrist again.

Wondering what it was this time, I turned to look at him. The man was breathing heavily, looking up at me with half-closed eyes.

“Don’t tell anyone that I’m here.”

It was a relief. For the first time, the man who said what I wanted to hear looked lovely to me.

I had no intention of telling anyone that I was hiding this man here for Miss Veronica’s sake.

“Yes, I understand.”

If he received proper treatment and left, Miss Veronica would be safe, and so would I.

***

After Claire left, Alexander used the sword at his waist as a cane to stand up.

His wound worsened as he stood, but he couldn’t just lie there.

It was because of Claire.

She seemed like an ordinary woman at first glance. But Alexander, with his keen eye, noticed her precise movements.

This meant she had received training somewhere.

But that was all. She didn’t seem like the precious only daughter of Count Maynard. According to what he knew, Count Maynard’s daughter was said to captivate men with her swan-like elegance, and Claire’s light behavior didn’t match that image.

So she was likely a maid or a merchant’s daughter.

A merchant’s daughter wouldn’t be walking around checking crops, so that left a maid.

If Claire was a maid and had rescued him under someone’s orders, he couldn’t stay here.

He didn’t know who might have allied with the traitor.

The attack happened near Count Maynard’s territory. It was possible that Count Maynard had allied with the traitor Caleb. He couldn’t afford to overlook this suspicion.

If Claire returned with soldiers, he would have to leave, even if he was injured.

But he couldn’t move recklessly.

Wandering around with such a wound in this rain would surely lead to death.

Or he could be killed by those who betrayed him.

Alexander decided he had to confirm whether Claire returned alone or with others.

In case she had been swayed by the traitor Caleb.

Barely standing, he leaned against the wall, his breathing unusually heavy.

His vision blurred, but he endured.

He approached the door and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at any moment.

Even in this condition, he could send at least one or two to the afterlife.

All that was left was to wait for Claire to return.

***

“Miss, I’m back.”

I spoke to Miss Veronica, who had been waiting for me without sleeping after I returned to the lord’s castle.

“Claire, what happened? You’re very late… Did something happen?”

Miss Veronica approached me, her face full of worry.

She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the rain off my face.

Her gentle touch made me smile.

“Nothing happened. It was just hard to walk because of the heavy rain, so I rested for a while.”

When I answered, Miss Veronica looked apologetic and slumped her shoulders. I quickly waved my hands with a smile to reassure her.

“And when I got there, the crops were mostly down. It looks like the rain will continue for another week, so the damage will be significant.”

“…I see.”

Miss Veronica sighed softly, stopping her hand that was wiping my forehead.

“But everything will be okay. Just like always. So don’t worry too much.”

“Yes. Thank you for telling me, Claire.”

It was heartbreaking to see Miss Veronica trying to act fine, but there was nothing she or I could do.

If I had the magical ability to stop the rain, I would have done so already. If I had such power, I would also make the crops grow abundantly. But all I could do was helplessly watch the crops fall.

“Then go rest now. It’s late, and you’ve worked hard because of me.”

“No, it’s no trouble! I’m fine, so you should go to bed too, Miss.”

“Yes. Then I’ll go to bed first. Goodnight, Claire.”

“Yes, Miss. Goodnight!”

I bowed to Miss Veronica and left her room.

Then I went straight to my room and took out a potion. I had prepared it for emergencies, but I didn’t expect to use it like this.

But the potion I had wouldn’t be very effective. It wouldn’t be enough.

After a moment of thought, I prepared a clean handkerchief and cut a long piece of cloth to use as a bandage.

While thinking about what else to prepare, I remembered the man’s wet clothes. I hurried to the laundry room. There were clean clothes that hadn’t been returned to their owner yet. They seemed to be the right size.

They probably belonged to Derrick, who worked with me.

I felt sorry for Derrick, but I decided to make him new clothes later and quickly left the laundry room.

I hid the items I had prepared inside my raincoat and left the lord’s castle again.

I ran through the dark rain straight to the warehouse where the man was.

Finally, the warehouse came into view.

I arrived at the warehouse door and knocked.

“Hey.”

“……”

There was no response from inside.

“I’m coming in.”

I couldn’t wait outside in the rain, so I announced my entry.

Thinking it should be okay now, I opened the door and entered, but for some reason, the man who should have been lying in the warehouse was nowhere to be seen.

“Hello? Are you here?”

Panicking, I walked inside, and someone grabbed my shoulder and pushed me against the wall.

“Ah!”

In an instant, I was pinned against the wall.

The items I had hidden in my coat fell to the floor. I had no time to worry about the scattered items.

It was because of the cold blue eyes looking down at me.