“Her fever is still raging.”

“We should prepare fever medicine right away!”

The servants’ voices buzzed in her ears, but Roina couldn’t rise from her bed.

Last night, she had suffered with high fever and chills.

It seemed being caught in the rain while searching for the brooch was the cause.

She had received the doctor’s diagnosis to rest thoroughly without overexerting herself for several days.

Night came again, and Roina, who had fallen asleep, slowly lifted her eyelids.

“Ugh….”

Whether from the strong effects of the prescribed medicine or from repeatedly falling asleep and waking, her head seemed to throb.

Just as she was blinking her eyes to adjust to the darkness without moving, she suddenly noticed a figure leaning against one wall.

Due to the dim moonlight, only a silhouette was visible, but she recognized him immediately.

“Conrad….”

Perhaps hearing Roina’s soft murmur, the man straightened his posture and silently approached.

When she tried to raise her upper body in surprise, Conrad restrained her with a quiet voice.

“You can stay as you are.”

“No, I was about to get up anyway.”

Roina resolutely raised herself and leaned against the bed’s headboard.

Conrad then familiarly turned on the light before taking a seat in the chair across from her.

Glancing at him, she moved her lips before asking.

“Why… did you come here?”

Instead of answering Roina’s half-broken voice, he simply stared at her.

Thinking he might have come for business matters like last time, she swallowed a short sigh.

She wondered how long he had been waiting, thinking it wouldn’t have been so awkward if he had just woken her.

Conrad took something out from inside his garment and handed it to her indifferently.

“How did you….”

Roina looked at the man with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

What he handed her was the citrine gem brooch she had lost.

“A knight searching near the forest gave it to me.”

Having resigned herself to not finding it, Roina accepted the brooch with slightly trembling hands.

Only then did relief wash over her, and her headache seemed to improve.

“Thank you… thank you so much, Conrad.”

Inwardly vowing never to lose the brooch again, she looked up at Conrad.

Though his business was clearly finished, for some reason he didn’t leave the bedroom.

‘Does he have something else to say?’

As if reading her gaze, the man who had been consistently silent opened his mouth softly.

“Let’s not ask about why you went into the forest.”

“……”

Not a single emotion was conveyed in Conrad’s dry voice.

Swallowing dryly, Roina briefly tried to gauge her husband’s intentions.

Thinking he might be testing her, she continued as if making an excuse.

“I didn’t do anything foolish. I did briefly stop by there, but—”

“You seem to misunderstand something. I didn’t come to interrogate you.”

Conrad, raising an eyebrow obliquely, cut off her words.

‘Then why….’

The man, indifferently looking at Roina with puzzled eyes, placed the back of his hand on her forehead before removing it.

“Fortunately, your fever seems to have subsided.”

“……!”

At his sudden action, Roina’s pupils grew as large as saucers.

Though the current situation was bewildering, she also felt a sense of longing.

It felt as if she were facing the Conrad from long ago, making her heart swell and her eyes sting.

She tried to exhale slowly so this dreamlike moment wouldn’t break, but she knew well.

That he was merely being capricious.

Nevertheless, unable to control her momentary emotions, Roina blurted out the words lingering on her lips.

“If I hadn’t been a Würetti….”

“……”

“Could we have been like we were before?”

At those words, an indescribable light flickered in Conrad’s golden eyes before disappearing.

Flustered by her own behavior, Roina hurriedly tried to add something.

“I mean—”

“Get some rest now.”

Conrad spoke in a somewhat subdued voice. In the end, he didn’t answer her question.

‘Does our memory still torment you?’

Roina deliberately nodded calmly, but she couldn’t prevent the ache near her heart.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Click—.

After closing the door, Conrad walked down the long corridor toward his bedroom.

A complex and subtle light appeared on his face, sunk in deep thought.

‘Why were you making that expression?’

Roina’s face from moments ago wouldn’t leave his mind.

The reason Conrad had visited her bedroom was simply curiosity. He had something he wanted to confirm.

He contorted one corner of his eye as he recalled the scene he had witnessed at the hunting competition.

“I really don’t understand.”

During the competition, Conrad had accidentally observed Bleon Würetti’s suspicious movements.

When the young marquis threw something into the bushes and disappeared, he approached the area and looked around.

When he finally found what Bleon had discarded, he couldn’t help but freeze.

It was the citrine gem brooch he had given to Roina long ago.

At first, he wondered why her relative had it.

But that question was soon overshadowed by another.

‘Why… did Roina still have this?’

Just then, as a shower fell and the competition was suspended, Conrad set out to find his wife for answers.

Before long, he discovered Roina standing in the rain in a disheveled state.

He simply couldn’t comprehend it.

What was so important about that brooch that she would search everywhere for it and apologize to him?

Normally, he would have quickly lost interest, but this time he felt he needed to ask her directly.

However, instead of answering, she only showed a sorrowful gaze.

‘What on earth does it mean to you?’

Unable to understand, Conrad had visited Roina’s bedroom to resolve the questions swirling in his mind.

Though seeing her usually made him feel stifled and uncomfortable, today he felt different emotions than before.

For some reason, he couldn’t erase the complicated and throbbing feelings in his heart.

‘Am I feeling sympathy?’

He didn’t know how to define this emotion.

Especially when he heard her incomprehensible question.

“If I hadn’t been a Würetti….”

“……”

“Could we have been like we were before?”

Why she would ask such a question now, Conrad rubbed his face dryly in frustration.

‘Roina Würetti….’

She was the woman to whom he had opened his heart for the first time in a life dedicated solely to revenge, and whom he had thought he might not mind spending his life with.

Even if the world betrayed him, he had believed that at least she wouldn’t.

But what returned to him was bitter regret, a sense of betrayal, and hatred.

That’s why he couldn’t answer.

The moment he answered that question, he felt he would face uncontrollable emotions.

One foolish act should be enough.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Thanks to the special medicine prescribed by the doctor and Sophie’s nursing, Roina’s physical condition improved significantly.

Therefore, upon recovery, she visited her study to handle the backlog of work.

‘Perhaps I should consider it fortunate to have less to worry about.’

Ever since Conrad visited her bedroom a few days ago, Roina had been constantly thinking about him.

She worried that she might have upset him with her unnecessary question.

Time passed quickly as she deliberately immersed herself in work to shake off distracting thoughts.

“Here is the list of almshouses sponsored by the ducal family.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

After checking the ledger received from Donovan, Roina proceeded to allocate the donation budget.

Then, after some deliberation, she handed him a document.

“I have a proposal I’ve been thinking about.”

Roina’s proposal contained a plan to establish educational institutions for beneficiaries.

It was true that they severely lacked opportunities for learning.

Moreover, she was well aware that sponsorship and charity work were important in leading a noble house.

“Did you devise this yourself, Madam?”

At the somewhat surprised question from the head butler, Roina calmly asked back.

“Is there a problem?”