The day after Lucien’s fiancée visited, Ines was burning with such a high fever that she couldn’t get out of bed.

When she failed to come downstairs by the time she was supposed to leave for work, the one who came looking for her was the head maid, Sarah.

Sarah burst through the door, clicking her tongue when she saw Ines still lying in bed. She pulled the blanket away with a sharp tug and said in a cutting voice,

“They say a lazy person doesn’t deserve bread. You might as well skip breakfast and head straight to work—”

But her words broke off mid-sentence. What had started as a triumphant moment at catching Inés in a lapse quickly turned to alarm when she saw what was happening to her. Inés looked as though she might collapse at any moment, her eyes rolling back.

“What on earth is wrong with you all of a sudden?”

“Ugh…”

Sarah knew full well that the main source of income for the Silverdust family was Ines herself. No matter how much she considered her laughable or insignificant, she didn’t actually want things to go this far.

“Wait here.”

She hurried out and quickly brought back a physician.

In the meantime, Samantha, having heard the news, came to check on Ines.

“Tsk. In this state, I can hardly tell her to leave.”

Samantha had come to scold Ines for supposedly pretending to be ill over something as trivial as a fever, but the scene before her seemed far more serious. Pressing her lips together, Samantha began to calculate.

Rumours that the duke’s engagement was imminent had already reached her. Until now, Inés had remained in the ducal household, posing as the duke’s childhood friend.

But once a mistress took her place, that arrangement would no longer be possible — Samantha knew that only too well.

Even as a viscountess, she found the idea of her husband’s close female friend continuing to live there intolerable.

The future duchess had made it clear to Samantha that Inés’s presence and everything associated with her would come to an end once the marriage had taken place.

The generous payments would also stop.

“Hm. Time to start looking into things.”

This would soon render Ines worthless. Samantha was determined to trade whatever remained for the highest possible price.

She shot the feverish, barely lucid woman lying there a look of open disdain, then turned on her heel and left the room without a word.

“Hhh…uk…”

Inés felt as though her body was melting. She had never experienced such a high fever. Groaning, she wandered restlessly through her dreams.

Lucien appeared in every one — Lucien aged ten, Lucien aged seventeen, and Lucien as he had recently been, taking her with rough hunger.

A damp heat gathered between her thighs, and with great effort she pried her eyelids open. Gasping for breath, she glanced around.

No one was there.

‘Water… please…’

Her throat burned as if it were on fire. Reaching out blindly, she felt nothing. She flailed weakly in the air and soon lost consciousness again.

In her dreams, Lucien was always there, holding her close. Every day of their three-year relationship came to life in vivid detail. The heat between her thighs grew until it soaked the bedding, as if she had lost all control.

When she finally woke much later, she found a bowl of thin soup and a glass of water waiting on the bedside table. Forcing herself upright, she took a few sips of the soup before swallowing the medicine set beside it.

“Ahhk…”

The moment she swallowed, she felt a sharp pain shoot down her throat, and the spot where her neck met her shoulder began to throb in time with an additional heartbeat. Feeling dizzy, she sank back onto the bed.

She could smell the faint scent of wildflowers, which made her nose twitch. She assumed that someone had placed a vase of flowers nearby. Even if it was just part of the maids’ routine, the thought that someone in this house had done it for her brought her some comfort.

Her body still ached, but her heart felt just a little lighter.

“Lucien…”

Even in this state, she hated that she still longed to see him.

⬤ ⬤ ⬤ ⬤ ⬤ ⬤

“Ines isn’t coming?”

Lucien, who had naturally expected her at three o’clock, only learned of her absence much later. The maid delivering the news bowed her head deeply.

“Word came from the Silverdust viscount’s household. It seems she is quite ill…”

“What’s wrong with her? Where is she injured?”

The question caught the maid off guard. She hadn’t been told the details—and, if she was being honest, hadn’t cared enough to ask. While she fumbled for a reply, the head maid stepped forward.

“Is something the matter, my lord?”

“Johanna, is Ines seriously ill?”

“The letter did not specify her exact symptoms, but from what I understand, it is due to a high fever.”

Lucien fell silent for a moment. Knowing how diligent Ines normally was, he couldn’t help but worry. If she was too unwell to come to work, it had to be serious.

“…Johanna, prepare flowers and fruit to be sent to the Silverdust household. And tell the physician to ready a remedy that works well against fever.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And…”

Lucien had been on the verge of telling Johanna to send a letter—asking just how unwell Ines really was and whether she needed anything—when he paused. His mother’s words from the day before, spoken just before he met Lady Mayer, came back to him.

“I can’t stop her from coming here for work. But wouldn’t it be better if we started to keep our distance from her?”

He knew exactly what his mother was worried about. They were the same rumours and comments that he had heard countless times at the academy.

Waving a hand to dismiss the head maid, who was waiting for him to continue, he added curtly,

“No, just send it as is.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Oh—send blue roses.”

“…Understood.”

He thought it was the kind of comforting gift friends could give each other. Lucien had decided it was time to create some distance between himself and Inès, for the sake of his future wife.

What he failed to realise was that he could not imagine a future without her by his side.

⬤ ⬤ ⬤ ⬤ ⬤ ⬤

“Oh my, did His Grace send this?”

Samantha’s face lit up with delight when she was presented with a bouquet of blue roses by a servant of the Reinhardt household.

Blue roses were an extremely rare variety that could only be cultivated with the Emperor’s permission.

No matter how wealthy one was, such flowers could not be bought. Holding an armful of them, Samantha felt as though she had suddenly become a duchess.

“And this was sent along with them.”

The ornate antique box that the servant handed to Samantha contained a fruit she had never seen before. Its fragrance alone made her mouth water, and she couldn’t take her eyes off it.

Beside her, Chloe murmured.

“That looks delicious…”

She had always loved fruit, so was more interested in the gift than the flowers. Samantha lightly pinched the back of Chloe’s hand, then turned to the servant.

“Please give His Grace my deepest thanks.”

“Of course. If you’ll excuse me.”

After the servant left, Samantha and Chloe quickly had one of the maids cut the fruit.

“Mother, I’ve had this once before at a tea party we were invited to.” They only gave us one slice each because it was so expensive. But to throw so much of it away like this…”

“So this is that mango, is it?”

Neither of them gave Ines a single thought. And why would they? Lucien often sent them such small luxuries, yet never once had they bothered to tell Ines about it.

“Our eldest does her part well, even when she’s ill.”

Samantha murmured. Then, a faint twinge of dissatisfaction crossed her mind.

To win the duke’s favour, she should have secured it more firmly instead of lingering in an ambiguous friendship, which only earned her trifles like this.

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

After all, whoever paid the highest price for Ines would inevitably receive such things, whether they were her first match or not. Thinking little of it, Samantha popped a piece of mango into her mouth.

The fragrance of the blue roses in her arms mingled with the luscious sweetness of the mango on her tongue, creating a blissful harmony.