In the end, I closed my eyes in agreement.

“Do you always sleep sitting up?”

The person who had resorted to threats to make me sleep immediately spoke as soon as I closed my eyes.

Is he telling me to sleep or not to sleep?

‘Your Grace is taking up half the sofa.’

This sofa is my bed.

I wanted to answer like that, but the social gap between us held me back.

“You said just ten minutes.”

I replied timidly.

I wasn’t going to sleep, just close my eyes.

Fortunately, Duke Cromwell didn’t take back his words.

But the act of sleeping (or pretending to) in front of a superior was a little, no, more than I thought…… honestly, very embarrassing.

“……”

I didn’t want to be self-conscious, but my body wouldn’t obey my mind.

‘I think he’s watching me.’

This isn’t an exaggeration—I could feel his cool, penetrating gaze on my skin.

I considered checking briefly, but if our eyes met, it would be a disaster.

Is there something on my face? Or is it obvious I’m not sleeping?

‘When will these ten minutes pass?’

“Your Grace.”

The cool yet lingering gaze only lifted when Huntington called him.

Her dilemma about whether to call the nanny or the Duke was evident in her voice.

‘It seems the official decision is that I’m in charge of Tasha.’

That’s not wrong, but it stings. It’s proof that Jeremiah Cromwell wasn’t properly fulfilling his role as a father.

“Just a moment.”

As if to prove this, Duke Cromwell didn’t immediately go to Huntington.

‘Even rushing over now would barely be enough……’

How frustrating.

I barely suppressed the urge to point this out.

With ears perked up, I waited, expecting to hear him approach Anastasia.

He seemed to have stood up, as the sofa’s weight distribution, which had been tilted to one side, found its balance again.

Now I just needed to hear footsteps going toward the cradle.

“……”

But Duke Cromwell grabbed my shoulder.

I didn’t startle as usual.

He was careful, as if warning that his large hand would touch me.

He slowly lifted me into his arms.

‘I shouldn’t open my eyes, right……?’

If that was the case, I should have opened them when he grabbed my shoulder. I inwardly criticized my reaction that came too late.

Duke Cromwell lifted me effortlessly without the slightest tremor and began walking.

He laid me down on Anastasia’s bed.

‘Why are you going this far……’

This is seriously uncomfortable.

There was no delicate gesture of covering me with a blanket, but even that would have been too much given our difference in status.

‘Still, five minutes must have passed.’

Time flows faster when there’s content.

I’ll count to 60 five times and then pretend to wake up.

While making this pointless plan, a large shadow covered me.

“Stop being stubborn and sleep.”

Duke Cromwell’s voice whispered right beside me, as if he had bent down.

The comfort of his deep voice outweighed the embarrassment of being caught not sleeping.

The bed that had felt like sitting on thorns became strangely comfortable.

✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧

‘Here are the winning numbers for the 1XXX lottery! Number 3, number 5, number 16……’

The announcer called out six numbers.

A familiar combination.

I looked up at the TV screen, then back down at the small piece of paper in my hand.

I buy five thousand won worth of lottery tickets every week.

Always five lines with the same number combination.

They’re not special numbers.

My ancestors didn’t appear in a dream to recite them, nor were they chosen on a day I dreamed of pigs.

It’s a kind of ritual I started after becoming an adult, enduring each week with the thread-thin hope that ‘I might win the lottery.’

But.

“……”

I looked back and forth between my lottery ticket and the screen.

3, 5, 16…….

They’re identical.

All five lines.

Usually the first-place prize is at least 1 billion won after taxes, so this means at least 5 billion…….

“I’m rich now!!”

I can buy a house, and live without working for the rest of my life!

“Wh-what am I supposed to do when I win the lottery?”

First take a taxi to the agricultural cooperative…… no, they said to use public transportation.

“First I need to search…… Where’s my phone?”

My heart pounded as a worry-free future unfolded before me.

Laptop. I should search on my laptop.

I gave up on finding my phone. I picked up the laptop on the desk.

It still feels like a lie. To think the lottery could actually be won! That I’m the protagonist of an overnight fortune!

I didn’t need to turn it on separately. The laptop screen lit up as soon as I opened it.

However, the screen wasn’t my desktop but was filled with pink.

♡CONGRATULATIONS♡

Congratulations!

You have completed the hidden quest.

♩♫♬♪♪♫♩♫♪

The ending song of Bling Bling ♡ Raising A Noble Lady played along with the pink screen.

The ending song that had only been annoying before sounded touching for the first time.

Below the congratulatory window, I could see an illustration I’d never seen before.

……I finally saw the imperial princess ending.

“……It’s Anastasia.”

I tried to look at the ending illustration, but strangely, it was foggy and I couldn’t see it properly.

I could only recognize that ‘this is an illustration I’ve never seen before’ from the barely visible silhouette.

No matter how hard I tried to see it, I couldn’t.

I really want to see it, why can’t I?

✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧

Lorelai, who had stubbornly insisted she wouldn’t sleep, quickly dozed off.

After closing the canopy curtain, Duke Cromwell approached Huntington.

“How is the child?”

Duke Cromwell asked, looking at Huntington.

Huntington, who had smiled kindly to reassure Lorelai, visibly stiffened when dealing with him.

But proving her years of service at the ducal residence weren’t in vain, she spoke calmly.

“I’ve taken all necessary measures as I told the nanny. However…… she should be improving by now, but she’s still suffering.”

Huntington said, lowering her voice.

After hearing the explanation, Duke Cromwell looked at the baby in the cradle.

Anastasia Cromwell.

Too grand a name for a baby found in ruins.

The baby he had brought on a momentary impulse was wheezing just like when they first met.

The only difference was that then she had cried her throat raw, while now she seemed too exhausted to even cry.

Duke Cromwell couldn’t tell which was worse.

Both situations were caused by him anyway.

“Other babies would show improvement within an hour…… if the fever doesn’t break, she could lose her sight or hearing.”

Huntington’s words didn’t reach his ears.

Death was familiar to Duke Cromwell.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he and death were the oldest of friends.

Jeremiah Cromwell had learned about ‘death’ at a relatively young age.

People are born to die, and the only differences are when, where, and how they die.

Even these differences are so trivial that the conclusion of ‘dying’ remains unchanged.

This was the conclusion reached by someone who had seen countless ends to life, killed innumerable people, and lost countless others.

Because of this, the lives and deaths of others didn’t stir much emotion in Duke Cromwell, including his own.

“If this continues…… you may need to…… prepare yourself.”

Cruel as it may sound, Duke Cromwell had only minimal interest in the lady, not great affection.

Thus, normally, he could have accepted ‘Anastasia’s death’ without a change in his mood.

He would send her off with proper formalities, then—as if it were a predetermined fate, as people say—continue living on the battlefield.

As always, he would suffer from guilt already numbed to the extreme for a while, then recover. It would be a small and trivial death that would merge with the guilt bestowed by the thousands he had killed.

But this time was slightly different.

“……Tasha……”

Just then, a voice calling the lady’s name was heard from beyond the curtain.

Red eyes looked at the curtained bed.

Unlike earlier when she was pretending to sleep, Lorelai, now truly asleep, tossed and turned, mumbling in her sleep.

“……”

Yes, this time was slightly different.

Because of Lorelai Keith, who called for Anastasia even in her sleep.

‘If I let go now……’

She would be sad.

It wasn’t hard to imagine Lorelai, with fear evident like Huntington before him, pouring out all manner of resentment and disappointment.

For some reason, Duke Cromwell didn’t want to see that.

It must be because she was a figure who would periodically draw out his guilt.

“Is there really no way?”

Duke Cromwell asked calmly.

Swallowing a sigh, Huntington confessed honestly.

“I’ve taken every possible measure within my ability. Even if you call another doctor, they would tell you the same.”

If a skilled doctor like Huntington couldn’t treat Anastasia, no one else could help no matter who was brought in.

Then there was only one option left.

“I’ll have to call Caligo.”