Richel stayed shut away in her bedroom for several days.

She no longer wanted to think about Edwin.

She spent her time organizing the estate’s affairs with the butler and resting whenever she had the opportunity.

Her days passed quietly and peacefully.

Her injuries were healing well without any complications.

The doctor was very pleased with how quickly she was recovering.

“You should be able to move around a bit now without causing any major strain.”

“Ena, did you hear that? He said it won’t be a problem.”

Brightening immediately, Richel turned to Ena for confirmation.

Ena instantly understood what Richel was trying to imply and let out a soft sigh.

“You may go on longer walks, but absolutely no horseback riding. You still haven’t fully recovered yet. Isn’t that right?”

She looked to the physician for agreement.

After briefly gauging Richel’s reaction, he slowly nodded.

Richel muttered that they were being overprotective and looked deeply wronged.

The physician immediately replied,

“This doesn’t even count as overprotective. Compared to the butler these days? Ah, there’s truly no overprotection quite like his.”

“The butler?”

“Since the Count barely eats, the butler has been hovering over his meals like he’s taking care of a child…”

He shook his head repeatedly.

“I swear he eats less than an old man lying in bed waiting to die. The other day, he even collapsed while trying to get out of bed.”

The story was so absurd it left Richel speechless.

She frowned as she listened.

“When I tried to help support him, we both ended up falling over together. Do you know how much trouble that caused me…?”

The doctor grimaced as he remembered the incident.

Although Edwin had lost weight, he was still heavy due to his height and broad frame.

Unable to bear his weight, the doctor had ended up completely pinned beneath him.

Being rather short himself, the physician could not move at all until the estate guards rushed over and pulled Edwin off him.

It was the most humiliating and mortifying experience of his life.

After that incident, the physician lost all patience with Edwin’s refusal to eat.

Even the anxious concern he had once felt gradually disappeared.

After all, Edwin was still eating just enough to avoid starving.

“In any case, the Count’s condition is truly poor. The butler is extremely worried.”

The butler went in and out of the Count’s room numerous times a day.

After consulting with the head chef, they started preparing a variety of dishes using Edwin’s favorite foods. They even blended the meals to make them easier to eat.

But none of this had much effect.

Richel asked the physician.

“You said before that Edwin might have developed delusions. Did you ever confirm it?”

“The Count just lies in bed looking irritated by everything. Ever since that day, it’s become difficult to even speak with him.”

The physician added,

“If we want to properly counsel him, the Count first needs to regain some strength.”

Richel frowned.

How was he supposed to regain strength when he refused to eat properly?

He needed counseling and treatment for his condition to improve, yet they could not even solve the problem of him refusing food.

In truth, nothing had improved at all.

‘How long does he plan to keep this up? Crying all the time and refusing to eat. Is this some kind of protest about how he’s going to die because of me?’

The thought did not make her feel pity.

If anything, it only made her angry.

“Doctor, stop talking about it. I’m not in the mood to hear it.”

Richel cut him off and dismissed him shortly afterwards.

Hearing good news was enough for her that day.

She just wanted to focus on the fact that she was finally allowed to move around and go for walks again.

The physician sensed the atmosphere immediately and wisely kept quiet and left.

After lunch, Richel stepped outside the estate for a walk.

The air was cold, but not unbearably so.

Thanks to the layers of coats and cloaks that Ena had wrapped around her, she was perfectly warm.

After passing through a nearby garden, she stopped by the stables.

It had been the longest time since she began travelling throughout the territory that she had gone without riding a horse.

Every stable hand welcomed her warmly.

“Ever since Madam stopped being able to go out, this fellow has become unbelievably irritable.”

As he spoke, one of the stable hands patted Richel’s horse.

The horse snorted sharply and turned its head to the side.

Its dissatisfaction was so obvious that Richel laughed.

She took out a sugar cube she had secretly brought from the kitchen and fed it to the horse.

“There now. They said I need to wait a little longer before I can ride you again, so be patient just a bit more.”

When she gently stroked it, the horse snorted through its nose.

It still looked thoroughly annoyed in every possible way, but at least it did not throw a full tantrum.

The stable hand clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“This rascal’s pretending to behave now. Earlier, when Clompo’s horse went out, he kicked around so much insisting he wanted to go too… Look at these marks here.”

He pointed to the deep dents stamped into the inside of the stable door.

Judging by the overlapping marks, the horse must have kicked repeatedly.

Suddenly, the horse moved and began nudging the stable hand with its forehead.

It seemed to understand that it was being insulted.

Even the way it snorted sounded irritated.

“This thing again…”

The stable hand pushed the horse’s head away with both hands.

The man and horse squabbled like children.

Richel burst into laughter.

It was such a trivial sight, yet it made her unexpectedly happy for some reason.

Just as she reached out to calm the horse down with another sugar cube, the butler suddenly entered the stable.

Richel blinked in surprise.

“Butler? What brings you all the way here?”

“I came because there is something I must report. Please return to the estate immediately.”

Richel returned to the study.

Ena widened her eyes, seemingly wondering why they had come back so soon. However, when she noticed the butler entering behind her, she quietly excused herself to prepare tea.

The butler pulled several envelopes from his coat pocket.

They were elegant invitation letters trimmed with gold leaf.

Richel recognized them instantly.

“What’s all this all of a sudden?”

“It seems rumors about the Count’s return have begun spreading.”

Richel checked the senders.

Most of them were people who had once been close to Edwin.

Like Edwin, they were wealthy, outgoing and sociable, and fond of casual gatherings.

Without hesitation, she opened one of the invitations and read it.

[We have heard the news that Count Isle has safely returned. After enduring such hardships over the past three years…]

Every invitation contained some variation of the same message:

[We heard Edwin has returned.]

It was impossible to know whether they had sent out these invitations because they were certain that Edwin had returned, or if they wanted to confirm the rumors for themselves.

But one thing was certain: The news had already spread all the way to the capital.

Letting out a sigh, Richel spoke.

“From now on, ignore all invitations like these. Don’t even send refusal letters.”

“Pardon? But if we do not respond before the event date, they won’t be able to finalize their guest lists.”

“Just ignore them. The moment we send a reply, it’ll practically be the same as confirming Edwin has returned. Then people will start coming here just to verify it themselves.”

There were always people who chased after rumors at a frightening speed.

People who took delight in uncovering the truth behind situations like this.

The moment they received confirmation that Edwin was indeed here, they would undoubtedly come to the estate without hesitation.

After all, the entire aristocratic society was curious about the Count of Isle — a man who had disappeared for three years and then reappeared.

‘The problem is that Edwin isn’t normal.’

His condition was impossible to predict.

One moment he seemed fine, and the next he was overcome with emotion.

He said strange things.

Sometimes he behaved irrationally.

If anyone came here and saw him like this, rumors that Count Isle had gone mad would instantly spread throughout the social world.

‘There’s absolutely nothing good that could come from rumors like that spreading through society. I need to stop it before it starts.’

She had absolutely no intention of living with Edwin again.

No matter how much he apologized or begged for her forgiveness, she remained unmoved.

All she wanted was a peaceful divorce, free from scandal and a fair divorce settlement.

In order to achieve this, Edwin needed to appear as normal as possible.

‘Even if he isn’t truly alright… he at least needs to be capable of pretending.’

Richel recalled the official social events scheduled for spring.

If Edwin could appear normal at these events, the rumors would die down soon enough.

But then she remembered hearing Edwin sob loudly in the dining room.

Would he be capable of at least pretending by then, if he could just hold on until spring?

And if he couldn’t…

What was she supposed to do then?

Her thoughts threatened to spiral endlessly without any answers.

At that moment, the butler spoke.

“Madam, there is one more letter you should see.”

The butler took another envelope out of his jacket.

Unlike the invitations, this one was long and narrow.

Richel accepted it and checked who it was from. It was from James Isle.

The butler lowered his voice even further.

“The Count’s uncle has sent word that he intends to visit sometime next week.”