The car’s interior held a cool, stagnant air. Even so, the heat didn’t leave Adeline’s body. Wrapped in the coat, her body remained faintly feverish.

Adeline had been looking out the window when she suddenly turned her head. There was a brief hesitation before she spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

Kailen’s gaze remained fixed forward.

“Since that day… I’ve actually wanted to apologize all along.”

When the car changed lanes, a low friction sound rang out. Only then did Kailen ask briefly.

“That day?”

“Yeah.”

Adeline fidgeted with her hands on her lap as she continued.

“My jewelry… the ones I sold. You went out of your way to find them again for me. But instead of thanking you, I let my pointless pride get in the way.”

Her face, flushed from fever, bowed lower the longer she spoke.

“Back then, I just felt so ashamed. Like I was stripped n*ked in front of you. I wanted to hide, to disappear… So without realizing it, I acted like a child. But when I got angry then, it wasn’t sincere.”

As she finished speaking, a brief silence settled in the car. Only the engine hummed steadily.

“Once more… thank you, and I’m truly sorry.”

Only then did Kailen turn his head to glance at her. His gaze held neither comfort nor any sign of being moved. Instead, a faint cynicism lingered—the kind that said, “You’re still holding onto that?”

“Because you keep dwelling on such things, you keep getting sick at the drop of a hat.”

A short laugh escaped Adeline’s lips—a “pfft.” She was laughing, but it wasn’t a happy sound at all.

“You’re right.”

She leaned her head against the window as she spoke.

“But sometimes… I act completely against my will. Even when I don’t want to…”

At those words, Kailen leaned in slightly. The moment their arms brushed, her body heat transferred directly to him. Without a word, he placed his hand on her forehead.

Hot. Much hotter than expected.

“I knew it. Your forehead’s burning.”

He immediately turned toward the driver’s seat and requested a destination change.

“Not Varsen—take us to a hotel in downtown Harden.”

“Yes, understood.”

“And call a doctor as soon as we arrive.”

Kailen adjusted his coat wrapped around Adeline more carefully. Then he cracked the car window open just a hand’s width.

Cold night air rushed into the car.

Adeline narrowed her eyes as the breeze hit her face.

“It’s cool…”

A faint smile touched her lips.

“The wind feels like your hand. That makes it even better.”

And then, almost murmuring, she added.

“Today… I was really sad.”

“Why? Did your mother turn you away at the door again?”

Adeline drew in a small breath.

“Wow… How did you know? You’re right. But that’s not all…”

She paused with a bitter smile, then bowed her head deeply.

“More than that, Mother’s face looked so terrible. That kept weighing on my mind. It all feels like my fault.”

“How is that your fault? She’s just getting old.”

“It’s just… how I feel. Do you have to nitpick everything so precisely?”

Kailen didn’t answer. Adeline didn’t care and continued murmuring while still gazing somewhere distant through the window.

“Mother called me a failure. She said her life was nothing but failures. And I’m one of them…”

Her hand clutched at the coat’s hem.

“I’m scared something might happen to Mother, but those words hurt so much.”

“What non—”

Kailen forcibly swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of his tongue.

What complete b*llshit.

Cursing internally, he smoothed out his crumpled facial muscles.

“I heard she’s quite ill—maybe she’s delirious? Why do you take a patient’s words so seriously?”

Fire was already burning inside him. If he hadn’t been sitting next to a feverish woman, he would have unleashed his anger much more harshly.

What nonsense did that old woman spout before dying?

Wasn’t it her who called you Belliche’s woman before?

To my woman, who is Belliche’s—who the hell are you to say such things?

When did you beg so pathetically for money?

Kailen steadied his breath once and refined his tone more carefully.

“Don’t worry about it from now on. When people get old… they tend to talk nonsense.”

“I want to do that too.”

Adeline said quietly.

“But it’s not easy. She’s my mother. My one and only mother.”

…How foolish.

Kailen turned his gaze out the window. Streetlights flashed rapidly across the car window. Frustration boiled inside him.

More precisely, he was irritated by how she defended someone like that just because they were her mother.

Your mother was just a woman desperate to sell you off.

Those words never left his mouth.

The car cut through the darkness at a steady speed. Streetlights outside streamed past the window. Kailen kept his hand loosely draped on the armrest as he continued speaking to Adeline, who was wrapped in the coat with her head slightly tilted.

“Hasn’t that woman never played the role of someone’s mother her entire life?”

Adeline looked at his profile silently.

“Even if she was a mother at some point… yes, she was Leopold von Rosenthal’s mother. Not Adeline Belliche’s mother.”

The statement was quite definitive. The air in the car grew heavy for a moment.

“…”

Adeline couldn’t say anything. Whether it was silent agreement or resigned silence was unclear.

Only then did Kailen turn his head to look directly at her.

“Adeline, you’re my wife now.”

His hand moved slowly and came to rest on Adeline’s knee. The body heat transmitted through the coat was clear. The very fact of touching seemed to speak for him.

“Not Adeline von Rosenthal. Adeline Belliche. Mrs. Belliche.”

At those words, a very small smile touched Adeline’s lips.

“I know. That’s why I’m happy.”

At that moment, Kailen applied just the slightest pressure with his fingers on her knee. Rather than gripping, it was a sensation of pressing down, like confirming something.

“Then from now on, don’t dwell on such words.”

Adeline hesitated briefly before nodding.

“Okay… I’ll try.”

Only then did Kailen lift the corners of his mouth just slightly, seemingly satisfied.

Right, you just need to worry about my feelings.

Not that dying woman who’s hardly a mother—just me.

He silently moved his hand to cover the back of Adeline’s hand. He didn’t intertwine their fingers. Instead, he wrapped it firmly enough that she couldn’t slip away. And when the car turned and shook slightly, he naturally pulled her toward him.

Adeline’s shoulder touched his arm.

“If you’re tired, get some sleep.”

Kailen didn’t tell her to lean on his shoulder. But he still didn’t let go of her hand.

Feeling that subtle balance and sense of security, Adeline gently closed her eyes.

* * *

As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Kailen immediately called for a doctor.

Adeline’s face, sitting on the edge of the bed, was still pale, and her gaze seemed somewhat hazy, perhaps from the low fever.

“Fortunately it’s just a mild cold, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

“I understand. Thank you for your trouble.”

After a brief examination, the doctor prescribed fever reducers and left, saying it wasn’t a serious problem.

After giving her the medicine, she couldn’t hold out long and soon fell asleep.

Kailen looked down at her sleeping face for a while, then carefully removed her outer clothing. Every ornament and button on her body felt unnecessarily cumbersome.

Instead, he immediately contacted the hotel shop to buy pajamas, then returned and changed her clothes as carefully as possible to avoid waking her.

Throughout all this, Adeline didn’t move, seemingly lost in deep sleep.

Only then did Kailen enter the bathroom and finish a quick shower. When the water stopped, the room became quiet again.

Still not sleepy, he had staff bring documents he hadn’t been able to process while coming to Harden. 

He sat on the long sofa beside the suite, turning pages one by one with an indifferent expression. However, his attention toward Adeline kept distracting him, so his concentration wasn’t perfect.

Then, a small sound came from the bed.

“Mmm…”

The sound of someone tossing in their sleep.

Kailen immediately put down the documents and stood up. His first thought was whether her fever might be rising again.

Approaching the bed and looking down, Adeline had kicked off half the blanket and was turning her body, seemingly hot.

Her pajamas had rolled up above her thighs, and her defenseless white skin was fully exposed under the soft lighting.

Below that, even her white underwear—excessively clean, like it resembled her—came into view.