The door was only open wide enough for Irina to squeeze through.

The room beyond was dark.

Although bright daylight flooded the estate outside, the chamber was so dim that it seemed as if night still lingered within.

Relying on the faint light filtering through the curtains, Irina slowly made her way inside.

‘Ah, I can see now.’

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, the room gradually took shape.

A bed, two long sofas facing each other, and a low table.

It looked much like Irina’s own room.

‘Where is His Grace?’

She had been told he was in his room, yet no matter how carefully she looked around, she could not find him.

Considering the darkness and his failure to answer when she called……

‘He must be asleep.’

She had wanted to speak to him as soon as possible.

Releasing a faint sigh, she continued forward.

Since she was already there, she decided to put his meal somewhere appropriate before leaving.

‘I’m a little worried it will grow cold.’

Still, he would surely be hungry when he awoke, so leaving it here was better than taking it away.

Her destination was the low table positioned between the two long sofas.

‘Carefully…… quietly……’

Afraid that her footsteps might awaken the duke, Irina raised her heels and crept forward on tiptoe.

The soft carpet swallowed every remaining sound.

‘I made it.’

Irina reached the table without incident.

She bent down, placed the meal carefully in its center, and turned to leave.

‘Huh?’

It was only then that she noticed a figure that had previously been out of sight.

The Duke of Winfried was asleep and sprawled out on one of the sofas, as though he had collapsed there.

The sofa was large enough to comfortably seat three or four people, yet the duke’s enormous frame made it appear not just full, but far too small.

His legs were so long that they extended beyond the armrest.

‘Why is he sleeping here?’

The bed would certainly be more comfortable.

After watching him for a moment, Irina stood up straight.

It would be rude to continue staring at someone who was asleep, and she might wake the Duke of Winfried if she stayed any longer.

She intended to leave as carefully and silently as she had come in.

“……!”

In an instant, her world was turned upside down.

Before she could comprehend what had happened, she found herself lying on the carpet.

Then she met a pair of crimson eyes.

Moments before, they had been firmly closed, but now they were fixed on her, completely alert and without so much as a blink.

‘He’s terrifying.’

Was this how an animal felt when it found itself at the tip of a hunter’s arrow?

Irina’s breathing quickened, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

‘I’m scared.’

She bit her lip tightly.

All the while, his crimson eyes remained fixed on her, as though trying to ascertain something.

He was holding only her wrist.

Yet it felt as though his gaze had also captured her, leaving her unable to turn her head.

“……Haa.”

A shallow, ragged breath escaped from Irina’s lips.

How long had they been staring at each other like that? She was unable to bring herself to close her eyes.

At last, the duke’s eyes slowly widened as if he had finally recognized her.

An expression gradually emerged on his impassive face.

“……Why are you here?”

His voice sounded as rough as stone scraping across the floor.

Realizing the situation, Winfried released her hand and moved away from her.

He dragged one large hand over his face.

“I asked why you are here.”

“I…… brought your meal. I heard you hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday……”

“Who asked you to do this? Delphia? Or the chef?”

“I did.”

She felt as though another bout of hiccups might begin.

Irina bit her lip once, then forced herself to continue.

“I volunteered to bring it.”

“Ha……”

He took a deep breath, which escaped from between his tightly pressed lips.

He lowered the hand covering his face.

The expression beneath was unmistakably one of disgust.

“So you cut your own hand, and now you’ve volunteered to do menial tasks as well? I can no longer tell whether I welcomed a guest into my home or hired a new maid.”

At the mockery in his voice, Irina lowered her gaze. Her lips moved soundlessly.

Pain settled over her fear.

“…….”

‘D*mn it.’

‘I made a mistake.’

As Winfried watched her, he dragged a hand over his face again and turned away.

It would be better not to look at Lady Leonid right now.

And it would undoubtedly be better for her if she could not see him either.

“You have no need to perform such tasks. You are an honored guest in my home.”

Winfried did not ask much of Lady Leonid.

All he wanted was for her to eat her fill, sleep in warmth and comfort, recover from her wounds, and come to terms with the pain of her past in her own time.

He wanted her to rest peacefully at his estate until she was ready to take the first step towards her new life.

That was all.

He had never expected her to do servants’ work.

“Therefore……”

Nor had he expected her to approach him and be hurt because of it.

“……I would like you to leave my room.”

When she showed no sign of moving, he repeated himself more firmly.

Only then did he hear her retreat.

After taking two or three steps, Irina stopped.

She hesitated.

What was she trying to say?

Winfried rubbed his weary face once more.

“Um……”

Her uncertain voice reached him.

“Your meal…… It’s still warm.”

The words were entirely unexpected.

Winfried turned in surprise, but Irina had already left the room.

***

‘That startled me.’

After stepping into the corridor, Irina carefully lifted her sleeves.

Just as she suspected, red handprints marked both wrists where he had seized her.

“Ugh.”

Irina grimaced as she examined the injuries.

‘He was so gentle yesterday.’

She stopped in front of a sunlit window and gently traced the marks on her wrists.

He had rescued her and allowed her to stay at his estate.

In fact, the previous day, he had even taught her how to get rid of her hiccups.

Despite being frightening, she believed that he was a kind man.

“……Phew.”

Irina let out a long sigh.

Restlessly, she gathered her hair into one hand and then let it fall loose again.

Until that moment, she had been consumed by hurt and resentment.

But once her emotions had settled, she began to recognize her own mistake.

Hadn’t Delphia and Rio both told her from the start to leave the meal outside his door?

She was the one who had ignored their warning and entered his room.

“Haa.”

Irina released another short breath.

The next time she encountered him, she would apologize for startling him.

“…….”

Irina raised her head and looked out of the window.

Spring had fully arrived, and flowers were blooming throughout the gardens of the Winfried ducal estate.

Some of the flowers appeared to have been planted a long time ago and had somehow survived the harsh winter to bloom again. Others had probably sprung from seeds carried by the wind or caught on someone’s clothing before falling to the ground.

The daffodils were the most striking of all.

Perhaps someone had planted their bulbs over the winter, or perhaps they had simply bloomed on their own.

White and yellow daffodils flourished in clusters.

Irina gazed at the flowers, murmuring as though entranced.

“They’re beautiful……”

“Are they?”

“……!”

Irina was so startled that her entire body jumped.

“Don’t they look rather untidy? No one has tended to them yet, and the garden hasn’t been properly arranged.”

When she turned around, she found the exhausted-looking Duke of Winfried standing behind her.

Irina nearly screamed in surprise but hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth.

“Why are you here……?”

“I thought I frightened you earlier.”

The Duke of Winfried began explaining something, but none of his words reached Irina’s mind.

‘H-His clothes……’

She had not noticed in the darkness earlier, but what the duke was wearing now……

Irina’s gaze gradually drifted downward.

“……!”

The moment she saw it, her face began turning bright red.

Noticing her reaction, Winfried stopped speaking and frowned.

“Do you have a fever? If so, I shall summon the family physician……”

“No!”

Irina’s eyes began spinning as she raised her voice.

“You can’t come outside wearing something like that!”

“……Something like this? Besides, I am still inside my own estate.”

Winfried was wearing a nightgown of the sort nobles commonly wore to bed.

Aside from the front having loosened slightly while he slept, there should have been nothing wrong with it.

“No! You can’t wear something like that!”

But Irina did not hear him.

Red all the way to the nape of her neck, she shook her head furiously.

“You were properly dressed yesterday! Then why—why are you dressed like this today?”

“……Please don’t make me sound like a shameless degenerate.”

Winfried sighed.

At this rate, Irina would apparently continue shouting, “You can’t!” until he dressed properly.

He closed the loosened front of his nightgown and retied the sash around his waist.

“Is this acceptable now?”

“No.”

Irina shook her head, her face still burning bright red.

“That part…… I can still see it.”

“What part?”

The duke examined himself again, but he could not understand what she meant.

“Here.”

She gestured for him to lower his head.

When he bent down without thinking, their faces drew closer.

“It’s still open here.”

Despite her obvious embarrassment, she reached out with one pale hand.

From only a breath away, Winfried studied Irina’s face.

Her cheeks were flushed as though she had been running, her lips pressed firmly together. Her brows drooped with uncertainty above blue eyes filled with embarrassment.

‘Her eyes are beautiful.’

Framed by long lashes, they were the color of the deep blue sea, exactly as Count and Countess Leonid had always described them.

It was a color that seemed to embody freedom itself.

Winfried found himself staring into Irina’s eyes until……

“Right here!”

“Ghk!”

His collar tightened around his throat.

Irina had seized the front of his nightgown as though grabbing him by the collar and yanked it closed to cover his neck.

“This part still wasn’t fastened properly!”

“It’s designed that way!”

“That’s a lie!”

“It isn’t!”

“You two.”

The person being strangled and the person doing the strangling both froze.

They both turned their heads simultaneously towards the sound of a voice.

At the end of the corridor stood Delphia, looking utterly horrified, and Rio, whose face had turned deathly pale.

“What on earth are you doing in the middle of the corridor?”