“Yes, the Count ordered us to hide your wounds as much as possible. Please stay still and don’t move.”

The maid revealed her irritation as she firmly patted Eve’s body with a sponge.

In the end, Eve had no choice but to surrender herself to the maids.

While being in the bathwater had felt pleasant, the sponge tapping on her unhealed wounds made her skin sting.

As she closed her eyes, forcing herself to relax her furrowed brow, a knock came at the door.

Knock knock.

“Duke Medric Archild has arrived.”

“Ah…”

Eve couldn’t respond to the announcement of Medric’s visit. She couldn’t receive him wearing only a robe over her bare body.

“He says he’ll wait outside until you’re ready.”

Eve felt slight relief at this additional explanation.

“Did you hear that? You can stop applying powder now.”

She seized the opportunity to stop the maid who had been tapping her with the sponge.

The irritated maid reluctantly got up and quickly dressed Eve.

The preparations that had been proceeding slowly now progressed rapidly. After changing, Eve greeted Medric who was waiting outside the door.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“It’s fine. Let’s quickly get out of this wretch—this place.”

Medric corrected himself after starting to speak with a grim expression.

Eve tilted her head at Medric, who seemed even more displeased than before, then nodded. Leaving this place quickly was good for her too.

“Before that.”

Medric took out a holy stone from his pocket and held it close to Eve’s body.

A bright light flowed from the holy stone and seeped into Eve’s body. As the light illuminated her body, making it gradually warmer, she could feel her stinging wounds healing.

Eve looked at her own body in surprise, then up at Medric.

“I heard that one cannot heal oneself with one’s own divine power.”

‘That’s true, but…’

Eve was so surprised by Medric’s action that she couldn’t say anything.

In Ptotr, where divine power users were becoming scarce, holy stones were also rare. As a result, holy stones were traded at prices much higher than most jewels.

To use such an expensive and precious item so freely…

“Even with a holy stone, if the body or clothes are dirty, there could be secondary bacterial infection.”

‘Ah, so that’s why.’

So that’s why he had her bathe and change clothes.

Eve belatedly understood Medric’s intention.

‘I thought he just wanted me to wash because I was dirty.’

The light flowing from the holy stone felt warm.

“Why is this taking so long? I want to leave quickly.”

Eve looked up at his face. Beneath his cold expression, irritation had thoroughly seeped in.

The strong light emanating from the holy stone gradually dimmed.

“Good. That should do it.”

The light from the holy stone completely stopped.

“We’re leaving now. Take my arm.”

“What? Now?”

He proceeded with everything efficiently. Eve couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being dragged along by him.

For now, she did as he said and grabbed the edge of his jacket.

Then Medric took out a scroll from inside his jacket.

‘Goodness. A scroll.’

Like holy stones, scrolls were expensive items that even the royal court couldn’t use carelessly, and Eve herself was seeing one in person for the first time.

As she stared at the scroll with surprised eyes, Medric took her hand directly and placed it on his forearm. She flinched as she felt his firm, muscular forearm through the jacket.

“You’d better close your eyes.”

She tightly closed her eyes at his words.

As Medric tore the scroll with a ripping sound, a bright light enveloped them both.

In an instant, everything before her eyes flashed white.

When Eve staggered, unable to regain her senses due to the overwhelming dizziness, Medric covered her eyes with his large hand.

The lukewarm temperature of his hand—neither cold nor hot—against her forehead and eyes seemed to reduce the dizziness.

After remaining still for a moment, Medric removed his hand, and Eve’s eyes widened at the scene before her.

Instead of the reception room of Count Renox’s mansion where they had just been, they were now in front of the main gate of a magnificent, splendid castle.

“This is…”

“Welcome to my castle.”

Medric’s red hair fluttered in the night breeze.

“Ah…”

A sigh of wonder escaped Eve’s lips.

Whether it was because of the outside scenery she hadn’t seen in a long time, or because his face bathed in sunset light gave a dreamlike feeling, Eve herself couldn’t tell.

The cold night breeze swept past her and him.

For a moment, behind Medric, she glimpsed a magnificent castle too grand to take in at a single glance.

Columns supporting the roof extended along both sides of the castle, and small spires lined up on the deeply recessed corner towers created a solemn silhouette in the moonlight.

Lights were lit throughout the castle with banners hanging. Magic stone lamps along the walls brightly illuminated the exterior. The brilliant lights seemed to welcome Eve.

There were many unresolved questions—why someone of ducal status would propose marriage to her among so many others, why he needed someone with divine abilities—but she didn’t want to bring those up now.

‘I’ve finally escaped.’

She wanted to savor the present situation, the joy.

She thought she had shed all her tears when parting with Ivan, but as the reality of her escape sank in, her eyes stung again.

By now the sunset had faded, and the sky filled with darkness seemed unusually high.
Eve shifted her gaze from the sky back to the man before her.

‘There are still many mountains to climb before I can be completely filled with joy.’

Returning to reality, Eve took a step forward, following Medric as he moved toward the castle interior.

“Welcome back, Your Grace.”

As the castle’s grand gates opened, the waiting servants bowed in unison to welcome their master’s return.

Head butler Hans greeted him with a deep bow at the front.

“This is Eve. She will be staying here for a while, so treat her with special care.”

“Yes, of course, Your Grace.”

The butler with neatly combed white hair bowed respectfully to Eve.

“I am Hans, head butler responsible for Archild’s ducal estate by His Grace’s favor. Please let me know if you need anything.”

Behind Hans, Eve could see Medric walking into the mansion. As she watched his retreating figure, Hans spoke to her.

“Miss, I will show you to your room. Please come this way.”

When Eve nodded, Hans gestured to a nearby maid to follow and guided Eve.

Eve observed her surroundings as they moved toward her room.

The interior of the ducal residence was even more splendid than the exterior. The elaborate and wide golden moldings as well as golden ornaments placed throughout gleamed brilliantly.

The high-ceilinged corridors were decorated with ornaments to please the eye, and through the large windows, she could see the beautiful night view of the garden lit with lights along the trees.

Upon reaching the room, Hans introduced the maid and left. The maid who had been beside Hans bowed politely to Eve.

“I am Marie, assigned to attend to you, miss. You must be hungry from your journey, so I will prepare a light meal for you in about an hour. Please rest comfortably until then.”

After Marie politely instructed her to pull the bell rope if she needed anything, Eve was finally alone and took the opportunity to thoroughly examine the room.

A large chandelier made of countless crystals hung from the ceiling. The decorative items placed throughout appeared quite valuable. The room seemed prepared in advance for someone, lacking nothing.

Eve still couldn’t believe she had escaped the basement.

If there was any regret, it was that she couldn’t take revenge on Count Renox.

Eve shook her head. Finding Ivan alive was her priority now.

‘Right, don’t get too excited yet. Stay focused. It’s not even certain this place is safe.’

Eve placed her hand on her pounding heart, which had been racing since her arrival.