“Ugh…”

A groan came from Eve, who was lying on the large bed in the dark room.

Since it was dawn, there was no one to hear Eve’s sounds.

Eve was sweating profusely, struggling in a terrible nightmare. Twisting her whole body and crying, she suddenly opened her eyes.

“Gasp!”

She hurriedly looked around without even taking time to remove the hair stuck to her face from sweat.

In the room dimly lit by moonlight, there was no sign of Baptiste and Joseph who had tormented her.

Eve wrapped her trembling body with both arms.

“It’s okay… it’s okay… it’s okay…”

Repeating the same words over and over, she instinctively looked down at her ankles. The iron chains that had always been there were gone.

She belatedly remembered that yesterday she had escaped the basement with the help of Duke Archild.

Only then did her finely trembling body calm a little. A sigh of relief escaped between her rapid breaths.

Her eyes were full of moisture, whether sweat or tears. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

Just the fact that she wasn’t in the basement made her wonder if she was still dreaming or if she had died and gone to heaven.

Eve tried to get up from the bed and put her foot on the ground but stopped.

“Ah.”

She couldn’t move as if her body had stiffened. Not only was it stinging, but terrible pain spread from within her flesh.

Only then did Eve check her physical condition. The wounds all over her body had not only failed to heal but were festering with discharge thanks to the makeup applied yesterday.

The problem was that she had gone to sleep without washing after dinner yesterday because her physical condition was so poor.

She thought she should call a maid now to use divine power or apply medicine, but she wondered if it was appropriate to ring the bell at dawn. Having arrived here so recently, she wanted to stay quiet and unnoticed.

Such thoughts were brief as terrible pain surged from the large burn on her stomach.

Eve quickly pulled the bell rope, feeling like she might lose consciousness from the pain. Before worrying about getting along well, she needed to stay alive.

Knock knock.

Shortly after, Marie knocked on the door.

“Miss, did you call?”

“I’m too… huff…”

Even as she spoke, terrible pain washed over her.

Marie, realizing Eve’s condition was serious, rushed over in alarm.

“Oh my, miss, you’re sweating cold… there’s blood on your clothes! Just a moment…!”

Marie rushed out urgently.

Eve blinked to avoid losing consciousness as her vision kept blurring. Her body felt as if it had been dipped in a fire pit. With each breath, pain like being stabbed in her internal organs surged.

Despite her efforts to stay conscious, her vision grew hazy and her consciousness slipped into darkness.

***

Upon hearing that Eve had collapsed and lost consciousness before dawn, Medric quickly moved to her room.

Fortunately, since Medric had been working late, he was able to receive the news quickly.

As soon as he arrived at Eve’s room and opened the door, he saw a physician and Marie sitting in front of the bed, seriously examining Eve’s body.

“How is she?”

When Medric urgently asked the physician, he bowed his head and answered.

“It’s serious. I’ve disinfected the wounds, but they’ll quickly worsen without proper care. She also shows signs of underweight and malnutrition…. Future management is crucial.”

Medric clenched his molars. Hadn’t he already used a holy stones for treatment? How could it still be serious? His fists tightened.

“It seems a large amount of perfume was the cause. We nearly had a serious situation with an invasive virus about to appear.”

‘Perfume?’

“By large amounts of perfume, do you mean cosmetics?”

“Yes, it seems they were used to cover wounds.”

Again.

This was Baptiste’s doing again.

Medric immediately realized that Baptiste was behind this and ground his teeth.

‘What was he thinking…!’

He never thought someone would apply cosmetics over wounds.

Even with the holy stones, bacteria entered the healing wounds, rendering it useless.

“I will continue to visit and pay close attention, but separate from that, you need to provide continuous care.”

The physician went on to explain various precautions and areas that needed attention.

Medric approached Eve, who was lying on the bed. The wounds, now shiny from having the makeup wiped off and being disinfected, were visible. They were deep enough to make anyone who saw them furrow their brow.

“I’m afraid scarring is inevitable.”

The physician added as Medric examined Eve’s condition.

Barely suppressing a sigh, Medric looked at Eve’s face.

Unlike when she was awake, her expression showed pain and suffering. Her furrowed brow and the beads of sweat on her forehead made it impossible to gauge how much pain she was in.

“Please contact me if anything happens. I will visit again tomorrow.”

Even after the physician and Marie left, Medric stayed by Eve’s side for a long time.

It was a dark dawn with many clouds, without even moonlight.

***

“Miss! The miss has opened her eyes!”

As Eve regained consciousness and blinked, there was a commotion around her. Judging by the sunlight pouring through the window, it seemed to be midday.

She remembered calling Marie and losing consciousness, but couldn’t recall anything after that.

“Let me have a look.”

The physician who had been sitting nearby approached Eve and placed a stethoscope on her body. After checking her pulse briefly, he removed the stethoscope and explained her condition.

“Fortunately, it’s healing well now. The infected wounds were serious, but the main cause of your collapse was close to malnutrition. Going forward, you should eat well without restrictions, take your medicine consistently, and focus on recovery.”

Eve nodded, somewhat dazed.

Marie, who had been anxiously pacing beside her, explained to Eve.

“Miss, you’ve been lying down for three full days.”

What? Three whole days? Was her physical condition that bad?

Eve blinked her widened eyes in surprise.

The physician placed some additional medicines on the console beside the bed, briefly spoke with Medric who had been waiting behind, and then left the room.

Only then did Medric enter Eve’s field of vision. Eve was startled and tried to get up.

Medric approached, gesturing for her to stay down.

“Don’t move your body for the time being. Ask the servants for anything you need, and speak to me or Hans when I’m not available, and they will help you.”

After Marie tactfully left, Eve, now alone with Medric, awkwardly lay in bed and nodded.

No matter how ill she was, she was in front of Duke Archild. Lying covered with a blanket in front of him made her feel embarrassed and unvirtuous.

Medric repeatedly opened and closed his mouth as if trying to say something.

After contemplating for a moment, Medric spoke.

“…Why didn’t you say you were in pain?”

“Pardon?”

An unexpected question came.

Medric chose his words and elaborated.

“I thought you would be fine after using the holy stones, but I’m told the perfume applied over it caused the wounds to worsen before healing. From what I hear, your physical condition was very poor, so you must have been in pain. Why didn’t you say anything and just endured it?”

“Ah…”

Eve thought carefully.

Why didn’t she mention she was in pain?

The answer was simple.

“It didn’t occur to me that I should say anything.”

During her time in the basement, saying she was in pain wouldn’t have reduced Baptiste’s kicks or decreased the amount of holy stones she had to produce.

She had naturally become accustomed to enduring and bearing pain.

“It didn’t even occur to me that I should mention being in pain. Moreover, thanks to your use of the holy stones, my body felt lighter than usual.”

As Eve calmly continued her explanation, Medric’s expression grew increasingly troubled.

“I’m sorry if my collapse has caused you inconvenience.”

At Eve’s apology, his expression twisted even more.

Was he displeased that she was lying down and only nodding to the duke? Eve watched his reaction and quickly tried to get up.

“Stop. Don’t make me look like a worse person.”

At Medric’s restraint, Eve stopped and looked at him.

Eve couldn’t understand what he meant by her making him look like a bad person.

In the end, Eve remained in an awkward position, neither fully rising nor lying down, staring at him with a confused expression.

“When did I ever…”

“I mean don’t view me as the same kind of person as those from the Renox family.”

“I have never once seen you as the same kind of person.”