***

Everitt couldn’t remain in the room once Bella opened her eyes.

As soon as he quietly slipped out and closed the door, his entire body trembled. His heart was pounding uncontrollably. He barely supported himself by leaning against the door. He didn’t cry as some might have expected, but if he had continued looking at Bella, he might have.

Three nights ago, when he found Natalie staying at this inn, he couldn’t have imagined that he would find Bella that same night. He had been exchanging news with his cousin, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, and was about to return to his barracks now that he knew she wasn’t Bella. He was just mounting his horse when Natalie ran out of the inn after him.

“Everitt! I’ve received a message from Bella.”

Natalie’s expression as she said this was dark.

“She might be in danger.”

Everitt felt like he was losing his mind. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to question why Natalie had a means of contacting Bella but hadn’t mentioned it all evening.

“Of course, it might be nothing. But it’s suspicious that she chose to reveal her location at this hour. And she mentioned that Leon might be nearby. What if…”

“Where is she?”

When he checked the direction and distance Melki pointed out on the map, it was the location of a lord’s mansion in the northern edge of the Kingdom of Edelbern. The gathering place for soldiers that Leon had secretly mobilized was also nearby.

Leon might have found and captured Bella.

Fire lit in Everitt’s eyes.

Natalie’s plan was to send Melki alone, and if Melki found it difficult to extract Bella, Everitt would lead soldiers to the location Melki would provide.

Everitt couldn’t agree to that plan. In his eyes, the shocking scene he had witnessed last summer was already vividly replaying. The situation was urgent, and he didn’t have the luxury of leading soldiers. Moreover, if Melki went directly, he could arrive even faster than on horseback.

“But Melki can only take one person with him.”

“I can stay there in Bella’s place when he returns.”

“You’ll stay alone in the middle of enemy territory? Are you crazy?”

“What if the situation is something Melki can’t handle alone? It’s better to have even one more person at full strength. And I’m not saying I’ll go alone. I’ll order my adjutant to follow with soldiers.”

Everitt didn’t regret his decision one bit. When they arrived, Leon was about to *ssault Bella.

Though it should have been impossible, Everitt thought he heard Bella call his name.

He didn’t remember much after that, except that Bella left safely in Melki’s arms. Melki had told him to barricade himself in the room and wait until he returned if such a situation arose, but things didn’t go so smoothly. And truthfully, as long as Bella was safe, nothing else mattered.

The reason Everitt swung his sword like a madman to break through enemy lines was because he couldn’t die while leaving Leon in this world. There was no guarantee that such a situation wouldn’t happen again. Yet he couldn’t kill Leon on his own either. His goddess had said that Leon needed to be alive to be useful.

When they encountered Blake as soon as they left the mansion, he thought things had become complicated. If asked to choose an opponent he didn’t want to face on the battlefield, Blake Rowell would always be number one.

But surprisingly, Blake became cooperative as soon as he confirmed they had taken Leon hostage.

“There are circumstances suggesting Miss Carta was brought here as a captive.”

That one sentence from Blake explained everything. Blake used his soldiers to hold off the pursuit of the kingdom’s army and provided them with horses.

It was undeniable that without Blake’s appearance, their retreat would have been extremely difficult.

Having brought back Leon and Florian alive, what awaited Everitt was Bella bedridden with illness.

She lay in bed. She wouldn’t open her eyes no matter how many times he called her name or shook her shoulders.

Everyone had to restrain him when he declared he would kill Leon immediately. Someone shouted that it was just a cold, but he couldn’t hear them.

Only after the doctor, who had been brought through the snowstorm with great difficulty, diagnosed it as a cold did Everitt sheathe his sword. And he couldn’t leave Bella’s bedside until the medicine the doctor gave her took effect.

He couldn’t get the image of Bella lying dazed, staring at the ceiling, out of his mind. That hellish time when it seemed her soul had already departed, leaving only an empty shell…

He hadn’t learned his lesson despite losing the chance to win Bella’s love after embracing her without permission. On the last day of summer, unable to bear the end of the season, he had embraced her again, and as a consequence, lost her for half a year. At that time, he truly wanted to kill himself.

He had begged and pleaded that if they met again, he wouldn’t lay a finger on her if only she would stay alive…

And yet, within hours of reuniting, she was bedridden again. Each labored breath she took as she burned with fever seemed to tear at his heart.

Whenever Bella called his name—”Everitt”—in her delirious state, he experienced heaven and hell simultaneously. He was happy that she seemed to think of him even in her unconscious state, but he worried to the point of madness because when Bella was in her right mind, she always called him “Grand Duke,” so he feared something might be wrong.

Finally, her symptoms began to improve gradually. By the time her fever had subsided somewhat, he had already spent two full days by her bedside without sleep.

“I’ll watch her, so go get some sleep! Do you want Bella to see you looking like this when she wakes up?”

Only after Natalie scolded him did he get some rest. It was closer to briefly passing out than actually sleeping.

After all that commotion, Bella finally opened her eyes. Not only did she open her eyes, but she sat up on her own and spoke. She called him “Grand Duke,” not “Everitt.” It meant she was in her right mind.

“Ah…”

Everitt slid down against the door.

He had thought it would be enough if Bella was just alive and well, but as soon as she met his gaze and called him, he found himself wanting more.

He wanted to stay by Bella’s side for the rest of his life.

Everitt buried his face in his hands.

You madman.

Right now, he should just be grateful that she was alive and safe. He shouldn’t think about anything else. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to endure.

***

The five male leads were in the adjacent room. They all seemed to have gathered upon hearing that Bella had awakened.

Melki was the one who opened the door. Florian, who had been sitting in a chair, jumped to his feet when he saw Bella and Natalie enter.

Leon was tied to a wooden chair in the middle of the room, with Blake standing behind it, his hand resting on the backrest, looking in their direction. And on the opposite side, Everitt was leaning against the window.

None of them appeared to be particularly injured. Bella let out a sigh of relief. Even after everything that had happened, she didn’t want any of the male leads to lose their lives. But it wasn’t because she loved them like before.

‘Come to think of it, how long has it been since I’ve seen all five of them gathered in one place?’

In the past, she would have recalled the character introduction illustrations and felt her heart flutter. But now she felt no such sentiment. Instead, her body trembled slightly with tension. It felt as if two or three of them would pounce on her, tear her clothes, and devour her if she were left alone for even a moment.

Bella took a deep breath.

She felt dizzy for a moment but quickly composed herself.

Natalie was standing beside her. No matter what, they couldn’t drag Bella away in front of the princess. And the most dangerous man was now a prisoner, tightly bound.

Above all, Everitt was here.

‘Everitt wouldn’t let anything like that happen.’

She was confident that Everitt would prevent anything Bella didn’t want from happening.