Chapter 3 – The Mysterious Appearance (Part 2)

The colorful expressions from earlier were gone, replaced by a colorless expression.

He couldn’t let Ellerdin leave like this.

‘Ah, it won’t be easy to win over my wife’s heart.’

Fernan hugged Ellerdin tightly from behind as she turned to leave.

Startled by the warmth of his embrace, Ellerdin looked back at him.

“Ellerdin, please don’t go.”

Lacking eloquence, this was the only way he could express his feelings.

“Rest here. It’s not me who needs rest right now, it’s you.”

Thump, thump.

She felt his steady heartbeat against her back. It wasn’t a lie.

‘Could I continue to receive those affectionate looks I saw earlier?’

As Ellerdin remained still, Fernan lifted her up.

“Eek!”

She wrapped her arms around his neck in surprise.

“My wife, please stay in this room. The thought of you spending the night alone worries me.”

Fernan said with a wide smile. It was an action devoid of any manners, but it didn’t feel unpleasant.

Her heart pounded at his bright smile.

Though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it started, the thought of his kindness being directed at someone else upset her, and her heart trembled every time he treated her this way.

It felt like the warmth Fernan had shown her had been piling up in her heart.

‘What should I do? What am I supposed to do?’

She couldn’t put a name to this feeling. Ellerdin buried the name of that emotion deep in her heart.

Fernan laid her down on the bed. The sound of their heartbeats overlapped and echoed in the room.

Lying on the bed in a daze, Ellerdin glanced up. Fernan, with his eyes closed, was patting her back.

Perhaps because of the warm atmosphere that gave her courage, Ellerdin cautiously reached out and stroked Fernan’s hair.

His eyebrows twitched at the gentle touch of her fingers running through his hair. Ellerdin whispered softly.

“Actually, I’ve made a new friend recently. His name is Fer, and he doesn’t live here.”

Thinking of Fer brought a smile to her face. Ellerdin smiled bashfully and stroked Fernan’s hair as she would pet Fer.

“He looks a bit like you.”

If there’s a chance later, I want to introduce him to you.

Ellerdin whispered, imagining Fernan meeting Fer, and chuckled quietly.

Seeing no response from Fernan, she looked at him closely and realized he had fallen asleep, probably exhausted.

‘He must have been tired.’

But what should I do if I can’t sleep?

Having just woken up, she felt wide awake. Seeing the dawn slowly breaking in the distance, it seemed like morning was approaching.

It’s a bit early, but should I go out and read a book?

Ellerdin carefully slipped out of Fernan’s embrace.

***

As she left the room and went down to the first floor, the atmosphere in the castle felt strange.

‘Why is it so quiet?’

The castle was eerily silent, as if no one was there.

Even in the early morning, there were always people working in the castle, so this silence was unusual.

“Celine? Mollek?”

Ellerdin wandered around the first floor, calling out to them. But only her voice echoed back, as if the place was empty.

She checked the kitchen, but Nisroch, who was always there, was nowhere to be seen. Only food cooking in a pot over the fire remained.

‘Nisroch would never leave food cooking unattended.’

Something was wrong.

Just as she was contemplating whether to wake Fernan, a cold breeze brushed the back of her neck.

– What a curious child.

The cold wind circled around her once and then began to flow somewhere.

Instinctively, she felt she had to follow it.

Ellerdin hurriedly chased the direction of the wind.

Contrary to her expectation that it was blowing in from outside, the wind was coming from the end of the right corridor on the first floor.

“This is…”

It was the place where she had found the iron door while cleaning on her first day at the Duke’s mansion.

At that time, the Duke had warned her not to open that door. She was curious about what the wind was pointing at, but not curious enough to go against his wishes.

Especially after experiencing his kindness. She turned to leave, but the cold wind opened the door on its own and pushed her inside.

“Stop it!”

Ellerdin shouted at the wind.

But the wind pushed a bookshelf aside, revealing the iron door. The exposed iron door rattled in the wind. It seemed the wind wouldn’t let her go until she opened the door.

Ellerdin sighed and grabbed the handle.

“This won’t open.”

But contrary to her words, the iron door opened effortlessly.

‘Why is this…’

Ellerdin looked confusedly down the dark passage. The stairs carved into the wall led deep underground.

“I opened it, so that’s enough, right? I’m leaving.”

Whoosh. The wind pushed her.

“No!”

Losing her balance, Ellerdin fell down the stairs.

She fell from such a height that the ceiling wasn’t visible, hitting the cold stone, but strangely, she felt no pain. It was like an illusion.

– Nice to meet you.

The sorrowful voice she had heard earlier spoke again.

Ellerdin quickly lifted her head and looked ahead.

A man was sitting in front of a white statue.

When his eyes, filled with deep despair, met Ellerdin’s, she suddenly opened her eyes.

‘Huh…?’

She was in Fernan’s arms.

As if time had rewound.

‘…What is this…’

Ellerdin blinked in confusion.

Was it a dream?

No, it wasn’t a dream. It felt too real to be a dream. Moreover, the outside that had been dimly lit earlier was now bright with the morning sun.

‘Let’s check.’

Ellerdin, more urgent than before, carefully slipped out of Fernan’s embrace.

She cautiously opened the door and walked down the corridor, feeling a sense of déjà vu. It really felt like she was retracing her steps from earlier.

Just as she was wondering if the same thing would happen again, she realized this was indeed reality.

Before she even reached the stairs, she heard voices from downstairs.

As she descended the stairs, she saw maids in the lobby who hadn’t been there before. They were going about their usual tasks.

‘Was it really a dream?’

It had felt so vivid.

No, could it even be called a dream? It felt more like an illusion than a dream.

Ellerdin walked towards the problematic room at the end of the corridor. She would find out when she got there.

But Mollek, who witnessed her, was startled and stopped her.

“Madam! Madam!”

“Hm?”

Ellerdin stopped and turned around.

Mollek, flustered, looked between the room at the end of the corridor and Ellerdin, then whispered as if sharing a secret.

“You mustn’t go in there.”

“Oh…”

Ellerdin, taken aback by Mollek’s words, looked around nervously.

She knew Fernan disliked her going near that place, but something was drawing her there, making it hard to stop.

Fortunately, thanks to Mollek, she avoided causing any trouble, but she was shocked at her own actions.

‘Fernan didn’t even get angry when I went there.’

She shouldn’t act this way towards someone so kind. She shouldn’t make things difficult for Mollek either.

“Okay.”

Ellerdin agreed, and Mollek’s face brightened. He sighed in relief and led her to the lobby.

“Your meal will be ready soon. I’ll call you shortly.”

“Oh… Fernan is still sleeping… I’ll tell him when he wakes up.”

Ellerdin carefully went back upstairs to the room.

Fernan was still asleep in the same position as before.

After a moment of hesitation, she decided to be a little more spoiled until he woke up and slipped back into his arms.

But who was that person?

She tried not to think about it, but the curiosity remained.

Ellerdin looked at Fernan’s face.

‘He looked a bit like him.’

As if in a trance, she reached out and traced the line of Fernan’s lips.

She felt the soft texture under her fingertips. It felt like all her nerves were concentrated in her hand. The warmth of his body seemed to raise her own temperature.

At that moment, his lips twitched.

‘!!!’

Ellerdin quickly pulled back in surprise. She looked up with trembling eyes.

“Oh…”

His red eyes were looking at her with amusement.

Seeing his expression, as if he was holding back laughter, she felt a rush of embarrassment.

Ellerdin lowered her head deeply.

“S-sorry. I didn’t mean to touch you secretly…”

Fernan let out a low chuckle.

“Touch me more.”

He whispered in her ear as he hugged her tightly. His voice was quite husky, having just woken up.

Ellerdin shook her head firmly with her eyes closed. Through her fallen hair, her reddened ears were visible.

Finding it unbearably adorable, Fernan couldn’t resist and planted a short kiss on the top of her round head.

Startled, Ellerdin quickly pulled away from his embrace.

Anticipating her reaction, he had already opened his arms to let her go easily.

Watching his relaxed smile, she hurriedly pulled up the bed sheets and said,

“Mollek came by earlier and said lunch would be ready soon. Let’s go down to the dining room quickly…”

Ah, it’s happening again.

She had barely mentioned the word “dining room,” but her stomach started to churn.

Seeing her darkened expression, Fernan’s face grew serious.

“Are you still feeling unwell?”

He placed his hand on her forehead and asked. The touch brought her out of her thoughts.

“N-no! I’m fine!”

She waved her hands and answered.

But Fernan’s eyes were already narrowed as he looked at her.

“No, you need to rest all day today.”

Fernan pulled the bell cord next to the bed. Mollek soon entered, and Fernan spoke to him.

“Bring the meal here.”

Ellerdin’s shoulders twitched at his words.

Eating in the room. How could I eat in the room? Is that even possible?

Ellerdin, confused, looked at the door.

Meals were only allowed in the dining room. There were no exceptions to this rule.

Even on the day her ankle was broken, or when she was beaten by the Earl and couldn’t move, they always dragged her to the dining room for meals.

“Please relax.”

Fernan smiled brightly and leaned her back against the wall. Not satisfied with just that, he even carefully covered her with a blanket up to her stomach, making Ellerdin flustered.

“Is it really okay not to go down?”

At her words, Fernan tilted his head.

“Of course.”

Ellerdin closed her mouth at his attitude, as if wondering why she was asking something obvious.