Chapter 3 (Part 5)

Glancing at Leonardo, he also didn’t seem to be affected.

‘No, somehow, his gaze seems colder?’  

It might have been her imagination, but his gaze seemed colder than before.  

But what did it matter?  

Grace decided to ignore it and spoke to him, who still looked at her with disapproval.  

“I know you dislike sword training since you’re a mage. But if you don’t want to die a dog’s death here, cooperate quietly, Sir Fernandez.”  

Even though drinking a potion would return their bodies to normal, the time they spent in their original bodies was limited to a couple of hours.

Moreover, there was a limit to how much potion they could drink, so Grace thought they should try everything else they could.  

Leonardo agreed on that point, but he couldn’t understand why he felt so irritated.  

“Let’s set a time.”  

Despite his curt and cold tone, Grace checked the time without any concern.  

Then, after glancing outside, she replied.  

“An hour after lunch. Let’s do it every day around 2 PM.”  

“……Alright.”  

Answering so, Leonardo headed to the bathroom.  

He intended to take care of his bodily functions and bathe before his body changed.  

Once he was gone, Grace sighed with a weary expression. Then, as if struck by a thought, she scratched her head in embarrassment.  

“……What if he doesn’t cook?”  

Even if she had to eat preserved food, she wouldn’t starve, but knowing Leonardo could cook, preserved food wouldn’t go down her throat easily.

Grace cursed herself for eagerly accepting and eating the food he gave her.  

‘Oh, this must be why they say you can tame animals with food.’  

Comparing herself to a tamed animal, Grace trudged to the kitchen.  

In any case, she’d have to eat lunch soon, and there was still a long time before the delivery owl would bring the supplies.  

Which meant she’d have to cook her own food.  

‘Let’s just heat up some preserved food.’  

She didn’t want to create another situation like last time and become a laughingstock for generations.  

Grace took out preserved food, placed it on the counter, and glared at it as if having a staring contest. Just as she was about to touch it…  

“Ugh! Sudden, what—!”  

A severe pain radiated from her heart.  

Unconsciously clutching her chest, Grace slid down and sat on the floor. Her breathing became labored, and it was a pain strong enough to make her break into a cold sweat.  

As she struggled to catch her breath and regain her senses, she heard a loud noise.  

“―Sir!”

Hearing a loud, fierce voice, Grace fainted.  

When she finally opened her eyes again after a long time, she was not in the kitchen but in the men’s quarters.  

Reflexively raising her hand, Grace let out a shallow sigh.  

‘……Changed again.’  

By this point, returning to her own body felt like a short dream.

No, she had never returned to Grace Lowell’s body in the first place. Returning to her body itself wasn’t a fact but a dream.

‘There are strange lucid dreams, so it could happen.’  

Grace let out a hollow laugh and slowly got up.

She knew better than anyone that it wasn’t the case.  

Grace gathered her long, disheveled blonde hair and tied it up high. After a quick wash, she threw off the blanket.  

“Oh, you’re awake.”  

Just as she was about to get up, Leonardo opened the door and entered.  

The tray he held emanated the delicious smell of soup.  

The scent made her realize she was hungry.  

“Since you fainted, I brought some soft food.”  

“……For me?”  

“Is there anyone else here besides you, Sir Lowell?”  

With an incredulous expression, Leonardo placed the tray on the bed.  

The soup contained mushrooms cut into bite-sized pieces. Watching it quietly, Grace spoke in a very small voice.  

“……Thank you, Sir Leonardo.”  

Grace had always been especially weak to those who provided her with food.  

The mansion’s chef, the nanny who took care of her since she was young, the maids who secretly brought her snacks, and the colleagues who slipped her bottles of alcohol.  

Her attachment to such people was a bit different from others. Her grip on the warm soup bowl tightened.  

‘…Why does this make me feel emotional?’

What was it that made my heart ache?  

Grace felt grateful to Leonardo, who, despite disliking her, had cooked and brought her food because she fainted.  

Just a moment ago, she had resolved to keep a clear distance, but that was all ruined.  

‘Well, what’s the point of distancing now?’  

Muttering inwardly, Grace took a spoonful of the soup.  

‘It’s delicious.’

Made by an annoying guy, yet it was so delicious.  

As she listened absentmindedly to Leonardo explaining the points he deduced while she was unconscious, Grace took another spoonful of soup.  

Unaware of Grace’s complicated feelings, Leonardo continued speaking.  

“It seems the intensity of the pain I feel is different from what you feel, Sir Lowell.”  

Adding that it wasn’t painful enough for him to faint, Grace remained silent.  

Watching her silently eat the soup, Leonardo continued speaking.  

“It seems to be due to the potion you drank right after our bodies changed, Sir Lowell.”  

Grace nodded at his words.  

If the intensity of the pain they felt in the same situation was different, there was no other reason.  

“There might be other reasons, but we can’t confirm them now, so we should wait for the supplies to arrive.”  

“—Yes.”  

Leonardo stood up as Grace meekly answered.  

“I’ve prepared food in the kitchen like last time, so if it’s not enough, feel free to help yourself.”  

Recalling how Grace had almost emptied the soup pot last time, he said, but she shook her head and stood up with the empty bowl.  

Then she calmly replied,  

“It’s okay. I’ll do the dishes.”  

With that, Grace left the quarters, and Leonardo raised an eyebrow, feeling strange.  

Even in this situation, Grace had always been lively, but just now, she seemed slightly subdued.  

‘Well, maybe there was a change of heart.’  

Given that Grace was usually described as simple-minded, there must be a reason for her to behave that way.  

Suddenly, he recalled how Grace had naturally issued orders to Caleb during their last communication.  

Honestly, he hadn’t expected Grace to make such calm judgments and give precise instructions.  

‘Still, she is the commander of a Knight Order.’  

Caleb was also momentarily silent, as surprised as he was.

Though it wasn’t publicly known, Caleb had the ability to recognize a person’s unique mana.  

So if he hadn’t realized their bodies had swapped, it meant something was wrong with Caleb too.  

‘I’ll have a headache explaining later.’  

In any case, since Caleb would have realized their bodies had swapped through that communication, he would have sent the necessary items accordingly.  

He was someone who did things well without needing to be told.  

‘……Now, three days.’  

Honestly, Leonardo didn’t have the confidence to spend a month here with Grace, as he had told Caleb.

He was now feeling his resentment toward Grace melting away with every moment, every minute, and every second.  

He couldn’t tell if it was due to the magic or the dreams that constantly captivated him.  

But he knew for sure that he couldn’t return to how things were before.  

‘If I could, I would have just left her alone a while ago.’  

After all, the hatred he felt for Grace, which had been boiling up to the top of his head, vanished like the wind the moment she clutched her chest and collapsed.  

The first thing Leonardo did, with his heart sinking, was to check if she was breathing.

‘How foolish, Leonardo Fernandez.’  

If his master or father knew about these feelings, they would surely be shocked.  

Thinking that far, Leonardo clenched his fist, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then he slowly got up from the bed.  

‘Anyway, this is just a problem that needs to be solved. Thinking of it that way is more comfortable.’