Fortunately, there was a spare razor among the dry towels that Catherine had brought. She took the razor in one hand and a small amount of shaving cream in the other, then turned around. She hesitated.

The height was wrong. David, meeting Catherine’s gaze, seemed to notice the problem too. Before Catherine could say anything, he rose from his seat with an awkward posture. Catherine blinked at the suddenly elevated eye level. The height still didn’t match.

When David sat in the chair, Catherine had to twist and bend her waist, and when he stood, their height difference forced her to tilt her head back. David apparently hadn’t considered this either.

He rubbed the back of his neck with a momentarily embarrassed expression, then looked around the room. Soon, seemingly having found a solution, he grabbed Catherine’s arm and led her to the window, where he promptly sat on the windowsill.

Looking at Catherine, who watched his actions with disbelief, David grinned.

“This height seems about right, doesn’t it?”

Though his sudden perch on the windowsill was absurd, with his gaze now slanting downward, the height was indeed perfect. Come on. Catherine reluctantly approached at David’s urging voice. As she took a step closer, David pulled her arm, guiding her to stand directly in front of him.

Finding herself unexpectedly positioned between David’s legs, Catherine frowned, sensing something inappropriate. However, when David nonchalantly lifted his chin, she closed her mouth and hesitated.

It seemed better to finish quickly. Catherine quietly began applying the shaving cream. He must not have shaved properly after getting injured, as there were prickly hairs growing in places normally hidden from view. After covering everything with cream, she picked up the razor and began shaving.

For a moment, only the scraping sound filled the quiet room. Catherine moved her hand slowly, careful not to disturb the wound on David’s neck. With each movement of her fingers through the slippery cream, she felt the regular pulse and warmth beneath.

There was something strange about the sensation of her fingertips sliding over the lukewarm cream, brushing against taut muscles and bone structure. Catherine paused briefly when she felt his Adam’s apple and surrounding movement, like someone swallowing.

Though it took some time due to her careful attention around the wounded area, she was nearly finished. When David stopped moving, Catherine resumed her work.

The blade slipped rather than cutting properly along a curved section. Catherine leaned a little closer toward David.

Soon, however, she noticed something odd and stopped. She realized David was gradually leaning backward. Just as she was about to raise her head to tell him not to play around—

David wrapped both hands around Catherine’s waist and pulled her forward. Before she could react, Catherine found herself practically falling into his embrace.

“David!” she cried out in surprise, and giggles rained down from above her head. Looking down at Catherine with laughter in his voice, David asked:

“May I kiss you?”

“You’d better not forget what I’m holding in my hand.”

Catherine answered with a growling tone, clearly angered. Oh my, David responded with an exaggerated look of surprise and released her. I was a fool to think you were being helpful. Catherine sighed and quickly stepped away from him.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she said, heading back toward the bed to get a towel. She was about to add “and stop lying too,” when her voice suddenly halted.

“Catherine?”

David, startled by her abrupt stop, quickly approached her side. Then he too froze when his eyes met the red eyes staring at them from the bed.

“Saul!”

David blinked in surprise at Catherine’s voice. Somehow she was already sitting beside Saul. 

“Are you alright?”

Catherine’s anxious follow-up question sounded distant, as though coming from far away. Only when David belatedly looked back at Catherine did he clearly hear what she was saying.

“Call Samuel!”

At Catherine’s words, David finally snapped to attention and rushed out of the bedroom. The dull sound of his shoes pounding against the thick carpet echoed behind him.

“Saul, can you hear me?”

Catherine spoke to him again, fearing he might lose consciousness once more. She instinctively reached for Saul’s hand but realized her own was still slick with shaving cream and wiped it on a towel. Even while doing this, she continued speaking to him. Can you talk? His gaze remained fixed on her.

Catherine kept talking while cleaning her hands and washing them again with water, but Saul didn’t respond at all. His silent blinking was deeply concerning.

“If you can hear me, blink twice,” Catherine whispered, meeting his eyes.

“I’m coming in!”

Just as Saul, who had been staring intently at Catherine, slowly blinked twice, an urgent knock followed by a familiar voice came from outside. It was Samuel, the personal physician. Before Catherine could answer, he hurriedly entered.

His appearance was unusually disheveled, suggesting he had been called shortly after waking. Catherine quickly made room for him, noting the dark circles under his strangely bright eyes.

While Samuel observed Saul’s condition, speaking to him and asking various questions, David, who had followed him in, stood beside Catherine.

She was about to hand him a towel to wipe the remaining shaving cream from under his chin when she felt someone watching her and turned her head. Saul was still staring at her.

Catherine’s shoulders tensed, startled by the gaze fixed upon her. Those red eyes seemed profoundly alien.

Somehow unable to look away, she remained frozen, meeting his stare. She might have continued like that if David hadn’t wrapped his hand around hers and pulled gently.

At the warmth covering her hand, Catherine turned her head with a start, as though suddenly coming to her senses. She blinked in confusion when she noticed the coldness in David’s face as he looked at Saul.

David was glaring at him with eyes as frigid as a frozen winter lake. His lips were pressed together with such force they appeared pale, and his cheeks were rigid. It was markedly different from his attitude when caring for Saul earlier.

“David?”

Perplexed by this sudden change, Catherine murmured his name, and David’s gaze slid toward her. Fortunately, his expression had softened somewhat by the time his eyes met hers.

“Are you alright?”

Catherine asked again, but David blinked as though he didn’t understand the question. He seemed completely unaware of the expression he had been wearing.

“You should wipe that off,” Catherine said, deliberately changing the subject without pointing out his behavior.

David appeared so lost in thought that she had to gesture toward his neck. Only then did he use the towel she had given him to wipe away the cream. When Catherine turned her attention back to Saul, he was now staring blankly at Samuel, who was speaking to him.

There was something strange about Saul, who merely blinked without responding. The change in his eye color since awakening at the cemetery had already been troubling Catherine. Samuel, who seemed to be testing Saul’s reactions by asking various questions, soon stood up. He glanced toward the door, suggesting they should move elsewhere.

“I’ll be right back,” Catherine whispered to Saul. His only response was the same unwavering stare.

Catherine turned and grabbed David’s arm.

“Come with me,” she mouthed silently, unable to leave Saul alone. David briefly glanced toward Saul before reluctantly nodding.

Fortunately, David followed Catherine’s lead without resistance. She deliberately ignored the gaze she felt on her back as she and David hurriedly followed Samuel to the door. Even when Catherine reached the doorway and sent David out first before instinctively glancing back into the room, Saul’s persistent stare continued to follow her.

* * *

“There are no particular abnormalities, but…”

Samuel’s assessment of Saul’s condition was somewhat disappointing. He too seemed frustrated by his inability to determine Saul’s exact state. Nervously running his fingers through his disheveled hair, Samuel, appearing extremely tired, rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. He blinked repeatedly as though trying to clear his blurred vision before speaking.

“It seems the Count has developed some vision problems that we should monitor.”

Surprised by this unexpected information, Catherine asked, “Could it be related to the change in his eye color?”

“That’s possible. He has been through quite an ordeal, after all.”

His answer was vague, suggesting this was something he had never encountered before. Catherine found the lack of a definitive opinion frustrating, but it was understandable. Though Samuel was an experienced medical professional with over twenty years of practice, even he had never seen someone who had completely stopped breathing only to come back to life.