Chapter 22. Standing By His Side

Elena looked at Rudfelix with dazed eyes that hadn’t fully shaken off sleep.

From her prone position on the bed, only her eyes followed Rudfelix.

He was busily moving around the room without allowing any servants to enter.

Putting on his shirt, fastening the buttons at his wrists, and brushing back the hair that had fallen forward.

Occasionally he approached Elena, kissing her forehead and checking if her body was alright.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to go to Vieta Valley.”

“Why?”

“A request for support came from the imperial family.”

Being a Grand Duchy, it was expressed as a request rather than an order. Even so, it was still something he had to follow—a polite directive that fully utilized the Grand Duke’s power.

Suharto had delivered it personally and said he would go along.

Rudfelix had just started to dress when he sat down on the edge of the bed. Though they had made love all night, looking at Elena made him want to hold her again.

The day had already dawned, and he had things to do, so he pressed his lips firmly to her forehead to ease his regret.

“Don’t follow me today, rest here.”

Elena rubbed her eyes and smiled at Rudfelix’s kiss. She received his fluttering greeting as a way to welcome the morning.

‘If it’s Vieta Valley……’

Suddenly, Elena’s hand stopped rubbing her eyes. She barely managed to raise her sluggish body to converse with him, which was why the content was slowly registering in her mind. That place was where Roina had made herself known to the world.

‘That rare place where boulders roll down whenever people pass by.’

In the V-shaped alley, dozens of boulders would roll down whenever people passed through, and after a series of accidents, it became a restricted area. However, that path was a major route to the Kingdom of Tristan, so they couldn’t just leave that phenomenon unaddressed.

“Isn’t that where boulders roll down?”

“Yes.”

Having nothing to hide, Rudfelix answered readily.

“You’re going there?”

Elena subtly shook her head.

“Even if you can split one or two rocks in half, you can’t cut through dozens of them.”

“I won’t proceed recklessly.”

Despite his answer, Elena couldn’t easily agree. She tilted her head, causing her hair to flow down and hide her sparkling eyes.

‘So that’s why Crown Prince Suharto came looking.’

Many people wanted to stand beside him and go along when he moved personally. Yet he sought out the Grand Duke for his own reasons.

It was obvious that he would mobilize the many troops under Rudfelix’s command according to his own plan. She could see that he intended to establish a hierarchical relationship with the Grand Duke and demonstrate his success ostentatiously.

‘But it will fail.’

That method would fail due to crossed signals. However, that situation wouldn’t necessarily be advantageous for Rudfelix. This was because Roina would play a crucial role in filling the gap left by Suharto’s failure.

“I want to go with you.”

Elena clutched the blanket covering her and sat up. But Rudfelix grabbed her shoulders and pressed down heavily. He looked seriously at Elena’s pale face.

“You overexerted yourself yesterday.”

“I’m fine.”

“Your face says otherwise. You have a slight fever and no strength in your hands.”

Rudfelix pressed his forehead against Elena’s. She had fallen back asleep without noticing when he got up, and only woke up staggering after sleeping for a long time.

“I slept well.”

She didn’t want to miss out because of her deep relationship with Rudfelix.

“That’s not the only issue. It’s dangerous there.”

He didn’t want to take Elena to a place where unknown dangers might arise. But Elena had already made up her mind to go.

‘Vieta Valley is just the beginning.’

Suharto and Roina would gain public support by traveling around the continent preventing disasters. If she just watched this happen, it would become a decisive moment for Rudfelix to fall behind Suharto.

“Do you remember what I said before?”

Elena took Rudfelix’s hand that was wrapped around her shoulder. His firm and warm hand made her shoulder feel warm.

With these large hands, he had caressed her passionately all night.

For such a man, she gladly needed to go to the valley.

“Trust me.”

Elena stared at Rudfelix with unwavering eyes.

‘The Crown Prince isn’t the only one who prepared.’

She had made her own preparations too.

‘That situation with twist after twist, I’ll flip it once more with another twist.’

“You saw how I dealt with the bearwolves, right?”

Laughter filled his worried eyes. Recalling that moment still amazed him, naturally bringing a smile to his face.

“Are you planning to block the rocks with that paper that wrapped the wolf with its stem?”

“Yes.”

Elena smiled and let go of the blanket. As the blanket flowed down her body and she climbed over it, Rudfelix covered his forehead as if he had no choice.

The red marks attached to her ankle proved that what happened last night wasn’t a dream.

“I can protect myself safely.”

She precisely addressed his final reason for reluctance to let her come along.

Rudfelix prioritized Elena’s safety above all else.

“I’ll protect you.”

Elena passed by him without rejection. Unlike him, who was perfectly dressed to avoid recalling yesterday’s events, Elena was still in a disheveled state.

“Wait just a moment. Let me get dressed and we’ll leave together.”

‘You can wait that long, can’t you?’ Elena wrinkled her nose bridge in a cute manner. The atmosphere demanded that time be created even if there was none.

Though the air felt cold against her bare skin, Elena absolutely refused to hurry. She picked up her clothes, smiling leisurely at his penetrating gaze.

She put on each piece of clothing while maintaining eye contact with Rudfelix to prevent him from approaching.

“You were embarrassed yesterday.”

Where had the woman who was embarrassed to show her n*ked body gone?

“I’m still me.”

She was simply showing different aspects of herself depending on the situation. As Elena was putting her arm through the last piece of clothing, Rudfelix approached silently and embraced her from behind.

“You’re not fully dressed yet, so this much is fine, right?”

He pressed his lips to the nape of her neck, pulling aside her shirt collar.

Elena tilted her head to the side in sync with his movements. In the mirror, Rudfelix’s eyes were closed.

“We won’t be able to leave at this rate.”

“I don’t want to go.”

Elena turned around to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I’ll give you my lips anytime when we’re out too.”

She comforted him, saying they didn’t need to stay here specifically. Rudfelix finally let her go after thoroughly sucking on Elena’s lips, just as she had said.

“Come out when the carriage is ready.”

This was Rudfelix’s considerate words, hoping Elena would rest a little more.

‘How far does this man’s charm go?’

The man who had embraced her so passionately became incredibly gentle and delicate when the sun rose. He was a man who made it impossible to break free the more she got to know him.

“I’ll be waiting.”

Elena waved her hand gently to see him off, but as soon as the door closed, she collapsed to the floor.

“Ugh, my waist.”

She knelt down and patted her waist. Though she had pretended to be relaxed in front of Rudfelix, her limbs were actually trembling.

“Did I carry a rock yesterday?”

Otherwise, how could her body be this exhausted? At that moment, a thought occurred to Elena.

“It was a rock.”

Rudfelix’s trained body could rightfully be called a rock. The only difference was that it was warm and didn’t hurt no matter how much she rubbed against it.

Though she wanted to rest in bed all day, Vieta Valley was a place she absolutely couldn’t miss. Elena forcibly put strength into her legs and stood up.

She roughly tied back her hair that had fallen forward, finished preparing to leave, and took a deep breath before exiting the room.

“The Grand Duke’s lover.”

A nameless daughter of a count who had lived very quietly became the Grand Duke’s aide and then his lover.

Until yesterday, gossip about her had been flooding the social circles, but from the moment she stepped out of this room today, it would swirl even more intensely.

“Living quietly is no longer an option.”

Elena pulled the door open vigorously, holding her head high and stiff.

“I must move forward proudly without wavering under anyone’s gaze.”

She felt the pouring of people’s gazes in the brightened view. Elena stepped forward, muttering to herself under their stares.

“She… she came out of His Highness the Grand Duke’s…… room.”

A noble lady who had been lingering around pretending to have a chance encounter seemed shocked. She inadvertently spoke loudly.

It seemed odd that she would pass through here when the guest rooms were quite far away.

‘She was trying to create a fake chance encounter.’

Elena’s eyes naturally narrowed as she smiled at seeing her.

Once, Quiet had pointed out Lady Joudro at a debutante ball.

‘Wasn’t she the lady who approached saying she was losing her mind over His Highness’s scent?’