11. The Intruder

The moment I opened the door, the corridor outside was filled with deep blue darkness.

Something was strange.

I had clearly heard knocking sounds. And they had reverberated against my door multiple times, not just once.

Could it be a ghost? I had heard somewhere about poltergeist phenomena where ghosts move objects around. A ghost seemed better than an assailant, but it wasn’t exactly welcome either.

The fear that had risen to the top of my throat vanished in vain. Thanks to this, the senses that had been frozen in tension returned.

I walked out of the room as if in a trance.

The unlit corridor was extremely quiet.

Just as I became convinced there was nothing in front of my room, something hit the tip of my foot.

Looking down, I saw a familiar basket covered with cloth. This cloth was definitely a handkerchief embroidered with the ducal family’s pattern. Since coming to stay here, I had been given several handkerchiefs with this pattern. Because of this, I was familiar with its appearance.

Under the cloth covering the basket, a long whiskey bottle and blue, calm flowers were visible.

I crouched down in front of the basket and removed the handkerchief.

Who could have left these things in front of my room?

Though I couldn’t be certain of that person’s identity, one thing was clear. It was someone from within the ducal family. The ducal family’s pattern used a special dye that couldn’t be replicated externally.

Had someone heard rumors about my fake illness and prepared this? But whiskey seemed too luxurious for such a thing.

I didn’t have any great friendship within the ducal family that would warrant such an expensive gift for me.

No, it wasn’t just the whiskey. The blue flowers beside it also looked in excellent condition.

Finding such fresh flowers in this season also required no ordinary effort.

If so, there was only one answer.

Though it was somewhat incomprehensible no matter how I thought about it, there was no other way to explain this.

“Excuse me!”

I shouted toward the empty corridor. Naturally, only my voice echoed in the empty corridor.

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but you shouldn’t send me gifts like this! I’m currently engaged!”

Whoever they were, they were clearly infatuated with me.

Ah, why this trial now in my life, which had been far from popularity until now?

“I’ll leave this here, so please take it back! If you take it back now, you can probably get a refund. Understand!”

In the momentum, I continued shouting loudly to relieve stress. I had fully immersed myself in the role of a lady troubled by receiving gift showers.

My projection was far from the image of a popular beauty, but it somehow felt refreshing.

Just then, I heard something rolling on the floor.

“……”

I startled and quickly lowered my two hands that had been cupped around my mouth like a trumpet.

This is bad.

It seemed someone was still in this darkness.

Since their purpose was to leave a gift here, I had naturally thought they would have left.

I wish this were a dream.

I was a fool.

I had completely let my guard down after seeing the handkerchief embroidered with the ducal family’s pattern.

A mysterious black marble that had rolled right up to my feet stopped moving. And no presence could be felt from where that marble had rolled from.

Let’s just pretend nothing happened.

Pretend I didn’t say anything.

The person who gave me the gift offensive wouldn’t possibly spread rumors about today’s incident.

I should naturally just go back into the room like this. If I leave the gift as it is, they’ll take it back on their own.

At that moment, I heard a sound I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Cough……”

That sound wasn’t unfamiliar. The clear, ringing voice lightly placed on the coughing sound, and the faint, weak breathing at the end were unmistakably distinct.

But that couldn’t be.

In the darkness, I hesitated to move forward for a moment.

As the coughing continued a bit more, I heard someone leaning against the wall slide down.

My body moved ahead of my thoughts.

I ran with all my might to the corner at the end of the corridor. Below where the stair railing began, I saw a person sitting with their body leaning against the handrail.

“Young master……?”

He stopped coughing and raised his head to look at me. Sitting there with his body slightly curled due to repeated coughing, it was indeed Young Master Riverton.

His white, thin hands were each holding the stair railing in a crisscross manner.

Even in the deep blue darkness, his emerald eyes that emitted light showed a faint smile toward me.

“I was planning to just leave the flowers……”

He said in a small voice.

Seeing this, I couldn’t hide my surprised expression.

And thinking that he must have heard all the strange things I had said earlier, embarrassment washed over me.

My face began to feel hot.

What would the young master think of me now?

It was too late to pretend I didn’t know anything, as my voice had been too loud. I clearly remembered my words echoing throughout the corridor, resonating up and down the floors.

I wanted to hide in a mouse hole if one existed.

At that moment, I noticed him continuing to cough with his lips buried in a handkerchief. With each cough, his light brown hair, scattered in the air, was dyed by the darkness, appearing almost deep black.

Finally coming to my senses, I extended both hands to him.

“Young master, here. Take my hand and stand up.”

After a moment’s hesitation, his cold hand intertwined with my fingers. The chill transferred from his fingers digging into my hand felt like it might cause a burn. But I didn’t let go of that hand.

Thoughtfully, he slowly rose by putting weight on the railing behind him.

Even with his hunched posture, he had instantly grown taller and was looking down at me.

The moment our eyes met as he stood before me, I felt like I could die from shame. This was because the words I had spoken earlier kept replaying in my head.

“I heard you were sick.”

At those words from a truly sick patient, my conscience seemed to shatter.

Without being conscious of it, his hand was still interlocked with mine. His hand between my fingers firmly squeezed the back of my hand.

That hand seemed to be interrogating me about my lie that had been completely exposed.

Given that everything had been revealed, I decided to quickly confess and apologize. But before I could utter the first word to confess my wrongdoing, Young Master Riverton dropped his head close to my shoulder.

At that moment, I felt dizzy from the sweet fragrance that wafted over.

My heart began to pound. I didn’t know where to place my eyes.

“I’m relieved.”

A single phrase exhaled like a sigh tickled my hair and ears.

With my heart in disarray, I tried to untangle our interlocked hands. But his cold fingers squeezed deeply between the joints of my hand.

“To consider someone as inadequate as me your fiancé.”

“Pardon……?”

At these completely unexpected words, my heart pounded while my mind became complicated.

Why such words?

Does the young master not think of me as his fiancée? Of course, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

We both knew well that this engagement was false. It was a contract.

But despite such a contract, my healing power had done nothing for him. I felt sorry again for having accepted this sham marriage too hastily.

I began to resent my feeble healing power, which I had never cared much about in my life.

How wonderful it would be if I could perfectly cure the young master’s terrible illness like magic, as our ancestor in the ancient legend had done.

“Rosie.”

I raised my head at the kind and affectionate voice.

I felt a hot flush on my face as I lifted it. The view became blurry as if covered with misty vapor.

“Please don’t abandon me.”

“Yes.”

What did he just say?

“……Yes?!”

My mouth opened in shock and wouldn’t close. The words recognized by my ears seemed to have lost their way in my mind, and I couldn’t understand their meaning.

Rather, I thought it was I who should worry about being abandoned day by day.

But his eyes, looking at me with concern, seemed so desperate and anxious.

Is this what it feels like to grasp at straws? Thanks to the deal I had made with the Duke earlier (holding hands in exchange for a certain amount of money), he must have also heard about the truth of my healing ability.

Perhaps due to his long battle with illness, he seemed to want to keep even my insignificant ability by his side.

“Until your body gets better, that will absolutely never happen.”

I looked into his eyes and spoke assertively.

Only then did he show a faint smile as if relieved.

Seeing the young master’s smiling face, I felt at ease again. But soon, echoes from earlier that I wanted to erase began to creep back into my mind.

If I were to look in a mirror right now, misty steam would probably be rising from my head.

Moreover, my ears kept focusing on the small breathing sounds near my shoulder.

How long does the young master plan to stay in this posture?

With our hands still interlocked, his head lowered and tilted awkwardly toward me looked uncomfortable.

After some thought, I belatedly remembered the gifts I had received from him.

“……Thank you for the flowers. And the whiskey.”

I was also grateful that he hadn’t gotten angry despite discovering my fake illness, but that was a gratitude I simply couldn’t express aloud.

“If it’s alright with you, may I escort you to your carriage?”

I carefully asked him.

The outer castle where he stayed was quite a distance from here by carriage. Since he had taken the trouble to come all the way here, escorting him to the carriage was the least I could do.

He grinned and raised his head.

My heart lightened the moment his neck, which had looked uncomfortable, straightened.

“No.”

He smiled and declined.

It was unexpected. Come to think of it, this was the first time. The first time he had spoken words of refusal to me.

Realizing I had received too much consideration from him until now, I felt a corner of my heart tighten again.

I made a resolution.

Until the young master became completely tired of me and wanted to drive me away, I would train this insignificant healing power by any means necessary. By doing so, I wanted to help treat his illness.

His blue-green eyes gave me a visual greeting.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

As if truly about to leave like this, he turned his body. His black clothes fluttered, bringing a chilly night air.

This won’t do.

Sending him off alone like this seemed too heartless. He had come all the way here because of my lie about being sick, and I couldn’t just let him go like this. If he were to collapse and die while walking alone at night, I felt I would never escape the guilt for the rest of my life.

Growing urgent, I firmly grabbed the hem of his clothes with both hands as he was about to move away.