“Raphael…?”

Amelia couldn’t understand why he was looking down at her from above. She didn’t hear the sound of the door opening; he appeared silently like an assassin.

“W-wait…!”

Trying to ask him to let her go was useless. His pupils had lost their luster a long time ago. They completely lost focus. Was this time the one mentioned in the book? The day Amelia spent the night with Raphael.

He was driven by excitement, nothing more than an instinct-driven beast. Even now, it seemed like he couldn’t hear her words at all.

“Ah…!”

She tightly closed her eyes as his face drew closer. It was unfair for him to approach with such a face. Amelia couldn’t possibly refuse. Raphael was breathtakingly handsome, but this time, it was different. The had an aura that flowed out from him, which could bewitch people.

“H-Hey…!”

“….”

He felt his hot breath on her neck, and her body shivered and goosebumps formed all over her. Faint moans escaped from her lips. She didn’t know what kind of accident might occur if this continued. But the other person doesn’t seem to be in the right state of mind.

“Raphael Lloyd Siegfried!”

If he wouldn’t listen no matter how loudly she called him, she had no choice but to make him listen. Amelia called him out loudly and hit his shoulder. She ended up hurting herself more than she expected, knocking on his solid body.

“Raphael!”

“…You can stop hitting me now.”

Just as she was wondering if she should pinch him or something, she heard a polite, cold voice. His returning gaze and the chilly expression made Amelia shiver. One would wonder who created this situation.

“You certainly call out quite loudly.”

“What?”

“I thought you would address me as Your Grace the Grand Duke forever.”

Now are you going on about how I just called you by one name? Who gave you the right to lay people down and kiss them as you please? Even if she wasn’t in her right mind, she was definitely the victim.

“If you have your senses back, please move aside, Your Grace, the Grand Duke.”

Amelia purposely emphasized the words ‘Your Grace the Grand Duke,’ meaning if he understood, he should step aside.

“Your Grace?”

“I thought you would like it.”

“Me? You thought I would like it when you addressed me like that?”

By now, she was laughing out loud at the absurdity of it all. What should she do with that damn prince? Of course, the original Amelia would have liked it. But she knows. She knows how cruel that man is. He’s nothing more than a handsome facade. He’s the perfect example of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“Since you don’t like it, could you please get down from there?”

It was probably because he was in this vulnerable state that he rushed towards Amelia. In fact, the Raphael from earlier wasn’t Raphael at all. He had lost his reason, so was nothing but instinct. He seemed unaware of what he was doing.

It seemed like she was still trying to figure out the situation.

“I heard you wouldn’t come today.”

She had heard that he wouldn’t come for a few days, so she was curious why he appeared like a thief in the night after just one day.

“And… this…”

“It wasn’t my intention.”

“Ah, I see.”

Amelia sneered at Raphael’s mistake, one that was long overdue.

“Because of the smell… I lost my senses.”

Smell? Is he saying that she smells again? Now he was even making absurd excuses. Although she hadn’t washed up because she was sick, she didn’t smell anything.

“You’re saying that you lost your senses because of my smell?”

Amelia made a firm face and stood up from the bed. She didn’t want to stay with this person any longer, she didn’t have the intention to stay with someone who told her she smelled.

“Grand Duchess?”

“Apparently I smell bad, so I’ll go now.”

* * *

Leaving him bewildered, she stalked out of the room. Just in case Raphael would try to grab her, she quickly headed to Leonel’s room. Although it was unlikely that he would have caught her anyway.

“But still, that’s too much.”

How could he say that she smells? And why would he attack someone just because they smell? If she really smelled, he should have stayed away.

Amelia raised her arm, wondering if by any chance she could smell something, but still, there was no scent at all.

“Is that person perhaps a bloodhound?”

Was he picking up subtle scents that humans couldn’t? If that were the case, it was somewhat understandable. After all, Raphael didn’t seem like a human, but more like a beast.

Creak.

Amelia quietly opened the door, not wanting to wake up the sleeping Leonel. She might as well go back to sleeping on the floor.

“Who is it?”

As soon as she opened the door, a sharp sword blocked her path. There was a faintly glowing blade in the jet-black darkness. Is Leonel holding a sword right now?

“L… Leonel?”

“Mother…?”

She didn’t understand why this little child was holding a sword.

“What is this…”

“Why did Mother come here…”

He was aiming at a person so naturally. If she had moved even a little, he would have accurately aimed for her throat, to the point of her spilling blood. It was unbelievable that Leonel, who was always childish and innocent, would be holding a sword, but it was even more unbelievable that he swung it towards a person.

“I’m sorry. That is… umm….”

No words could make up for this situation. The Leonel from a moment ago was unyielding. He pointed the knife at her neck without a hint of hesitation. He was no stranger to swinging a sword a few times. This kind of situation had become very familiar to him.

She knew that Leonel was taking swordsmanship lessons. But she thought it was just a practice session with a wooden sword because he was still a child. No matter how little she knew about him, it seemed impossible that he could swing a real sword at a person in an instant.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were an intruder.”

Leonel quickly put away the sword, telling her that all of this was real. It was strange to see a young child point a knife at someone.

“Has this kind of thing happened often?”

“No… Not in the castle.”

It hadn’t happened in the castle. That meant it had happened somewhere else.

“Nobody should enter my room at this hour… I was just so surprised.”

Seeing Leonel lose his spirit, Amelia silently sighed again and again. Leonel hadn’t done anything wrong. It was the adults to blame for giving a child a sword.

“But why did you come, Mother?”

“Ah… I couldn’t sleep alone.”

She couldn’t say that Raphael had come so she ran away. As Leonel quickly sheathed his sword and led her inside, Amelia wondered if she should pretend she didn’t know what had just happened. Regardless of what she says, Leonel probably wouldn’t throw away the sword.

As long as they never leave Siegfried, Leonel wouldn’t throw away the sword. It was obvious. Every time they went to the western forest boundary, all sorts of dangers threatened the child. She couldn’t ask Leonel to give up the swordsmanship he learned for the sake of survival…

“Mother?”

She had already prevented Leonel from going to the western forest before. Could things be different now?

“Just go to sleep comfortably. I’ll go to another room.”

“I’m fine! Where are you trying to go at this hour?”

“We have plenty of rooms.”

It was absurd to think that there was no place for her to lie down in this large castle. And maybe she actually smells, just as Raphael had said.

“They haven’t cleaned the unused rooms yet, so it would be difficult for you to sleep there right away.”

Leonel has a point.

“Leonel, will you promise to be honest with me?”

“Yes?”

“It’s not about what happened earlier.”

Perhaps he thought she was angry because of what had happened earlier, that’s why he quickly lost his spirit.

“By any chance… do I smell?”

“Yes…?”

While Raphael might not know, the kind-hearted Leonel was someone who couldn’t tell her that she smelled.

As expected, she couldn’t help but think that she asked a pointless question.

“Smell?”

“Yeah. You can honestly tell me, it’s okay.”

“You don’t smell!”

Amelia examined Leonel to see if he was lying, but there was no sign of that.

“Am I the only one who didn’t notice?”

“No, no.”

Amelia comforted Leonel, who had been looking downcast since earlier and made herself comfortable on the bed. She didn’t have to sleep alone. There was no law that said she had to sleep in that room. She didn’t understand why she’d held out until now.

“Do you want to sleep with your mom tonight?”

“I like that.”

The warmth of the child’s body in her arms felt good. In fact, Amelia liked sleeping while holding onto something. But at that moment, she had no idea what consequences this night would bring.