Was it because I let my guard down for a moment? I felt my face instantly flush hot up to my ears.

“Hey, please don’t do this to me. It’ll cause misunderstandings.”

When I chided him, the man became dejected like a puppy with drooping ears.

“But last time, you patted me when I did this.”

“What?”

“Here. Like this.”

He pulled my hand and placed it on top of his head.

‘…What is this, seriously.’

I narrowed my eyes.

Though his face was exceptionally handsome, his behavior of asking to be touched seemed somewhat lacking and didn’t come across as particularly seductive.

Just like a puppy begging for affection from its owner. Either way, it was rather awkward.

“Are you talking about the person who gave you that necklace?”

“Yes.”

He was surprisingly bold about it.

‘Why is he asking me to do that?’

Do I have to do such things just because he helped me?

Faced with this absurd request, I removed my hand and forced a smile.

“Haha, well, I’m grateful and all, but you shouldn’t do this.”

“So it’s not allowed…”

Trailing off, he seemed genuinely disappointed.

‘He seems too awkward to be a playboy.’

Watching him blink his large eyes at me gave me an odd sense of discomfort.

Looking at him like this, despite his handsome face, his actions were quite childlike.

‘Earlier he acted like a psychopath who couldn’t understand words, but now he’s showing extreme neediness, what’s going on.’

Even with perfect looks, he seems to lack social skills. Just as I was thinking how God is fair after all, he suddenly lowered his voice.

“Someone’s coming.”

“What?”

“I hear footsteps getting closer.”

‘I didn’t notice at all.’

The man seemed to have very keen hearing.

Thump thump.

Sure enough, I started to hear someone approaching.

‘What should I do?’

In the room were the unidentified man, myself, and the beaten-up stalker Kane. Three people in total.

I might be fine, but this mysterious man clearly couldn’t reveal his identity.

Besides, he got involved while helping me – I couldn’t let him get caught up in this troublesome situation.

“Hurry and go.”

“What?”

“You’re already suspicious enough, you shouldn’t get involved in something like this. I’ll handle it.”

The man looked at me with a surprised expression.

“Hurry!”

“Let’s go together.”

“I have to stay. Unlike last time, I can’t just disappear – it would put me in a very difficult position.”

With Henry and Leon here today, vanishing carelessly like before would cause big trouble.

“Aren’t you curious about who I am?”

Was I the only one feeling increasingly anxious?

Of course I was curious, but right now his safety was more important than his identity.

“……”

As I glared at him silently with furrowed brows, he smiled slightly and patted my head.

“I’ll see you later.”

Leaving those cryptic words, he jumped off the open terrace.

‘He’s crazy! This is the third floor!’

I looked outside in shock.

‘…Right. He’s someone who uses magic.’

He had already landed smoothly and disappeared in an instant.

What did he mean by seeing me later? I still couldn’t understand his intentions.

But before I could think about it further, the door suddenly burst open.

‘I’m doomed.’

I squeezed my eyes shut and froze stiff.

“What are you doing here, Nuna?”

It was a somehow familiar voice.

‘Did he say Nuna?’

At that sound, I carefully opened my eyes. Henry was examining my condition with concerned eyes.

“I was worried when I couldn’t find you. Did something happen?”

“W-well…”

I could see Kane’s figure sprawled messily on the floor. It was too devastating a scene to just brush off as nothing.

What should I say? My mind went blank with embarrassment.

“I think I knocked someone unconscious.”

“What?”

“…He suddenly went crazy and charged at me, so I… I unconsciously… It was unavoidable self-defense. I’m sorry.”

As I pointed at Kane while trembling, Henry looked back and forth between Kane and me.

“Did you really do this, Nuna?”

“…Yes.”

Henry examined Kane’s condition in disbelief.

Maybe it was excessive for self-defense.

Well, it would be hard to believe that someone with such a delicate frame could knock out a sturdy man.

“I know some self-defense techniques. As you know, all the men in our family were knights, so I…”

“……”

“H-he’s not dead! I checked!”

I made excuses until I was out of breath. My face felt burning hot and my head was spinning.

Henry, who had been listening silently to my words, asked with a worried expression.

“Are you hurt, Nuna?”

“N-no, I’m fine.”

Looking at his condition, it seemed like it would take several weeks to recover. I wondered if I might get dragged away for excessive self-defense.

Then who would take care of Oscar?

Various thoughts crossed my mind, making me feel helpless.

“As long as Nuna is safe, that’s what matters.”

“…What?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this. You won’t have any trouble.”

Noticing that I was in a state of panic, Henry volunteered to handle the aftermath himself.

“But are you really okay, Nuna?”

“……”

No. Actually, I wasn’t okay.

What sin did I commit to not have a single peaceful day?

I thought I just had to avoid the male leads, but I never imagined I’d have to deal with a perverted stalker like this.

“I-I’ll be fine.”

“Why are you crying?”

Maybe it was because of the unfairness of it all. Emotions welled up without me realizing it. Tears fell drop by drop onto my cheeks.

‘Ah geez, I’m not a child. How embarrassing.’

I wanted to hide in a mouse hole from the shame.

“J-just shocked, that’s all. Don’t look. It’s embarrassing.”

“It happened so suddenly. Of course, you’re shocked.”

Henry bent down to meet my eyes and wiped my wet cheeks.

“You should go home for today, Nuna.”

“Ah, n-no, I’m fine.”

“No, you seem very shocked. Don’t force yourself to endure it, go home and rest. I’ll explain everything well to Aunt.”

Somehow knowing how desperately I wanted to go home, Henry comforted me and urged me to return.

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? This isn’t Your Highness’s fault.”

“I feel like this happened because I failed to escort you properly.”

Though Henry blamed himself, this was an accident. Who could have known Kane Osborne would suddenly go berserk like that?

Still, Henry seemed quite uneasy about it.

“Let’s go together. I’ll escort you home.”

“It’s fine.”

“I’m not fine. I can’t feel at ease.”

“That’s not it. My brother is waiting outside with the carriage…”

With bloodshot eyes, I trailed off without finishing my sentence.

“Ah, he was already looking at me quite disrespectfully. I might get assassinated soon.”

Henry muttered awkwardly.

He seemed to be trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

“I won’t tell him.”

“Please don’t. Shall we go now?”

Henry extended his hand as if to escort me.

“Just a moment.”

I asked Henry to wait and looked down at Kane Osborne, the source of today’s incident.

‘This is all because of that bastard.’

As that thought crossed my mind, anger surged up.

“Um, Your Highness.”

“Yes?”

“I’m too upset, so could I maybe hit him one more time?”

He let out a small laugh, finding something amusing.

“Just one hit.”

“Go ahead. I’ll keep watch.”

With his permission granted, I gave Kane Osborne’s shin another hard kick.

“…Bastard.”

It wasn’t much, but it felt a little satisfying.

“Is one hit enough?”

As I looked up at Henry with a triumphant smile, his eyes curved prettily.

“I’ll say I did it, so just hit him a few more times to your heart’s content.”

How wicked. As expected of Henry’s notorious playboy reputation.

***

After arriving home, I headed straight to my room. I had specially permitted Oscar to sleep in my room.

“Oscar. I’m back.”

The room was quiet when I opened the door.

“Were you sleeping?”

I thought he’d be waiting up since it was earlier than expected, but Oscar was asleep.

“Oscar?”

But the labored breathing sound was concerning. Just like that day before. The fever had started again.

Though my heart raced and I felt scared, I’d been through this before.

Dragons grow much faster than humans. Last time too, he had been quite ill just before a growth spurt.

‘Right. This is just growing pains that must be endured to grow.’

Even as I kept telling myself this, my hands trembled and my vision darkened.

‘I need to stay calm. First, let’s focus on bringing down the fever.’

I clenched my trembling hands tightly and let out a long breath.

If I become weak, I won’t be able to protect Oscar. I couldn’t stay in place while Oscar kept growing.

‘First, let’s give him fever-reducing herbs and wipe him down with a wet cloth.’

After the initial panic, I called Leon and together we efficiently completed the treatment.

This was possible because I had kept ‘Romtlin’, an herb that reduces fever in dragons, as emergency medicine since the first time he had a high fever.

Though I still stayed up all night just in case, it was still better than the first time.

Around dawn, his fever broke and Oscar’s condition stabilized. Up to that point, it was the same as last time.

But the problem started after that.