Chapter 7 (Part 3)

After what felt like a long dream, she opened her eyes again.  

The familiar feel of the bed beneath her greeted her, and the ceiling above came into view.  

She realized that she had finally regained her senses.  

Her surroundings were dim and quiet.  

It seemed late.  

Looking toward the window, she noticed a faint bluish light filtering through the tightly drawn curtains.  

It must have been dawn.  

“Darling…?”  

The first thing she did was call out to him.  

Her voice was hoarse, as if she had been lying down for a long time.  

“…”  

But no reply came.  

He had always been there to greet her whenever she woke up.  

Startled, she wondered if he had left the house again.  

Quickly, she sat up in bed.  

Just then, she felt the weight of the blanket on one side.  

Turning her head in surprise, she saw him lying next to her, turned toward her, fast asleep.  

“What… You were here all along…”  

Relieved, she leaned toward him.  

Then, she quietly gazed at Nathaniel’s sleeping face.  

It was so beautiful it brought tears to her eyes.  

Not because of his looks, but because of his very existence.  

How could another being stir her heart so deeply?  

“You crybaby… Wake up already. I’m awake, you know? Hmm?”  

“Mmm…”  

She kissed his cheek softly, as she always did, to wake him up.  

But for some reason, he seemed determined to sleep in today, burying his face into the pillow.  

Finding his behavior adorable, she smiled lightly.  

She gently smoothed his tousled bangs and pulled the blanket over him.  

“How much time has passed, anyway?”  

After freshening up, she prepared a light meal for when he woke up and then headed straight to the stables.  

Nathaniel would usually feed Skoll at dawn, but since he was still sleeping in today, she decided to take over the task.  

“Skoll, hello. Is it the first time we’re seeing each other in a while?”  

As Cordelia approached with the feed bucket, Skoll, who had been dozing off with his legs tucked beneath him, opened his large eyes.  

Slowly, he rose from his spot and approached her. His long, hair-like tail swayed gently behind him.  

Seeing their usually grumpy and aloof horse greet her so warmly made it clear—she must have been asleep for quite a long time again.  

She stroked Skoll’s face as he sniffed and nudged her with his nose. After watching him eat for a moment, she walked away.  

She then strolled through the garden.  

Despite all the ups and downs they had faced, the flowers were still blooming beautifully.  

Cordelia quickly went back inside, washed her hands, and grabbed a basket before returning to the garden to pick some perfectly ripened strawberries.  

“Hmm… This won’t be enough, will it?”  

She hesitated as she assessed the amount, then decided to head outside the fence to pick some raspberries as well.  

She wanted to bake a pie before he woke up—a large one this time, just as Nathaniel had requested before.  

It was while she was happily picking raspberries that it happened.  

“Cordelia! Where are you, Cordelia! Cordelia!”  

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed, accompanied by his frantic voice calling her name.  

It seemed he had woken up in the meantime.  

Worried he might trip on the stairs, as she had done before, Cordelia quickly began running back.  

Just as she flung the gate open, an unexpected sight stopped her in her tracks.  

There he was, kneeling on the garden floor as if his legs had given out beneath him.  

His white pajama pants were stained with dirt, and his hands were covering his face.  

The moment she called out to him, he immediately lowered his hands and looked up at her.  

His tear-streaked face was a mess.  

“Ah… Cordel… Cordelia.”  

Feeling as if the air had been knocked out of her lungs, she stumbled toward him.  

Setting the basket down to the side, she knelt beside him and examined his state.  

“What are you doing like this? Are you hurt…?”  

“It’s just… I thought… I thought you…”  

Just as she raised her hand to wipe away his tears, he suddenly pulled her into a suffocating embrace.  

His trembling voice broke as he spoke.  

“I thought… you had left me…”  

Ah, she understood now.  

He must have felt uneasy when he woke up and found her gone.  

Of course, she knew it wasn’t just that.  

He was probably still struggling with how to explain the man from her nightmares—the one she had encountered in reality.  

And he must have been worried about how to make her understand his situation.  

Amid all this complexity, her absence must have made him think she had left.  

“Where would I even go…? I was just out picking raspberries.”  

As she answered, she gently hugged him back, placing her arms around his shoulders.  

Then, she reached out and patted his back, mimicking the comforting gestures he always used to soothe her.  

After holding him and calming him for a while, she led him to the bathroom. Both of them were covered in dirt.  

“Do you want to wash up first by yourself? Or should we bathe together? Whatever’s more comfortable for you.”  

She asked cautiously. While she herself found comfort in bathing together, he had never particularly behaved that way. If he refused, she was ready to leave immediately.  

But then, his response came.  

“Together… Let’s stay together.”  

His sullen voice carried an odd sense of desperation.  

Just as she was about to respond with, “Alright, let’s do that,” she flinched and began rebuttoning the dress she had been unfastening.  

It was because the state of her body, which she had briefly examined while bathing alone earlier, suddenly came to mind.  

Bruises covered her here and there, the result of being pushed and strangled in the forest.  

If she revealed such an unsightly state, he would undoubtedly feel even sadder than he did now.  

After hesitating for a moment, she quickly changed her words.  

“Ah… Then… Alright. While you bathe, I’ll just assist you from the side—”  

“Why won’t you bathe with me? You like bathing together, don’t you?”  

“Well, that’s…”  

“Why? Was it because I seemed so pathetic earlier?”  

At that moment, he suddenly placed his hand over hers, stopping her from rebuttoning her dress. His voice carried a hint of despair, as if he felt rejected.  

Startled, she opened her mouth slightly and shook her head fiercely.  

She hated being misunderstood like this. Now that she was more aware of her love for him, she hated it even more.  

This time, she confessed in a weak and drained voice.  

“No, it’s not that.”  

“Then?”  

“It’s just… I caught a glimpse of myself earlier while I was washing up… My body looks terrible. There are bruises everywhere.”  

She spoke while pulling up the lace collar of her dress.  

Of course, she knew that wouldn’t completely hide the bruises spreading across her body.  

But she didn’t want to show such an unsightly appearance directly to the man she loved.  

“If we bathe together, you’ll see this… And I thought it might disgust you. So, once it gets a little better…”  

“Me? You think I’d be disgusted by you?”  

His response came immediately, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  

He looked as though he had just heard something absurd.  

Then, his expression shifted from disbelief to sorrow.  

“I… No matter what you look like, I would never think that. I’ve never even once thought that.”  

His voice trembled.  

This was something she had never seen before.  

Though he had cried and been upset a few times, he always managed to quickly regain his composure and comfort her instead.  

But now, the man in front of her seemed so fragile.  

It felt as though he might break down and cling to her in tears if she so much as touched him.  

“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just… I really look so awful, and I didn’t want you to feel upset.”  

Startled, she hurriedly tried to explain, cupping his face with both hands.  

And then, she was shocked.  

His skin was unbelievably cold.  

How could this be? He was always warm or even hot to the touch.  

Panicking, she traced her hands over his face, neck, chest, and arms.  

But everything was cold.  

Flustered, she began hastily undressing herself while pushing him toward the bathtub.  

“Alright, let’s get it together. I’ll come in, so just stay in the hot water for now. Your body is too cold. I’ll join you as soon as I take this off… Ah!”  

At that moment, with a splash, her body was suddenly pulled sideways, and she was enveloped in damp water.  

When she opened her eyes after squeezing them shut, she found herself in his arms, sitting together in the bathtub.  

“I haven’t even taken my clothes off yet.”  

She glared at him slightly, her expression asking what on earth he was doing.  

In response, he kissed the back of her neck while holding her from behind and said, 

“I’ll take care of it.”  

“You’ve made the water dirty because of me. Can’t I just step out and take them off?”  

“No. Absolutely not. It’s fine like this. We can stay here until the clean water fills up again.”  

He made a smooth excuse, and then, as if to prove his point, he reached forward with both hands and began unbuttoning her dress one by one.  

At this point, Cordelia gave up.  

After all, wasn’t she here to comfort him in the first place?