“Kuk, yes. You need to squeeze like this for me to come.”

“Hahhng! Rian, th-that spot, no……!”

While thrusting vigorously, Rian’s hand once again began to rub Belita’s cl*toris wildly. As electrifying pleasure surged through her, Belita cried out and shook her head. Amidst the rough, relentless thrusting, hot liquid poured out, and Belita was once again immersed in ecstasy.

Even as he poured out his last drop, the man’s hand didn’t stop rubbing her cl*toris. Feeling like she might release again, Belita barely managed to remove the man’s hand and gasped for breath. The carriage, which had just weathered a storm, was filled with the hot breaths of the two, causing the windows to fog up.

* * *

Back at the mansion, Belita kept sighing as she looked at the empty space left by Rian, who had gone out again without her. The more she thought about it, the more dumbfounded she felt. How could he even think of doing such a thing in a carriage? Was that why he told her to wear clothes that were easy to take off?

Only now grasping the meaning of his words, Belita gritted her teeth. She felt embarrassed and ashamed of herself for getting so excited, just as Rian had said. Yet she couldn’t erase the scene from her mind. His words, his touch, and those precarious moments.

“You’re really crazy!”

In the end, she had gone out without accomplishing anything, only to roll around lustfully with him, and now she was pathetically dwelling on those moments even after returning. After tossing and turning under the blanket and stomping her feet, Belita suddenly got up.

“Sigh…… I’d better do something.”

Since she had only partially completed her tour of the mansion earlier in the day, there was a mountain of work to do. Rather than lying around like this, doing something would be better for her mental health. Belita got up, took a quick shower, and began touring the mansion again. But there was a problem. Everywhere she went, scenes of her coupling with Rian came to mind, driving her crazy. Whether looking at the corridor or rooms, he wouldn’t leave her thoughts.

“Ugh…. He’s definitely crazy! Completely lost his mind. Haah.”

As she tried to refocus on her work, something felt strange. Looking outside, the darkening sky seemed ominous. An eerie feeling crept over her.

“Is it going to rain again?”

Darker clouds were gathering than before, suggesting that a lot of rain would fall tonight. It seemed they had been lucky that the rain had stopped briefly during their short outing.

As evening approached and Rian still hadn’t returned, she began to worry a bit. There had clearly been some issue earlier, but she hadn’t heard what it was about. As her thoughts lingered on this, that scene came to mind again. And to make matters worse, her lower abdomen began to throb dully.

Haah…! Belita shook her head vigorously and headed to the first floor.

“Butler.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Is there still no news from His Grace?”

“No. There has been no special news yet.”

“Hmm.”

Butler Perdo smiled gently at Belita’s somewhat desolate expression. Since she had never before shown interest in Rian’s return, this change was welcome.

“Madam, shall I send a message to inquire?”

“Ah, no. He’ll be back soon. It looks like it’s going to rain, so please pay attention to the windows.”

“Understood, Madam.”

As Belita was trudging toward her room with heavy steps, she quickly turned her head at the sudden commotion.

“Butler! Please call Font immediately!”

The door burst open and a knight rushed in urgently. The startled butler looked at Belita.

“What happened!?”

“Ah, M-Madam. Well……”

“Did I not ask what happened?!”

“H-His Grace.”

“His Grace?”

Her heart dropped at that moment. Belita rushed out, flinging the door open, and upon seeing Rian being carried on a stretcher, she collapsed to the ground.

“Madam!”

“Rian……”

“Attend to the Madam!”

At the butler’s command, the servants rushed out to support Belita. Up close, she saw Rian bleeding from his head, and a shiver ran through her as her face went pale. She had never imagined seeing him like this. With his eyes closed as he lay there, he looked unusually vulnerable.

* * *

The butler, who had taken Rian’s carriage, hurriedly brought Font back. Fortunately, Rian was able to receive treatment before it was too late. Belita didn’t leave his side for a moment, as the man lying there with bandages wrapped around his head looked terribly pitiful.

“Grand Duchess, he will be fine now. Please don’t worry too much.”

“Ah…. Th-thank you.”

“It’s fortunate, though.”

“What…?”

“It seems the Madam doesn’t hate this guy after all.”

Belita stared blankly at Font, who spoke with a gentle smile, then quickly put down Rian’s hand that she had been holding. At that moment, feeling her face flush, she stood up abruptly and took a step back.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, yes.”

“His head is just slightly torn. Seeing him do such a reckless thing, I guess he was the crazy one.”

“What?”

“If he had been the cowardly one, he wouldn’t have acted so recklessly.”

“Oh?”

“Ah, perhaps…… you don’t… know…?”

Looking flustered, Font’s face, which had been full of mischief, suddenly showed bewilderment. Understanding what he was saying, Belita turned her gaze to Rian lying there.

“Sir Font.”

“Please just call me Font.”

“……Very well. I’m curious about something.”

“Please speak.”

“Why is this man……”

When it came time to ask, the words wouldn’t leave her mouth. She hesitated, wondering if it was right to ask someone else about her husband’s secret. Font, realizing what she was curious about, smiled awkwardly and held back his words.

“You should ask him that question. I don’t think it’s my place to say.”

“……I see.”

She was grateful for the man who tried to protect his secret despite her curiosity. If he had blurted out Rian’s condition, her curiosity would have been satisfied, but she wouldn’t have been able to trust a man like Font.

“I’ll visit formally next time. I hope you’ll listen to my story then. Of course, it’s about Rian.”

“……Alright.”

“Then I’ll take my leave now.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“Not at all.”

After giving a polite bow, Font left the mansion. Looking outside, she saw that heavy raindrops had already begun to fall. Sitting back down beside Rian, Belita wiped the sweat from his forehead with a dry towel. It seemed like the first time she had looked at this sleeping man’s face for so long.

“Are you really okay…?”

Even though she knew she would receive no answer, Belita asked quietly. She didn’t know to whom the question was directed at. She only desperately hoped that one of the two would wake up.

From what she had roughly gathered from the butler, Rian had been injured while rescuing a child from beneath an old roof just as it was about to collapse. Grand Duke Rian was certainly capable of such an act, if not more. But Font’s account was different.

‘Seeing him do such a reckless thing, I guess he was the crazy one.’

Since he had clearly been Crazy Rian when he left earlier, it seemed likely that it was he who had acted. Belita looked at Rian with an apologetic expression, sighing deeply. The colored glasses through which she viewed him still covered her eyes.

Because of the orders he had given to the knights earlier that day with an obviously annoyed face, she thought he didn’t care about the people of the duchy. And hadn’t he said countless times before: prioritize my life over theirs? So she had naturally assumed he had no interest in the duchy. She had always thought that only Grand Duke Rian was anxiously trying to protect the people of the duchy.

But that wasn’t true.

Though he might appear frivolous and willful on the surface, he had done his best in his duties and protected the people of the duchy. Even to the point of injuring himself.

“Fool. Who are you to nag whom? Who’s the one lying there unable to take care of his own body?”

Belita pressed his furrowed brow as if scolding him, returning the words he had spoken to her in the annex before. Then, resting her chin on her hand, she gazed at his sleeping form and spoke.

“Did you protect the child because they were a child? Even though it was a situation where you could have died? Though your personalities are different, your reckless nature seems the same.”

For some reason, Belita smiled at the thought that if they had a child later, he would probably be a caring Dad.

“For the first time, I’m proud of you. You did well. Though you should be scolded for almost making me a widow.”

Before she knew it, all his rudeness from earlier in the day had been completely erased. For the first time, the crazy man before her looked lovable. But she still built a wall in her heart, telling herself it was human love, not love between a man and a woman.