Catherine brushed back her golden hair and responded gently. Her soft voice flowed slowly.

“I was tired, but I felt better after sleeping.”

“Still, please let the physician examine you. My lady is Helen’s glory and Helen’s dignity. Do not take that name and glory lightly.”

Austin exaggerated a trivial matter, and the maids agreed with him. The lady has been tired lately, so there must be something wrong with her body!

As the young maids whispered among themselves, wiping tears with handkerchiefs, Catherine refrained from speaking out of despair.

“So, how about getting some nutritional supplements prescribed by the physician? Even though you receive Helen’s protection, northern colds are quite severe.”

Catherine knows. One doesn’t need to be sick to see a doctor. Moreover, Helen’s physician more often diagnosed minor illnesses like colds or body aches.

“Let me rest for a few more days.”

“Then, if you still complain of fatigue after a few days, please let us know then.”

Austin bowed politely. He was an elderly butler. His neatly combed hair looked particularly stiff. His eyes were sharp and his personality quiet.

Though they hadn’t exchanged many words, she instinctively felt it. Ah. We are naturally incompatible.

“Let’s call the physician right now, my lady.”

“That’s right. My lady, you’ve been complaining of fatigue for several days now, haven’t you?”

The young maids showed concern. They were sincere toward Catherine. Seeing these children genuinely worried made her conscience prick.

“I’m also worried because you’ve been sleeping much more. When a person sleeps a lot, their body tends to become that much more sluggish.”

“I’ve always been a heavy sleeper.”

“No…… A healthy person wouldn’t sleep as much as you do, my lady. Please at least get examined by the physician.”

It seems she’s unintentionally causing worry to those around her. It’s true that she’s been sleeping more, and feeling more lethargic about the world. But that’s due to extreme lethargy, not because she’s sick.

These days, she falls asleep as soon as she closes her eyes, so she often dozes off and falls asleep wherever she goes. She falls asleep leaning on the reception room sofa, and even outside, she dozes off as soon as she closes her eyes. It seems she falls asleep anywhere just by closing her eyes. The world felt lethargic and quiet.

“With all your concern, what worries could I have? Later, later if I feel a cold coming on, I’ll ask for help then.”

Catherine asked Nancy for stationery and an envelope.

“I should send a letter of refusal first.”

Even if she deflects it now, Lorendis won’t be persuaded so easily. Catherine knows this. This is Helen, and if Lorendis sets his mind to it, he can control Helen even from the distant battlefield. Catherine will meet Helen’s physician sooner or later.

‘Then, perhaps it’s better to prepare myself a little.’

* * *

Helen’s messenger bird crossed the sky. Lorendis, who recognized the messenger bird first, stopped abruptly. The knight commander also recognized the bird and smiled contentedly.

“Another letter from the ducal castle.”

The messenger bird landed on Lorendis’s shoulder.

“Is it a letter from your lady?”

“If it has my wife’s seal, then yes. Knight commander, go and feed the messenger bird first.”

Lorendis untied the letter sent by the bird and checked it. The main content of the letter, which began with greetings, was one thing.

‘I refuse the physician.’

It was about refusing the physician. Lorendis went to his tent and checked the content again. The content remained the same. It seems his interpretation of the meaning was correct.

‘She’s deliberately avoiding it.’

His wife had a thin body, and her wrists were slender too. Looking at his wife, her wrists were so thin that one might wonder if they were human wrists at all.

Even if his wife gained some weight while staying in Helen, it would still be insufficient in Lorendis’s eyes. Even if she’s a contract wife, the mistress of Helen shouldn’t have such a frail body.

[My wife seems to be sick somewhere, Dr. Dennis, go and check directly. Even if she’s not necessarily sick, even if my wife refuses, see her face directly and report back.]

Lorendis tied the letter to the messenger bird’s leg and sent it again. And the next day, Helen’s physician came to see Catherine in tears.

* * *

Helen’s physician came to the reception room. The physician, wearing a white coat, knelt before Catherine. It was a gesture asking to examine her. Dr. Dennis knelt reverently and spoke as if he couldn’t leave without examining her.

“Please save me, my lady! I’m caught in the middle!”

A sudden scream echoed. It was Dr. Dennis’s scream.

“The butler pesters me daily, His Grace sends letters, and even the maids knock on my clinic door. My lady, I beg you.”

It seems Austin had also gone to the medical wing to pressure Dr. Dennis. Austin had been wandering around the mansion with a clean face, and now he bowed to Catherine. Just when she thought he had given up because of the silence for a few days, he had been quietly pressuring people.

Dennis had dark circles under his eyes. He showed signs of having been tormented for a long time between Lorendis and Austin.

She hadn’t refused the diagnosis with the intention of tormenting Dennis. Because of this, a feeling of pity began to creep up.

“I’ll examine you just once. No more, no less, just once.”

“Dr. Dennis, you must be having a hard time.”

She was trying to enjoy a comfortable terminal life, but worries kept increasing day by day. The happiness of the world isn’t much. Just a comfortable bed and sofa would do. That’s all she needs…….

Catherine dejectedly touched her forehead. Right now, she just wants to sleep.

The tea in the cooling cup remained untouched, and the snack plate contained a few pieces of biscuits. Catherine extended her wrist and sighed.

Did she step into a trap herself while trying to end her terminal life comfortably?

“Cough.”

As she deliberately coughed and touched her mouth, Dennis widened his eyes.

“Is it a cold?”

“It might be. I feel a bit feverish.”

Catherine is not good at lying. So even when she’s telling the truth, her mouth feels dry as if she’s lying. The maids quietly talked about Catherine among themselves.

“Do you experience symptoms of cold even after receiving Helen’s protection?”

“I might.”

“I’ll prescribe some medicine for now.”

Creating an illness to hide an illness. Catherine smiled broadly and withdrew her wrist.

“And I haven’t introduced myself. I am Dennis Sabora, the physician of the Helen ducal family. You can call me Dr. Dennis.”

Dr. Dennis was a doctor with bushy beard and a large build. His white coat was permeated with the smell of herbs, and his fingers were full of calluses. Still, overall, he was like a friendly neighborhood uncle.

‘If I’ve even received his introduction…… it means this isn’t a relationship that will end easily.’

She has a feeling that she’ll meet him often while staying in Helen. Whether she can consistently hide the fact that she’s terminally ill from this person…….

* * *

Time flowed quietly.

Snow was falling heavily in Helen. The large snowflakes quietly covered the world. And Helen’s messenger birds, seemingly already accustomed to the snowy sky, flew through the cold.

“What tiresome snow.”

“I find it new every time I see it, but it seems you find it tiresome, Nancy.”

Logs were burning in the bedroom fireplace, warming the room. The red flames rose gently, casting light. Nancy spoke as she put logs into the fireplace.

“Did His Grace send a letter?”

“Yes. I told him that snow is falling here now, and he sent a reply.”

It seems we’ve shared more conversations while apart than when we were together at the ducal castle.

“What did he say this time?”

Catherine quietly opened the letter.

[Wait. Soon.]

Catherine checked the calendar with uncertainty. It had been just over five months since Lorendis left Helen.

This war was supposed to continue steadily for a year. It’s not something that would end in a short time…… She felt anxious that this person might really return soon.

* * *

Six months passed. And Catherine gradually adapted to life in the ducal castle.

[I’m slowly adapting to life in the castle. It’s quiet and cozy. Though it’s a bit boring, even if you come back, we’ll be separating anyway……]

Catherine scribbled with the quill pen, then looked around. The ducal castle was like a magnificent fortress. Yet inside, it was extremely quiet and peaceful.

“The contract period is long.”

There was still half a year left in the contract period. Time flowed slowly. Helen was peaceful, but that peacefulness also led to boredom.

There was plenty of time, and Lorendis sent successive victory reports from the battlefield. Catherine couldn’t go outside the ducal castle and stayed only within it.

With her long golden hair peeking out from the top window of the castle and looking down…… she looked just like a princess from a fairy tale.

* * *