“Excuse me?”

By the time Kyron responded, it was already too late. The Emperor grabbed his hand and placed it firmly over mine.

“Hold her hand tightly. Even if she doesn’t show it, she must be so frightened right now!”

W-what is going on?

Before I knew it, my hand and Kyron’s were overlapping. Kyron stood there awkwardly, neither fully upright nor bent over.

“Now that’s a sight I can approve of.”

It seemed the Emperor would be furious if we tried to pull our hands away, so we had no choice but to keep holding hands until he left. Damn it.

Kyron, who looked visibly uncomfortable, eventually seemed to realize that he wouldn’t be able to let go until the Emperor was gone. He sat down on the edge of the bed, making the situation look slightly more natural.

He silently stared at our joined hands. I couldn’t tell whether he disliked holding my hand or not, as I had no way of knowing what he was thinking.

Then, Kyron adjusted how he held my hand. I thought it was because he found it uncomfortable, but instead, his large hand enveloped mine, intertwining our fingers gently.

‘What is this?’

Our hands had only overlapped before, but now our fingers were completely entwined.

I glanced at him, wondering what he was doing, but he didn’t meet my gaze.

However, the Emperor’s next surprising words drew my attention away from our hands.

“I’ve summoned my personal physician, so Duchess, please have him examine you before you leave.”

“Y-your personal physician?”

The Emperor’s personal physician wasn’t someone just anyone could see. He was recognized as the best of the best in the entire empire.

“It’s because I’m concerned. Please don’t refuse, and make sure to get checked.”

“I am deeply grateful, Your Majesty.”

Overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, I felt both grateful and embarrassed.

“By the way, Kyron, you owe me a favor now, don’t you? I lent you the Imperial Palace, after all.”

The Emperor looked at Kyron as he spoke.

“Of course. How can I repay you?”

“The festival is one of the days I look forward to most all year. Join me at the festival the day after tomorrow. There’s a puppet show as part of the festival, and I’d like you to watch it with me. Will you?”

A puppet show?!

Kyron, who seemed ready to agree to anything the Emperor asked, suddenly looked visibly uncomfortable. I noticed the subtle change in his expression, likely because I had come to understand him a bit better after spending some time together.

“There’s the Crown Prince, the princes, and the princesses. Can’t they watch the puppet show with Your Majesty?”

Kyron protested. He seemed to dislike the idea of watching a puppet show. Well, it didn’t suit him at all.

However, the Emperor appeared unfazed, as if he had fully expected Kyron’s resistance.

“They all detest puppet shows and plays. There’s no one left to stand by my side. No one will go with me.”

The Emperor put on a deliberately sorrowful expression.

“.…”

Faced with the Emperor’s exaggerated display of sadness, Kyron could no longer respond.

“Are you not going to answer, Duke?”

“…I’ll go.”

A reluctant answer, barely forced through his clenched teeth, finally came out.

As soon as the Emperor heard his reply, his expression brightened instantly.

“Haha, you’ll enjoy it. You need to appreciate puppet shows. You’re far too rigid, and you need a little soft sentimentality!”

The Emperor laughed heartily.

“Oh, and Duchess, you should rest until you’ve fully recovered so you don’t have to come along. I’ll take good care of the Duke myself.”

“Yes, if Your Majesty does that, I would be most grateful.”

Hearing that the Emperor would take Kyron off my hands for a while lifted my spirits considerably.

“Well then, I’ll see you in two days. Duchess, I hope you recover soon.”

Having achieved his goal, the Emperor left us with a quick farewell, looking as though he was fleeing before Kyron could change his mind.

But even after the Emperor had left, Kyron was still holding my hand. He hadn’t untangled our intertwined fingers.

I tried to subtly pull my hand away. For some reason, though, Kyron didn’t let go.

Just as I was glaring at him, the Emperor’s personal physician entered the room. Thanks to that, Kyron finally released my hand.

“I’ve been sent by His Majesty to examine the Duchess.”

The personal physician conducted examinations similar to those performed by other doctors I had seen before. Like the others, he seemed puzzled by the results, his expression clouded with uncertainty.

Even the Emperor’s personal physician didn’t seem to be any different. It appeared I would have to give up on finding the cause of this illness once again.

I simply waited, staring blankly, for the tedious examination process to end.

“Duchess, I’m sorry, but could you visit me again in two days? There’s a test that takes about two days to yield results.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll come back in two days.”

I didn’t have high hopes for the test results, but I had no reason to refuse the request of the Emperor’s personal physician.

“Yes, I’ll inform you of the results then.”

With that, the physician left.

Now, only Kyron and I were left in the room.

I pretended not to remember that we had been holding hands just moments ago, ignoring the awkward warmth that lingered.

But I couldn’t help recalling what Kyron had said to me earlier.

He had apologized for not being able to fill the longing I had for my hometown…

Did he know that I missed my hometown?

I began to suspect that perhaps he understood me better than I had thought.

“…Did you take the stuffed animal because you wanted it for yourself?”

“If you like it, you can have it.”

“Why?”

I wanted to draw out the hidden meaning, if there was any, behind his words. If such meaning even existed.

“I don’t need it.”

I stared at Kyron intently.

“The booth owner gave it to me, so I took it. That’s all.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes. If you don’t want it, you don’t have to take it.”

As always, his words were brief, his expression devoid of emotion. Trying to find some hidden meaning in his transparent words and face… was probably just my futile hope.

“…I don’t need it either.”

I turned my gaze away from him.

A brief silence followed.

Kyron picked up the stuffed animal and called for a servant.

“Throw it away.”

Those three short words made me feel inexplicably sad.