When Calliphe collapsed covered in blood after taming Yvonne II, Lynen carried her in his arms and rushed to the nearest doctor.

After receiving basic treatment, they returned to the marquis’s residence where he summoned not only the family physician but also the High Cardinal and the Saint to examine her condition.

He knew that Calliphe had collapsed due to magical incompatibility.

But seeing her cough up so much blood for the first time made him anxious. She might have had some other illness. That’s why he wanted to thoroughly check her condition.

Fortunately, the result was “nothing abnormal.”

Yet Lynen still felt uncomfortable.

No, he felt displeased.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he was displeased. His confused feelings made him irritable.

As he stood outside Calliphe’s bedroom with a frown on his face, Allen, who had just come out, approached him.

Seeing frost forming on the wall Lynen was leaning against and at his feet, Allen sighed softly and smiled.

“Lady Calliphe will be fine, Duke.”

“……”

“Due to the instability between Lady Calliphe’s natural magic and the contaminated magic, along with excessive consumption, she might sleep for about two days.”

“……”

“Even after she wakes up, she’ll need plenty of rest. Please watch over her closely to ensure she doesn’t overexert herself.”

“She’s not the type to behave obediently just because someone’s looking after her.”

“Ahaha… that’s true. I suppose she wouldn’t stay still regardless of who’s taking care of her, not just you.”

‘Not just me, anyone would be the same.’

From the Saint to Baron Rotten who had rushed over shouting “My stocks!”, to the head maid Lina and the nobles supporting Calliphe.

They were all people who only learned about the situation after everything had happened. They couldn’t help Calliphe when she was struggling alone.

And it felt like he was being told that he was one of them.

It was extremely unpleasant.

“……”

As he kept his mouth shut, Allen carefully observed his demeanor.

“Still, Lady Calliphe would listen to you more than someone like me.”

“…Don’t belittle yourself. You’re also a great help to Calliphe.”

“R-really… thank you. In that case, I won’t give up until the end.”

Allen flashed a shadowy smile. Lynen’s mood worsened a bit more.

“Anyway, please make sure Lady Calliphe gets proper rest. It’s certain that she listens to you more than others.”

“If that were really true, Calliphe wouldn’t be lying there in the first place.”

“But I think she’d listen if you asked her to rest.”

“Are you suggesting I should beg her to rest? I absolutely refuse.”

“Not to that extent, um… I think if you coax her a little, it would work. Since Lady Calliphe becomes more stubborn the stronger you push, conversely, if you approach her weakly…”

Lynen was dumbfounded.

“Are you telling me to deliberately act weak?”

To show such an unreliable appearance?

Lynen had already heard from the head maid that Calliphe had secretly researched magic infiltration alone.

He had wondered multiple times if she kept it secret because she found him unreliable.

If he had been someone more helpful to her. If he had been someone she could rely on more than Baron Rotten, who always provided useful information, would things have been different?

He couldn’t accept the suggestion to pretend to be weak when he should appear stronger.

“You might be able to do that well, Saint, but not me.”

“Ugh. W-what do you mean? I’ve been increasing my exercise lately too! I’m even doing muscle training!”

“Noah still calls you the Seaweed Saint.”

“Uuugh…!”

Allen trembled in shock. He couldn’t imagine that Lynen had just calmly told a lie.

Allen let out a deep sigh.

“Well, anyway… please take good care of Lady Calliphe. You’re the one who can watch over her closely.”

“……”

“I know it’s not easy for you either. If it really doesn’t work, I can try talking to her separately…”

At those words, the displeasure that Lynen had been suppressing finally began to boil over.

“No. There’s no need for the Saint to step in.”

Despite his burning insides, Lynen’s voice grew even colder.

“I will definitely make Calliphe rest.”

* * *

‘People who have hit their limits learn to take care of their bodies.’

In practice, Lynen deliberately pushed his subordinates who misused their bodies to their limits.

After realizing their limitations, they would start managing their condition in their own way.

Lynen thought Calliphe would be the same.

With fainting and coughing up blood, she’d gone through quite a lot. She must have realized how weak her body had become.

So Lynen only gave her appropriate advice and requests. To rest and take care of her meals. He had even planned to gradually train her physical strength once her condition improved.

But Calliphe was still Calliphe.

“Now that I’ve told you, it’s fine, right? So I’ll go to the training ground? It’s almost finished.”

Nothing moved according to Lynen’s wishes. She made it impossible to let his guard down.

Lynen pressed both of Calliphe’s cheeks firmly with the hand that had been holding her jaw.

“Do you ignore everything I say about resting? Hm?”

“I’m… resting… enough?”

Irritated, Calliphe also grabbed Lynen’s jaw in retaliation.

But her grip was far too weak. Now that he looked closely, there were dark circles under her eyes.

‘She’s really an infuriating woman.’

Even more infuriating was how he became increasingly restless every time he checked on her condition.

Lynen grabbed Calliphe’s wrist with the hand that had been holding her jaw.

“You’re resting enough?”

His thumb wedged into her closed hand and forced it open.

This revealed the scratches on Calliphe’s palm. She had gotten them during the griffin riding lessons.

Lynen spoke gruffly.

“Then stop making people worry about you like this. Stop getting hurt. Why do you keep making me concerned?”

“W-why make such a fuss over something this minor?”

Calliphe tried to pull her hand away in embarrassment. But Lynen stubbornly refused to let go, making her even more flustered.

‘Last time I checked, his likability toward me was extremely low.’

Now that the quest was completed, the likability was no longer displayed. But she clearly remembered the likability score that had barely exceeded 10.

Calliphe became sullen and forcefully shook off Lynen’s hand.

“Do you spill your worries like this to just anyone?”

“…What?”

“Being so polite and mannerly must be exhausting.”

“What on earth are you talking about? No, forget it. Instead of wasting time on this conversation, you should go rest. Go to your bedroom right now.”

“I told you I need to check on the training ground. I’m busy.”

“You can leave that to me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think I don’t know that you’re barely sleeping because you’re handling northern territory affairs, searching for your nephew, and dealing with Lumen’s heart issue from here? You’re also reinvestigating the monster incidents with the temple recently?”

“That’s just my regular work, so it’s fine—”

“Shut up and go.”

Calliphe waved her hand as if shooing him away.

Her wrists and fingers, looking unusually bony compared to usual, painfully caught Lynen’s eye.

Simmer, simmer. His insides boiled even more.

“Are you suggesting I should beg her to rest? I absolutely refuse.”

“Not to that extent, um… I think if you coax her a little, it would work. Since Lady Calliphe becomes more stubborn the stronger you push, conversely, if you approach her weakly…”

“……”

Lynen’s jaw tightened.

He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to appear as an unreliable person to Calliphe by doing something like this.

But when he opened his eyes again and saw Calliphe’s dark circles so clearly.

When that was all he could see, to the point of irritation.

When he remembered how she had collapsed after coughing up blood.

Lynen took a deep breath to prepare himself. And then, wobble.

“…Ugh.”

He suddenly swayed delicately, seeming to lose his strength.

Not knowing exactly what it meant to ‘pretend to be delicate,’ he awkwardly imitated the posture of noble ladies who touched their foreheads with the back of their hands.

‘Have I gone mad?’

Thanks to this, his face turned red without having to raise his body temperature with aura.

“Lynen? What’s wrong?”

Surprised, Calliphe quickly supported him. His behavior was so different from usual that she didn’t even notice his poor acting.

“Are you okay? Your face is so red.”

“…I’m fine.”

Lynen couldn’t bring himself to meet Calliphe’s eyes.

He was too embarrassed. He regretted not touching his forehead with his palm instead of the back of his hand.

His embarrassment only deepened under Calliphe’s staring gaze.

Finally, covering his eyes with his sleeve, he muttered in a shrinking voice.

“Please don’t look at me like that…”

“……”

Thud. Calliphe felt her heart skip a beat.

Did the always stone-faced Lynen have this side to him? This makes me want to tease him more?

With pomegranate-colored eyes sparkling, Calliphe firmly grabbed Lynen’s wrist.

“Baby, let’s go.”

“…#$%.”

Lynen chewed what was clearly a curse between his teeth.

Calliphe grabbed the chin of the (rebelliously?) turned away Lynen and made him face her.

“No complaints. Follow me.”

“……”

“We’ve already revealed who really needs to rest, haven’t we?”

“…It’s just a rare mistake. I’m never like this normally.”

“I’m sure you aren’t patient.”

“Don’t laugh.”

“Hm? I’m not laughing.”

Looking at the mischievously smiling Calliphe, Lynen bit his lip firmly. This is why he didn’t want to do it.

But the sacrifice of his pride had quite a good effect. Calliphe was heading to the bedroom on her own.

All that remained was to keep her there.

Lynen took another deep breath, then very lightly pulled on Calliphe’s hand.

“…Are you going to nurse me?”