She had felt there was definitely something that connected her and him. But now she wasn’t sure anymore. Perhaps it had been wrong from the start to feel any sense of kinship with him.

Should she not have saved him?

The thought naturally followed.

Why did I go to help him?

Until now, she had been someone who would walk past without batting an eye even when a colleague collapsed beside her. Yet the moment she confirmed the source of the smell of blood, she found herself running to her master without thinking.

Looking back now, it was a bewildering action that surprised even herself.

Just as she was trying to reflect again on why she had done that…

“Flora, there you are.”

Mary, who appeared from across the hallway, came running and asked.

“I heard the news. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“I was so shocked when I heard. I came because I heard the master called for you separately just now. Why did he call you?”

Mary’s expression was more than a little serious, as if she had heard everything about last night. It seemed rumors had already spread, as it was impossible to keep secrets from the servants living together, no matter how hushed things were kept.

“It’s nothing. Since a servant was found near where I was sleeping, he called me to ask if I had heard anything last night.”

As the Duke had instructed her to keep quiet about her dealing with the assassins, saying there was no need to cause unrest among the employees, Flora answered with an appropriate excuse.

“Oh. I heard about that too. I heard it was a servant who hadn’t been here long… How pitiful.”

Mary spoke bitterly, sympathizing with the only servant who had been harmed. Then, lowering her gaze, Mary’s eyes suddenly grew wide as if discovering something.

“Oh my goodness, Flora! What happened to your face? And what are those bruises on your neck?”

Mary raised her voice like she’s about to faint after belatedly noticing the wound on Flora’s cheek.

Not satisfied with that, she reached out to check her neck, causing Flora to quickly raise her collar to hide the marks.

“It’s nothing.”

“But those marks look like something pressed against you?”

Flora’s earlobes suddenly turned red despite her expressionless face. While the facial wound was indeed from subduing the enemies, the other bruises were not.

“I just… fell out of bed while sleeping.”

“No matter how I look at it, those don’t look like marks from falling…”

Mary’s suspicious eyes glanced at the inside of Flora’s collar.

Though Mary still didn’t seem convinced, since Flora denied it, she changed the subject for now.

“Anyway, is it because you were shocked? You look pale, Flora. You should go and rest early today.”

Mary spoke while worriedly looking at the cold sweat that had slightly appeared on Flora’s forehead. Her bloodless complexion and swollen lips made it seem like she had been quite shocked by last night’s events.

“But I still have work to…”

“We’ve already taken care of anything urgent, and the butler said there’s nothing that needs to be done right away. Come on, just go rest now.”

Having noticed that Flora’s condition wasn’t very good, Mary gently took her arm and hurried her steps.

Her stoic colleague had a tendency to be dull when it came to her own physical condition, so she would only somewhat listen when strongly pushed like this.

Though she didn’t know what had happened, whenever those blue eyes sank endlessly, Mary could only guess that Flora must have had a difficult life.

What maid doesn’t have her circumstances? Hoping that someday Flora would open up to her and tell her story, Mary moved along while practically supporting her.

Feeling grateful to her, Flora quietly said.

“Thank you.”

“Flora, you always thank people even for small things.”

Mary said primly, noting that Flora had gone from refusing help to now properly expressing gratitude.

Even in her weakened state, Flora slightly raised the corners of her mouth while looking at Mary’s brown hair. Hoping that someday she could tell her everything she was hiding today.

* * *

Several days later, though the Duke’s mansion appeared to have returned to normal, there was a subtle tension in the air.

People were anxious enough about intruders breaking into the mansion, but there was also no word about catching the culprits. Since one of the employees had been affected, they were internally trembling with fear about who might be the next victim.

While the employees quietly focused only on their assigned duties, behaving like they’re walking on thin ice, what concerned them most was their master.

Bang!

At the sudden loud noise, the maids passing by the training grounds flinched in surprise, their shoulders hunching instinctively. One maid, who almost dropped her laundry basket, quickly steadied herself.

“The master seems particularly passionate today.”

“No, it’s because he couldn’t sleep again yesterday…”

As one maid awkwardly spoke up, another responded with a sigh.

By now, everyone knew their master suffered from severe insomnia. And that he was under even more stress after the recent attack.

“Again!”

The Duke’s booming voice from the outdoor training showed no signs of stopping.

The maids shook their heads with weak knees.

“How can anyone live here, it’s so scary. Tommy said he thought he was going to die on the spot yesterday when the master suddenly found fault with the horses in the stable.”

“If we don’t want to be criticized, we just have to be careful. What else can we do?”

The maids gossiped about their master who was increasingly showing his displeasure these days. Standing beside them, Flora adjusted the basket she was holding while looking at the training grounds.

The Duke, shouting authoritatively in front of the knights, looked thoroughly irritated.

Before him stood a contrast between those gripping their swords with tense faces and knights who had collapsed on the ground exhausted.

Under the gentle afternoon sunlight breaking through his silver hair, his slightly tanned face was visible. Even from a distance, she could tell his condition didn’t look very good.

‘He’s not taking his medicine.’

Well, after experiencing something like that, he would naturally be hesitant even with heightened security.

Just then, a voice tinged with cold fury cut through the air again.

“All these so-called knights are completely worthless.”

Claude clicked his tongue after reassessing the knights’ abilities. The intermediate knights’ skills were not what they used to be, and the skills of the lower knights who had recently been promoted also drew sighs.

“Your Grace, let’s stop here for today. The senior knights are still all in the south. None of the knights here have skills that would satisfy you.”

Heriot carefully interjected, unable to watch any longer as the Duke picked apart the mansion’s resident knights one by one.

“You call that an excuse? Are you not ashamed to bear the name of the Heinst Knights?”

Claude’s position was firm after gauging the knights’ skills for the first time in a while.

“It’s not like you’ve only been handling swords for a day or two. Seeing such poor performance, there’s no need to even question how negligent you’ve been in training.”

More sensitive than ever after going so long without sleep, he was at his limit.

Since that day, he hadn’t been able to get any sleep, let alone close his eyes.

In truth, the incident with the intruders had dealt him no small blow. The realization that he had slept soundly, completely unaware of the attack, was a heavy blow to his pride.

After that unacceptable incident, he hadn’t touched the sleeping medicine at all. He was determined not to sleep at all until he could be certain of his safety.

Thanks to getting a good night’s sleep five days ago, he had been able to maintain a fresh face. Suddenly, a strange doubt struck his mind.

How was it that the sleeping incense, which normally never worked properly even as medicine, had been so effective that day?

He collected himself and thought.

Eyes that would usually open at dawn had slept through without waking once that night. It had been years since he had slept so deeply without tossing and turning from nightmares.

It wasn’t possible that he had slept well because he had exhausted himself embracing a woman. Even when he had tried methods like training for half a day before going to bed, it hadn’t worked.

Naturally, his thoughts drifted to the maid he had embraced while half-asleep.

Having spent quite a long time on the battlefield, he was quite proper when it came to women. Though it was a side effect of the medicine, he couldn’t understand why he had embraced her of all people.

Was she special…?

Claude found himself thinking such thoughts unconsciously.