In the dark room, with only one lamp flickering, a man with a stern expression was waiting.

“…Rihanel?”

“What are you trying to do?”

Rihanel asked the woman standing at the doorway as if talking to himself. His tone was flat, but he was clearly angry.

***

“Where’s Janet?”

“Ah, not yet, sir.”

Janet’s dedicated maid spoke with her eyes tightly closed. Rihanel let out a dry chuckle as if he had expected this, then flung open Janet’s door.

“Go about your business.”

He closed the door without waiting for a response. Outside the window, darkness had already fallen, but the woman had not returned.

Sitting in the empty room filled only with a faint scent, the man alone ruminated on his frustration.

Yes, he was frustrated.

Even when they sought another medical opinion in the capital, the doctor had advised Janet to rest for a while as her body was weakened. Seeing how opinions were unified from quacks to family physicians, it seemed true that the woman was frail.

So Rihanel had also personally told her not to think about going out and to stay at home.

That was just yesterday.

But why didn’t she listen to any of those words?

“…Rihanel?”

How long had he been there? The door opened and Janet entered. The woman before him still looked unwell.

He wanted to pour out many words, but he refined them in his head. So after staring at her intently, what came out was,

“What are you trying to do?”

“…Let’s talk tomorrow.”

Janet said while still standing at the doorway. As if firmly believing Rihanel would leave this room soon, she hadn’t even closed the door.

But Rihanel remained languidly seated, looking indifferently at the corridor.

“I told you to rest for another week.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Can’t they function without you? Rest a bit.”

Whatever it was about the word “rest” that displeased her, Janet could be seen biting the inside of her lip.

He had no idea that this was the same as what Janet’s uncle had said to keep her in check.

“I know my own body. I’m fine. So please stop…”

“Really?”

Rihanel rose from his seat and strode over. In an instant, the man who had approached right in front of her unhesitatingly removed Janet’s glove and peeled off the gauze attached to her palm.

The still unhealed wound revealed its red and rough appearance. At the sight of it, which was even grotesque, Janet unconsciously pulled her hand away and curled her fingers.

But Rihanel gripped her wrist more firmly, so she couldn’t pull it out. He was looking down at Janet intently, as if asking what she thought.

“Even though it looks like this…”

Bang.

When Rihanel pushed the door, the heavy door closed with a loud noise. Immediately, Rihanel released Janet’s hand and knelt on one knee to lower his body.

“Rihanel!”

He lifted Janet’s skirt just like that. The day dress that had flowed down gracefully rose without resistance, revealing a large gauze applied to her knee.

“You’re going around looking like this?”

A sneer mixed with mockery came from below. The man raised his wet hair to look at her.

Seeing Rihanel no longer hiding his emotions, Janet bit her lip hard before opening her mouth.

Even though it was nothing, today she didn’t have the energy to hear such words.

“Don’t interfere.”

“What?”

“You know very well why I got married, don’t you?”

A tone so resolute it was almost sharp. Janet’s downward gaze and Rihanel’s upward gaze collided in the middle.

As Janet said, Rihanel knew very well why Janet Wilton had married.

The only reason she married was to obtain a noble name to run her company.

So it meant don’t interfere with someone who is acting according to her purpose, whether her body is damaged or her complexion turns pale. It also meant that Rihanel was not even a person who should make such minor interferences in Janet’s life.

The strength in Rihanel’s hand suddenly drained. Janet didn’t miss the opportunity and yanked her skirt away, then walked past him.

Rihanel, who had been momentarily dazed, burst into self-mocking laughter.

Yes, I’m just a tool for this woman.

But he had no intention of backing down obediently as she said.

“Don’t drain your energy like this. I have enough to worry about as it is.”

“You’re talking as if you’ve ever cared about me.”

Janet, uncharacteristically, displayed her fatigue without filtering it. Yet this gave him such a pleased feeling. Rihanel’s lips twisted at the contradictory emotion that emerged unbidden.

He pulled Janet toward him as she was placing her bonnet ribbon on the shelf. Janet frowned and stared at him.

“Wash up. We need to change the gauze.”

“I’ll take care of it myself.”

“As if.”

Tension hung between the two.

Janet stepped back and turned her body to shake off Rihanel’s hand.

But in the process, she hit the shelf. The objects on the shelf wobbled precariously.

“…!”

Rihanel hastily wrapped his arms around Janet and pulled her. Before she could refuse, her body turned and was trapped in his embrace.

Crash!

Beyond Rihanel, something was heard falling and shattering. Janet flinched at the sharp vibration.

“Damn it.”

He cursed with a slightly cracked voice. Then he pulled away slightly to examine Janet. He seemed to be checking if she was injured anywhere.

But thanks to Rihanel’s protection, she was fine. If anything, Rihanel might have been hurt.

“…Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

Janet regulated her breathing and turned her head. She saw a mirror scattered on the floor. It was shattered into sharp pieces.

Janet silently stared at it before saying what she needed to say now.

“Thank you.”

“……”

“And… don’t do this anymore.”

“What?”

“I mean, don’t protect me like this.”

That’s how it should be. They were lucky no one was hurt this time, but what if someone had been?

Since it was originally caused by her hitting the shelf, if anyone should be hurt, it should rightfully be Janet.

But Rihanel’s expression turned cold. He looked at Janet with downcast eyes and opened his mouth.

“You’re quite good at putting up walls.”

“You know that’s not it.”

“You think I’m doing this because I’m worried? This isn’t for your sake.”

“……”

“If you get hurt. If you collapse again after going to that great company of yours. What would people think?”

“That has nothing to do with you, Rihanel…”

“If you were so dissatisfied, you shouldn’t have collapsed at that event. You should have endured more. So that I wouldn’t feel this pitiful guilt.”

Pitiful guilt.

Janet bit her lip. When Rihanel mentioned the incident at Philodis Cathedral, the back of her neck tingled involuntarily and cold sweat ran down.

In the broken mirror, their figures were reflected in shattered pieces. Even though they were close enough for their breaths to touch, there was a sharply drawn crack between them in the mirror.

Rihanel followed Janet’s gaze to glance at the mirror and whispered softly.

“Your life is like that mirror, Janet.”

“……”

“It’s no use trying to reflect or project that brilliant Janet Wilton from the old days now. So don’t waste your energy. No matter how hard you try, in a broken state like that mirror, you’ll only appear distorted.”

Janet unconsciously gripped her skirt with her tingling hand.

Rihanel didn’t speak further to Janet, who gave no answer. Instead, he picked her up and carried her to the bathroom, setting her down. This time, Janet didn’t resist either.

“Do you need help bathing? Should I call that maid?”

“No, I’ll wash alone. That’s more comfortable.”

“Alright. I’ll wait outside.”

Rihanel left the room. As the door slowly closed, Janet stood still in place, expressionlessly staring outside.

And the moment the door closed.

Her legs gave out, and she slumped down right there.

***

“You don’t need to line the inside with cloth anymore, madam.”

Letsy said as she helped Janet dress. Originally, because she was so thin that clothes didn’t fit well, they would wrap her body with clean cloth before dressing her.

But she had gained quite a bit of weight since they first met. Of course, this didn’t mean she was like an average person. She had just gone from being extremely thin to being very thin!

Her skin and hair had also become much more lustrous. Now she looked quite presentable even without makeup. This was probably her natural appearance, and it was clearly recovering.

‘No wonder there are rumors that the Duchess of Reynes is living comfortably and indulgently, with her face filling out.’

Even among the servants, rumors about the madam were still unfavorable.

From the beginning, it was inevitable that impressions would be poor when a commoner with criminal status entered this ducal household as its mistress.

Moreover, while they initially thought a witch had seduced the duke, over time many servants came to realize that the relationship between the duke and his wife was not good.

Because of this, the rumor currently gaining prominence was that the wife had blackmailed the duke into marriage by holding some weakness over him.

But Letsy, who could observe them most closely, knew that the madam was not the type of person to resort to such blackmail, and she was aware of how poorly the duke treated her.

So she wondered if this woman had ever had a good time since coming here, yet her weight had increased and her face had improved. It made her wonder what kind of hardships she had endured until now.