Chapter 9

He was such a childish man. What was so rude about that question that he had to be so sensitive?

“Where are you going?”

“Flora, please remain here and enjoy your meal.”

With those words, Emeric disappeared without a second thought.

He left her behind in this den full of hyenas and vanished.

Well, to be fair, he did seem like the strongest and most threatening hyena to her.

* * *

“My Lady, are you feeling very unwell?”

“I can barely speak. I’m sweating cold and feel dizzy.”

Having forced herself to eat under all those contemptuous gazes at the evening banquet, she must have gotten a bad case of indigestion.

Tanya wore a worried look as she poured hot water into the bathtub.

“Does this really help with indigestion?”

“I used to do this often back in Charllon. Thank you for helping.”

It was truly odd.

Supposedly, people in Blois, where the weather is colder, don’t really enjoy hot baths.

She herself had always loved soaking in hot water until her body turned red since childhood.

She didn’t know if it really helped digestion, but it was perfect for relaxing her tense, frozen body. At Flora’s request, Tanya kindly brought boiled water three times.

“I’m glad it’s working, My Lady.”

To be honest, it didn’t seem to help much. Even while soaking in the hot water, she kept sweating cold, felt nauseous, and was on the verge of throwing up.

Flora stood up, feeling sick, and nearly lost her balance from a sudden dizziness.

“My Lady!”

If Tanya hadn’t caught her in time, she might have hit her head on the tub and suffered an embarrassing death before even getting married.

“Should I nurse you through the night? You’ve been unwell ever since you arrived at the castle.”

“No. I think I’ll feel better after some sleep. There’s no need for you to stay up with me. Go get some rest.”

It was a quiet dawn. Outside, it was so dark she couldn’t tell what time it was, and Tanya was exhausted from hauling heavy, hot water repeatedly.

Besides, they’d only known each other for a day—a maid and her master.

They weren’t so close as to have formed any deep attachment. Such excessive kindness felt a bit burdensome.

“Are you sure it’s okay if I go? What if you get worse in the night?”

“If it gets worse, I’ll call your name as loud as I can, so for now, just go. I need to get some real sleep. Today was exhausting, having to walk on eggshells all day.”

At that, Tanya gave her a worried look and reluctantly went to her own room.

Perhaps Tanya was even more reluctant to leave because if anything happened to Flora during the night, she’d be held directly responsible.

Flora’s room became quiet in an instant.

The wedding was this weekend, so she needed to recover before then. Usually, when she got indigestion this badly, it would take several days to feel better, which worried her.

Her condition only got worse. In the early hours, not knowing what time it was, Flora woke again, drenched in cold sweat, kicking off the sheets and lying still, feeling the chill in the room with her eyes closed.

All the journeys that had brought her here flashed before her eyes.

She’d ridden in a rattling carriage for over two days, and since arriving at this house, it had been nothing but Emeric and the Blois family, all eager to stab at her with their thorns.

The only person who was even remotely warm to her was a single maid.

If she died in her sleep from indigestion, would it be a peaceful death or a pitiful one?

Thinking that, Flora pushed the sheets completely aside.

The cool air against her skin actually helped her feel more alert.

And how much time passed after that?

She was sleeping when she heard a sound, and suddenly felt something heavy on her body again.

Feeling hot and stifled, Flora brushed off whatever was on top of her and opened her eyes.

Standing before her, looking down with a contemptuous expression, was Emeric Blois.

“Why are you here…?”

“It’s so blatant I can’t stand to watch.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Her voice came out hoarse and strained.

“Did you expect me to come, so you’re lying here half-n*ked? Or were you having fun with someone and I interrupted?”

There were several errors in his words.

First of all, Flora was wearing only her chemise, but she was definitely not n*ked. Still, she didn’t bother to correct him or explain the misunderstanding.

Waking from sleep, her priority was to figure out what was going on.

Flora looked down at her clothes.

Maybe she’d moved a lot in her sleep, because her calves were exposed and one shoulder was bare. The sheets had been kicked off long ago.

“I don’t know what you mean, but I never expected you to come. I certainly didn’t hope for it.”

“Then why are you lying here like this? Blushing, too.”

“Well…”

She wanted to say she’d been sick for days, but it hurt her pride to admit she’d gotten indigestion from all the stress since coming to Blois.

With Emeric’s nasty personality, he’d probably keep tormenting her just to see her squirm.

“Or maybe you were waiting for another guest. Or, perhaps, you were in the middle of a secret meeting and he ran off when I showed up.”

“Enough. I don’t want to argue over nonsense. Why are you here?”

Flora grabbed the sheet that had been tossed to the side of the bed and covered herself again.

It was a small act of rebellion against Emeric’s rudeness, as if she’d been lying there to seduce someone.

“Nonsense?”

“Everything you’ve said is nonsense.”

“At the very least, don’t bring another man into your bedroom before the wedding. I told you, wait half a year for a lover. And you should at least try not to get caught by me, shouldn’t you?”

“What are you even talking about?”

“Forget it. Your voice was too loud, so I came to warn you.”

With that, Emeric left only those cryptic words, shot her a look of contempt, slammed the door, and left.

It was bad enough being sick, but thinking over his words, Flora realized he’d misunderstood her, as if she’d been secretly meeting someone. Her sadness doubled.

In the end, she lay face down and cried quietly.

She wished that when she opened her eyes, she’d be back in her room in Charllon.

This place just didn’t suit her at all.

* * *

Sadly, that never happened.

Flora woke to the sound of birds chirping, frowning in her sleep.

Even without opening her eyes, she could feel the chill in the air, and knew she was still in the castle of Blois.

She couldn’t help but sigh.

She wished the pain from last night had vanished like a dream, but her chest still felt tight and her body was still at its lowest point.

She blamed Emeric, who had poured cold water on her efforts to recover before the wedding.

How could he act like he knew everything about her?

Flora struggled to sit up in bed and rang the bell at her side.

Tanya, who must have been nearby, came running in with hot water.

“Hot water again today?”

“Yes, My Lady. You seemed unwell all night, so I asked the kitchen to boil plenty of water from dawn. There’s lots of hot water, so please soak as long as you like.”

“Did you come into my room last night?”

“What? Yes. I came to check on you and you were groaning in your sleep. I was so worried…”

Only then did Flora understand what Emeric had meant.

He must have seen Tanya’s shadow coming out of her room and mistook it for someone sneaking in.

But even from a distance, Tanya’s skirt was clearly visible—there was no way to mistake her for a man.

Maybe he just wanted to believe it was a man.

Regrettably, Flora had no intention of correcting Emeric and telling him that the person he saw last night was Tanya, not a strange man, and that it was all a misunderstanding.

There was no point explaining to someone who’d already made up his mind.

“Thank you. I think I feel a little better thanks to you.”

She felt she ought to thank Tanya, even if she didn’t actually feel any better.

“Will you rest in your room today? Everyone’s so busy, I don’t think they’ll care if you stay in.”

“Why is everyone so busy today?”

“Well, the eldest young master returned without notice this morning!”

“Mikael? The eldest son who was studying abroad?”

“Yes! He said he wouldn’t be coming to Devilleon for a while, but maybe because of the second young master’s wedding, he showed up at Charmant today without warning, so the whole castle is in an uproar.”

“Why is it such a big deal?”

“Well, it’s been two years since Mikael came home! There’s special food, cleaning his room—everyone has so much to do.”

Now Flora understood why Tanya suggested she could stay in her room today.

To the people of this house, the future daughter-in-law from Charllon was less than a speck of dust.

With Mikael, the famously kind member of Blois, returning after so long, the whole place must be in a festive mood.

She even thought Mikael’s welcome party might be bigger than her own wedding.

Contrary to Tanya’s advice, Flora couldn’t bear to stay cooped up in her room all day, feeling so stiff and heavy.

She hurriedly changed into thick clothes and, guided by Tanya, headed to the balcony atop the round tower of Charmant Castle.

She remembered Tanya saying the view of Blois from there was beautiful.

It was early, so the morning sun hadn’t reached its peak and was still climbing the sky.

Because of the hazy clouds, the sunlight didn’t shine brightly, but cast a muted glow.

In the distance, she could see the lake Blois was so proud of, quietly sparkling in the sunlight.

Flora blew out a breath toward the lake. White vapor spread from her nose.

It felt unfamiliar, but not unpleasant, so she did it again and again.

For some reason, Tanya, standing by the balcony door, watched her nervously.

Flora turned her gaze from Tanya to the side.

There stood Christophe Blois, Duke of Blois and master of Charmant Castle.

In other words, the man who would become her father-in-law.