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Maybe because I couldn’t sleep well, I fell asleep as soon as I lay down on the bed.
When I woke up to the wet sensation on the back of my hand, Orion was at my bedside, grabbing my hand and shedding tears.
“It must have been that hard. I didn’t even know that you’re trying hard to not make us worried . . .”
As I looked at the trembling voice and sunken face, it seemed like the one who should take a rest wasn’t me but Orion.
“I’m fine now.”
The voice that came out when I just woke up was a bit hoarse.
Orion bit his lips.
“You must have been so sick that your voice can’t be heard.”
It can’t be heard? It’s only a bit cracked, though?
At this point, I began to wonder if Orion actually hated me.
While I was blankly staring at the ceiling, I felt the warmth from the grabbed hand.
The hands of Orion, who was a knight, were surely rough and tough.
I looked at his face, which was moist, then I recalled Mom’s face as she looked after me when I had a high fever in my childhood days.
I thought she was someone who was always honest and was completely seen through.
Now that I thought about it, there was too much about Mom that I didn’t know.
After taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth.
“Orion.”
“Yeah, tell me. Don’t worry. As long as you can be okay, even if it’s the Pope’s collar—”
“I just lack sleep. I’m not sick.”
“But, your complexion is too grave.”
“My complexion was originally like this . . .”
Did he mean that I usually had a face that was unbearable to see?
I was being comforted, but my heart kept getting sad.
Orion, who hesitated when I asked him to leave, was kicked out by Dana, who entered the room after him.
She, who came with soup and salad, whispered to me.
“Today, the Duchess went out with the Duke, and they said they’ll be a bit late. I think you’ll meet both of them tomorrow morning.”
That was relieving.
I didn’t think I would be able to control my expression when I saw them.
Suddenly, I got curious about what they had to do outside.
I was already monitoring their every move in the mansion, but I was still not sure what they were doing outside.
“What’s wrong?”
Asked Dana as though my expression looked unusual.
“Nothing. I’m wondering what they’re doing outside. Well, I’m just curious.”
Hearing my answer, she looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. Then, she hardly shook her head.
“My lady, please acknowledge both of them already. Their relationship is harmonious enough.”
The idiom ‘there’s more than meets the eyes’ was already at the tip of my throat, but I said nothing.
Dana clicked her tongue, then told me to rest and left the room.
Perhaps because I was uneasy, the sleep that fled didn’t come back easily.
I was tossing and turning around to sleep in the room where I was left alone.
At that time, the closed door was opened slowly.
My body, which immediately tensed at the small head sticking through the door, relaxed.
“Come in.”
Jeremy with a small pot in his arm carefully walked through the threshold.
“It’s almost bedtime, so what brings you here?”
He only opened his mouth after the gaze that scanned me carefully and thoroughly went on for a few moments.
“I heard you’re suffering from a psychological problem . . .”
Ah, I was set up like that, huh?
When I smiled awkwardly, Jeremy spoke seriously.
“When I was told about it, I thought it must be nothing serious. But now that I look at you in person, I understand that you must have it hard.”
“. . .”
Seriously, what kind of face I was making?
As I looked at Jeremy, who was worried about me with a calm face, I realized something.
Back then in the forest, he was with me.
Although he didn’t see Trevor’s corpse as he wasn’t conscious, he might have witnessed something.
“Jeremy.”
“Yes, Marianne.”
“That hunting competition day. Do you remember it?”
He flinched.
The eyes that opened widely stared at me.
His expression was like asking why I asked about that day.
“If you remember . . . I’m wondering if there’s anything you saw back then.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Everything. Something unusual or things that are hard to see.”
At the vague word, Jeremy looked very perplexed and troubled.
The boy, who was digging up his memory for a moment, looked back at me with a pale face.
“I remember.”
“What is it?”
“I remember the firm expressions and words from Marianne’s friends who said I should be eliminated because I saw it.”
“. . .”
“That person’s magic spell that was almost directed to me, as well as the sharp edge of Sir Gramia’s sword. I will remember it forever.”
Looking at his blue face, I thought I had brought up an unnecessary story.
Jeremy then added quickly.
“Of course, I have no intention to say anything about that day. I hope you believe me.”
As I listened to his earnest and desperate words, I thought it might be him who had ‘a wound in the heart due to trauma’ not me.
He suddenly handed Adel, who was practically his child, to me.
“What’s with this?”
“I think you can’t sleep properly. Strangely, I can have a good sleep when I have this child on my bedside.”
Jeremy, who was holding Adel out, looked very serious.
The sprout that was still as a fingernail showed no sign of growth, but it didn’t mean it withered or rotten.
It only stayed at its size.
That, too, is amazing.
After looking at the sprout, I nodded my head.
“Thank you. I’ll keep it next to me.”
While I didn’t believe such an effect, I had no particular reason to reject it.
My feelings turned odd as I put Adel on my bedside.
I didn’t expect this to happen when I said a few words with the intention of coaxing Jeremy, who was sullen back then,
What surprised me more was strangely, I began to sleep as though it was really effective like what Jeremy said.