#12.
After indulging in a moment of inner fan-girl chaos, I straightened my upper body and leaned against the headboard. I made a conscious effort to respond with as much poise as I could muster.
“I’m alright. At first, I was terrified because I lost all sense of smell and hearing, but fortunately, I feel perfectly fine now.”
“……”
Archid’s lips parted slightly, looking as if my answer was utterly absurd. Come to think of it, for someone claiming to be ‘alright,’ my symptoms at the time of fainting had been quite severe.
I bit my lip for a moment before asking cautiously, “Were you… perhaps worried?”
As I tilted my head to meet his eyes, I saw his pupils tremble. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. There was no reason for Archid to worry about me. Just as I was about to retract the question, he spoke up slowly.
“……Yes.”
My heart felt like it dropped right out of my chest. Archid worried about me? What’s the date today? I need to mark this as an anniversary!
“I see.”
I lowered my head, hiding the sheer joy blooming on my face. If I looked up now, he might be frightened away by the sight of my flared nostrils and overexcited expression. I hated being sick, but I loved that he worried—after all, worry is a shadow cast by affection.
*‘Has anyone else ever been nursed back to health by their ultimate bias? Yes! Right here!’*
While I was busy celebrating inside my head, he suddenly placed his hand on my forehead. His touch felt cool, which suggested my fever hadn’t fully broken yet.
“You still have a slight fever.”
“I suppose so. I mean, I really felt like I was dying, so it would be stranger if it were all over in just one day.”
When I tried to brush it off with a cheerful tone, Archid shook his head.
“It hasn’t been a day.”
“Pardon?”
“It has been ten days.”
“!!”
My jaw dropped at the mention of ten days. Archid murmured, unable to meet my eyes properly, his expression pained.
“You asked if I was worried? How could I not be? I am your husband.”
“……”
“You have no idea, My Lady, what state of mind I was in while staying by your side for those ten days.”
*What kind of state was it? Why am I so curious about that part?*
I desperately fought to keep my facial muscles under control. I wanted to ask him right then and there, but the atmosphere was too heavy to intervene. For some reason, he looked incredibly fragile. Archid kept his head bowed, murmuring like a sinner confessing.
“Because you wouldn’t wake up… I thought perhaps something had gone terribly wrong……”
“Lord Archid.”
“If something happened to you, I didn’t even know where I would begin to seek atonement……”
“Lord Archid!”
I called out to him, my voice a bit sharp to snap him out of his darkening thoughts, and grabbed his hand. Only then did he regain his senses and meet my eyes.
*Wait, why is there a soaked puppy in front of me?*
The corners of his eyes were so sorrowful, like a puppy shivering in the rain. He looked so pathetic that I felt an impulsive urge to pull him into a tight hug. However, I kept a firm grip on my reason and spoke.
“Lord Archid, nothing went wrong. I’m fine.”
“……”
“Look at me. I’m right here in front of you.”
I took his hand and placed it against my cheek. He nodded silently, appearing a bit more composed than before.
*‘Did the Grand Duke scold him because I collapsed?’*
Of all times, why did I have to collapse while out with Archid? I should have just endured it and collapsed after returning to my room alone! I felt miserable, thinking I had caused him unnecessary trouble.
Then, curiosity struck me. Why had I fainted in the first place?
“By the way… why did I collapse?”
At my question, Archid’s lips moved hesitantly. “I assumed you already knew.”
“Not at all. What was the reason?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, he let out a heavy breath. “It was an allergy to Delus flowers.”
“What……?”
What on earth? Delus flowers were everywhere in the Hadelus territory. In fact, the Hadelus Castle even had a dedicated garden that grew nothing but Delus flowers.
Archid explained calmly to my stunned self, though his expression had turned rigid. “Do not try to pretend you didn’t know.”
“……”
“The same thing happened last year when you collapsed.”
“Ah.”
A small gasp escaped me at the mention of ‘last year.’ Since it was a past I hadn’t lived through, it felt even more startling.
*‘This is unexpected. How on earth did Roena survive in Hadelus until now?’*
Come to think of it, in the original novel, Archid would often think of his late wife whenever he saw Delus flowers. It was because she hated them so much that she wouldn’t allow a single bloom in the castle where they resided.
*‘She went to those extremes because of an allergy.’*
As I agonized over how to respond to this unforeseen truth, he continued.
“Is that why you told me to throw them away when I gave you Delus flowers as a gift?”
“I……”
“You should have just told me the truth.”
“……”
“You almost died. Why on earth did you hide it?”
Archid bit his lower lip hard, swallowing his anger. He clearly didn’t want to lose his temper with a patient who had just woken up. He looked terrifying, yet somehow pitiful. It wasn’t that he was angry at me—his face was full of fury directed at himself.
*‘Why did Roena hide this from everyone?’*
She even kept it from the maids she brought with her. In a place where Delus flowers were everywhere, hiding it was like trying to cover the sky with the palm of your hand.
*‘I guess her running away from the flower garden last year wasn’t intentional.’*
Regardless of Roena’s intentions, it was an action that would have looked terrible to the Grand Duchess. In fact, she had been disliked for that very reason.
*‘She was young and prideful; it couldn’t have been easy to speak up.’*
A young girl dropped into a remote wilderness she had never visited before. The only people she could lean on were the maids from her home at April Castle, and everyone else pressured her with duties, calling her the Young Grand Duchess.
And then, of all things, she has an allergy to the Delus flower—the very symbol of the Hadelus territory. Naturally, she would try to hide it, fearing it would be seen as a weakness. Her response was immature because she was young, and unfortunately, that result had only soured her relationships further.
*‘What should I do about this?’*
Just then, Archid, still holding my hand, squeezed it tight and murmured.
“Even though hiding it doesn’t change anything……”
“Pardon?”
I asked him to repeat himself since I couldn’t quite catch the end of his sentence. He met my gaze, his gray eyes looking straight at me. They were filled with an emotion I couldn’t quite name. His gaze was so magnetic that my lips parted involuntarily.
After a moment, he asked hesitantly, “Was it… because of me?”
“It’s nothing like that!”
I blurted out a denial, startled by his sudden self-blame. But Archid didn’t seem to believe me. His long, black eyelashes trembled. His eyes shimmered strangely, as if they were wet.
“If I had been a more reliable husband, would you have been able to tell me the truth?”
“Lord Archid……”
Seeing him look as if he were about to cry, I didn’t know what to do. I once thought I wanted to see his crying face, but I wanted to take that back immediately. I only wanted him to smile. It hurt my heart to think that I was the one making him sad.
“I’m sorry.”
The apology slipped out as I felt myself getting choked up. Archid shook his head gently. His gaze was so tender and warm that it only made me want to cry more.
“I will try harder. So that you can rely on me.”
“Me too. From now on, I’ll tell you everything. I won’t hide things anymore.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Archid smiled faintly and brushed his fingers against the corners of my eyes. A tear that had been dangling there broke against his finger.
“By the way… what happened to Lady Lorke?”
I tried to change the subject out of embarrassment, but the shift caused a crack in his expression. His face hardened, as if he didn’t even want to think about her.
“There is no need to concern yourself with such a person.”
“Lord Archid?”
My eyes widened at the sudden coldness in his face. For a brief second, he looked remarkably like the chilling Grand Duke. Archid eased me back down and tucked the covers around me.
“You only need to focus on recovering.”
“Yes……”
I answered meekly, feeling guilty about too many things. After that, Archid stayed by my side until I fell asleep.
—
“G-Grand Duchess.”
Lady Lorke looked at Elena, her face pale. Elena elegantly crossed her legs and gestured with her chin for the girl to sit.
Vestia sat on the sofa opposite Elena, her body trembling uncontrollably. This was the first time Elena had personally visited the Lorke estate. She hadn’t visited even when Vestia was practically living at the Grand Duke’s castle, so what was the occasion?
Elena snorted as she watched the visibly terrified Vestia.
*‘Please help me, Mother.’*
*‘Help you with what?’*
*‘Please ensure that Lady Lorke never appears before the Young Grand Duchess again.’*
*‘I heard the girl collapsed; I suppose it was because of Lady Lorke.’*
*‘There was a more significant underlying cause, but it is true that Lady Lorke caused the delay in her emergency treatment.’*
Her stepson, who had never once asked for a favor in his life, had suddenly come to her for help. And for the sake of the wife he was famous for being on bad terms with—the wife who supposedly looked down on him.
Moreover, Elena had never seen Archid’s eyes look so sharp and clear. It was a much better look than his usual downcast, dispirited appearance. That was why she had come to see Lady Lorke after hearing Archid’s request.
*‘Well, I didn’t like that woman either.’*
How dare she act so out of line toward the Young Grand Ducal couple.
With a radiant smile, Elena got straight to the point.
“I’d like you to get the hell out of Hadelus immediately.”
