“Do you feel a little relieved now? You were so worried yesterday about leaving the dinner table first.”
“The meal ended without me even getting to open my mouth once. And I had prepared so much to prove my usefulness.”
Olivia recalled Winston, who had appeared at yesterday’s dinner, taken a single sip of wine, and then disappeared.
Olivia, who had received even worse treatment at the ducal residence, had been quite shocked to the point of wondering whether having to finish her meal alone at that long table was another kind of harassment. If she had not been through all sorts of things as a noble lady, she would not have been able to handle that cold treatment with composure.
“But I don’t understand why you have to go that far, Young Lady.”
“What do you mean?”
“Now that you’ve revealed you have a gold mine, the one who is at a disadvantage is rather His Highness the Grand Duke. A partner with outstanding abilities and a gold mine come rolling in for a single document—why would he refuse?”
Olivia’s eyes sparkled. As expected, there was no one but Masha who understood her heart. She thought this too, so why did Winston, who was called a cold-blooded businessman, not understand? But Olivia knew well the answer to that question. Olivia’s brow furrowed in an instant.
“……Because he’s a damned romanticist.”
“Hek, th-that kind of language should be mine to use, why are you using it, Young Lady!”
“Whew. That feels refreshing.”
Only then did Olivia feel the stuffiness in her chest clear away. Olivia, who had spoken primly with raised eyebrows, crossed her arms tightly and snorted.
“I’ve wanted to say that all along. What is that thing called love, that everyone loses their proper judgment over it.”
Masha, having organized the newspaper and placed it on the bedside table, suddenly grew curious about how long it would take for northern articles to pass through the capital and reach the South.
“Oh, right. Now that the article is out, it’s only a matter of time before the Russell family finds out.”
Olivia already felt a headache coming on at the thought of the people who would try to stop her from going ahead with a second marriage on her own. Surely, even if the other party was Winston, he was absolutely not a person who would meet the Russell Count couple’s standards.
“It will be a problem if His Highness the Grand Duke’s deliberation drags on too long.”
* * *
The problem arose that night. Olivia, who had no serious injuries other than the twisted ankle, began suffering from a severe fever.
“Young Lady, please come to your senses. Young Lady!”
“Masha, I’m fine……”
Masha, wiping Olivia’s face, which had quickly become drenched in cold sweat, pouted her lips as if upset and spoke.
“Fine, what do you mean fine! Your fever is burning this hot!”
“You’re hurt too. Go and rest now……”
Olivia made the excuse to Masha that her body had not been able to endure the sudden change in temperature, but Masha, who knew her well, thought it was rather that the pent-up emotional illness had finally manifested as a physical illness.
“Masha, was it a mistake to come to Libien?”
“It hasn’t even been a day since we got here. When were you so confident coming here, and why are you saying such weak things now? Even if we end up going back, we have to see all the sights in that book!”
Fortunately, there was fever medicine among what they had brought, so she gave it to her and stayed by her side. About an hour passed, and judging that they could not stay like this with a fever that showed no sign of coming down, Masha ran out of the room. Just as she was about to dash down the central staircase.
“You there, what is the matter.”
“Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
Masha, caught by Winston, who had been on his way to find Dale for another matter, quickly bowed and looked at him with a tearful face.
“The Young Lady’s fever suddenly spiked. I was on my way to find the head maid.”
“Was there no medicine you brought?”
“I gave her fever medicine, but it isn’t working.”
Winston thought, so it had come to this, and gave Masha precise instructions so as not to do the work twice.
“Go to Marilyn and tell her I said to call for Dr. Ramsey. To the second floor.”
“Yes, yes. Understood.”
Masha flew down the stairs, and Winston turned his steps toward Olivia’s room. How urgent must it have been, for the door to be wide open so the drawing room was fully visible.
Tap, tap, steady footsteps filled the quiet room. Winston slowly walked toward the bedroom where light was spilling out.
“……Masha, I told you I’m fine.”
“If I look like your maid, then your condition must not be very good.”
Winston, standing at the boundary between the drawing room and the bedroom, met eyes with Olivia, who was lying on the bed, through the wide-open door.
“……Your Highness?”
“Yes. It’s me.”
Even from a distance, it was a voice that suggested her condition was far from ordinary. Winston, now knocking twice pointlessly, approached her side.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“N-no. I look a mess right now.”
“Seeing as you have the presence of mind to worry about your appearance, you seem alright.”
Olivia was concerned about her face, flushed from the fever, and her sweat-soaked hair, but at Winston’s words, her tension eased for a moment. In the end, looking at Winston’s indifferent face as he sat beside her, Olivia let out a small laugh.
“As expected, you really have a terrible personality.”
Perhaps that was why—Olivia ended up saying something she would not have said normally. Fortunately, Winston did not bat an eye even at the remark criticizing him. Rather, he seemed to welcome it, so Olivia found herself gauging his reaction instead.
“I like the honesty. Have you forgotten how to speak in roundabout ways?”
“I’m sick, so I don’t want to think twice.”
With those words, Olivia gestured apologetically at her continuous coughing and turned her head.
“It’s best to speak less now.”
“Cough, cough!”
Once the coughing started, it poured out without pause. Olivia was disgusted with herself at the sound of coughing coming from her cracked voice. In the end, Winston, who had straightened Olivia’s body as she slumped to the side, skillfully brought a cup of water to her lips.
“Drink some water.”
“Th-thank you. Cough.”
Only after she barely swallowed a sip of warm water and the coughing stopped did Olivia catch her breath. Winston laid her back down and, with his arms crossed, furrowed his brow.
“I remember you were fine until dinner.”
“It started after I lay down in bed.”
“It seems your excited heart pushed your body to its limit.”
Olivia felt as though cold sweat was breaking out under Winston’s watchful gaze. He had clearly told her to postpone the sightseeing to another day, predicting this would happen. Olivia had nothing to say, so she merely pursed her lips for no reason.
“I’ve called for the doctor. I told Marilyn to bring him, so he should be here soon.”
“I-I took medicine, so I’m fine, cough.”
“Would you have stubbornly refused even if this were the Brown household?”
Winston seemed to understand why she was like this. It must have meant she wanted to let this pass quietly since she had caused a commotion not long ago, but that situation had already passed. Winston thought anew that his assessment of himself might be excessively harsh and continued.
“I’m not such a bad man as to throw out a sick person, so relax.”
“……Really? Then you won’t say things like how I won’t be able to endure the cold, or,”
“Stop talking.”
“You keep giving me room to argue back……”
“You must not be that sick.”
Only then did Olivia shut her mouth. A brief silence followed, and Olivia, feverish and overwrought, fell asleep with a speed that made it impossible to imagine she had been conversing with him just moments ago.
As she closed her eyes, Winston’s gaze reached the bedside table. It was the old northern travelogue. Picking it up and examining it for a moment, Winston’s face gradually filled with interest.
“Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
“Ah, Marilyn. Did you call the doctor?”
“Yes. Masha is coming up with him and the medicine.”
Behind Marilyn, Masha burst in, making enough noise to wake everyone in the residence.
“Young Lady, Young Lady!”
“Masha, shh.”
“Hek, sh-she’s asleep? She didn’t faint, did she?”
Only then did Masha cover her mouth and look back and forth between Marilyn and Winston in a small voice. Dr. Ramsey, who had hurriedly entered after her, gave a light silent bow upon seeing Winston. As expected, Olivia’s diagnosis fortunately turned out to be simple accumulated fatigue and a cold.
“It’s nothing serious, so wake her briefly to take the medicine, and I’ll see her again in the morning.”
“Haah, what a relief.”
Masha bowed her head deeply in relief, and Dr. Ramsey also gathered up the medicine he had brought and took his leave. Just as the situation seemed to be settling, Winston called Marilyn.
“Marilyn, make sure Miss Russell does not leave her bed for at least two days.”
“Yes, understood.”
If he did not go this far, it was obvious the same mishap as today would happen again. A mere injured ankle was no problem for her, after all.
