* * *
Sure, getting married didn’t mean I was obliged by law or courtesy to greet her every day.
But the rumors of me wandering around the estate had surely reached her ears.
The fact that I hadn’t visited even once could very well have displeased her.
‘But after that, Klen had forbidden me from going out, so I couldn’t move an inch. She must know that too, right?’
Clink.
She set down her teacup and looked directly at me.
Gulp.
My throat moved instinctively with tension.
Her gaze wasn’t sharp or cold.
But the calm stillness in her eyes made it impossible to guess what she was thinking.
“So. I hear you drank a tonic to restore your strength?”
“Ah, yes.”
So the rumor about how fast news spreads here like a prized racehorse was true.
What had happened just yesterday had already reached her.
But it was within expectations, so I simply nodded lightly.
“For him to take such action… You must’ve made quite the impression.”
“……”
Sure enough, people always said Klen was the type who rarely moved on his own.
And the times he had acted out of the ordinary all seemed to involve me.
Thanks to that, there were quite a few people, like the Countess, who thought Klen held me in special regard.
‘Especially the servants…’
Since Klen was playing the role of a loving husband, the rumors would only grow.
They certainly wouldn’t die down.
But since it wasn’t a problem, I let it be.
Still, this wasn’t the Countess’s real point.
As I quietly waited for her to continue, she took another sip of tea and finally spoke again.
“There’s a hunting tournament next week.”
“A hunting tournament?”
That was the first I’d heard of it.
Was she suggesting I participate?
I didn’t like hunting tournaments.
If there was a chance to avoid them, I would.
I didn’t even enjoy watching them.
In Caldrich, we didn’t treat hunting as mere entertainment.
The Countess frowned slightly as if she had figured something out from the way I looked at her silently.
“You haven’t heard, have you?”
“…No, I haven’t.”
“I told Klen, but he said it wouldn’t be possible because you’re still too weak.”
She let out a long sigh and shook her head.
For someone with such strong self-restraint to sigh openly in front of me—there must have been quite a few conversations like this that had been shut down.
In that case, it would be best to support Klen here.
I calmly smiled and answered.
“He must’ve been worried since I’ve been collapsing frequently. If I participated in a hunting tournament like this, I’d only get in the way.”
“Even so, shouldn’t you at least show your face?”
The Countess didn’t back down, as if all the frustration of being repeatedly blocked had built up.
Perhaps collapsing during the wedding in front of the guests had already set the bar so low that fainting during the tournament wouldn’t even matter?
“You are part of the family now.”
Her voice softened as though offering a carrot after the stick, and I almost nodded instinctively.
She wasn’t wrong. I was family.
I couldn’t hide in the background forever.
“Oh, and I heard orc and goblin corpses were found not far from the city.”
“…!”
My heart jolted.
My hand twitched, sending a small ripple through the tea in my cup.
The Countess glanced down at the tea that had splashed on the table.
‘Did she notice something? No, that’s not possible.’
Technically, the one who defeated those two monsters was Klen, not me.
Even if a healer had mentioned I’d been in the area, there were plenty of excuses I could make.
“R-really?”
Still, there was no need for me to bring it up first.
I pretended to be startled and fumbled my words a little.
The Countess tapped the table lightly with her finger, then raised her gaze to me.
“Because of that, people are growing uneasy. So it might be a good idea to show the strength of our knights.”
And you too—her tone seemed to imply.
The rumor of his frailty had only spread inside the castle so far.
But it would leak outside in no time.
To counter that, it would be best to show himself gallantly riding a horse and returning triumphant from a hunt.
In short, she was asking the him—who had been pretending to be weak—to now pretend to be his true self.
‘Isn’t that harder?’
How does one pretend to act like their real self?
Faking weakness was easy—he could just pretend he couldn’t even lift a sword.
But to swing it poorly while seeming like he was trying his best?
That was a much harder act.
‘No, wait.’
Why was his mind leaning toward participating?
It hit him then—he had completely fallen into the Countess’s pace.
“If I were to collapse out there… wouldn’t that ruin the festivities?”
He carefully spoke, reining in his wavering heart.
What he really meant was, ‘I’ll pass—go enjoy yourselves without me.’
Of course, at the moment, he had no intention of collapsing.
But circumstances could change anytime, anywhere.
If something did happen at the event, the Countess’s entire plan would fall apart.
Not only that—how many people might witness him fainting helplessly in that situation?
If by some horrible coincidence one of his father’s acquaintances happened to see it…
‘That would be a disaster.’
If his father were to hear about it, how would he react?
Just imagining it made his fingertips tremble and his throat dry.
“I thought you were better now.”
“Ah… I must’ve gotten dizzy for a moment…”
Apparently, the thought had drained the color from his face.
Seeing her face crease with concern, he took out a handkerchief.
Pretending to wipe his cold sweat, he lowered his eyes and started thinking fast.
Wouldn’t it be better, publicly, to say he wasn’t feeling well and decided to rest, rather than participate and end up fainting?
If someone from Caldrich asked about it, he could just say it had been temporary.
Besides, if it got out that he was well enough to go hunting, all the effort he’d put into acting weak until now would be wasted.
For the sake of his house’s honor, it would be better to continue resting.
Just as he was about to speak, the Countess put down her teacup with a firmer clack.
“If… you truly are unwell, we may need to punish the healer.”
“Kuh?!”
The tea he’d just swallowed nearly came back up.
Forcing it down, his throat burned like the tea had scraped it raw.
“W-what?!”
“To send medicine with no effect and call it complete—how unacceptable.”
“……”
The Countess’s gaze was still calm and unwavering.
The medicine I took was made by the only healer in the Holy Kingdom.
But if what was handed to me as a finished product turned out to have no effect, then that’s clearly a problem.
This isn’t a good situation.
If the medicine had done nothing, that would be one thing—but I had experienced its effects firsthand.
Even so, lying just to save myself doesn’t sit right with me.
The healer’s pale face and the dark circles sunken beneath his eyes suddenly flashed through my mind.
“……”
All paths of retreat had been cut off.
The Countess hadn’t come to ask my opinion—she was simply here to inform me.
“…I’ll participate.”
“You’ve made the right choice.”
With a satisfied smile, she took a delicate sip of her tea, while I, with a parched throat, had to gulp mine down roughly.
* * *
