It had already been a while since the priest healed him with divine power, yet the doctor kept repeating “shortly.”
Though frustrated, I didn’t press further and dismissed everyone.
Once the doctor and servants had all left, only the two of us remained in the room.
Looking at Lucas lying on the bed, it suddenly hit me.
There was only one bed, and since he was unconscious, I should have asked the servants to prepare another room for me to sleep in, but I had completely forgotten to mention it.
Even in this situation, he looked so beautiful sleeping that I found myself sitting on the edge of the bed, quietly gazing at him.
It felt like he might open his eyes wide at any moment and call out, “Master, Master.”
He only ever threw around the title “Count” whenever it suited him.
The more I thought about it, the more shameless he seemed.
“You are going to get scolded so severely the moment you wake up.”
I had told him to speak up if anyone was hurting him, yet he kept quiet and ended up this battered.
I am going to lecture him so thoroughly that he will never dream of hiding anything from me again.
Thinking about whether I should put a crown of thorns on his head, I gently stroked his hair.
Strands of hair like moonlight slipped softly through my fingers.
At that exact moment, Lucas opened his eyes.
“Are you awake?”
Lucas blinked his eyes slowly.
Gradually, life returned to his irises as he focused his gaze entirely on me. T
he sight looked precisely like a masterpiece statue drawing its very first breath, rendering me unable to look away.
“Master?”
Look at him, selling off the title of “Count” somewhere else yet again.
The moment I heard that familiar term of address, the illusion shattered, and a laugh slipped out.
“Even after staring death in the face, you still haven’t learned to call me Count.”
“…….”
“Do you remember? You were kneeling in my room and then you collapsed.”
Looking dazed, Lucas began to push his body up.
Realizing that he felt no pain as he moved, he suddenly pulled his clothes open to inspect his torso.
His body was entirely immaculate, without a single wound or bruise.
“How…”
“I summoned a priest to heal you. It seems you are completely recovered. What a relief.”
Lucas was at a loss for words.
He looked completely entranced, as if he were caught in a dream, or perhaps as if he had received a shock too profound to bear.
Because his expression looked so strange, I found myself talking continuously to fill the silence.
“You probably don’t remember, since you were unconscious. You’re fully healed, but you should still rest for a week.”
“…….”
“Don’t lower your guard too much, though. I am going to punish you once your rest is over. Why didn’t you just tell me sooner? You truly have a habit of making things harder for yourself.”
My words were rapidly devolving into a lecture. Lucas suddenly cut me off.
“Why did you save me?”
It was a voice I had never heard from him before.
Lucas asked me directly in a spine-chillingly pleasant, low tone.
He didn’t use formal honorifics.
There was no coyness, nor any attempt at seduction.
“Is that your natural way of speaking?”
“I asked why you saved me. It would have been better to just let me die.”
Only now did I feel like I was facing him as one human being to another.
Lucas demanded an answer proudly, as if he possessed every right to interrogate me.
With his back perfectly straight and his eyes locked onto mine, he exerted a presence that could easily make anyone sitting across from him nervous.
His serene gaze felt as though it were peering directly into my soul.
“Why did I save you? Why did I save you, you ask…”
Refusing to be intimidated, I looked right back into his eyes.
Strangely, realizing that I was witnessing his true self made me feel quite amused.
After all, this side of him had never appeared even in the novel.
What should I say?
I barely understood myself.
Even seeing him awake, I couldn’t precisely pinpoint the exact reason I had resolved to save him.
I decided to give Lucas the same excuse I had given myself.
“Because you mentioned you have a younger sister.”
“What?”
“I have an older brother, you see. He went off to war with my sister-in-law, and he still hasn’t been able to return. I haven’t heard any news from them either.”
Watching his utterly dumbfounded face upon hearing my story was quite entertaining.
He stared at me blankly, looking as though he had been struck out of nowhere.
“A person ought to live, shouldn’t they? That’s the only reason I saved you.”
Yes. For now, this was the only explanation I could conjure.
Lucas now looked entirely bewildered.
Amidst his confusion, unable to fully accept it, he asked, “…The price?”
“The price?”
“There must be a price you desire from me. Do you want gold, territory, or status?”
It was an incredibly arrogant thing for a slave to say.
But to me, knowing a future that might actually manifest, those words felt remarkably fitting for Lucas.
“I have more than enough of all three right now.”
“Are you saying you’ve never desired more wealth, vaster territories, or a higher status?”
Well.
Things are a bit tight, but I earn enough to raise my nephew, and our territory is neither too large nor too small for us to live harmoniously among ourselves, and status…
I’ve truly never experienced a higher status, so I wouldn’t know.
I’ve never felt any lack here.
“I wouldn’t know. I only need enough to raise my nephew.”
Lucas opened his mouth to retort, but slowly closed it. It seemed he had finally accepted my answer.
The entire sight of him was remarkably lovely.
If a god of love existed, they would surely possess the exact same form and wear the exact same expression as Lucas.
I threw out a casual comment to shatter that look on his face.
“If you cannot bring yourself to believe me, then I shall name a price.”
“What?”
“Will you promise to grant it?”
Lucas hesitated before saying, “…I will decide after hearing it.”
I stated two conditions.
- Stay here quietly for one year.
- Do not harm anyone. However, if you are attacked like this time, it will be recognized as self-defense.
They were not difficult conditions.
Yet, they were exactly what I desired most.
Lucas braced himself, but upon hearing the price I named, he asked with a completely deflated expression, “Is that all?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought you would demand something far more grand.”
Lucas wouldn’t comprehend how crucial this price truly was.
Not now, and not for the rest of his life.
He would also have no way of knowing why I specifically specified a duration of one year.
Despite it being an easy condition, Lucas did not accept it readily.
He was sharp and possessed excellent intuition.
He must have sensed that there was a catch.
In that case, I just needed to attach a condition he had no choice but to accept.
