“Lord Joel, what happened… Joel?”
Robert, who had approached the carriage, was greatly shocked to see Joel’s face covered in tears.
He wondered for a moment if something had gone wrong with the child in Joel’s womb—though it was unlikely that the fetus, which had remained perfectly fine even while Joel’s forehead was split open and he fought a demon underground, would suddenly be in danger.
Worried, Robert quickly dismounted and opened the carriage door.
As soon as the door opened, Joel collapsed into Robert’s arms.
The large hand stroking his back wasn’t quite the same as the Crown Prince’s, but it was still a great comfort.
Joel clung to Robert’s neck for a long time, trembling, before he finally managed to calm down.
“What is it? Did something happen?”
Benjamin, who had gotten out of his own carriage and approached, asked with a worried voice.
Only then did Joel slowly lift his head and look around.
Not only Benjamin and Felix, but even the soldiers had gathered in a semi-circle in front of his carriage.
Realizing he had shown such a pathetic side of himself to all of them, Joel’s face turned bright red.
He couldn’t tell them, even if he died and came back to life again, that he had been crying like a child because of a nightmare.
Joel wiped his tears away with his fists.
“It’s nothing. Let’s start moving again.”
“It’s not nothing! Your forehead is hot—I mean, you have a fever, Lord Joel. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”
In his surprise, Robert had spoken informally as he usually did before quickly correcting himself.
He held onto Joel, who was trying to hide back inside the carriage like a flustered bird, and inspected Joel’s face from every angle with a worried expression.
With a face as red as a ripe apple, Joel grumbled inwardly that Robert was, in every way, a very unhelpful person.
The faces of the gathered crowd grew more and more concerned.
Robert, thinking he needed to check the wound on Joel’s forehead, reached for the bandage.
Seeing no way to avoid the situation, Joel reluctantly opened his mouth.
“It’s really nothing! It’s just…”
“Just?”
“…It’s because I’m hungry.”
He blurted out the first excuse he could think of, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he wondered who would actually believe such a thing.
It would have been more convincing—and perhaps less like a moron—to just say he had a nightmare. Joel regretted not just telling the truth.
However, contrary to his expectations, everyone seemed to accept his excuse quite easily.
Even Felix, who usually loved to pick apart Joel’s words, was nodding with a look that said, “Ah, so that was it.”
“But still, to cry that much just because you are hungry is a bit…”
Felix muttered, only to be silenced by Benjamin, who nudged him with an arm and shook his head.
Seeing the reactions of those around him, Joel felt strangely annoyed.
“Come to think of it, it is about time for a meal.”
As Robert spoke while checking the time, a member of the 4th Knights watching from behind said, “Then we shall prepare the meal,” and led the soldiers toward the supply wagon.
The small group of eight that had originally left for Sir Bennet’s estate had now tripled in size.
This was because the Crown Prince, worried for Joel’s safety, had sent a member of the 4th Knights and half of Count Gray’s private soldiers to serve as Joel’s escort.
Joel left behind Felix and Benjamin, who were discussing how much easier the journey felt now that they knew the path.
He followed Robert to find a place to eat.
Using the excuse that the lingering pheromones on his body might make Benjamin uncomfortable during the meal, Joel was able to eat a little distance away from the rest of the group.
Having finished his meal in peace, he sat on a flat rock and was eating honey-preserved peaches for dessert when Benjamin approached him.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t visit you while we were at Sir Bennet’s estate. I wanted to go several times, but I was afraid I would only be in your way…”
To Benjamin, who apologized with a look of deep regret, Joel quickly said, “It’s okay. I know how you feel. Don’t be sorry.”
In fact, Joel knew that Benjamin truly wanted to visit. In his past life, when Joel’s fake pregnancy was discovered and he was placed under house arrest, wasn’t Benjamin the only one who risked the Emperor’s anger to come and comfort him?
“By the way, how have you been? I don’t think I saw you at all at my father’s estate.”
“Oh, you know. I was just staying quietly in the guest room with Felix. It was pure chaos when the Crown Prince went missing and you disappeared too.”
Benjamin spoke in a soft, calm voice.
With his passive and introverted personality, it seemed he had stayed as quiet as a mouse in the guest room, terrified of being a burden.
He had even stopped Felix from going out to check on the situation.
Because no one had given him a clear explanation, Benjamin hadn’t even known until yesterday that he would be leaving for Count Gray’s estate.
Joel could easily picture Benjamin stuck in the corner of a room, anxious and watching everyone’s reactions.
He felt guilty for making his kind friend suffer for no reason.
“You really went through a lot. All because of me… Oh, do you want some of this?”
When Joel offered the jar full of peaches, Benjamin waved his hand, saying he was full.
Instead, he asked with a face full of curiosity.
“More importantly, Joel… is it true that there was a massive mansion full of gold and jewels under Sir Bennet’s estate?”
It seemed Benjamin was curious about what happened underground, just like everyone else.
Feeling sorry for him, Joel began to explain what had happened with John, the leader of the demon cult.
Of course, he didn’t mention that he had died and come back to life, or that the Crown Prince had turned back time.
Benjamin’s jaw dropped when Joel described the underground mansion as being more luxurious than Count Lucas’s capital residence.
Encouraged by Benjamin’s reaction, Joel got excited and started telling the story with grand hand gestures.
At his vivid explanation, even the soldiers began to creep closer, pretending to clean up while eavesdropping.
Just as he reached the part where John shed his human form, Joel suddenly noticed the messy bandage wrapped around Felix’s arm.
“Wait, Benjamin. Did that idiot still not show his burns to Robert?”
“Ah… we didn’t really have the chance.”
Since the estate’s doctor and Robert had both been busy looking after Joel and the Crown Prince, the kind-hearted Benjamin hadn’t dared to ask for help and had ended up treating Felix himself.
Joel didn’t like the annoying Felix, but since the man had been hurt because of him, he felt a moral obligation to help.
“Felix, come sit here. Robert! Felix is hurt. Take a look at him.”
Joel jumped up from his spot and made Felix sit where he had been.
He raised his voice toward Robert, who was organizing medicines.
At that, Benjamin and Felix both tried to stop him at the same time.
“No, there’s no need to go that far…”
“Young Master, I am truly fine.”
Because Joel had praised Robert’s medical skills so much, they actually distrusted Robert’s abilities.
Joel didn’t stop at forcing the fleeing Felix to sit down; he even started unbuttoning Felix’s shirt, saying, “Fine, my foot. Didn’t you say your back was hurt too? Let me see.”
Of course, it was an action born out of pure worry, with no bad intentions at all.
While Felix was forced to strip off his shirt in the middle of the day, covering his chest with his arms in embarrassment, Joel looked closely at the burns on his back.
“Ugh, it is pretty bad. It’ll take a long time to heal…” he murmured.
Because he was so focused on checking Felix’s condition, Joel completely forgot to finish the story about the underground mansion.
The soldiers who had gathered to listen wanted to grab Joel by the collar and demand to know how he dealt with the guy who turned into a demon… but they couldn’t dare be so rude to the adoptive son of Count Lucas and the lover of the Crown Prince.
“Let’s see… Oh dear, the burns are quite severe. It must have been very painful; why didn’t you say something sooner?”
Contrary to Benjamin and Felix’s fears, Robert skillfully removed the clumsy bandages and applied disinfectant and ointment to the wound.
Once Robert’s treatment was finished, Felix’s expression looked much more comfortable.
“Wow, your medical skills are truly amazing.”
“It was nothing.”
Standing beside the modestly replying Robert, Joel chimed in proudly.
“Right? See, I told you this guy’s medical skills were great.”
As Joel was feeling pleased with himself, he suddenly noticed Benjamin and Felix exchanging a very strange look.
