* * *
Admittedly, the servants here had a close relationship with Klen and sometimes said surprising things without hesitation.
But even so, a mere head maid shouldn’t be able to restrict the outing of the Count’s heir’s wife.
Klen chuckled softly, perhaps sensing my thought.
“Furthermore, she is following the Count’s orders.”
“…?! “
That was the most important part!
The Count’s order. It couldn’t be referring to my father, Count Caldrich.
If he had known about all this, he wouldn’t have just sent an order; he would have rushed over immediately.
Of course, not because he was worried about me.
The image of my father’s grim face, shining fiercely, made me shiver as if my body temperature had suddenly dropped.
This must be the order of Count Valuncio, the Lord.
Why would he suddenly place a ban on my going out?
He was the person who showed no interest when I collapsed last time.
“And he ordered me to nurse you.”
“……”
Did he genuinely worry about me with no other intentions?
Klen smiled brightly, saying it was a good thing.
With that chilling aura, smiling like that was almost frightening.
Had acting too diligently affected his true nature?
“However, why is the person who is supposed to be nursing me lying down next to me?”
“I think it’s best to observe your condition from up close.”
That just sounded like he wanted to laze around.
He lay right next to me, resting his chin on his hand, looking down at me.
He brushed back the hair covering my forehead and placed his hand there.
It was a gesture like checking for a fever, but both he and I knew it wasn’t necessary.
The cool touch felt pleasant, and I closed my eyes.
The things Klen did under the guise of nursing were mostly limited to stroking my hair, twirling it with his finger, or touching my cheek.
Usually, Linda would be bustling around, seeing to my comfort.
But now, she had restricted the entry of other servants, claiming that Klen nursing me was also the Count’s order.
There was no need to wonder why she did that.
If she had been allowed to enter, Klen wouldn’t have been able to lie comfortably in bed like this.
‘But why do I have to lie down, too?’
If I didn’t have to worry about appearances anyway, I’d like to be comfortable too.
I felt like moving my body more, whether by exercising or swinging a sword.
I tried to do so at first, but every time I attempted to sit up, I was pulled back, so I eventually had to give up.
Consequently, we were now lying face-to-face like this.
All under the pretext of him having to nurse me.
“……”
As I kept my eyes closed, the hand that had been playfully feeling my shoulder subtly pulled me closer.
The already close distance narrowed even more, and his body heat was transmitted directly to me.
The thump-thump sound of a heart beating hit my ear.
Whose was it?
Heat began to subtly spread, as if his body temperature were being added to mine.
The more I tried to divert my attention, the clearer the sound reaching my ear seemed to become.
However, if I opened my eyes now, I couldn’t help but be conscious of this close proximity.
Just as cold sweat slowly started to seep from my utterly stiff body, I heard—
Knock, knock—
‘Oh?’
A small sound echoed.
My eyes flashed open, welcoming the distraction.
“…!”
Seeing Klen’s face right in front of me, my heart momentarily plummeted.
But I quickly composed myself, telling myself it wasn’t the time for that, and rapidly turned my head.
The direction of the sound was odd.
It came not from the door, but from the large window leading to the balcony.
Yet, I didn’t immediately sit up because the person next to me showed no sign of tension at all.
He wouldn’t be acting even at a time like this.
Even if he were, he wouldn’t be this nonchalant.
I couldn’t tell if the figure at the window was an enemy, but the situation wasn’t dangerous.
At least that much was certain.
‘Who is it?’
But then, who had come?
The figure standing on the balcony beyond the window lightly bowed their head when our eyes met.
“I called him.”
“…You mean you were like this even though you knew someone was coming?”
He knew someone was coming beforehand, yet he was lying nonchalantly in bed.
And so close, at that.
I tried to sit up immediately.
But once again, the hand wrapped around my waist instantly pulled me back.
“Ugh!”
I ended up right back where I started.
“You are a patient, so please stay lying down.”
The problem was that Klen showed no intention of getting up either.
His hand held my waist firmly, and he simply nodded his head toward the figure.
With that, the person on the balcony opened the window and stepped inside.
‘That window should have been locked from the inside.’
The man, who strode over to the foot of the bed, bowed once more.
“Did you call for me?”
Being this close, his face was clearly visible.
The man who approached like a silent shadow was Ebony.
“My wife is not well and is lying down, so I hope you will understand.”
It was a relief that he wasn’t an enemy.
But he was Klen’s subordinate, a person I might frequently encounter in the future.
It wasn’t good to show this kind of appearance to him.
“Wait, why don’t you get up at least?”
In the end, I had no choice but to say something to Klen, who was still comfortably lying down.
If he wanted to lie down, he could at least move further away.
We weren’t lying in a snowfield in the dead of winter, so was there a need to be like this in front of someone else?
“It’s fine. I’ve been called in for much worse situations.”
“Worse?!”
Before my mind could even grasp the meaning, my head snapped around so fast that it might have made a sound.
‘What is a worse situation?’
I wasn’t exactly suspecting him.
Definitely not.
Yet, I couldn’t understand why there was so much force in my eyes.
Klen, whose eyes met mine, was uncharacteristically flustered and shook his head.
They say a person gets tongue-tied when greatly flustered.
I never expected that to apply to Klen.
“I’m telling you this so you don’t misunderstand, but that was about my former master, not my current one.”
“Th-! …You should have said that first.”
I consciously lowered the loud voice that had unintentionally escaped.
If I made a fuss, Linda or Vis might come in.
First, I had to prevent this secretly-moving individual from being exposed.
“Hoo.”
As I took a deep breath, the tension that had stiffened my body seemed to drain away.
“What did you think was the worse situation that might have happened to me?”
The voice that flowed out as if waiting for me to calm down was icy.
A moment ago, he was so flustered he couldn’t speak.
“Can you explain in detail what it was?”
“No, that… I apologize.”
Since there was no need to act in front of Ebony, a chilling aura, cold enough to freeze frost, emanated from him.
Klen’s hand reached for my chin, trying to pull me toward him, but I resisted with force.
It was frightening to meet his eyes.
* * *
