After a long time of crying, April seemed to exhaust herself and fell asleep in my arms. Judging by the slight warmth emanating from the small body of the rabbit, it seemed that she had a slight fever.

This could turn into a serious situation if it develops into a flu.

‘I need to get back quickly.’

I said urgently to Grayan.

“We need to go back to the castle quickly. April seems to have a fever.”

“Really? Is it serious?”

“It’s not too high…”

Grayan was surprised and placed his hand on April’s body and frowned briefly. Even to Grayan, a wolfhuman with a high body temperature, April’s body felt hot.

“…Indeed she has a fever. It would be better to return quickly.”

“Yes, let’s go quickly.”

At Grayan’s words, I quickly nodded my head and hurriedly wrapped the rabbit in the hem of my cloak to shield it from the cold wind.

After a short time, we arrived at the edge of the forest and, as before, I rode in Grayan’s arms to Salisbury Castle.

We arrived at Salisbury Castle in no time because we were in such a hurry. As soon as we arrived, I quickly dismounted and stood a little distance from Grayan. The rabbit was sound asleep in my arms.

“Duke, Duchess!”

At that moment, Mrs. Milton, two maids, and a butler quickly ran toward us.

Grayan quickly signaled them to be quiet. I also pointed at the rabbit in my arms with my eyes.

It was then that Mrs. Milton and the other three, having realized that April was asleep, stopped running and closed their mouths.

“I found her alone at the spring in the forest and managed to persuade her to come with us. My wife was very active.”

Grayan spoke politely to them and gave me a soft smile. My mood became strange due to his trustfilled gaze, so I evaded it slightly.

On the other hand, Mrs. Milton, the butler, and the maids looked at me as if they couldn’t believe it.

“…The Princess… really follows the Duchess well…”

“At this age, even the Duke has difficulty persuading her…”

…By this point, it wasn’t ‘suspicion’ but ‘questions’ that sprouted in their hearts, which could be seen from their expressions and gazes.

Although I didn’t fully understand, it didn’t seem to be a negative type of question. It was a question of the type that comes from discovering a new aspect of the subject and being surprised by it…

“Duke, Duchess…!”

Just then, Jade was running from afar. He, being a knight, had keen senses and discovered April sleeping in my arms even before Grayan signaled him to be quiet.

“Princess April… you found her. I’m really glad…”

Jade let out a big sigh and, supporting his knees with his hands, panted heavily.

It seemed he had been running around looking for April. Looking at his exhausted figure, I felt strangely amused.

‘That guy… he must really like April.’

I had always been suspicious of and on guard against Jade… But he might not be as bad as I thought.

Instead of looking at him with prejudice, I should try to see him as he is.

I slowly opened my mouth to Jade.

“…You’ve worked hard looking for April, Jade.”

“…?”

Seeing an unexpected word come out of my mouth, Jade widened his eyes and looked at me.

‘It seems like something’s wrong with him…’ His expression suggested that.

‘He’s still an impudent guy after all.’

Since he worked hard, I should be kind to him. I smiled gently and continued my words.

“Don’t worry about April, I’ll take good care of her. You should go and rest. When April wakes up, I’ll tell her that you were very worried.”

“Oh… Thank you…?”

Jade, who answered awkwardly, blinked his eyes rapidly.

Then, as if contemplating for a moment, he took out an earring from his pocket and handed it to me.

It was an earring of the same design as the ‘animal translator(?)’ that Jade always wears.

“I originally had a pair, but I’ve only been wearing one. The other one… I’ll give it to the Duchess.”

“…To me?”

“Yes. I thought you might need it. And…”

While I was staring at Jade in surprise, he, for some reason, avoided my gaze and spoke in a small voice.

“…From what I’ve seen, Gloria doesn’t seem like a bad person.”

“…”

“Actually, when I first met you, I didn’t have a good impression of you, Gloria. I thought you were an unlucky person.”

“What’s this?” I chuckled out of bewilderment.

Jade glanced at me, her hand brushing the back of her neck in embarrassment. She slowly backed away, resuming her words.

“Anyway… it seems April prefers being in rabbit form more than in human form, so that earring should be helpful to Miss Gloria.”

“…Thank you.”

I never thought Jade would be this considerate of me… It’s a sight to behold, having lived this long.

Pocketing the earring, I bid Jade farewell and hurried towards April’s room with Grayan. We needed to show the feverish April to the doctor quickly.

Upon reaching April’s room, I laid the rabbit on the bed and drew the curtains so that April could sleep soundly.

In the meantime, Grayan had called for the doctor, and a few moments later, the physician entered the room to examine April.