I took a sip of the warm eggnog and glanced at the rabbit. The rabbit was sitting next to me, scratching its ears with its hind legs.

‘Hmm.’

It looked as if it was indirectly saying, ‘I’m not interested in these foods.’ But I might as well ask.

“April? Do you want to eat something too?”

The rabbit narrowed its eyes at me, then chuckled quietly.

…It was like a protest, ‘What do you think of me?’

‘What do I think? A cute, gluttonous rabbit.’

After a moment’s hesitation, I discreetly offered the cup of eggnog to the rabbit.

The rabbit sniffed its nose, glared at me once, then abruptly turned its back. It was a clear rejection.

‘Well, you don’t want anything, dear rabbit.’

I kept my eyes on the rabbit as I sipped my eggnog. I should have a tasty meal brought to her later when she gets hungry for dinner.

‘And tell her to go back to her room and get a good sleep.’

I’m fine. April doesn’t need to stay by my side. It’s just a cold… I’ll be better tomorrow. It’s just a simple cold, right?

– Or so I thought, but I didn’t get better soon.

The cold left me only after three days. I’d never had a cold for so long… My physical strength was too weak!

‘Besides, I seem to have lost more weight. Ah, is this a human arm or a tree branch? I must eat meat today!’

I tried to get up from the bed but “ugh” cried out and lay back down. …My back was stiff from lying down too long.

‘Stretching… I need to stretch.’

As I was getting up again to do some beneficial stretching for my back, the door slid open, and Anna entered the room.

With my arms stretched above my head, I felt a little embarrassed, but Anna smiled as if nothing was wrong and spoke.

“Madam, I’m glad to see you up and feeling better. Shall I prepare a breakfast that’s easy to digest?”

“Um, yes… Please do that.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I wanted to eat meat… but if I grease my stomach right after recovery, it could go bad.

I’ll eat a light breakfast and have meat with April for lunch!

‘Hee hee hee…!’

I was happy just imagining it. And maybe I should invite Grayan too?

He’s been by my side since the first day I caught a cold… until he was finally dragged away by his assistant.

His work must have piled up. I hope he’s okay…

‘If I go see him now, I’ll only get in the way… I should visit him at lunchtime.’
After finishing my meal and bath, I changed my clothes and went outside. The corridor was still cold. It would be colder outside. I hurried my steps, fastening the front of my coat.

I had just obtained information that April was at the knight headquarters.

‘It was good timing since I was planning to see Rodri today.’

I should have taken care of him more after the skill evaluation competition, but unfortunately, I caught a cold…

‘I had prepared a gift for Rodri in advance.’

Although it was later than planned, I brought it today to give it to him. It wasn’t much… it was a brooch to decorate the knight’s cloak.

Its simple silver design wouldn’t be too burdensome, so it should be an appropriate gift.

‘Usually, family takes care of such things…’

For Rodri… there is no family left beside him, so I must take care of him instead.

‘…Speaking of which, are April and Rodri still on bad terms…?’

Hmm, if I give Rodri a gift, April might get jealous again.

I can’t upset our rabbit, so I’ll have to prepare a separate rabbit gift soon.

‘Ah, I just realized I need to prepare April’s birthday gift!’

So I’ll have to prepare two gifts. Hmm, what would be good?

‘I’ll have to write a letter for the birthday. Hehe.’

Imagining the rabbit unfolding and reading the letter with its front paw, it seemed so cute that my heart almost stopped.

‘Why is the rabbit cute no matter what it does? It must be ingrained in every cell.’

I arrived at the knight headquarters while giggling to myself and thinking of various things.

I quickly erased the smirk on my lips and put on a dignified expression. I hadn’t given up on maintaining the dignity of a duchess. …Although it seemed like my image management had already failed.

‘Acting and all, my real personality keeps popping out…’

As I entered the knight headquarters, the knights looked at me in surprise. Excuse me, am I some demon that came up from hell? Why are they making such a fuss?

I glanced at the knights and hurried my steps. April must be in the training hall, right? Sparring with Jade?

‘I wonder if our battle rabbit has improved its skills again…’

The fact that April was a real battle rabbit still came as a fresh shock to me.

What astonishing appearance will the great rabbit show today? I sneaked into the training hall with somewhat playful anticipation.

It seemed to be the knights’ rest time now, so there weren’t many people in the training hall.

Everyone was focused on the center of the training hall, unaware of my presence. What on earth was happening that concentrated people’s attention?

Even the commander of the knights was watching the center with a fairly serious expression.

I quietly stood next to him and peeked into the center of the training hall.

I was taken aback by the sight that met my eyes.

‘That’s… Rodri and April, isn’t it?’

Unexpectedly, Rodri and April were sparring!