“And if there really comes a moment when I can’t let you go? When these opaque feelings become completely transparent, then what?”

He took a deep breath, enough to make his chest rise, and slowly exhaled his ragged breath near my ear.

“Even then… will you come with me?”

‘What?’

Ricardo pulled away from me and met my eyes. He was asking me with those black eyes that no longer felt cold.

“Even if the end is already decided?”

I nodded without hesitation. So that he absolutely couldn’t misunderstand. Because I didn’t care where he wanted to go, as long as it was with him.

“I… can’t do this anymore. Not doing anything with you right in front of me.”

‘Impossible.’ The words were so unbelievable that I couldn’t be sure if the soft voice I heard was Ricardo’s.

His hand, which had regained its warmth, touched my cheek that was cold as ice. His large hand seemed to envelop my entire face, and then his lips devoured mine once again.

‘Mmm.’

The first sound that escaped after being pulled from the water was immediately swallowed by him. With each kiss, the slight hesitation and anxiety that had remained in him disappeared completely.

When our eyes met again, his gaze was cool. No, was it as hot as ashes left after everything had burned?

I wanted to caress his face, but my surprised heart, my body chilled by the water, and my lips that had grown hot in contrast, pulled me further down. As my consciousness blurred, I instinctively grabbed his arms and clung to him.

Just as Ricardo pulled me tightly and lifted me into his arms, my memory cut off there.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling.

It wasn’t completely unfamiliar. A bed large enough that I wouldn’t fall off no matter how much I rolled around, bed posts with minimal decoration, a heavy scent lingering at the tip of my nose.

Through the slightly open window, the summer night breeze and moonlight seeped in together.

This is Ricardo’s room.

After being pulled from the lake, I had fainted. Yet my memory was clear.

His heated voice still flared across my feverish forehead. Just recalling that voice made my face flush again.

“Are you alright?”

Suddenly, a cool voice that seemed to pour cold water on that heat pierced my ears.

“Ric?”

As I thought how unpleasant my terribly hoarse voice sounded, a large shadow fell over my face. Was it because I was still dreaming that the hot hand that had touched my wet cheek now felt cold?

He removed his hand from my forehead. As I was about to shake my head, disliking the loss of the cool sensation, this time his soft cheek came to rest against mine.

It hurt but I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe but my heart was racing. My heart was racing but strangely, I felt sad.

“I’ll go. Together.”

I raised my arms, heavy as if soaked with water, and wrapped them around his neck. His soft sigh echoed in my ears and struck my chest. My heart sank with a thud.

Was he regretting it? Or was it because the answer I should have given at the lake was late?

“Even if the end is decided.”

As I spoke again with emphasis, hugging him tighter, Ricardo slowly climbed onto the bed. The heavy weight that settled on me was overwhelming, and as I squirmed a little, he gently turned me on my side and pulled me into his arms.

In his embrace where I could hear nothing but the sound of heartbeats, I held my breath and silently waited for his words.

It was so hard to believe that Ricardo had said such things to me, that I kept asking him even in my dreams.

And without exception, I was always rejected.

“Yes, let’s go together. Even if… the end is decided.”

But the answer that came to me when I woke from the dream was different. As if those words were permission, I stretched languidly in his arms. He gently kissed my forehead, which had grown hot with fever.

“You’re not lying, are you?”

He laughed with his lips still against mine. His laughter, broken into small pieces, spread throughout my body.

“I’m not the one who changes my mind all the time.”

“Still… I can’t believe it.”

“It wasn’t an easy thing to say, Lienne. And we’re still together now, aren’t we?”

I grabbed Ricardo’s shirt and looked up at him. Because I couldn’t believe this moment. Because this moment of him holding me in his arms and whispering gently was too surreal.

After meeting my gaze for a long time, he bit his lower lip and closed his eyes tightly.

“Don’t tempt me. I’m holding back a lot too.”

Huh? What did I tempt? What is he holding back?

Ricardo pulled me closer with the hand on my back, burying my face in his chest. The sound of his heart pounded painfully in my ears. When I poked my head out again, Ricardo shook his head and held me even tighter. So tight I could barely breathe.

“Sleep is the priority now. You need to rest more. The doctor said so. You still have a high fever.”

Even though all of this wouldn’t disappear just because I fell asleep again, my hands gripping his back tightened with an inexplicable anxiety. Ricardo, keenly noticing my action, whispered affectionately. That he wouldn’t go anywhere until I woke up.

“But, Lienne…”

Is it my imagination that his voice sounds a bit hesitant?

“Will you come back here? To Hyacinths?”

“Here?”

“Yes.”

“Then you really won’t go anywhere?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay. I’ll come back.”

Even as my consciousness faded, Ricardo answering all my questions so readily felt too unfamiliar.

It felt so strange that I held onto him tighter and tighter, afraid this might be a dream. Feeling his gentle caresses, I drifted back into a dream where I was rejected countless times.

When I woke from my long sleep, everything had already been settled.

As promised, he had spent the entire long night holding me in his arms. Even while I slept, his gentle touch continued.

It was too vivid and warm a sensation to dismiss as just a dream. The feeling of him softly stroking my hair and lightly kissing various parts of my face.

Even in my sleep, unable to believe it, I kept burrowing into him.

He said that what happened at the hunting festival was treated as just an accident. The arrow that had clearly been shot with intent was dismissed as the stupid mistake of a noble who was hunting.

Both Ricardo and I agreed not to make any more issues out of it.

We didn’t need to ask who was behind it to know. Of course, they probably didn’t think they could harm Ricardo with such a simple scheme.

No one was hurt. The horse hit by the arrow eventually died, but the one that fell into the water survived.

So this was just a warning.

But the moment I received that clumsy and half-hearted warning, I realized. That somehow, I had become his weakness.

Ricardo, who had stayed by my side throughout the day, only left the mansion after seeing me wake up and smile brightly.

Although the hunting festival wouldn’t end until noon tomorrow, he added the sweet words that he would return tonight. The way he gently embraced and kissed me was no different from any other fiancé.

I got up from the bed perfectly fine and walked back to the room where I had originally been staying.

It was right after Ricardo had just left the house that Viscount Chaplin came to see me.

Nominally it was a sick visit, but a visit at this time when my fiancé had just left the house, and before the end of a big event like the hunting festival, was not natural.

Thanks to my much-improved condition, I was at least able to avoid the impropriety of receiving him in my bedroom. The fact that he, known for his strict adherence to etiquette, had rushed over like this meant the matter must be urgent.

Remembering how I had treated him unnecessarily coldly at the hunting grounds, I welcomed him as best I could.

“Welcome.”

Walter was dressed in hunting attire, presumably planning to go to the hunting grounds right after meeting me.

After bowing his head in greeting, he immediately scrutinized me.

What filled Walter’s eyes was nothing but worry. A bit too much to show for another man’s fiancée.

Somehow, I felt uneasy.

“Are you alright?”

“As you can see. You’ve probably already heard, but I was just startled, not seriously injured.”

Angela approached, glanced at me, then filled our cups in turn. Though I tried to smile, both Angela and Walter would know that I felt awkward.

After all, this is the Rochester ducal residence. No one could be unaware of the fact that the heir to the Chaplin duchy had come to see Ricardo’s fiancée.

Yet he was unwavering.

“Please excuse us.”

“I’ve come to urgently discuss what I mentioned at the hunting grounds.”

My and my family’s safety, that’s what he had clearly said. Walter’s demeanor was even grave, like a man coming to make some desperate request during wartime.

I hesitated briefly, but gladly granted his request.

“I thought you said you would send a letter and wait, but it seems you’re less patient than I thought.”

As soon as everyone left the room and the door closed, I impatiently urged him on. He slowly removed his gloves while looking directly at me. Even the simple act of removing his gloves was concise and orderly.

“I apologize. But the situation has been developing rapidly. I couldn’t just sit and wait.”

As Walter said, many things had happened at the hunting grounds.