“What on earth is happening! Melda, prepare some hot tea!”

In response to Clotilde, who was making a fuss with a serious expression, Roselia forced a smile and spoke.

“I’m fine, Lady. More than me, Lord is…”

Looking worriedly behind her as she spoke, Klaus, supported by the maids, entered the entrance.

Although the injury wasn’t severe enough to be unable to walk, Klaus, who showed a weakness to the point of needing someone’s support, shocked Clotilde, who had never seen him in such a state.

“Klaus…?”
Concerned about Clotilde’s pale complexion, Roselia looked at her with a worried expression.

“Lady, don’t worry too much. Lord’s injury fortunately isn’t too deep…”

At that moment, Clotilde’s eyes turned white, and tears began to flow from them.

Roselia became even more bewildered by Clotilde’s abrupt reaction.

Soon, Klaus, who was entering the entrance, also noticed Clotilde’s state and became startled.

“Clotilde…?”

As Klaus called Clotilde’s name, more tears streamed down her cheeks.

Clotilde, who had always portrayed herself as strong and arrogant, had never been seen crying before.

Seeing her shed tears like a child, Roselia was flustered and stumbled over her words.

“Lady, it doesn’t seem like Lord’s injuries are that severe. So, there’s no need to worry too much.”

As Roselia was trying to say something while looking at Klaus, a small voice seemed to emerge from Clotilde.

“Dad too…”

“Yes?”

“Dad also said his injuries weren’t severe.”

It seemed to be about the deceased Duke and Duchess.

The news was that the Duke and Duchess died in a carriage accident, but in reality, the Duchess died instantly with the accident, and the Duke died during treatment at the mansion, as described in the original work.

Perhaps, to prevent his young daughter from worrying too much, the Duke downplayed the severity of the injuries.

Around the time of the Duke’s death, Clotilde would have been around five years old… Perhaps she developed trauma from losing her family.

At that moment, Clotilde, with teary eyes, glared at Klaus and uttered words.

“Klaus… If you leave me and die too, I won’t let you off.”

Looking at Clotilde, who shed tears like chicken droppings with a flushed face, Klaus smiled brightly.

“What a scary thing to say.”

To Clotilde’s usual indifferent reaction, Klaus, as usual, responded nonchalantly, and only then did Clotilde seem relieved. Wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, she spoke confidently.

“I’ll call the maids, so both of you lie down.”

Receiving nursing care from the maids in Clotilde’s bedroom, where she was lying down, Roselia could only leave the room after Clotilde fell asleep.

It wasn’t a time to rest comfortably like this.

Roselia remembered the pattern carved on the pillar where wormwood was hidden before the debris covered it.

The pattern was surely not accidentally carved.

Klaus might not even know the identity of that pattern.

Even if he didn’t, informing Klaus would probably be easier to gather information than keeping it to herself.

With that in mind, Roselia took a deep breath and knocked on Klaus’s bedroom door.

“It’s Antonio.”
Perhaps he wouldn’t be in the study while in pain, and fortunately, it seemed he was in the bedroom. With a brief sound of acknowledgment, his voice was heard.

“Come in.”

As Roselia opened the door and stepped inside, she momentarily froze, surprised by the sight of Klaus undressing in the room. More precisely, it seemed he was removing his upper garment to apply bandages to the back, presumably due to the injuries.

Klaus, who was self-applying the bandages, looked at Roselia with curiosity as she hesitated.

“What’s the matter?”

Roselia, intentionally averting her gaze from his body, calmly spoke.

“I heard you couldn’t find any clues about those who hid the wormwood.”

“So?”

Klaus frowned at her mentioning the wormwood, as if he disliked the topic. Unfazed by Klaus’s reaction, Roselia continued.

“I know about it.”

“What are you talking about?”

While Klaus asked sternly, Roselia, who had been glancing around, found paper and a pen on the table. She roughly sketched the pattern she had seen on the paper.

“It’s probably a mark they engraved. It was inconspicuously placed, but it’s undoubtedly carved to determine the location of the wormwood. It might just be a mark, but… the pattern looked like a stamp, as if it were stamped with a seal.”

“…”

Klaus’s expression stiffened as he looked at the pattern Roselia drew.

A snake pattern entwining a rose…

It was the same pattern as the badge that the perpetrators targeting Roselia and Clemence had, which Antonio had.

Roselia had no intention of involving Antonio any further, especially considering that today, Antonio could have lost his life if she had made a mistake. It was no longer a matter that could be resolved with a simple investigation.

“Antonio, forget what you saw.”

“What?”

“I’ll take care of the rest, so don’t get involved any further.”

“But…”

Roselia, about to argue, closed her mouth at Klaus’s stern gaze.

Perhaps she didn’t realize it, but she might have been nothing more than a hindrance. If it weren’t for her, Klaus might not have been injured like this today.

Yes, perhaps just by revealing the pattern to Klaus, she had already fulfilled her duty.

“Then let me help you with the bandages.”

This was the statement she blurted out, having been watching Klaus wrap the bandages alone since earlier.

Despite her confident words, once she received the bandages from Klaus, Roselia became unexpectedly tense, and her hands were sweaty.

Klaus seemed equally nervous. While she was wrapping the bandages, his muscles tensed every time her hands touched his skin.