“Mmm……”

Belladonna made a small sound as she stirred.

Escalion, who had been sitting by the bed with his arms crossed, leaned away from the chair’s backrest.

“Ugh, kuh, cough…!”

As she let out a small cough, Escalion immediately stood up from his seat.

He turned around, picked up the water bottle on the bedside table, and poured it into a small cup.

“Bella, drink this.”

As he helped Belladonna, who was still coughing, sit up, she looked at him, laboriously lifting her eyelids.

“Huh…? Escalion…?”

Surprised by the voice he hadn’t heard in a long time, not only Escalion but also Belladonna, who had uttered the words, widened her eyes in shock.

“You, your voice……”

“Ah, I…… My voice……”

“Drink this first.”

As Escalion offered the cup of water again, Belladonna took it and moistened her lips.

The lukewarm water felt rough as it went down her throat.

“Cough…… Wh-what happened……”

“The physician said you drank poison. What happened to you?”

Escalion lowered his voice, glancing outside.

There were only the two of them in the dark room, but priests were taking turns guarding her door.

Belladonna casually placed her hand on her throat, from which her voice was flowing effortlessly.

It felt perfectly normal, as if all the time her voice had been stuck and unable to come out had been a lie.

“I don’t know either. I just drank the holy lady’s tonic as usual…… You’re saying it was poison?”

“The holy lady’s tonic?”

Oh no!

Belladonna was startled, her shoulders flinching at referring to the holy lady as if she were someone else without realizing it.

“It’s, it’s what I often drank.”

“So someone deliberately poisoned the medicine you were taking?”

Escalion asked, clenching his jaw.

Is that how it goes? But it seemed that the holy lady herself had hidden it……

“I have one more thing to ask.”

After finishing his words, Escalion placed his hand on her back. Feeling a sharp pain, she immediately frowned.

“This. Who did this?”

“……”

“Tell me who dared to lay hands on you.”

“Escalion……”

Belladonna looked up at him with a troubled face.

Judging by how accurately he pointed out the painful areas, it seemed he had seen the wounds all over her body while she was unconscious.

“If you don’t want to see me really lose it and turn the papal state upside down, tell me quickly.”

Instead of answering, Belladonna bit her lower lip.

She couldn’t carelessly blurt out that the one who had committed the violence was none other than the pope. The aftermath would be too complicated, and the backlash would surely be enormous.

“Are you going to keep your mouth shut again? Are you going to say your voice is gone again because it’s disadvantageous?”

Escalion reached out and grabbed both her cheeks. With her cheeks pressed, Belladonna shook her head.

“That’s not it……”

“Fortunately, you’re still fine. Why does my wife have so many secrets from me? Was I such an untrustworthy husband?”

The disappointment in Escalion’s voice as he said this was so clear that Belladonna felt guilty and lowered her gaze.

“I’m sorry……”

“Never mind, since you’re awake, take the medicine the physician prepared and go back to sleep.”

Escalion let go of her and snatched the medicine bottle from the bedside table.

Belladonna stared blankly at the medicine he offered, then opened her mouth.

“Feed it to me.”

“……What?”

“Can’t you feed it to me?”

“What kind of joke is this now?”

Escalion asked, tilting his head.

At his unexpectedly cold response, Belladonna’s cheeks flushed red.

She seemed to be in a slightly dazed state from just waking up, and with her voice back to normal and being alone in the room with him whom she had missed so much, her heart seemed to be fluttering.

“Alright. I’ll take it myself.”

Embarrassed, she reached out her hand, but Escalion pulled back the medicine he was holding.

As she lifted her head, she saw his golden eyes looking at her with an indecipherable emotion.

“Give it to me.”

“I’ll feed you, open your mouth.”

“I was just joking. I can drink it myself……”

Before she could finish speaking, Escalion opened the bottle and poured the medicine into his own mouth.

What? Why are you……?

Belladonna stared at the empty bottle with a bewildered expression. My medicine…….

And before she could realize what was happening, he suddenly came close and her vision was blocked. Soon, something hot touched her lips.

“Mmph……”

When Belladonna reflexively clamped her mouth shut, Escalion moved his fingers to pull down her lips.

Through her helplessly parted lips, the liquid flowed in.

Ugh…….

As she swallowed it in surprise, Escalion matter-of-factly pulled away his lips.

He wiped the liquid that had spilled down the side of Belladonna’s mouth with his thumb and said,

“You spilled it.”

“……”

“Should I go get more medicine?”

Belladonna lowered her gaze, feeling her face heat up.

Wh-what…….

“You’ve taken your medicine, now go to sleep.”

“Thanks to you, I’m wide awake now.”

“You’ve gotten quite talkback since regaining your voice, haven’t you?”

When Escalion snapped at her, Belladonna pouted her lips.

“That’s not it……”

“That’s not it?”

“It’s because I missed you.”

Belladonna blurted out, squeezing her eyes shut.

Having spent all her time in Astanya longing for Escalion, just having him in front of her now made her feel so good that words seemed to flow out on their own.

“……”

At her words, Escalion stared at Belladonna without any response.

Ugh, was that too direct? Belladonna felt embarrassed and awkward, and shifted her body.

“I’ll just go to sleep.”

She rustled the white blanket and curled up, turning her back to him.

But he’s really not saying anything? This is so embarrassing…….

“Bella.”

Just as her embarrassment reached its peak, a cold, low voice came from behind her.

Belladonna stopped fidgeting and listened to his voice.

The voice that reached her ears sounded so blunt and unfamiliar that she felt a sting in the tip of her nose.

“Haah……”

The sound of his sigh from behind her scratched coldly across her heart.

Belladonna quietly lowered her head.

“Not once since I met you have you ever been easy, but now it’s even more so. I really don’t know what you want. You’re too difficult.”

“……”

“Weren’t you happier in Astanya? But now you’re doing this to me…… This is like……”

The moment she heard those words, something welled up in her chest.

She felt wronged by him, who wouldn’t listen no matter what she said and wouldn’t try to understand no matter how she expressed herself.

The resentment and regret towards him who was still hostile to her, and the loneliness, solitude, and desolation she had accumulated alone in Astanya all seemed to come together to create sharp thorns.

Belladonna, who had been biting her lower lip to the point of pain, opened her mouth.

“……I’ve told you many times.”

“What?”

“I liked Gribellata. I liked Escalion too. But seeing how you still can’t accept that fact, in the end, isn’t it you who wants to break up with me?”

“What did you say?”

Escalion frowned immediately. Belladonna turned her head to face him directly.

“You said you had a purpose when you entered into this contract marriage with me, right? So now, have you achieved everything you wanted? So you no longer need a wife like me and I’m just a hindrance? Is that why you want a divorce so badly?”

Her voice trembled, perhaps from anger. Like a dam that had been precariously holding in her heart had burst, she couldn’t stop the sharp words.

Escalion stared at her with a perplexed expression.

“Bella.”

“You came all the way here to give me divorce papers, right? Give them to me, then. I’ll sign them right away.”

Belladonna raised her body completely. She extended her hand towards him with a hardened face.

“Give them to me. Where are they?”

“Bella.”

Escalion stopped her as she tried to get up from the bed. Belladonna shook off his hand and spoke again.

“Hurry and give me the divorce papers. Father has been looking for them anyway, I can sign them right away and take them to him.”

“Calm down and stop getting angry. Lower your voice too.”

At his words, Belladonna fell silent. She tightly closed her mouth and turned her gaze to look at the opposite wall.

She was already in a sensitive state due to the extreme stress during her stay in Astanya, and recently, physical violence had been added on top of that.

Moreover, having just taken strong medicine for detoxification, she was on edge, having just woken up.

She had become vulnerable to stress to the point where even the slightest stimulation could make her sharp.

And Escalion was well aware that Belladonna was in a very fragile state right now.

He silently watched her as she breathed heavily, as if exhausted, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Bella, I waited for you.”

“……”

“Even though I thought you might lie again, even though I thought you might be preparing to stab me in the back again, I waited for you.”

Belladonna swallowed hard.

“At first, I didn’t care, but as time passed, I became anxious. I kept reassuring myself that it wouldn’t be the case, but soon I resigned myself. After that, I gradually got angry, and then nothing else mattered to me. After more time passed, I couldn’t do anything but think about you, and I was filled only with the determination to bring you back……”

“……”

“I thought I should get angry at you like before when I meet you in Astanya. I should glare at you sharply and push you, asking if this is how you repay the chance I gave you. And I should hate you freely. I made such resolutions and arrived in Astanya, but do you know what I felt as soon as I got there?”

Belladonna turned her head to look at Escalion.

Escalion looked at her for a long time, then said in an uncharacteristically small voice.

“I felt that this place suits you.”

“……”

“I felt that this is the place you love, and this is where you should be, Bella. I realized how miserable and difficult it is for you to be by my side.”

After finishing his words, Escalion raised both hands to cover his face.

Between his palms, he exhaled a trembling breath.

“I thought you were lying out of fear of me. I thought you actually found Gribellata terribly unpleasant, that this place was much better for you than Gribellata, but when you reacted like that, I really…… I really don’t know what’s what anymore.”

“Escalion.”

Belladonna opened her mouth softly.

She felt this was the right moment.

She slowly spoke to Escalion, who looked distressed.

“I am not the Belladonna holy lady you think I am.”