In the end, since Lord Joyce didn’t return, Chloe, unable to get another room, decided to sleep without taking off her wig or glasses.

With her own justification that even the servant shouldn’t fall ill, she defended herself once again. Whether the master refuses care or not, when the master is sick, the servant shouldn’t be sick too.

‘Sick’, huh.

Suddenly, the fact that Duke Ulpaz was ‘sick’ felt strange. She had never seen the duke sick before, and he seemed like someone so robust that the possibility of him being sick was unthinkable.

Well, the duke is human too. But he shouldn’t be too sick, right? He shouldn’t be too sick.

Chloe pushed away the thoughts of the duke that kept coming to mind and alternately looked at the two beds in the room.

Fortunately, there were two beds in Lord Joyce’s room, and they were the same size, so she settled on the bed closer to the window.

But even after lying down for a while, she couldn’t fall asleep at all.

It was partly because the sleeping place had changed and it wasn’t comfortable sleeping with glasses on, but also because everything was on her mind – not knowing when Lord Joyce would return, or when the duke would call for her.

About two hours after lying in bed tossing and turning like that?

“Clyne…, Clyne…”

She heard the duke calling for her.

It didn’t seem like he was speaking loudly, and despite being in a different room, strangely, the duke’s voice felt like it was piercing her ears.

It was a perfectly dark night, and no other sounds could be heard, so it seemed her nerves were reacting sensitively to even the smallest sounds.

Was he really calling? Was she hearing things because she was so worried? Should she go check?

But he had told her absolutely not to come. But that person is really sick. A person who never gets sick is sick. He’s calling for me so desperately because he’s sick.

After some deliberation, or rather, after pretending to deliberate, she finally got out of bed.

From the moment she first heard the duke’s groans, she wanted to rush to him, but she needed time to find a justification for why she had to go.

Her sick master was groaning and calling for her. Absolutely, utterly impossible to ignore.

Creak.

Perhaps because it was a pitch-black and quiet night, the noise of the door opening sounded particularly loud.

“Duke?”

Chloe, who entered the room with a slight frown at the sound of the door, cautiously called out to the duke.

The duke was lying on his side on the bed, his body completely curled up. It was amazing how quickly she could see well in the room even though there were no lights. Perhaps her eyes had already adjusted to the darkness from the adjacent room.

By the way, he must be really sick.

Seeing the duke’s unfamiliar appearance, like a dying animal, Chloe felt guilty for coming too late.

“Duke? Are you in a lot of pain?”

Chloe asked as she took a step towards the duke.

“Clyne. Clyne.”

“Ah! Yes! I’m here, Duke.”

Chloe confidently approached the duke, as if the sound of him calling her was a signal of permission. However, when she got close and looked down at him, the duke had his eyes half-closed and seemed not to have heard her voice.

The duke’s face, with both body and mind in disarray, gave a strangely erotic impression.

‘…!’

You’re crazy, Chloe Liden! To have such strange thoughts while looking at your sick master.

“Clyne. I…”

The duke mumbled so quietly that it was incomprehensible.

Chloe shook off her odd thoughts and moved close to the duke, leaning her upper body slightly towards him. Then, to hear the patient’s voice better, she turned her face and put her ear close to the duke’s lips.

“Yes, Duke. This is Clyne. Please speak.”

But the duke said nothing. Chloe turned her face, which she had tilted to hear the duke’s words better, to look directly at him.

A flushed face that looked like it would be hot to touch, slightly dried plump lips parted with the duke’s rapid breaths escaping between them.

Why does a sick person’s face look so sexy? Come on! A handsome man is handsome even when sick. A sick handsome man.

Before she knew it, her earlier reflections forgotten, her admiration for the duke’s face began to run wild again without restraint.

Perhaps because she had never seen the duke’s face this close before, his beauty made her mind even more dizzy.

Is it because he’s sick? The man who had looked so strong suddenly even evoked a slight protective instinct.

“Phew…”

Chloe unconsciously let out a long sigh. She didn’t know herself why the sigh came out.

It was at that moment.

The duke, who had his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked at Chloe. It was an intense gaze that seemed like fierce flames would burst out at any moment.

A gaze like a beast that had been starving and dying for a long time, finally finding prey and coming back to life.

“…!”

Chloe was so startled by his suddenly revived gaze that she took a step back and swallowed hard.

However, his eyes, once awakened, immediately followed her movements as if about to awaken all senses and start hunting.

“…”

“…”

In the space where their gazes met, there was only silence, as if even the movement of air had stopped. But Chloe could tell even in the suffocating silence.

If she moved even a little more here, that sick beast would reflexively move following her movement. And that movement would clearly be dangerous in some form.

But nevertheless, it was certain that she needed to get out of this room as quickly as possible.

Because if she didn’t leave, it felt like the duke would really eat her.

Of course, a human wouldn’t eat another human, but for now, she couldn’t find any other expression than ‘eat’.

“Your Grace, are you all right? Shall I bring water, or a wet towel? Or perhaps you need some water to drink…”

Chloe instinctively tried to create an escape route by saying whatever came to mind while backing away. Due to her confusion, both her words and steps were clumsy.

However, the Duke’s movements were faster than her stumbling actions.

Just as Chloe was about to fully turn her body, the Duke approached her with terrifying speed, grabbed her arm with an unimaginably strong grip, and pulled her onto the bed.

“Ah!”

Chloe screamed as she fell onto the Duke’s bed.

More precisely, on top of the Duke’s body.

“…”

Chloe froze, unable to even blink, as her eyes met the Duke’s.

“Clyne.”

The Duke’s eyes emitted a strange heat and excitement as he spoke her name.

“Your Grace… oof!”

As Chloe called out to the Duke, their bodies flipped over.

The Duke, who had been looking up at Chloe from below, was now looking down at her from above.

The Duke’s eyes poured forth a light so intense that it felt hot just to meet his gaze. They shone so brightly that his normally hazel eyes looked like green flames burning in the pitch darkness.

“Hah…”

The Duke’s rough breathing through his teeth and the sweet scent emanating from his entire body. The hot body temperature felt where their bodies touched.

It feels exactly like… that.

So…

Her upper body was now completely trapped between the Duke’s arms, his palms planted on either side of her shoulders, while her lower body was confined by the Duke’s legs, his knees placed on either side of her legs.

So it feels exactly like… being captured!

And this feeling was not unfamiliar. It was a sensation that was even somewhat familiar.

That night.

It was the feeling she had experienced several times when she had slept with the Duke.

That feeling of being pushed to her limits by the Duke, who drove her mercilessly like a beast without mercy.

“Clyne.”

However, the Duke kept calling her name, as if to prove that he was not a speechless beast but a human.

“Your Grace, get a hold…”

She meant to say “get a hold of yourself,” but couldn’t finish her sentence.

Because the Duke, who had proven his humanity by calling her name, was now descending towards her with a face that seemed to have lost all reason and become beastly again.

“…!”

Chloe sensed instinctively what was about to happen next.

Just like that time…!

“Your Grace!”

Chloe tried to push the Duke away with all her might, but he didn’t budge an inch. Far from budging, his lips were already touching Chloe’s.

And finally, due to the Duke’s merciless invasion, her lips parted. Chloe felt shock and helplessness at the Duke’s movements, which had already entered her mouth.

Good heavens…

To think that Duke Hugrey Ulpaz would kiss a male attendant…!

She couldn’t think of how to interpret this situation or how she should react to it.

The Duke’s hands were now perfectly cupping her face.

Your Grace! Your Grace!

“Mmph, mmph!”

Though she called out to the Duke countless times in her mind, what actually burst from her mouth, blocked by him, were only meaningless sounds that couldn’t form words.

Thump thump!

Finally, Chloe started hitting the Duke’s back. The problem was that the Duke didn’t seem to feel any pain.

The Duke seemed unaware of the fact that she was hitting him with all her might. It was questionable whether he even felt the slight vibration on his back.

Rather, Chloe’s fists that were hitting him became so sore that after a few strikes, she didn’t even dare to hit him anymore. It was because the Duke’s back was too hard.

Chloe also tried pushing the Duke’s shoulders with her palms. But it was still not enough.

Is this what they mean by trying to break a rock with an egg?

The Duke’s body was the rock, and Chloe’s clenched fists were the egg.

If she kept hitting, the egg was in danger of cracking.