That evening.

Mercian, who deliberately skipped dinner, saying she was tired so that the Duke’s family wouldn’t worry about her swollen cheek, went to bed early under the pretext of being tired.

However, just as Mercian, who had been unable to fall asleep due to various complicated feelings, was about to fall asleep,

“Who is it? The person who did this to your face, my lady?”

“……! Huh!”

Startled by the man’s voice heard in her sleep, Mercian was about to scream when Ruan covered her mouth and said.

“Shh…. It’s me, my lady. So don’t scream.”

When Mercian nodded with wide eyes at Ruan’s words, he removed his hand from her mouth.

“Ruan, you said you’d come in a few days, but you’re here already?”

“That was the plan, but things ended faster than expected. So I came early. But why is your face like this? Who dared to lay a hand on your face, my lady?”

Ruan asked with a cold expression as he examined Mercian’s swollen cheek.

Feeling too embarrassed to say she had been hit by Lucienne, Mercian turned her head nonchalantly and said.

“Ah, well, something like that happened.”

Ruan turned Mercian’s face back to meet his gaze and asked again in a gentle voice.

“So, my lady, tell me what exactly that ‘something like that’ was.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, tell me about that ‘something like that’ that made your face end up like this?”

Seeing Ruan mimicking her speech pattern with a serious expression, Mercian couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pfft, Ruan. Don’t imitate my way of speaking. And it’s late, you must be tired from your long journey. Why don’t we sleep now and talk tomorrow?”

Ruan, who had been frowning while carefully examining Mercian’s face, looked at the clock showing past 2 AM and said.

“I see. It is late, so we should sleep first. Shall we go to my bed then?”

“Yes. What? Your bed?”

Suddenly? At this hour?

When Mercian made a puzzled expression, Ruan looked at her as if it were obvious and said.

“Of course. I’ve returned after a long time, wouldn’t the Duke’s servants suspect something about us if we sleep separately instead of in the same bed?”

Is, is that so?

Mercian nodded as if agreeing with Ruan’s words, and then Ruan carried her into the bathroom.

“Ru, Ruan, this is the bathroom?”

“It’s also a shortcut to my room.”

Ruan carried Mercian across the bathroom and carefully placed her on his bed, saying with a serious expression.

“What on earth happened to you while I was away? You’ve lost weight too. You feel lighter than before.”

Ah. No, that’s what I should be saying. Just how hard did you work there to have lost even more weight than when you left for the territory?

Ruan, it’s amazing that you can walk and talk like this in your current state.

Mercian worriedly looked at Ruan, who had returned much thinner than when he left for the Saffron territory.

“Ruan, let’s sleep first and…?”

“……”

Mercian stared in bewilderment at Ruan, who had fallen asleep quickly beside her without even saying a few words.

What’s this? Is this man really an insomniac?

Surely he didn’t take sleeping pills on his way here…

How can he fall asleep so quickly?

By the way, what on earth happened in the territory for him to have become so thin?

Making me worry unnecessarily.

Mercian carefully reached out her hand towards the sleeping Ruan, then quickly pulled it back.

Could it be that I’m worrying about this person now?

Mer, get a grip. We’re not a real couple!

Don’t forget that in 5 months, he’ll be someone who no longer exists in this world!

If you get attached unnecessarily and he leaves, you’ll be the one hurting later.

Mercian carefully covered the deeply sleeping Ruan with a blanket, then moved to the opposite end of the bed to sleep.

.

.

.

“Oh my! My lady was really sleeping here? Master, did you return safely?”

Charles, entering Ruan’s room, greeted Ruan with surprised eyes upon seeing Mercian sleeping soundly in Ruan’s arms.

At Charles’ words, Ruan put his finger to his lips as if to say be quiet.

“Shh! The lady might wake up, so be quiet.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Call Edward and Clea. And let the lady sleep a bit longer.”

“Yes, Master.”

As Charles quietly left the room following Ruan’s instructions, Ruan looked at the sleeping Mercian in his arms with loving eyes and placed a short kiss on her forehead.

“I’m back safely, my lady.”

.

.

.

“So that happened at the tea party yesterday?”

Clea carefully answered Ruan, who was asking while drinking tea.

“Yes, despite my lady’s attempts to stop her, the Viscount’s daughter touched your room and fainted, ending the tea party before it even began. After the Viscount’s daughter woke up, the Viscountess was terribly angry at my lady and…”

“And?”

“My lady told the Viscountess to just cast her out of the Viscount’s house. It was loud enough to be heard from afar.”

Following Clea’s words, Edward spoke.

“What did the Viscountess say when told to cast her out?”

“The Viscountess seemed to demand evidence of treason from my lady, but my lady insisted she knew nothing about it. Then the Viscountess became very angry and…”

“And?”

Edward hesitated before continuing.

“The Viscount’s daughter angrily declared that my lady was no longer related to the Viscount’s house and left the Duke’s mansion.”

“I understand for now, you may go. And keep what I asked today a secret from my lady. Understood?”

“Yes, Master!”

“By the way, why did my lady’s face end up like that?”

“We can’t know for sure as only my lady, the Viscountess, and the Viscount’s daughter were present, and we only heard voices from outside, but it seems…”

Ruan’s eyes turned cold at Clea’s words.

“You mean they dared to lay hands on my lady? I see.”

After Edward and Clea left, Ruan was about to stand up when he suddenly felt pain in his heart and took out the scent pouch from his chest to smell it.

“What are you doing? Not some noble lady, but the great Ruan sniffing a scent pouch. You’re really showing new sides of yourself before dying.”

As Ruan’s expression hardened at Tablo’s words entering the study, Tablo waved his hand and said.

“I’m joking, what an unfunny friend you are.”

Ruan looked at the various pieces of evidence on his desk and asked.

“What’s going on? Why are the evidence in the study still here? Didn’t you tell my lady about this?”

“Of course not, I kindly explained everything to my lady, but she refused.”

“My lady refused?”

“Yes, I even disguised myself to help the Viscount’s daughter hold the tea party and kindly told my lady where the evidence was. But my lady rejected my offer. Without even thinking for a second.”

“She refused? Why?”

“I don’t know the exact reason. She told me not to interfere as she would hold the tea party herself. Just in case, I even left the place on the day of the tea party. When I came back, she had even put defensive magic on your room and study.”

Ruan mumbled while examining the documents on the desk.

“Did she endure without giving this evidence and end up being slapped and cast out of the family?”

“What?”

At Tablo’s words, Ruan threw the evidence in the trash and said.

“Nothing. By the way, have you found out the whereabouts of those women?”

There had been rumors recently about women disappearing from the outskirts of the capital.

The rumor was that a young master in an unmarked carriage was taking women away with enormous gold coins, and strangely, more women were disappearing than returning.

The women who returned only said they were sent back after spending one night and knew nothing more.

But upon hearing this news, Ruan, suspecting it might be related to the Crown Prince, had Tablo secretly investigating.

Tablo answered with a serious expression to Ruan’s question.

“Your guess was right. All the women who didn’t return were killed by the Crown Prince. And all their bodies were disposed of by Duke Hook and his servants.”

“Then, find out where those bodies are buried. And it seems we need to look into the Crown Prince and that Viscount’s daughter more closely.”

“I’m already looking into it. And the Crown Prince didn’t approach the Viscount’s family on purpose.”

“?”

“The Viscount’s daughter was also approaching the Crown Prince. The reason she dressed up beautifully at your wedding was to meet the Crown Prince. When the Crown Prince brought up the story of your treason, the Viscount’s daughter probably thought it was her chance and took the Crown Prince’s hand.”

“So it wasn’t the Crown Prince seducing the Viscount’s daughter for the position of Crown Princess, but the Viscount’s daughter volunteering herself to become Crown Princess.”

“Well, something like that. Their desires probably aligned well.”

“So what do you plan to do? You’ve diverted the Crown Prince’s attention to your treason for now, but the Crown Prince will soon notice. That all the evidence you’ve planted is false.”

“Before that, we need to find the bodies of those women the Crown Prince has hidden. If Prince Harman’s plan succeeds this time, the Crown Prince will go wild trying to eliminate Prince Harman.”

“By the way, I heard you were coming in a couple of days, but you came earlier than expected.”

“Things ended a bit faster than I thought. But Tablo, how long are you going to stay at our house? Isn’t it time you went back to your own home?”

You asked me to look after your wife before, and now that you’re back, you’re chasing me out?

Tablo made an incredulous expression at Ruan and said.

“Are you kicking me out now because you don’t need me anymore? I protected your wife while you were gone, and instead of thanking me… Isn’t this too much?”

“Shut up. Get out right now!”

“Ha! What a cold-hearted friend. And one more thing. Do you know your wife is preparing to leave the Duke’s mansion?”

Preparing to leave?

Ruan raised his head at Tablo’s words.

“What do you mean? Where is she going?”

“I don’t know exactly, but when you were gone, your wife occasionally went out, so I followed her just in case. No, don’t misunderstand. I purely intended to escort her.”

“Just get to the point!”

“Your wife was visiting real estate agencies, so I looked into it. She seems to be looking for a house in the countryside?”

“A house in the countryside?”

“Well, from what I gathered, it seems she’s looking for a place to live alone?”

Could it be, she’s looking for a place to live because she’s been cast out of the Viscount’s family and has nowhere to go?

No, being cast out of the Viscount’s family happened yesterday. It doesn’t make sense that she was looking for a house before that…

“Ruan? Did you know about this?”

“… I knew something, but I didn’t know she was preparing this early.”

Tablo carefully said while examining Ruan’s hardened expression.

“I’m not sure, but the reason your wife didn’t give the evidence might be because she’s about to leave the Duke’s family and doesn’t want to get involved in your and the Crown Prince’s affairs.”

“That’s probably the reason. As you said, my wife is someone who will leave in 5 months. And it’s not my place to interfere in whatever my wife does, right?”

“That’s true, but your expression doesn’t look good at all. Could it be that you’ve developed other feelings for your wife?”

Ruan had never shown interest in others before.

The fact that Ruan was overly involved when it came to Mercian’s affairs had been bothering Tablo all along.

If Ruan truly developed special feelings for Mercian, perhaps, a miracle could happen where Ruan wouldn’t die…

“Stop with the useless talk and get out of the Duke’s mansion!”

Seeing Ruan’s cold expression, Tablo thought he must have just had a stupid idea and stood up.

“Alright. What could I expect from a cold-hearted guy like you! I was planning to leave today anyway and packed all my things! Well then, I’ll be going now. Tell your wife I’m sorry I couldn’t say goodbye to her.”

Tablo left the study grumbling.

Ruan then got up, went to the display cabinet, took out the strongest liquor among the displayed bottles, poured it into a glass, and downed it in one go.

The strong alcohol scent going down his throat made it feel like it was burning.

He knew.

That after he died, Mercian would leave the Duke’s family.

Of course, he didn’t know she would go somewhere other than the Viscount’s family…

He had deliberately allocated a lot of operating funds so she could take a lot of money when she left.

But why does his heart hurt so much?

Taking out the scent pouch he had kept in his chest again and smelling it, Ruan rolled up his sleeve to look at his wrist, wondering if his curse had manifested.

The red capillaries seemed to have climbed a bit towards his heart, but it didn’t seem to be the cause of his heart pain.

Nevertheless, Ruan kept standing there, smelling the scent pouch over and over as if his heart was having an attack.