Since the grand plan was being devised by Mariela, there was no way to resist. Illeon, suppressing his choked-up feelings, sent a message through the butler that he would take her back when the day brightened. However, Elysia, like a person chased by something, left hastily as if to run away.

“What on earth is the problem?”

The secret surrounding Elysia and his mother was unbelievable, but it couldn’t be completely dismissed as fiction.

Since Illeon himself inherited the power of Oder from the mythical tales.

He thought she had an honest personality, even if she couldn’t speak about something due to such circumstances. But thinking about it, wasting days with evasive conversations seemed like a waste of time.

Yeah, it was a waste.
Thinking that the time they could spend together would continue, Illeon did not expect Elysia to distance herself in this manner.

He thought they could slowly discuss things again, but to send Elysia away frustrated, distancing herself, and saying it was “to be together,” Illeon chuckled, pondering the uncomfortable emotions.

“This is truly insane.”

The change in Elysia’s attitude over the past few days alone wasn’t enough to upset him this much.

“Hardumsha.”

Her leaving the mansion and stepping outside his domain bothered him. If she rejected him when he chased after her by ship, he was sincere about forcibly bringing her back, even if it meant locking her up in the most secluded part of the vast mansion, especially if the one discussing today’s “plan” wasn’t Leve or Mariela.

Was it normal to have such impulses?

Do people usually feel such intense emotions in love?

Illeon hadn’t experienced such overwhelming sensations before. Even in the midst of a battlefield deciding life and death, he was confident he wouldn’t die. His blood promised a high chance of survival.

So, he wasn’t nervous.

He didn’t become anxious easily.

“The most dangerous thing to Elysia might be me.”

He muttered self-deprecatingly.

Knock, knock.

Bernard, who had knocked on the study door, came in with warm milk.

“It’s getting late. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I don’t feel like I’ll be able to sleep.”

Ordinary people would usually drink alcohol in such situations. Unfortunately, Oder’s body didn’t get drunk. It would have been nice to escape the state of being forcibly put on the edge if he could seek solace from the blessing of sleep. But it wasn’t allowed for Illeon.

“Are you worried about Lady Elysia?”

When Bernard hinted, Illeon didn’t lift the cup but put it back down.

“I don’t know what I’m worried about.”

Mariela confidently assured that Elysia’s condition would be fine, so was the problem with me clinging to her neck too much? Illeon wondered.

“In an unconventional way, allow me to ask. Do you want to marry Lady Elysia?”

“What does that mean? Isn’t it obvious?”

Taking care of the mansion for years in place of a blind beast, Bernard, who knew things since Elysia regained her memory when Rona, who worked while having lost her memory, was kidnapped, said that she knew a lot. It was most bizarre when Illeon hinted and took Karina to the Grand Duchess’s room. Illeon even commented that it was the weirdest.
Now only Bernard could bring tea or engage in discussions between Leve and Mariela. There were still few people working at the Grand Manor, and the astute butler realized that this matter should not leak outside the house. So, he discreetly kept an eye on them.

“Is that so?”

“Butler, what’s with that reaction? You seem uneasy.”

“No, not at all. Would I dare to do such a thing to my master?”

Although he hinted at something unusual, Bernard, unlike his usual self, seemed hesitant. Generally, Bernard was straightforward and would directly speak if necessary.

“It’s unlike you. It almost seems like you’re protesting against me.”

“Haha, it’s not that extreme.”

“Why would that be? You wouldn’t be concerned about something trivial. Tell me if there’s something you need to say; there won’t be any consequences later.”

After a slight throat clearing, Bernard lowered his voice.

“Lady Elysia is a different person from Miss Rona.”

Illeon unconsciously furrowed his brows at Bernard’s serious words.

“What do you mean?”

“No, Master. I thought you would feel that way. How can I put this into words?”

Bernard sighed deeply.

“Miss Rona’s actions weren’t about serving you, Master.”

When Illeon was blind, he was quite irregular until he stabilized and made an effort to live more regularly after gaining some stability. His body, unable to feel the sun, couldn’t sleep even when night fell and didn’t know to wake up when the sun rose.

Rona tried hard to establish such a routine.

But when Illeon couldn’t sleep all night, he sometimes fell asleep after sunrise and woke up after lunch. On such days, after being a companion all night, Rona also ended up oversleeping.

“Lady Elysia prays every morning.”

“She prays in the morning?”

“Yes. When Miss Rona was here, she sometimes slept late and woke up late, but Lady Elysia didn’t behave like that.”

Even when discussions with Leve and Mariela continued until late at night, or when she retired late, Lady Elysia woke up at 4:30 in the morning, made tea, and meditated without a single movement from 5 AM to 7 AM every day. Illeon was surprised by this information.

“When we shared the bedroom, she didn’t do that.”

“Initially, she behaved as if she had forgotten, didn’t she? She thoroughly acted like a priestess.”

“Yes, she did.”

Thinking back, it felt like being thrown into a bin of emotions.

Elysia, wearing an expressionless mask, turned away from herself and everything that happened in this mansion.

“Do you keep telling me to act like Rona for someone like that?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. You said so, right?”

Now that he thought about it, Elysia had mentioned it vaguely.

“Illeon, it seems you like Rona. Do you know how many times I’ve been told to act like Rona?”

He responded lightly as if it didn’t feel like a piercing remark. But was it really not?
Illeon was frustrated.

“I just… She stayed in this house, so I brought up what happened before.”

He had missed Rona and was glad that she returned to the Grand Manor.

“You are indifferent. She seemed quite troubled.”

Illeon furrowed his brow once again.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

“You didn’t ask, did you?”

“…Right.”

It wasn’t the time to interrogate the butler and shift the blame. Illeon stood up abruptly.

“This is not the right time.”