“…… Duke!”

The butler who opened the door was startled to see Damian coming through the rain.

In the darkness, Damian, who was drenched in rain, limped through the hall, leaning on his cane.

Water dripped onto the floor, and the butler looked at the path.

Blood was mixed in.

The butler couldn’t say a word as he watched the blood seep into the transparent water.

The maid who rushed out with a towel was the same.

The servants who saw Damian stopped in their tracks and fixed their eyes on the floor.

A suffocating silence flowed.

Damian, who had ascended the stairs, arrived in front of the bedroom door. Water dripped down.

He slowly placed his hand on the doorknob, but Damian couldn’t easily open the door.

Until he arrived at the mansion from the Imperial Palace, he was only in a hurry, but when he had to open the door, it took quite a long time.

Damian, who closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, opened the door.

“Eriel.”

In the dim room, Eriel was sitting on the sofa. Eriel, who had been sitting there with a blank face, slowly turned her head towards Damian.

Damian looked at Eriel in relief, then stopped in his tracks when he realized that the green eyes that met his had lost their vitality.

“…… Eriel?”

Damian hurriedly approached Eriel with a limp.

Eriel’s gaze slowly went down as she looked at him.

“Damian…… your leg, your leg……”

Eriel, who had been sitting on the sofa, abruptly stood up.

His limp was visible in his steps as water dripped down. Even when he leaned on his cane in the banquet hall, his steps were quite good, but it wasn’t any better.

Her startled gaze was on his body before she could examine it. Damian embraced Eriel in one breath.

Completely nestled in his wet chest, Eriel smelled the scent of blood in the humid air.

However, Damian’s wet face, which was burying into her shoulder, exhaled hot breaths.

“Your face, enduring it as if you hated it…… haunted me all day.”

Eriel closed her eyes as she heard Damian’s trembling voice, who was holding her as if she would break. Slowly wrapping her arms around his back, Eriel nodded.

*

The heavy rain that had been pouring down as if it would break the window had subsided before long.

The sound of rain could still be heard, but the rattling window regained its silence along with the slowing stream of water.

The sound of Eriel’s hand patting Damian’s back filled the bedroom.

Tap- tap- Eriel, who patted his back, soon inserted her fingers into his hair.

“Damian.”

Her husband, who was afraid of losing, seemed clumsy when it came to protecting his wife.

Eriel stroked his hair, swallowing a deep sigh.

It didn’t matter that the clothes she was wearing were completely wet.

“Damian.”

Even at Eriel’s call, Damian didn’t raise his head.

Eriel kept comforting her unresponsive husband, repeatedly inserting her fingers into his hair and pulling them out.

The stream of water flowing down Eriel’s fingers fell to the floor.

“Damian, I will probably never look at anyone other than you in my life.”

Eriel gently soothed him, shaking off the stream of water on his shoulders.

“But……”

Eriel stopped her hand and grabbed his shoulders. With even a little force, Damian was pushed away from Eriel and straightened his upper body.

“I will be angry at actions that don’t take care of your body, like running to the mansion in this heavy rain.”

Eriel, who looked at Damian, cupped his cheeks. There was no part of him that wasn’t wet from head to toe.

Even his eyes were wet. Tears or rainwater, something fell from his blue eyes.

Eriel wiped away the stream of water flowing from his cheeks on his behalf. Then she was about to say that she would take a look at his leg.

“Then……”

Damian cupped her cheeks.

“You won’t be angry if I kiss you, will you?”

“…… What? Mmmph.”

Damian’s lips descended on Eriel’s lips. However, he did not push her.

His lips wandering on Eriel’s lips were careful.

Eriel burst into laughter unknowingly and parted her lips for Damian.

Vowing to herself that she would definitely call a doctor to look at his leg after the kiss was over.

*

The doctor who resided at the Zenova Duke’s mansion had slept soundly despite the heavy rain last night.

He woke up in the morning, wrote his daily journal, and was looking at the Duke’s nursing records until noon when the butler knocked on his door.

“I think the Duke’s leg is injured, so you should take a look today.”

“The Duke?”

The doctor, who had slept through the night, oblivious to what had happened, was startled and jumped up from his seat.

“He was almost fully recovered, but he got injured again? This is serious. If he injures his already injured leg again, there could be aftereffects.”

The doctor picked up his bag and stood up with a serious expression on his face.

The doctor moved to the bedroom and entered with the Duke’s permission and the servants.

As soon as he entered, the doctor tilted his head at the strange warmth.

Summer was passing, and thanks to the heavy rain, this morning was quite chilly, but the Duke’s bedroom was warm and cozy.

“The air upstairs seems to be hotter anyway.”

The doctor blurted out his thought without much thought and approached Damian.

Behind him, the butler and the maid coughed loudly at the doctor, but the doctor frowned at the servants’ coughs instead.

“Oh my, you all need to take care of your health. When the temperature changes suddenly, the body can’t adapt and you often catch a cold……. You have to be careful not to pass it on to the Duke.”

The doctor pulled back the blanket and examined Damian’s leg. There was a wound from a bruise, but other than the scratched wound, it didn’t seem to be a big deal.

There was no swelling, and it didn’t look like the bone was broken or anything from the naked eye.

The butler and the maid stuck their faces close to the doctor.

Only the Duchess, who was standing nearby, was fidgeting and asked the doctor about the Duke’s condition.

“How is it? Doctor? Yesterday, Damian came in limping heavily. But other than the injured leg, ahem……. it doesn’t seem to be a big problem.”

Eriel blushed slightly, but everyone was too preoccupied with looking at Damian’s leg to notice.

“Damian doesn’t show it even when he’s in pain……”

Unlike Eriel’s worried voice, the servants who checked Damian’s leg kept their faces stiff and remained silent.

The butler even frowned.

“If it’s not a bone problem, it seems to be just a bruise from the outside, but I’ll have to check. But since the leg isn’t swollen for now, in my opinion, it’s not a big problem……”

The butler tapped the chair the doctor was sitting on with a thud.

The doctor turned his head to the side at the sudden vibration from below. The doctor, who made eye contact with the butler, hesitated for a moment, and Damian called the doctor.

“I don’t want to show my wife that I can’t walk properly in front of her anyway.”

“…… Pardon?”

When the doctor asked back at Damian’s words, the butler, who took advantage of the gap, quickly approached the Duchess. The maids did the same.

“Madam, the Duke came in yesterday bleeding a lot.”

Starting with the maid’s words, the butler looked at Eriel with a serious face.

“The Duke probably doesn’t want to show it to you, Madam. You know, if you’re by his side, the Duke will try to walk properly.”

“Ah…… I see. That would be the case. I…… will, yes. I understand. Doctor?”

Eriel, who nodded at the servants’ words, called the doctor.

The doctor turned his head towards Eriel, and the servants surrounding Eriel glared at him.

It was as if they were saying that if he said one wrong word, it would be the end of him.

“Yes…… Madam.”

The doctor, who was conscious of the servants, answered Eriel’s call.

“If Damian’s leg is badly injured, please make sure to tell me.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Eriel, full of worry, nodded to the doctor and left the bedroom.

The maids followed the Madam out, leaving only Damian, the butler, and the doctor.

“Tell her that care is needed until the bone heals.”

As soon as Eriel left, Damian told the doctor with a very annoyed expression.

“…… Pardon?”

When the doctor stammered on the spot, the butler pressed down on the shoulder of the doctor who was sitting.

“The Madam has never seen anyone get hurt in her life, so she probably doesn’t know well. It seems like it’s the first time she’s seen the injured leg this time.”

“Pardon?”

“Just say that care is needed. Also, entrust the Madam with not only bandages but also disinfectants. The Duke will explain how to treat the wound himself, so don’t worry.”

The doctor, who realized what he meant, nodded.

“If you leave too quickly, it will be suspicious, so sit for a while before leaving.”

Damian wrapped up the situation. The doctor sat there blankly for a while, and when the time came, Damian told him to leave, and he left the room.