Grumble―

Lea’s breath bubbled into water droplets. No matter how much she tried to escape from the water, she was sucked deeper like being trapped in a terrible swamp.

‘I’m scared! I hate water!’

A voice that wasn’t her own echoed in Lea’s mind.

‘I don’t want to die!’

Hearing a voice she had heard before, Lea finally realized.

That Grace’s soul, curled up inside her, was taking control of the body upon encountering water.

Until now, she had never appeared even once. But why now…

‘After staying quiet all this time, why appear now?’

[Sister, you have two souls in your body.]

Suddenly, Chainer’s words came to mind. Feeling the crisis of possibly dying, Grace was struggling inside the body.

‘I want… to live!’

Lea felt regretful. Thinking it was completely her own body, she had overlooked the sense of crisis Grace would feel.

‘I’m sorry, Grace.’

As memories of the present and past when she tried to use the body recklessly as if it were her own flashed by, guilt soon washed over her.

If she had really shot him when she ran out of the duke’s mansion with a gun, intending to die with Allen. It could have become an irreversible act, so it was good she stopped.

‘I shouldn’t have used a borrowed body so carelessly.’

It was then. A strong force pulled her body out of the water and began compressing her chest.

Cough, cough, Lea soon coughed up the water pooled in her airway.

She could clearly feel the fresh air entering her mouth, Pauline’s muffled crying, and Terran’s breath.

Though Lea’s breathing had stabilized, she couldn’t move her limbs properly.

Now she had to accept that while Lea Hamilton was healthy, Grace had a naturally weak constitution.

Lea tried her best not to lose consciousness. But with strength draining from her whole body, she didn’t even have the power to lift her eyelids.

She lost consciousness just like that.

* * *

When Terran urgently entered the bedroom holding Grace in his arms, Chainer, who had been leisurely knitting lace, was startled.

Seeing Grace lying limp on the bed, soaked with water, Chainer cried and made a fuss.

“Waaah! Sister, don’t die!”

“Chainer, don’t just cry, bring a towel!”

Pauline shouted urgently at the crying Chainer.

“Okay!”

Lea gradually regained consciousness. She could hear the women’s busy voices.

And though she couldn’t see him, she could feel Terran by her side. He was probably looking down at her with a grief-stricken face.

‘Terran, say something. I want to hear your voice.’

She could sense he was beside her, but it was frightening that he wasn’t saying anything. Then, as if reading her wish, Terran shouted at the servant.

“Put more coal in the fireplace. Make the bedroom warm.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

After hearing Terran’s voice, Lea finally felt truly alive.

Soon, warm air enveloped her body and she fell into a deep sleep.

“Bring Doctor Wilson!”

Lea wanted to hear Terran’s voice more. But this time, she fell into a deep sleep and could no longer sense him.

* * *

Her whole body felt stiff, as if she had slept for a long time.

When Pauline opened the window to ventilate, fresh air from outside rushed in.

And she naturally woke up to the sound of small birds carried on the breeze.

The sunlight shining through the window tickled Lea’s closed eyes. She opened her eyes at some point, and as her blurry vision gradually became clear, her mind also cleared.

“Pau…line.”

But speaking was extremely difficult.

‘Grace, this glass doll of a woman.’

This incident made her keenly realize that from now on, she needed to live while taking care of her body.

“My lady, are you conscious?”

“Yes. Help me sit up.”

As Pauline helped Lea sit up, Chainer shouted.

“I’ll go tell Uncle that sister woke up!”

“Don’t go! Chainer!”

Lea shouted without realizing. Chainer also seemed startled, as she froze like an ice statue and stared at Lea.

“Later, Chainer.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Pauline immediately brought warm water and handed it to Lea. But she didn’t know what to do with this awkwardness.

“Why? The Duke has been eagerly waiting for you to wake up.”

Pauline asked, puzzled.

“I’m embarrassed.”

“Pfft!”

Pauline burst into laughter. Well, even she would find it difficult to face Terran right away.

She had confidently challenged him to a duel, but fainted before they could properly fight, so it was understandable to be embarrassed.

“Ah! I feel like I could die of embarrassment. I wish there was a mouse hole I could hide in. How foolish must Terran think I am?”

Lea put down the water cup she was holding on the bedside table and clutched her head with both hands.

“Pauline, should I say I’m sick and stay in bed for about a month?”

She wanted to avoid facing Terran somehow.

“It’s a complete humiliation.”

“That’s not a good idea, Uncle was so troubled that his face turned rotten.”

“What?”

“I don’t think that’s right either. Do you know how much the Duke worried about you this time? He came to check almost every hour.”

Their words were right, so it was hard to insist any further.

“Pauline, it feels like I slept for a long time?”

“Do you know it’s already been a week?”

Ha! Grace’s body takes at least a week whenever she gets sick. That’s why Aiden was so worried about her health when they went to Bern.

“Oh! There’s good news. Chainer, bring that over.”

At Pauline’s words, Chainer went towards the table and came back with a newspaper.

Lea unfolded the newspaper Chainer handed her with a dazed face.

“This is an advertisement!”

And it took up quite a large space.

“They say it’s published across the entire continent. The photo came out really well too. Especially the lace shawl stands out so much.”

But there was a slight problem with the advertisement.

“Pauline, where did my head go?”

The photo showing only from the neck down, without the head, looked somewhat bizarre.

As expected, Terran wouldn’t budge. But to delete only my face from the photo.

“The lace stands out even more, doesn’t it? And the response to the advertisement is very good. They say orders are already pouring into Grandpa Rapha’s general store.”

“Really?”

Lea examined the newspaper carefully, turning it this way and that. Come to think of it, Pauline was right.

If the face had been shown, people’s attention would have been focused on the person’s face rather than the lace shawl Chainer had knitted.

Moreover, looking at the advertisement, even she as the model became curious about who the woman wearing the shawl was.

Just then, there was a presence outside the door.

Lea felt like she knew too well who it was, so she threw the newspaper far away and pulled the blanket over her head.

Pauline and Chainer who were by her side flowed out like the tide, and what was felt in the room was the presence of two men.

‘Ah… how can I face Terran?’

Lea kept wanting to hide because she felt pathetic for acting so childishly.

Soon the blanket was pulled back forcefully and Terran’s haggard face appeared.

“Ter…ran.”

He silently looked at Grace and then hugged her tightly.

She thought he would tease and humiliate her, but instead his expression was one of relief.

“You woke up, that’s what matters.”

Lea, who had been flailing her hands in the air in surprise, wrapped her arms around his back.

“I’m sorry. For always surprising you.”

“It’s okay.”

From his tight embrace, she could acutely feel how much he had suffered mentally. Is that why his face looked so haggard?

Truly, she had no words even if she had ten mouths.

Terran couldn’t get the image of Grace sinking into the water out of his mind.

Although he quickly ran and pulled her out, she didn’t breathe for a while, making him feel like his own breath had stopped too.

Before Grace started breathing again, in that short moment, he kept repeating only one thing.

[If something happens to you, I’m finished too.]

It wasn’t because he would lose face to Aiden.

He hadn’t even realized it himself, that Grace had become the most precious existence to him.

He was certain that if Grace died, his world would be destroyed.

“Ahem!”

Just then, as Doctor Wilson cleared his throat, Terran and Lea separated.

“I’ll wait outside, so start the examination.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Terran left the bedroom with an awkward face. On the other hand, Lea couldn’t take her eyes off his disappearing back, feeling sorry for his gaunt appearance.

“Lady Bizac has been frail since birth, hasn’t she? Her lungs aren’t good either. So from now on, you must be careful of cold winds. Of course, overwork is forbidden.”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind, Doctor Wilson.”

‘So Grace was weak since childhood.’

That’s why she was so exhausted after going out.

Doctor Wilson began a long lecture.

Take medicine on time, refrain from strenuous activities as much as possible, get plenty of rest… Towards the end of his nagging, he brought up something unexpected.

“I heard you visited Bern recently?”

“Yes, I went to see Brother Aiden.”

“Hmm, even in our medical community, we’re constantly trying to develop mechanical prosthetic legs.”

He talked at length about Aiden’s leg.

“Is the Baroness doing well?”

‘Baroness? Ah, Reina!’

“Of course, my new sister-in-law is doing well too. I hope they have a baby soon…”

At Lea’s words, Doctor Wilson’s expression stiffened. He sighed as he packed up his stethoscope and medical equipment.

“That won’t happen for the Bizac Baron and Baroness. But who knows. A miracle might occur. He was injured so severely in the war that it wasn’t just his leg, even his male function… Oh my! What am I saying…!”

Lea was startled and slowly went over his words.

To think that Aiden couldn’t function as a man. For someone who had suffered such a tragedy, he seemed very bright.

Rather, it was Terran who occasionally gave him a wistful look.

“Are you saying my brother can’t have children?”

“Lady Bizac, please pretend you didn’t hear that. I misspoke. It was something that should never be revealed.”

“What about Terran? I heard he was often injured in the war together.”

Lea felt strongly that she had been mistaken about an important fact until now.

Moreover, her heart ached greatly. Aiden and Reina got along unusually well.

Most noble couples usually had political marriages and lived separate dissolute lives with their own lovers, spouses in name only.

But Aiden and Reina truly loved each other. To think such a couple couldn’t have children.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone about the conversation I had with Doctor Wilson.”

“The Duke is very healthy physically. There are no problems at all. Only, he has severe mental aftereffects from the war.”

‘Terran has no problems?’

Then was their conversation last time about Aiden?

Lea looked at Doctor Wilson with a blank face.