Lea rushed to Terran’s bedroom in one breath.

‘Can Terran even get sick?’

She had always thought he was different from ordinary people because he was so strong. She believed he didn’t easily get sick or collapse.

But now he was so ill he couldn’t eat and had a high fever.

Still, he was struggling with the wounds of war. Lea shouted as she flung open the door without even knocking.

“Terran!”

When she opened the door, Luke was nursing Terran by his side. But seeing him actually lying in bed was a big shock, though she had only heard about it.

“Are you… in pain?”

His face was pale from how much he had suffered.

“Grace.”

Terran called her in a weak voice. Immediately, Grace started nagging at Luke.

“Luke, how long has Terran been like this? Did you call Doctor Wilson? No, if he’s in this state, shouldn’t you have taken him to the hospital? Why are you only telling me now?”

Lea bombarded him without giving him a chance to answer.

“Well, the Duke told us not to make a fuss.”

“Ah! I’m so upset!”

Lea couldn’t easily accept the situation of Terran being sick.

She acted erratically as if half out of her mind, then trembled like an aspen tree.

“Miss, please calm down first. He’ll get better soon after taking medicine. He’s just been overworking himself lately.”

Luke barely managed to suppress the smile tugging at his lips as he tried to soothe Grace.

That’s right, the ‘sympathy inducing’ strategy was bound to work. Terran must be loving this inside.

“Give me the medicine, I’ll stay by Terran’s side and nurse him.”

Lea sniffled. It seemed that her pushing Terran too hard that day was the root cause.

She regretted only saying what she wanted to say without properly listening to him.

Although she couldn’t deny Terran’s feelings for her, she had only taken out her inferiority complex towards the Empress on him.

That’s why she felt more sorry towards Terran. She should have resolved it through adult conversation instead of getting excited like a child.

“Medicine?”

‘There’s no such thing.’

Luke was in a dilemma. He had only set up the situation convincingly but hadn’t prepared a medicine bottle by the bed.

“I’ll go out and bring the medicine again.”

Luke quickly left the bedroom. Lea plopped down next to Terran and held his hand.

“I’m fine.”

Terran comforted her in a weak tone. But inside, he must be overjoyed. To think she came running at the news of him being sick.

Indeed, Luke was right about everything. Grace still had feelings for him. Now that the complicated conflict was resolved, he felt much lighter.

‘You’re insanely pretty crying over me.’

“I’m sorry, I pushed Terran too one-sidedly.”

Lea apologized to him while holding his hand tightly.

He must have had his own thoughts too. She had doubted and jumped to conclusions first, and even flared up like fire.

“You know, Grace…”

Terran was about to explain properly to Grace. Just then, the door opened and Luke urgently entered the bedroom.

“Miss, I’ve brought the medicine.”

“Is it fever medicine?”

“It should be.”

When he opened the medicine cabinet, there were so many medicines that they were all in brown bottles, making it hard to find quickly.

But there was no easy-to-find fever medicine, so he brought the sleeping medicine recommended by the head maid.

It was said to be milder and more effective than Doctor Wilson’s medicine, brewed with jujube, dried chrysanthemum flowers, lotus seeds, and lavender.

It was said to be instantly effective for fatigue relief as well, so it wouldn’t matter even if taken while feigning illness.

“It’s… a sedative, he said.”

Lea immediately put her hand on Terran’s forehead and nodded.

“The fever has gone down. The sedative will make you feel much better.”

She took the medicine bottle and spoon from Luke.

“I’ll be going now.”

Luke tactfully left them alone. He had done his part, now all that was left was for the two to reconcile.

Lea propped Terran up to sit on the bed.

“Take your medicine and get some good sleep.”

“I have something to tell Grace rather than medicine.”

“No, later.”

Lea was firm. But Terran thought this was the perfect time to explain while Grace’s emotions were soft.

Terran was about to open his mouth, thinking this was his chance.

“Mmph…!”

Lea poured the medicine onto the spoon and put it in his mouth. But was the sedative smell always this strong?

‘They say good medicine for the body is bitter to the taste.’

“Cough, cough.”

‘What is this, like water used to wash rags?’

Terran had never tasted such a foul medicine in his life. He kept coughing as he forced himself to swallow the medicine.

“Are you okay? You have to drink it even if it’s bitter.”

Lea poured a heaping spoonful of medicine and popped it into Terran’s mouth.

“Ugh…!”

Terran forcibly swallowed the medicine. He couldn’t spit it out like a child. But he couldn’t help feeling nauseous, so he kept coughing.

“I… have something to say, Grace.”

“Yes, you’ve taken all your medicine. Go ahead.”

He couldn’t speak properly, seemingly choking badly on the bitter medicine. Still, he seemed anxious as he grabbed both of Lea’s shoulders and showed a serious attitude.

“Vivian and I… are…”

“Yes.”

“Cough, cough! I… actually Vivian a lot…”

Lea handed him some water. Hoping it would help if he rinsed his mouth.

But even after drinking water, Terran’s condition didn’t improve much.

“Vivian and I… since we were young, each other, cough, cough.”

If it’s that hard, he doesn’t have to say everything.

For a moment, Lea thought he was waiting for a decisive opportunity to tell her everything.

What kind of feelings he had for the Empress. But it wasn’t easy to listen.

Terran kept calling the Empress ‘Vivian’ affectionately.

‘You mean you liked each other?’

“When I meet… Vivian cough, cough!”

‘You want to meet her?’

“I have something I must… say cough, cough!”

‘Are you… going to confess?’

“I’ll definitely tell… Vivian when I go. Cough!”

“Stop!”

Lea understood what he was trying to say. Even in this difficult situation, choking, he was looking for Vivian and saying he had something to tell her.

Lea felt like the complicated tangle was finally unraveling.

Terran had liked the Empress terribly since childhood and even tried to get engaged, but it fell through. Afterwards, he got engaged to Grace, but he had no affection for her.

‘Was it because I look like the Empress now that Terran showed interest?’

The old Grace had the opposite personality to the Empress.

She suspected he might have been trying to find his first love in the changed Grace.

‘The feelings I felt from Terran were all a misunderstanding.’

The person he really cared about was in the Imperial Palace.

Now that they met again, old feelings must have been revived. That’s why he kept trying to talk about his relationship with her even though he was sick and weak.

At first, she thought Terran was trying to explain that he wasn’t in that kind of relationship with the Empress. But the more she listened to him, the more frustrated she felt.

Lea brought a clean towel and wiped around his mouth.

“Sleep, I’ll be back.”

‘Where are you going without me?’

Terran got goosebumps at Grace’s pale, stiff expression.

It seems she misunderstood his words again. But why was he so sleepy? His body went limp and his eyes closed.

Terran tried hard to stay conscious and grab Grace, but he lost consciousness to the overwhelming drowsiness.

‘He fell asleep.’

Lea covered the sleeping Terran with a blanket and quietly left his bedroom.

* * *

Lea headed to the Imperial Palace with Pauline.

“Is that true?”

Pauline couldn’t believe Grace’s words. That Terran was desperately looking for the Empress even while sick.

“He said he has something to tell her.”

“Miss, are you going to ask the Empress to come to the Duke’s mansion?”

“Yes. Since Terran earnestly wishes it.”

“What?”

Pauline kept tilting her head in confusion. She felt like something was going wrong.

It was too strange that the Empress suddenly became the topic between the two.

Terran had never mentioned the Empress before. Rather, his interest in Grace had grown.

“I heard it clearly. Terran said he liked the Empress since childhood and has something he must tell her when they meet.”

Of course, he didn’t say it in complete sentences like this. But unless you’re a fool, you’d understand the meaning of those brief words.

They finally arrived at the Imperial Palace.

‘I’m not the real one anyway. I’m just an outsider who can’t even fill the Empress’s place, let alone being Grace.’

So she wasn’t in a position to throw a tantrum at Terran.

‘Lea Hamilton, is this the time for you to indulge in luxuries like love and misunderstandings?’

She berated herself for momentarily forgetting her goal. Just because she was in Grace’s body didn’t mean she was really her.

‘It’s not mine. Don’t be greedy.’

Terran was never her man to begin with. But living as Grace made her confused and lost for a moment.

Rather, it’s for the best. As she keeps reminding herself, how could love be possible for her?

Lea got off the carriage with Pauline and headed to the Empress’s palace.

With each step, the despair that washed over her made her chest ache. It seems she liked Terran more than she had expected.

* * *

Terran woke up at five in the evening. He must have fainted from the shock of drinking that foul medicine. But he saw a woman’s silhouette in front of him.

“Grace?”

Terran got up and asked while rubbing his eyes. But it wasn’t Grace’s scent. A strange feeling and strong rose fragrance stung his nose.

“Why is the Empress here?”

He looked at the Empress who appeared before him with a bewildered expression. No, where did Grace go?

“Duke Courtois, or rather, let’s talk comfortably since we’re alone.”

The Empress looked at Terran with her arms crossed.

“Pardon?”

“Hey! You stupid bastard!”

The Empress shouted at Terran.