Lea felt uneasy. She had thought only her life had fallen into ruins, but everyone seemed to be suffering from their own big and small troubles.

Just then, the door opened and Pauline bustled in.

Thud-!

Pauline grumbled as she set down the recent newspaper on the table.

“Miss, you’re clearly not fully recovered. Suddenly getting so into newspapers.”

“Did you bring the glue?”

“Yes, I did. Are you going to cut and paste newspapers again?”

Pauline was quite enjoying watching Grace these days. The flu had completely changed her.

In the past, Grace’s first words upon waking were either “Mirror” or “Where’s Terran?” But now she didn’t even ask about the Duke.

Last time she had asked for a week’s worth of newspapers, and since then, whenever the Duke finished reading one, she would cut out and paste articles.

“It’s a new hobby.”

Lea cut out only articles about Allen and Hamilton Trading Company from the newspapers and pasted them into an empty notebook. She was already on her second volume.

“It’s a boring hobby.”

Pauline grumbled beside her, but still neatly applied glue to the cut-out newspaper pieces.

“By the way, this man in the newspaper, I saw him in person and he was extremely handsome.”

“You saw this man, Pauline?”

“Yes, I saw him entering the church on the day of the funeral.”

Pauline’s gaze fixed on Allen in the newspaper as she grinned.

“I see.”

‘He is handsome. And I’m the foolish one who fell for that face.’

Not knowing that a hideous greed was hidden behind that picture-perfect mask, she had fallen for him recklessly.

As she collected newspaper articles, people related to Allen started to appear one by one.

‘I won’t rush.’

Revenge requires thorough preparation and information. Just as Allen had slandered Hamilton Trading Company, she too intended to wait patiently and be cautious.

‘I need to get close to the Duke, though…’

The most urgent task was to get the necklace from Terran. To do that, it would be advantageous to maintain a good relationship with him.

‘Even though he was engaged to Grace, why couldn’t he rush into marriage? Was it really because of the reason I heard back then?’

Terran had said harsh words to Grace, telling her to stop whining.

In her opinion, he seemed either uninterested in marriage itself or not mentally prepared for it.

If that was the case, she shouldn’t pressure Terran into marriage like Grace did. In reality, she had no intention of marrying him at all.

‘Faith, hope, love… marriage. To hell with it all.’

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Luke poked his head in.

“The Duke has arrived.”

Why did he come suddenly without notice? He probably doesn’t have any particular business. For a moment, Lea’s mind was in turmoil.

“This is quite something. The Duke coming all the way to the young lady’s room!”

Pauline was so surprised she fumbled about.

Lea and Pauline hurriedly began cleaning up the room, which was messy with newspaper scraps.

Lea closed the notebook and pushed it to one side of the dressing table.

There wasn’t time to clean up perfectly, so she roughly kicked things here and there before greeting Terran.

“Grace, how are you feeling?”

Despite her efforts, Terran took in the situation at a glance as soon as he entered Grace’s room.

The traces of cut newspapers, the smell of glue, and the thick notebook placed on the dressing table in the distance.

“I’ve fully recovered.”

Meanwhile, Terran bent his tall frame to pick up a piece of newspaper that had fallen to the floor. Looking at the content of the cut article, it was about a certain person.

‘Allen MacDowell? Is she collecting articles about that man?’

Of course, it was just a simple guess. He shouldn’t jump to conclusions until he saw that notebook on the dressing table with his own eyes.

“A new hobby?”

“Yes…? I’m trying to study how the world works.”

“Is that so? A very constructive hobby.”

He smiled his usual restrained smile and didn’t speak at length.

His shining dark eyes turned to Grace.

A face without makeup, neat attire. Above all, the ink stains on her hands. Probably from cutting newspapers.

Most importantly, even though he had appeared, she maintained an appropriate distance and was careful with her words, not making unreasonable demands like before.

[Terran, let’s go on a date with Grace. I want to go to the amusement park, enjoy a boat ride, and see pretty flowers, okay?]

“Do you know what day it is tomorrow?”

Terran asked Grace.

‘What day? Is it Grace’s birthday? What is it?’

As Lea’s eyes darted about nervously, Terran’s brow furrowed slightly and his eyes narrowed.

His expression seemed to say, ‘There are other things to forget, but you don’t know about that important appointment?’

“Tomorrow is the day you’re going to Bern to meet the young lady’s brother!”

The quick-witted Pauline answered for her.

“Ah! That’s right, Pauline. Look at me.”

At Lea’s response, Terran tilted his head slightly, wearing a puzzled expression.

If nothing else, Grace had never forgotten about going to meet Aiden.

“As usual, only Grace and I will go. Make sure to prepare well.”

Terran gave instructions to Pauline and then turned to leave.

‘Why isn’t she stopping me?’

Normally, when he turned to leave, Grace would rush over and cling to his waist.

Terran was about to pass through the door when he stopped and just turned his head to look at Grace.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

Instead, she asked. Terran looked at the excessively polite Grace, then fixed his gaze on the notebook she was trying hard to conceal.

‘What’s so special about that, making a person curious?’

Terran shook his head as if it was nothing and left the room.

Every time he dealt with her changed self, he felt like a small sandstorm was rising in his life, which was as dry as an endless desert.

* * *

Early in the morning, Lea set out for Bern with Terran. It was a three-hour journey by carriage.

Pauline had packed a few bottles of whiskey, saying it was Baron Aiden’s favorite drink.

The atmosphere in the carriage was silent. They only occasionally talked about the scenery visible through the window. After about an hour of travel:

“It’s raining.”

Lea said, wiping the damp rainwater off her hand that she had extended out the window.

“It’ll be troublesome if it rains harder.”

Terran also seemed concerned about the rainy weather, continuously looking out the window.

Just then, the carriage stopped and the coachman came running.

“Your Grace, I hear there’s heavy rain in Basel. It seems unwise to continue on this road. If you permit, I’d like to take a different route.”

The coachman reported that a passing carriage had informed him.

He said that there was a downpour in Basel, turning the roads into mud, and in the worst case, the carriage wheels could get stuck in the mire, leaving them unable to move forward or back.

“Do that.”

“Understood, sir.”

The coachman turned the horses’ heads in the opposite direction and drove the carriage onto a secluded path through the forest.

Of course, it was raining there too, but not heavily, so the carriage could move without difficulty.

“The meadow is beautiful. I can even see a shepherd’s hut over there.”

Lea unknowingly spoke words tinged with appreciation. But Terran gave no reply.

Instead, he just stared intently at Grace.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Lea felt tense whenever she met Terran’s penetrating gaze.

When she met his eyes, she felt that any pretense or hypocrisy would be futile.

“You seem to have changed a lot, Grace.”

“There’s a saying that humans are social animals. We can change due to the situations and events we face.”

‘Ha! To hear such words from Grace. Did her soul get switched after having the flu?’

Terran found himself imagining absurd scenarios.

But her words were right. He hadn’t always been such a desolate and pessimistic person either.

He had changed while enduring the trials that befell his family from a young age and fighting through a horrific war.

Just then, the smoothly running carriage began to shake, and loud noises were heard from outside.

“Your Grace! Bandits have appeared!”

The coachman shouted urgently. It seemed they had caught the eye of bandits after taking the secluded forest path.

Bang bang-! Shots were being fired from outside, and bullets hit the carriage.

“The coachman!”

Lea saw one of the coachmen fall from the carriage after being hit by a bullet.

Terran quickly stood up and pulled on the armrest of the seat. The seat cover lifted, revealing a large space.

‘It wasn’t a seat but a box?’

Terran spoke to Lea with a grim face.

“Get in, Grace.”

“What? Just… me?”

As she looked on with a bewildered face, Terran pushed Grace into the long box.

“Don’t come out until I open the door, no matter what.”

Before she could answer, Terran firmly closed the seat cover.

Terran immediately opened the opposite seat and took out a rifle.

Bang bang-! The attack from the bandits riding horses separated the horses from the carriage.

Terran loaded bullets with quick hands and fired at the bandits. He skillfully shot while covering front and back.

The one fortunate thing was that it wasn’t a steep slope, so the carriage was gradually slowing down.

In this situation, if they tumbled over a cliff edge, the carriage would be smashed to pieces before they could be killed by the bandits’ bullets.

So he had to deal with them quickly to prevent more bandits from approaching. If the carriage came to a complete stop, they would be surrounded.

He sensed the vibrations of bullets cutting through the air with his whole body, dodged, and then gauged the bandits’ positions through the window.

With his excellent reflexes, he raised the gun barrel and accurately sniped the bandits.

As gunshots echoed through the forest and the situation became urgent, his body moved on its own.

“Argh!”

Finally, the bandits fell one by one as they were hit. However, the problem was that there were quite a few bandits.

But there were plenty of bullets. Due to his soldier’s habit, he always kept rifles and bullets prepared in the carriage.

Once again, the bandits fired at the carriage, and finally, the wheels gave way. The remaining coachman had long since fled into the forest.

The continuous gunfire was piercing holes in the carriage and about to blow off the roof.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a good workout.”

Terran burst through the ceiling, exuding killing intent, and fired rapidly while rotating 360 degrees.

His marksmanship, honed by war, was almost supernatural, able to sense the enemy’s presence without even looking. Thanks to this, the bandits were annihilated in less than a few minutes.

Suddenly, Terran sensed a presence from behind, immediately turned around and fired.

Bang bang, two gunshots and a scream. Terran’s bullet penetrated the bandit’s head, but the bandit’s bullet also penetrated Terran’s shoulder.

“Ugh…!”

Terran collapsed onto the carriage floor.

“Duke Courtois!”

Lea, who had been holding her breath in the chair, listening to the situation outside, immediately jumped out when she heard Terran’s groan. She saw him with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.

“I’ll support you.”

Lea quickly gathered necessary items and supported Terran, pulling him out of the carriage.

“More bandits will come. We need to escape before then.”

This forest must be the bandits’ base. Lea walked towards the meadow they had passed earlier.

“Huff…!”

Terran staggered, probably due to severe bleeding from his shoulder.