My head felt dull.

My whole body felt as if it was floating.

A feeling of swimming through lukewarm water.

In her hazy consciousness, Aria’s mind slowly awakened.

She wiggled her fingers.

Soon after, a terrible headache struck as if someone had hit the back of her head.

“Ah….”

She groaned softly. As her dulled senses returned, she felt an intense pain as if her whole body had been beaten.

When she opened her mouth, hot breath flowed out. It was clear that her physical condition was not normal.

She painfully pulled the bell cord next to the bed. When she returned to her spot, she had to almost crawl.

Soon after, a maid who entered through the door opened her eyes wide.

She hurriedly placed her hand on Aria’s forehead and exclaimed.

“Oh my! Miss Hilton, what happened to you?”

“What……”

“And what’s with the bandage on your neck? No, more importantly, your fever is too high.”

Bandage?

Aria reached out and touched her nape. Instead of skin, she felt a rough cloth.

Startled, she tried to sit up, but her head spun. Aria reached out with a weak voice.

“Wait, a mirror please……”

The maid hurriedly handed her a hand mirror. Thanks to this, Aria could clearly see what state she was in.

A face flushed red with fever. Side hair damp with cold sweat. Pale lips.

Any way you look at it, she was a patient.

However, what was out of place was the white bandage wrapped around her neck. The only fortunate thing was that there was no visible blood on the outside.

Aria awkwardly touched the bandage wrapped around her neck. No wonder she felt strangely stuffy since waking up.

‘Since when……?’

Like searching for a book in the library of her mind, she slowly recalled the memories of last night.

She had lost her senses due to hyperventilation and scratched at her neck. Then she calmed down upon hearing Bonita’s voice, and afterwards she had a conversation with the child through a closed door.

That was all.

“Cough, cough.”

Given her physical condition and the dry cough, it seemed she had fallen asleep at some point due to the onset of a cold.

Then something came to mind.

It was Luke’s voice.

“Damn it. I don’t know how much she scratched.”

Aria’s eyes narrowed.

Whether it was while half-asleep or a dream.

It seemed something had happened.

‘It doesn’t seem like a dream though…..’

If it was a dream, the bandage remaining on her neck now couldn’t be explained.

‘Did Luke come?’

She didn’t know for what reason he had come to her room, but it was certain that Luke had disinfected the wound and wrapped the bandage.

Aria looked down at her hands, now clean unlike yesterday. There wasn’t a single trace of blood on them.

However, it seems he hadn’t managed to change the blanket.

“I must have had a nosebleed while sleeping.”

Aria took preemptive action before any misunderstandings could arise. She said while lifting up the blood-stained part of the blanket.

“I think the blanket needs to be changed……”

“Ah! I’ll bring one right away.”

Fortunately, since the amount of blood wasn’t much, the maid believed Aria’s lie as it was.

“Please stay lying down. I’ll also let the Duke and young lady know that Miss Hilton is sick today and won’t be able to join them for meals.”

“Thank you.”

The young maid smiled brightly at Aria’s words of gratitude. Even as she was leaving, she turned back to Aria, still seeming worried, and earnestly requested.

“I’ll be right back, so make sure to stay lying down!”

“Alright.”

Although Aria agreed, the maid still didn’t seem assured.

However, she couldn’t stay in the room forever. The maid soon left the room.

[This is the timeline separator]

“…So that’s how it is, we’ll have to have our meal without Miss… Hilton today.”

Bonita drooped her eyebrows upon hearing Luke’s explanation. Disappointment and worry were evident on her face.

Luke inwardly sighed.

‘It’s rather fortunate.’

Though he felt sorry for Bonita, he was relieved that he didn’t have to face Aria right now. If he were to see her face in his current state, it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to strangle her.

Even last night had been dangerous.

Aria Hilton. After being reminded of Elodie by that damned woman, Luke had pounded the wall for quite some time. Even then, he couldn’t hit it hard for fear of breaking it, so his self-loathing wasn’t diluted at all.

But even after reacting like that, Luke had no choice but to sneak back into that room like a thief.

It was torturous work to clean the blood and flesh from her hands and wrap bandages around her neck. In the end, it even made him feel nauseous.

He quietly observed Bonita.

Pink hair. Eyes a bit darker than that.

Gentle features resembling Elodie.

Seeing the child’s face made him hate himself even more. What on earth was he about to do?

From the beginning, he even doubted whether Aria had really been out of her mind. Maybe she had other intentions and deliberately imitated Elodie.

But he soon shook his head.

That’s nonsense.

Elodie had only stroked his eyes in bed at night. Usually, even if he reached out to be touched, she would push him away with a playful smile.

No matter how close friends they were, would they have shared such private details between a married couple? And such a small, trivial part at that.

It was an assumption not worth reconsidering.

Even though he thought so, he could hardly suppress the contempt and disgust rising from within. His lips tightened.

“What are you doing in front of the dining room? The child is hungry, hurry up and go in!”

Catherine’s stern shout was heard from behind. Luke hurriedly composed his expression.

He had no intention of showing such a face to Bonita, let alone Catherine.

[This is the timeline separator]

After finishing breakfast, Bonita entered the playroom and lazed about face down.

But without Aria, she was bored. She was also worried. Although there were maids beside her, their attitude towards Bonita was too cautious to be suitable playmates.

It was then that Catherine came to visit.

“My lady? Did you come to see the young miss?”

“Ahem. Don’t misunderstand, I just dropped by on my way past.”

It was her usual prickly attitude.

Still, feeling a bit glad, Bonita poked her head out and greeted her.

“Hello, madam.”

“That’s enough. We just saw each other earlier, why are you greeting me? There’s no need for such things.”

“Okay……”

Catherine entered the playroom and sat on a plush sofa.

Bonita sat down on the floor with a thump and looked up at her grandmother.

Blink blink.

Feeling the blankly staring gaze, Catherine inwardly broke out in a cold sweat.

She had come here, but now she didn’t know what to do. She tried to recall what she used to play with when she was a child.

‘…I can’t remember.’

Even her childhood was already over 60 years ago. The only things she vaguely remembered were incidents like cutting up dolls with scissors. That seemed to have been very fun at the time.

As for Luke or Oliver… well, they were boys. Likewise, they broke a lot of things.

In contrast, Bonita was a very quiet and introverted child. Catherine stopped imagining Bonita holding scissors and chopping up dolls.

“……”

“……”

An unpleasant silence flowed.

Bonita thought about drawing a picture, but she didn’t really feel like it today.

Perhaps because she hadn’t seen Aria’s face since yesterday morning, her mood was also down. Bonita fidgeted with her fingers with a slightly depressed expression.

It was then that Catherine opened her mouth.

“Bonita. Do you like that Hilton lady that much?”

It was just a question thrown out following the flow of consciousness, but it was unexpectedly correct.

Bonita’s expression lightened a little.

“Yes. I like her.”

“Why?”

“You don’t need a reason to like someone. I just like her.”

Catherine was at a loss for words as she looked into Bonita’s innocent eyes.

Right. Actually, that’s true.

Would there be any particular reason for liking or disliking emotions? Even if there were, emotions always precede.

Some people dislike the same actions, while others like them. That’s just how it is.

But that was from a child’s perspective.

Catherine felt a bit jealous.

She folded her arms and grumbled.

“Does that lady treat you well?”

“Of course.”

Bonita nodded and mumbled in a gloomy voice.

“But she’s been sick since yesterday… I’m so worried. She wouldn’t let me into her room either.”

“Babies naturally have weak immunity, so they shouldn’t go near sick people.”

“Im-mun-ity? What’s that?”

“It’s the power to protect your body from diseases.”

“Then can I never go into Aria’s room again?”

Disappointment clouded Bonita’s expression. Seeing the child who looked like she was about to cry, Catherine hurriedly added.

“Wh-what are you saying? It’s not like she’ll be sick forever. Once that lady gets better, you can be together again.”

“But I want to see her now……”

Bonita trailed off.

Watching Bonita like that, Catherine waved her hand in the air before speaking as if she had a good idea.

“Ah, that’s right. Even if you can’t see her face, there’s a way to talk as if you’re right next to each other.”

“There’s such a way?”

“I’ll teach you something interesting. How about it, want to try?”

Bonita nodded her head enthusiastically. Catherine gestured to the maid standing by.

“Go bring some string and paper cups. Oh, and we’ll need scissors and glue too.”

The maid carried out the grand madam’s orders with surprising speed and promptness.

Before Bonita could marvel at that professional demeanor, Catherine cut the end of the paper cup with scissors.

Bonita looked at the paper cup with curious eyes.

‘A cup made of paper… how strange.’

Meanwhile, Catherine connected the two paper cups with string. She handed one paper cup to Bonita and said.

“Stand over there and hold this cup to your ear.”

“Like this?”

As Bonita followed Catherine’s instructions like a good child, the string connecting the two paper cups became taut.

Bonita put the mouth of the paper cup to her ear with a puzzled face.

At that moment, Catherine put her mouth to the cup.

[How is it? Can you hear well?]

“!”

Bonita’s eyes widened.