Lily slept for so long that her waist was slightly sore, so she thought she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep anymore, but she was wrong. Maybe it was because of the medicine. Or maybe it was because her stomach was full from the soup. Even while talking to Herald, she gradually became drowsy, and at some point, she lost consciousness.

“……”

When she came to her senses again, Lily was lying on the bed. The chirping of birds resounded warmly. Judging by the warm sunlight filling the bedroom, the sun had risen at some point.

Surely that man isn’t still in my room, is he?

The sudden thought made Lily hastily sit up. Her body still ached, but not to the extent of groaning like before.

“Are you awake, my lady?”

Emily, who had been waiting for Lily to wake up since early morning, approached and asked.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m fine.”

“Does anything hurt? It seems like you had breakfast. Did you take your medicine?”

“I did.”

While answering, Lily’s eyes were busy looking around. Emily, who immediately noticed who she was looking for, said,

“His Grace returned to his bedroom in the morning.”

“Ah, I see.”

Lily was both relieved and disappointed that Herald wasn’t there. She also scoffed at herself for being disappointed about it.

Come to think of it, I think I fell asleep on the sofa, but I woke up on the bed, so that man must have moved me.

Moreover, since he left in the morning, it seems he stayed by my side until the sun rose. Lily, who was uncomfortable with the fact that she had troubled Herald again, let out a small sigh.

“Is there anything bothering you?”

Emily asked worriedly upon seeing her expression filled with concern.

“If you’re not feeling well, I’ll call a doctor.”

“Mmm, I want to wash up. I sweated a lot, so I feel icky.”

Lily couldn’t bring herself to say that she was worried about troubling Herald, so she made another excuse. She did want to wash up, so it wasn’t an outright lie.

“Oh my. I’ve heard it’s not good to take a bath when you have a cold… Should I ask the doctor if it’s okay to take a bath?”

“Just call the doctor for me.”

Judging by Emily’s constant mentioning of the doctor, she seemed to want Lily to have a checkup.

Lily also had many questions about her exact condition, what illness she had contracted, and whether the rash marks on her face and body would disappear, so she decided to have a checkup.

Not long after, the doctor arrived carrying a large bag. Herald was with him too. He was even wearing the same outfit as yesterday, so Lily looked at him in slight confusion. She thought he had gone to sleep when he returned to his bedroom, but maybe not?

Herald sat on the sofa as if it was his place, and watched the doctor approach Lily. He stared so intently that beads of sweat formed on the doctor’s forehead.

“Di-did you sleep comfortably, my lady?”

The doctor not only stuttered severely to the point of being hard to understand but also trembled. His hand holding the bag looked so precarious that it seemed like he would drop it at any moment.

“I’ll take that for you.”

Emily, who seemed to have the same thought, took the bag the doctor was holding.

“Phew.”

The doctor took a deep breath and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand before asking again,

“Is there anywhere that hurts?”

“No…”

“Please tell me if there’s even the slightest discomfort.”

At the doctor’s added request, Lily swallowed her words and gauged Herald’s reaction. She didn’t feel like detailing where it hurt while he was listening.

“Come to think of it, I had something to do, but I forgot.”

As if he had noticed Lily’s discomfort, Herald left a message to the doctor to take good care of her and left the bedroom. As he left, both Lily and the doctor sighed in deep relief.

“Then I’ll ask again. Is there anywhere that hurts or feels uncomfortable?”

This time, Lily answered honestly without hiding anything. The doctor not only wrote down what Lily said in his notebook but also thoroughly examined her, such as taking her temperature.

“My lady, you have contracted a severe case of the flu. Fortunately, your fever has subsided, but your body hasn’t fully recovered yet, so please take care of your health for the time being. Especially be careful not to get stressed.”

“Stressed?”

“Yes. The reason you suddenly got the flu is that the stress you’ve been suppressing for a long time exploded. So, for the time being, avoid stressful situations as much as possible and rest with a relaxed mind.”

The doctor warned that if she didn’t, she would never recover, emphasizing the danger of being stressed.

How can I avoid being stressed? Living and breathing itself is painful and stressful…

“Yes. I will.”

Lily wanted to ask that, but knowing the doctor wouldn’t be able to answer, she smiled and nodded like an obedient student.

Although Herald left to give Lily space to answer honestly, he had no intention of letting it slide. After the examination was over and the doctor left the bedroom, he planned to call him separately and interrogate him about her condition and what they discussed.

“Commander.”

As he was waiting in front of the bedroom to do so, Dillon came to see him.

“I’ve completed the investigation you ordered.”

Last night, Herald had ordered Dillon to investigate what Fredrick Benjamin had done today. He had assigned someone to watch him, but it was simply to monitor if he was doing anything suspicious. For example, meeting the Second Prince or his cronies. Since it was for the purpose of tracking his location when Lily went out, he couldn’t receive detailed reports.

Thanks to the surveillance, he could easily find out where and who Fredrick Benjamin met if he wanted to, but what Herald wanted was deeper information.

“Let’s go to that room.”

Since it wasn’t a conversation to have in a corridor where anyone could pass by, Herald took Dillon to a nearby empty room.

“Yesterday, Fredrick Benjamin visited the nursing hospital where Grace Benjamin is admitted.”

Fredrick went to the nursing hospital but didn’t go to Grace Benjamin’s room and stayed in the lobby the whole time. He asked the hospital staff various questions, such as whether Lily had come or if he had heard that she might not come today. Dillon reported what he had found out without stopping.

“After waiting for a long time and Lady Lily still didn’t come, he told his secretary to leave work first and got on the carriage. Based on the timing, it seems he came straight here.”

“So he really intended to take Lily.”

How dare he. Herald snorted, ridiculing Fredrick Benjamin’s absurd idea.

“And while investigating what Fredrick Benjamin did at the nursing hospital yesterday, I discovered something strange.”

“Something strange?”

“Yes. It turns out that yesterday wasn’t the first time Fredrick Benjamin visited the nursing hospital.”

“Of course.”

He had visited before, and the guardian listed on the admission papers was Fredrick, not Lily, so it wasn’t strange at all that he had visited the nursing hospital a few times.

“What I mean is, Fredrick Benjamin visited the nursing hospital every week.”

Not just once a month, but every week?

“Every Monday, he visited with his secretary, and the secretary always carried a large box.”

“What was inside that box?”

“It contained snacks like candy or cookies. He gave it to Grace Benjamin’s dedicated caregiver, thanking them for taking good care of her. Sometimes he couldn’t come, but then only the secretary would come and give the snack box.”

Both Megan, the former caregiver, and Margaret, the current one, were Fredrick’s people. They were being paid by him to take care of Grace Benjamin exclusively, yet he brought snacks separately. And he visited every week? This was very unusual.

“It seems like there’s something in those snacks.”

“That’s unlikely. The hospital staff ate the snacks together whenever they arrived, but no one had any problems.”

Dillon frowned and continued,

“However… there seemed to be a slight issue with Grace Benjamin.”

“With her?”

“Yes. From what I heard, it doesn’t seem like they gave her the snacks, but strangely, after the snack box visited, she would complain more than usual, saying she didn’t want to take her medicine or go for a walk.”

Herald recalled the image of Grace Benjamin he had seen before as he listened to the report.

“The doctors and staff don’t seem to think much of it since her condition fluctuates anyway, but… the fact that she complains more every time after the snack box visits bothers me.”

“Was it always like that?”

“The staff’s accounts differ slightly, but it seems to be mostly the case. Sometimes she would throw a tantrum bordering on a fit, to the point where they had to administer sedatives.”

The Grace Benjamin that Herald had met had a younger mental age, but she hadn’t become that foolish. She was somewhat stubborn like a child, but if properly explained why something couldn’t be done, she would understand and give up her stubbornness. But the fact that her condition became strange every time the snack box arrived was definitely unusual.

Is there really something in that snack box? But the staff said they didn’t give Grace Benjamin the snacks. Of course, Margaret could have secretly given them to her without the staff knowing, but it was nearly impossible to do it secretly every time, not just once or twice.

Then what could it be? Herald pondered deeply, but without any guesses, he was frustrated.

In times like this, the quickest and most certain way was to meet the person directly and ask.

“I need to meet Grace Benjamin.”

Not wanting to drag it out, Herald called Coleman and ordered him to prepare a carriage as he would be going out.