Calling out to Claud, who stood there, Yuan said weakly, “It’s late, Your Excellency. Please take your medicine.”
As the pain gradually surged through his clean skin, and his eyes began to congest, a low voice flowed from Claud’s mouth as he gritted his teeth and endured the pain.

“Take the medicine.”

Yuan nodded.

“Yes. You seem to be in pain.”

Claud, who had been staring at her face for a while, let out a short, bitter laugh. Then, he slowly approached, grabbed the teacup, and quickly swallowed its contents in one gulp.

The rough sound of placing the teacup down cut through the silence loudly.

Claud looked down at her expressionlessly.

“Saying you’ll share a bed in this situation, with someone you don’t worry about and can’t trust.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Why.

After spending several peaceful nights, why try to share a bed now?

Yuan remained silent for a moment before answering.

“I don’t want Your Excellency to be in pain.”

“Why?”

Why would he want to know that reason? Even though he doesn’t care about me.

Now Yuan, who couldn’t turn away even if she wanted to, couldn’t understand Yuan’s feelings.

Did he misunderstand that he made her unhappy? Was he sorry for not proving the truth that night? Was he grateful for providing a place to stay without being dragged to Palaissey? Maybe because they might continue living together?

How could she explain these complicated feelings?

Yuan became anxious, looking at Claud’s pain, which was rising rapidly to his chin.

“I just don’t like it. Is there a wife who likes her husband being sick?”

Claud’s expression subtly wrinkled.

There was nothing Yuan could say to him. Whatever misunderstanding he had, it was a hundred times better than wandering through the terrible pain.

Unconsciously, Yuan suppressed her fluttering heart and stood up in front of him.

Then, she wrapped her hands around Claud’s cheeks, who was looking down at her with bloodshot eyes.

His hot breath scattered on her palm.

“It’s better to share a bed with Your Excellency. So please don’t ask about the reasons anymore.”

Yuan’s lips, with a pigeon-toed stance, gently touched the tip of his chin.

Above Yuan’s lowered eyelashes, Claud’s wandering gaze settled.

A long glass vial was filled with transparent green potion.

It was the cleaning potion Yuan made, accepting Hille’s advice. Hille was impatient to try it out and urged Yuan.

“If this can really erase anything cleanly, Madam will become extremely wealthy! Market demand will skyrocket if you release it. Instead of having to scratch it twenty times, you only need to scratch it five times. Who wouldn’t like that? Nobles wouldn’t care whether they scratched it twenty times or five times, but commoners…”

Hille was passionately expressing himself and then abruptly caught Yuan’s gaze.
Yuan was also a count’s favorite, and now, even though she was a fallen aristocrat, wasn’t she still an aristocrat’s wife? They had become too close, and she made a big mistake.

“I’m sorry, Madam.”

“It’s okay. Indeed… that’s true. Nobles would spend money on medicine for eternal life rather than medicine that helps with household chores.”

Hille fervently nodded, reaffirming his deep respect for the Feliesse family in his heart.

After that, things proceeded swiftly.

Yuan, holding the brush made by the stable keeper Mr. Majarang, headed to the west pavilion in question.

Since Hille had gone up to Claud’s bedroom for the morning treatment, this time she was with Henna.

Henna, carrying a vial of cleaning potion with a bewildered expression, looked greatly surprised when they arrived at the entrance of the west pavilion.

“Madam? Why here in the west pavilion?”

“To experiment with that potion and, while at it, clean up a bit. Wouldn’t it be nice to spruce up this place as a side task?”

“Here?”

“Yeah. They say this place is full of the Master’s childhood memories. Since he hardly gets fresh air, I thought it might be nice to clean it up a bit and see if he comes out.”

Henna, surprised by Yuan’s words, slowly looked up at the small cabin-sized west pavilion.

Yuan, after observing Henna’s expression for a moment, followed the sound of a whining noise.

There, at a distance, a dog with patches of missing fur was wagging its tail. It looked like a wolf that had strayed away from the pack.