The servants of the black mansion were wandering in the garden, worried about Yvane, who couldn’t be found as the night deepened. The guards, with tired faces, quickly changed shifts and entered their rooms. The remaining servants’ faces showed anxiety. Perhaps the fear that the mistress might have really fled struck them around that time. In the interval of the guard change, a heavy iron door creaked open.

“Mistress! Mistress!!”
“Oh, mistress!”

The owner of this mansion, Clad Yuphris, returned with his wife on his back. Some servants, resembling wet mice, brought large towels for both. Afterward, other servants, realizing that Clad had come out without a mask, remained frozen, forgetting the fact that they had finally found Yvane.

“Mistress !!”

The chief physician Hille, wearing his shoes and running, passed by Clad and ascended to the second-floor bedroom without hesitation. From the entrance, Henna, who was carrying a dry towel as if she were carrying a drowned rat, quickly changed Yvane’s clothes. The treatment was swift.

Hille instructed Henna to prepare various things for the unconscious Yvane. He, looking at Clad, who stood with a healthy face until late at night, bowed deeply, stepped back, and left.

The bedroom cleared of everyone. Clad stood by the sleeping Yvane and silently looked down at her for a long time.

The next morning, Yvane, who opened her eyes abruptly as if someone had pushed her off a cliff, frowned at the sunlight seeping into her pupils.

“Uh .”

Surely, she tried to raise her hand to wipe her eyes. But her body didn’t even flinch. Yvane bit her lips tightly in the face of the impending pain and glanced around, surprised.

“Ah!”

Clad was looking down at her with bloodshot eyes. It was only then that Yvane realized that she was lying on Clad’s bed, and Clad, sitting awkwardly with his fist clenched, was glaring at her.

“… Does it hurt?”
“?”

Yvane tried hard to understand the situation. She had heard the fact that Louise had disappeared yesterday and had been disoriented. And she had been chasing the traces of those who took Louise away alone…

‘You’re not coming out.’

Buzz.

Her face became extremely hot. Yvane struggled to move her squeaky hand and almost turned the blanket over to cover her nose.

Clad seemed like a person who couldn’t even sigh. Maybe her body changed because she took away some pain just before she collapsed yesterday. ‘Did he watch over me all night?’

Clad reached out to her quietly, leaving only his eyes rolling back and forth, full of bloodshot lines.

She unknowingly shrank her shoulders and tightly closed her eyes. It was a subtle gesture, whether he was tidying up her flowing hair or checking her temperature.
Claude seemed like someone who couldn’t even sigh. It’s not that she couldn’t sleep because her body changed after experiencing some pain just before she collapsed yesterday. ‘Did he watch over me all night?’

Claude, leaving only his eyes rolling back and forth, quietly reached out to her, who was groaning. Unconsciously, she hunched her shoulders and tightly closed her eyes. It was a clumsy touch, but his cold fingertips briefly touched her raised forehead and quickly withdrew.

Whether he was tidying up her flowing hair or checking her temperature, it was a subtle gesture.

“My, my throat is dry.”

Her hoarse voice reached out to Claude. His eyebrows and bangs rose simultaneously.

Yvane, with a nervous heart, waited for Claude to offer her water silently.

As his hand touched her forehead, her body tingled too much, and her head turned white when she saw the water flowing in front of her.

…Is he doing this for me?

“My body doesn’t move well .”

Again, without a word, he supported her and sat her up on the bed.

Although their bodies were slightly in contact, it felt like his warmth was soothing her entire body.

A familiar soap scent brushed against her nostrils through the slightly open nightgown, then disappeared.

Yvane took the glass offered again, and her heart pounded too hard from the morning. She couldn’t relax, afraid that he might hear her.

“… Does it hurt?”

“It seems painful.”

“What do you mean by ‘seems painful’?”

chuckle.

Between the strange silence, the sound flowed, and Yvane hurriedly wrapped her stomach in tension. The end of Claude’s lips went up sharply.

“Isn’t it that you’re hungry rather than in pain?”

“…It’s both.”

“Petty.”

Is Claude Yuphris saying ‘petty’ to me now?

For a moment, Yvane looked up at him in bewilderment, mouth agape.

But soon, Claude, who had embraced her for a moment, shifted the clearly prepared head chef Ralph’s fuss to the patient’s side.

“Why, why is this happening!”

“It seems like something I’d say. Just stay still for a moment. What do you want to do?”

Surprised when Yvane flinched, Claude replied, frowning.

Yvane, with a strong premonition that he might throw her away, hugged Claude’s neck tightly. But Claude only paused for a moment and did not throw her away.

“Is this a dream?”

“What is?”