‘So noisy……’

I barely regained consciousness at the chirping of birds.

Soon my waist hurt as if it had been pricked by a needle.

Then I wondered why the back of my head wasn’t resting on a soft pillow.

When I slightly opened my eyes, I saw Jade sleeping with his arm extended to me.

‘I was sleeping on Jade’s arm.’

As I gazed at Jade breathing quietly, the actions from earlier flashed before my eyes.

It started with kissing while lying underneath him.

Jade removed my chemise with such natural movements, and tried to leave marks on my neck.

I pushed him away, saying it wasn’t winter so I couldn’t hide it with a thick dress that covered my neck.

He swallowed his disappointment and just gave ticklish kisses.

After that, he didn’t listen to me and acted as he wanted, but…

I squeezed my eyes shut, embarrassed by the memories that kept popping up in my mind.

‘I must be crazy. I vowed never to do this with him again, but why……’

I had thought about it before. That my relationship with Jade was very ambiguous.

‘If we were simply friends from the start, Blanche wouldn’t have come to be.’

It was too much to call us just friends, as we often did things that ordinary friends wouldn’t do.

Moreover, the moment Jade smelled of rose perfume, that is, the scent of Princess Cassandra, was truly unpleasant.

Even though I’m not his lover or wife, so it’s strange to be jealous of Princess Cassandra.

I always harbored feelings of whether I could really do this, and suppressed myself.

But recently, spending most of my time with Jade, I realized.

That I enjoy being by Jade’s side along with Blanche.

‘I guess I still like Jade.’

Acknowledging that emotion, I no longer wanted to remain by his side just as a friend.

‘I want to have a serious conversation about what we’ll do from now on, but…..’

Was it because I rejected his proposal before? Since then, Jade hasn’t talked about our future.

‘How bewildered would he be if I changed my attitude after a few months? Even I find it absurd, so Jade would naturally……’

Because of my past record, it was awkward for me to bring it up first.

Looking back, rejecting his proposal wasn’t really because I didn’t want to do it.

The fact that the emperor was watching Blanche and me closely because of our connection to the ‘Rowe’ family was ultimately a secondary reason.

I felt burdened by his proposal.

‘I had originally thought about raising Blanche alone for life.’

I felt uncomfortable, as if I had placed an unwanted responsibility on him by giving birth to Blanche without even hearing his opinion.

‘The more I think about it, the more complicated it gets. I don’t know what to do.’

Jade is usually sensitive to the slightest movement and wakes up easily, but he must be very tired now as he was still asleep.

I carefully got up from the bed.

‘But, this is strange.’

As I put on the chemise he had taken off, such a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Even though he couldn’t see, and couldn’t even sign properly unless I guided his hand…

How did he manage last night so skillfully? As if his eyesight had been restored.

Of course, it was a useless thought. If he could see again, there would be no reason not to tell me.

His eyesight was such that I had to support him on the stairs and pay attention when he ate.

‘It must be my imagination. There’s no way he can see.’

More than that, I was concerned about the rash on my arm and examined it.

Except for the reddish color, it had almost subsided.

‘It wasn’t an epidemic. Thank goodness.’

If it had been an epidemic, it could have been a big problem.

I was relieved that there was no risk of spreading the disease to Jade, Blanche, or the people in the Rowe mansion.

‘I should go to Blanche.’

When I stood in front of the door to go to Blanche, I saw a crookedly folded drawing paper sticking out from underneath.

I picked up the paper and unfolded the creased part.

‘This is……’

On the paper, Blanche was drawn between me and Jade.

Below it was written:

Since she couldn’t enter this room, Blanche had expressed her desire to see me by drawing on the paper.

‘In the past… she would have only drawn the two of us.’

It was evidence that Blanche’s relationship with Jade had changed.

‘Blanche wants to call Jade daddy. It must mean she’s really comfortable with him now.’

It felt different from when she simply wanted a father like other children.

Above all, while Jade had said in the past that he didn’t love Blanche, I now knew it was a lie born from his awkwardness in expressing emotions.

‘Jade gave up his eyesight to save Blanche. He doesn’t even show it, and rather hides it so Blanche won’t feel guilty.’

……Jade loves Blanche like I do.

It was a feeling beyond simple responsibility.

‘Blanche must have felt that too.’

Tears suddenly welled up, and I quickly bit my lip to stop myself from crying.

I took a deep breath, wiped away my tears, and carefully opened the door to go out.

“Mom!”

From far away, Blanche, who was with Mary, spotted me and came running.

“My baby. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes! Mom, are you okay now? Not sick? Should Shu Shu blow on it?”

“I got this, and Mom is all better now. Thank you.”

I hugged Blanche tightly while waving the drawing paper.

“Hehe, I’ll draw more for you!”

Her clear laughter sounded so nice.

“What were you playing?”

“Um, I played train with Aunt Ayla and Mary on the stairs. Aunt Ayla left a little while ago. Mom, let’s play train with Shu Shu too!”

“Train?”

When I turned my eyes to the central staircase, toy model trains were placed here and there.

“Oh my… What’s all this.”

“Blanche insisted on showing it to you, miss, so she wouldn’t let us clean it up……”

Mary explained the situation with an awkward smile in response to my surprised exclamation.

‘If we leave it like this, it’ll be inconvenient for Jade to go up and down the stairs.’

When I pushed one of the trains aside with my foot, Blanche put it back in its place.

“I’m going to ask Dad, I mean, the Marquis to play together later.”

Jade didn’t want Blanche to know that he couldn’t see.

‘It’s a bit awkward to tell her to clean up because of Jade……’

The servants didn’t use the central staircase, so I couldn’t use that excuse to persuade her either.

“Um, Blanche? If you step on a train, it’ll hurt, and if you fall, it’ll be a big problem.”

“We can just be careful and avoid them. Auntie said that the Marquis played with these when he was little. Don’t clean them up, ever!”

Even Blanche, who usually doesn’t throw tantrums, was stubbornly insistent this time.

“Hmm……”

Ayla would know that Jade can’t see, so why didn’t she stop this?

“Mom. Shu Shu is hungry. Let’s go to the dining room to eat.”

“Okay, alright.”

Blanche said, clutching her stomach.

Her stomach was making a series of growling noises.

‘I can clean them up before Jade wakes up, I suppose.’

For now, I had no choice but to take Blanche down to the dining room, being careful not to step on the trains.

Bang!

Just then, there was a sound of a door being opened and closed urgently.

Blanche was startled.

I was quite surprised too, so I looked around.

“Mom. Shu Shu’s heart fell out and then came back in……”

I patted Blanche’s chest area where her heart was racing, tilting my head in confusion.

“Jade?”

As I was looking to see what the sound was, Jade walked quickly out of the corridor.

He was covered in cold sweat and looked very anxious.

He came down the stairs, accurately seeing and avoiding the trains placed on the steps.

“Larien. Where did you go? Are you really okay?”

Jade stood right in front of me and hugged me. He moved urgently, muttering words I couldn’t understand.

‘It seems like he can see……?’

Something felt odd. Jade definitely shouldn’t be able to see, but he’s accurately avoiding the toys on the stairs?

‘……He can see.’

As I realized that my earlier thought wasn’t useless, anger boiled up.

“……Mary. Take Blanche to the dining room first.”

“Lady Blanche. They have something to discuss. Let’s go ahead.”

“Okay, Mom. You have to come quickly……”

After Blanche and Mary entered the dining room, only Jade and I remained in the hall.

“Jade. Can you see?”

“……!”

Seeing Jade unable to look at me and lowering his head, I was certain.

That he really could see.

Suddenly, I remembered what he had said yesterday.

‘Even if I do something wrong?’

‘Wrong?’

‘Yes. If I do something wrong, even if it makes you angry. You won’t leave, right?’

This is why his reaction was slow when I asked if there was anything he was hiding.

‘If it wasn’t a big deal, I was going to let it slide.’

But even when I said I wouldn’t get angry and would forgive him, Jade kept avoiding answering until the end.

“Since when? No, were you ever really unable to see?”

“……”

“Why did you pretend you couldn’t see and deceive me?”

This was beyond the scope of what I could forgive and consider insignificant. I couldn’t understand since when he had been deceiving me.

‘And without knowing that……’

Since when could it have been? Why did he do it?

I hated myself for having endless doubts. I hated Jade for creating this situation.

My trust was broken and I was overwhelmed with a sense of betrayal.

Having already given him one chance, it was harder to suppress my anger.

“Because you couldn’t see, because it was because of Blanche…… Do you know how sorry I felt?”

“……Larien.”

“I thought you’d have to live like that for the rest of your life, I was really worried. You don’t know what I was thinking, how my heart ached.”

Jade didn’t say anything this time either.

Disappointment piled up again.

“I’m going back to Earl Boston’s mansion now.”

I didn’t want to see Jade for a while.