Thanks to my cold attitude whenever Reus came to see me, I was able to live for several days without encountering him much.

‘I think it might be okay to call Theron now?’

As I was walking back to my bedroom thinking I should try to break the bracelet right away, I spotted Milly.

Unlike when we shared the marital bedroom, now that we have separate rooms, Milly airs out the room and tidies up the bedding in time for my return.

But while she usually just greets me and leaves as quietly as possible, today she ran up to me as soon as she saw me in front of the bedroom door.

“Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!”

“Milly, what’s the matter?”

“Well, the Duke told me not to say anything… But I think Your Highness really needs to know.”

“What did Reus say? Tell me quickly.”

Her behavior and tone seemed a bit exaggerated, so I was suspicious that she might be up to something. But Milly gave an unexpected answer.

“The Duke is injured!”

“What…?”

“He had bandages wrapped around his arm! I’ve never seen him like that while working at the Duke’s mansion. Don’t you think he might be seriously hurt?”

“Are you sure about this? You didn’t see wrong?”

“How could I lie to Your Highness! He definitely had bandages on.”

Surprised by Milly’s words, I started heading straight for the marital bedroom but suddenly stopped in my tracks.

‘Wait a minute. Could the two of them be lying to me together?’

I had told Reus, who kept coming to see me whenever he felt like it, to relay any messages through Dwin from now on unless it was about Beliata. Maybe this was because he lost his excuse to meet me?

Still, I couldn’t just ignore hearing that he was injured, so I continued walking.

“Reus, it’s me, Roelle. May I come in?”

After a soft knock, there was a clattering sound from inside and soon the door flung open.

“Roelle…?”

“Did something happen? I just heard a loud noise…”

“Don’t worry about it. But what brings you here?”

While asking why I was there, Reus naturally pulled me into the room. Not satisfied with just that, he firmly closed the door.

“Why are you closing the door?”

“In case you get cold.”

There was a lot I wanted to say, but I held back for now and consciously reminded myself of the reason I came to the bedroom.

“Milly said you were hurt, so I came…”

No matter how I looked at him, he didn’t have the face of an injured person. They said he had bandages, but his arms and legs were clean.

Just as I thought I’d been deceived, I noticed Reus’s hand on the doorknob. The beige cloth wrapped around it was undoubtedly a bandage.

But it was a bit confusing to see him obediently wearing a bandage when he used to quickly remove even the hastily applied bandages on urgent areas after returning from the battlefield, finding them cumbersome.

I wasn’t sure if he was doing this to deceive me or if he was really seriously injured and wearing bandages…

‘Was there anywhere in the Duke’s mansion where he could get badly hurt? Besides, he’s using his injured hand right now.’

Soon my thoughts leaned towards Reus pretending to be hurt.

“You’re not really injured… are you?”

When I said that, Reus slowly removed his hand from the doorknob, making it even more suspicious.

“Don’t tell me you’re lying again?”

“No. The injury is real.”

Even after hearing his answer, I couldn’t hide my doubtful look. Reus carefully took my hand and led me to the bed, just like last time.

“But why are you taking me to the bed?”

“Because I don’t think you’ll believe me until you see for yourself.”

“…”

That was true, but…

I reluctantly sat on the bed. As if his words weren’t just for show, Reus began to unwrap the bandage. Until then, I was still in a somewhat indifferent state.

But soon the reddened bandage was revealed, and when it was completely unwrapped, a long cut across his arm was exposed. I wordlessly covered the wound with the bandage again.

‘I didn’t think he was really hurt…!’

I was so shocked that my mind froze for a moment. That’s when Reus leaned his face slightly over my head.

“Roelle.”

“…Yes?”

“It hurts…”

“Oh, does it hurt? Does it hurt a lot? I’m sorry, you were using your hand so naturally, I thought you were lying again…”

“No. I know very well that I’ve completely lost your trust.”

“…”

“So I understand if you can’t believe me even when I say it hurts.”

It’s all true, but I don’t know why I feel so sorry. Separate rooms or not, I felt I needed to take a closer look at Reus’s wound.

“You treated it alone again, didn’t you?”

The bandage was wrapped fairly well, but the ointment applied to the bare skin was clearly slathered on carelessly by anyone’s standards. Given that it looked similar to what I’d seen when Reus was seriously injured before, there was no need to hear his answer.

I looked around. It seemed the treatment was done not too long ago, as a first-aid kit was placed on the bedside table. I roughly took out the necessary items for wound treatment and placed them on my lap, then gently wiped off the ointment Reus had applied.

“If you’re hurt, you should call the doctor right away. How can you be alone like this…”

“Other people make me uncomfortable.”

“Still…”

After thoroughly disinfecting, I spread an appropriate amount of ointment on top. In fact, it wasn’t a wound that could be treated with just ointment, but since Reus had an innate healing ability that made him recover faster than others, I decided to be satisfied with this much.

“How did this happen?”

“I lost focus for a moment during training and couldn’t avoid an attack in time.”

“You’re not the type to make such mistakes…”

“I suppose I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

As I was muttering with a troubled heart, Reus’s words made me clamp my mouth shut.

‘Isn’t he saying this on purpose for me to hear…?’

Since I didn’t point it out explicitly, Reus watched my reaction for a moment before starting to list his accumulated complaints one by one.

“You’re overexerting yourself for unnecessary things when your body hasn’t even fully recovered yet…”

“Unnecessary…”

It seems he has no intention of changing his mind even if I explain accurately that it’s not like that.

“When I asked the servants, they said the amount you eat has noticeably decreased compared to before.”

I decided to ignore this comment since I was now eating a normal amount after previously overeating excessively.

“And if nothing else, I’d like you to continue receiving treatment. You said it seemed helpful, so at least until you’re completely fine.”

“At that time… my physical condition was really bad, Reus.”

“Of course, I know you can’t stand the sight of me−”

“I never said anything like that!”

I cut off Reus’s words in surprise as he was making up things again.

“Then can I visit you like before from now on?”

…I should have ignored whether he was making things up or not.

“That’s not okay.”

I could feel Reus becoming sullen, but I couldn’t let it go when I still hadn’t heard a proper explanation.

At that moment, Reus nuzzled his face slightly against my head where he was leaning. I was about to push him away when I heard his dejected voice, causing my raised hand to hesitate.

“I seem to have trouble sleeping these days, probably because I have a lot on my mind.”

“Again…?”

Reus slightly detached his face and looked down at me intently. It was an expression that suggested he had something he wanted. When I gave him a look as if to ask why he was staring like that, Reus soon spoke.

“Didn’t you promise to help me sleep if I couldn’t?”

“…What?”

“I think you said to tell you anytime if I needed it…”

Coincidentally, this time Reus wasn’t making things up. The memory of making such a promise was clearly present in my mind as well.

Probably anyone who saw me now would see the face of someone with that memory vividly coming back to life. Of course, Reus didn’t miss this at all.

“I said I was fine, but you were the one who insisted.”

“T-That’s…”

Reus, who had been closely attached to me until just a moment ago, completely detached his body. Then, taking advantage of my confusion, he gently pushed my shoulders and laid me down on the bed.

“Didn’t you promise that it would be okay to ask anytime?”

Reus looked down at me, trapped between his arms, with a smiling face. For some reason, I felt tense and swallowed unnecessarily.

Soon, Reus pulled my hand and moved it to his head.

“If it’s bothersome, you can just keep your hand here.”

“Isn’t that not helping at all…?”

It seemed like it would be more of a hindrance, but Reus didn’t seem to mind at all.

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

I’m not sure what exactly he means by taking care of the rest, but in any case, it seems my plan has failed again.

The separate room arrangement barely lasted a few days before ending in complete failure. As a result, I opened my eyes next to Reus along with the warm sunlight.

‘Wasn’t he lying about not being able to sleep?’

For someone who complained about not sleeping, Reus was sleeping too soundly. That sight felt a bit vexing, but what could I do?

‘After all, I was the one who made that promise…’

In fact, even if that wasn’t the case, knowing that Reus had been suffering from sleep disorders for a very long time, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse his request for help.

Whether it was intentional or coincidental, this time it was clearly my defeat.

I had a strong feeling that not only would I not be able to use separate rooms from now on, but Reus would also try not to leave me alone.

‘It was an opportunity I had just created… What should I do now?’

As I was biting my lips nervously due to the sudden rush of anxiety, a good idea suddenly came to mind.

And just then, Reus opened his eyes too. Feeling good about finding a plausible solution, I smiled and said,

“Now that you’re awake, shall we go have breakfast, Reus?”

Reus’s face, which had looked refreshed from sufficient sleep, immediately clouded with suspicion. I don’t understand why this man keeps making expressions that I should be making.