But all of a sudden, Reus let out a loud voice and strode right up to me. Then, he cupped my cheeks with both hands and abruptly lifted my face.

“Uh?”

It was a bit rushed and rough, unlike Reus’ usual touch. Because of that, my cheeks were slightly squished, causing my pronunciation to come out a bit slurred unintentionally.

“Who did this to you?”

“Huh?”

Why does he seem so angry?

Reus’ eyes were cold to the point of feeling chilly. Only after seeing the direction those eyes were looking did I realize why he reacted this way.

‘Ah, right. I got hurt.’

I had momentarily forgotten while escaping from the attic space to the bedroom.

It seemed like the fear had overshadowed the pain.

Come to think of it, I don’t really remember if I ran into any servants on the way here. Did a servant who saw my condition say something to Reus, leading him to come to the bedroom like this?

I’m not sure what’s going on, but it seems like this man needs a proper explanation.

So for now, I gently held the large hands that were grasping my cheeks.

‘Please let go of my cheeks…’

When I stared at him, not wanting to speak in a slurred manner, Reus seemed to finally realize that he was squishing my cheeks and hurriedly removed his hands.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“More importantly, Roel. Who on earth did this to you?”

But I could still feel the anger surging in his deeply lowered voice.

Why does he think someone did this to me?

‘I got hurt by myself though…’

This is the Grand Duke’s castle, and I am the Grand Duchess. Isn’t it common sense that no one can do anything to me here?

It would have been nice if he had just casually asked how it happened.

I answered in a meek voice.

“I… did it to myself…”

Upon hearing my answer, Reus momentarily froze before twisting his eyebrows as if he had heard something absurd.

No, that’s not it. No matter what, I’m not the type of person to go around headbutting everywhere.

But it seemed like Reus had already perceived me as a terribly clumsy woman. The absurdity filling his eyes grew deeper and deeper.

I felt slightly embarrassed by his reaction that was so different from when he first entered the room.

“I ran into a picture frame…”

“A pic…ture frame…”

He seemed even more dumbfounded after learning what I had bumped into. Reus let out what sounded like a dry laugh, and soon heaved a very deep sigh as if it came from deep within.

…Isn’t it too much to sigh like that right in front of someone’s face?

“It’s not like I went and bumped into it on purpose…”

Without hearing the full story, it would surely seem strange, but I hadn’t decided how to mention that space yet. So instead of explaining, I just glossed over it.

Then Reus sighed once more, took my hand, and led me to the bed.

His back clearly showed his exasperation, but the way he sat me down on the bed was very gentle, unlike before.

“I learned for the first time today that it’s possible to hit your head on a picture frame like this.”

Reus seemed to be trying his best to suppress his anger and speak calmly. But as soon as he properly checked my injury, his tone quickly turned sour.

“You really smashed into it properly.”

I told you I didn’t smash into it…

Still, I knew that Reus wasn’t the type to make fun of someone who got hurt, so I didn’t feel upset by his tone.

Soon, the hand that was holding mine got closer to my injured head. The moment Reus’ palm lightly touched it.

I gasped, feeling a pain severe enough to take my breath away.

“Ngh…”

Reus, who was about to move his hand and apply pressure as usual, hurriedly removed his hand.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“A little… It only hurts a little.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say it didn’t hurt at all.

But I only held back my groan for a brief moment, and as soon as I opened my mouth, a long moan escaped from me.

At that, Reus couldn’t bring himself to touch my forehead and just kept stroking my chin area and innocent strands of hair with his thumb, his expression slightly pained.

It was as if he was saying that he was more upset than me, the one who got hurt.

It was just my assumption and not even certain, and even if it was true, it would have been a reaction stemming from pure concern.

But… I don’t know why my heart suddenly started beating faster for no reason. My heart was pounding so loudly that I was startled and couldn’t keep my eyes still.

However, Reus seemed to interpret it differently and let out another deep sigh.

“It doesn’t hurt that much…”

“Tsk… Your forehead is black and blue, and you say it doesn’t hurt.”

Reus’ eyes sharpened as if telling me to just shut up when I try to say something ridiculous. Then he carefully raised his hand to my forehead again.

“Even if it hurts, please bear with it for a bit.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t just answer well… Can’t you be a little more careful in the future?”

“That too… Okay. I’ll try from now on.”

From then on, it was a barrage of gentle nagging.

With each thing Reus said, I wanted to retort, “Strictly speaking, I didn’t go and bump into it,” but worry was thickly laced in his tone and touch, so I just silently listened to his nagging.

* * *

Yesterday, Reus seemed to be in a worse mood than usual, so I couldn’t bring up the story about the library at all.

No, let’s put that aside.

‘In life, you can sometimes bump your head on a picture frame. Why is he nagging so much?’

I learned for the first time yesterday that Reus was such a talkative person.

With his blunt tone, he went on and on…

If he had only nagged about getting my head hurt, I could have understood that to some extent. The problem was that it wasn’t the case.

Reus recited his nagging as if he had prepared a script, and most of it had nothing to do with injuring my head.

Things like wearing a coat when going out in the evening even if it’s early summer, being a little more careful when going up and down stairs, or not standing in front of the railing when talking to other people in case I accidentally misstep.

Of course, the topic of food was not left out either.

If there had been even a hint of annoyance in his tone, I would have somehow retorted…

But he calmly recited only correct things in a not-so-loud voice, leaving me momentarily speechless and unable to make any counterargument.

‘Anyway, how do I bring it up?’

I fiddled with the ring I had picked up earlier when I entered the attic.

While I was there, I thought about examining behind the picture frame one more time, but just thinking about that dark space made me a little scared, so I gave up and quickly left the attic.

Thinking about it, I don’t know how I managed to go back and forth to that dark and quiet forest so well, and alone in the late dawn.

Anyway, now I’m sitting on a single-person sofa in the corner of the third floor, blankly staring at the barely visible attic entrance.

‘I can’t just take Reus to the library without a plan. What should I do…?’

If we spent as much time together as before, I would have carefully brought it up during a walk.

But these days, Reus seemed to be busy with work again, barely making time for meals.

I also thought about bringing dinner and casually visiting his office…

‘It wouldn’t be good to create worrisome issues when he’s busy, right?’

Feeling at a loss, I aimlessly laid my chin on the windowsill where a refreshing breeze was blowing in. After pondering for a long time, I ended up falling asleep.

* * *

“…Your Highness! Princess, are you there?”

“Mmm…”

“Princess!”

I woke up groggily to the sound of someone’s continuous shouting from somewhere.

“What is it…?”

As I forcibly blinked my eyes to shake off the sleep, a loud shout was heard again.

“Princess, if you’re here, please make a sound, even a small one!”

As soon as I realized that the voice belonged to Dwin, the sleepiness disappeared in an instant. I turned my head and looked out the window.

The dark sky reminded me that it was late at night, past the evening hours. As soon as I realized that fact, my body automatically rose up.

Soon, Dwin’s voice was heard again from a slightly closer distance.

“Princess, are you really not here?”

Hearing the voice that seemed a bit overly anxious, I quickly headed to the center of the third floor. Then I saw Dwin in front of the stairs leading to the attic, fidgeting and hesitating whether to go up or not.

“Dwin.”

“Ahh! Prin…Princess… You start…startled me.”

“I’m sorry, Dwin. Did I scare you a lot?”

“Ah, no. Fortunately, you were here. If you weren’t, His Highness would have really…”

The rest of the sentence was too quiet for me to properly understand, so I asked what he meant. But Dwin kept waving his hands, saying it was something I didn’t need to worry about.

“Did you search for a long time? I fell into such a deep sleep… I’m sorry, Dwin.”

“No, there’s no need to apologize, Princess…!”

“Thank you for saying that. But I should be more careful next time.”

Only a very small number of servants were allowed to enter the library, but even they couldn’t come and go as they pleased and could only access the first floor.

It was only natural that no one other than Dwin would be able to find me when I fell asleep on a chair in the most secluded corner of the third floor.

‘I should have read a book on the first floor.’

But then Dwin spoke a bit urgently.

“More importantly, His Highness is waiting for you at the entrance.”

“Reus is?”

Soon, I arrived at the library entrance with Dwin. I saw Reus standing at the very bottom of the stairs. He looked quite… anxious and also seemed to have a complicated mind.

“Reus.”

Did he not even know I was here? Reus twisted his head at my call. I started to feel a bit uneasy at his slightly intense reaction.

‘I hope I don’t get trapped in nagging hell again today.’

With that worry, I carefully descended the stairs.

“Reus, I’m sorry. I fell into such a deep sleep… Cough−.”