However, only after the doctor examined me to make sure I hadn’t caught a disease from the rain, could he treat Johann.

‘Master. You must rest for at least two or three days.’

‘You are right. The Master will take care of himself, but as a doctor, that’s my opinion.’

But no one dared to speak to Johann freely.

Perhaps because Johann was a fearsome master. That’s when I cautiously stepped forward.

‘May I care for Johann? It doesn’t seem to require any great skill.’

‘If you say so, madam? Then we would be very grateful.’

Fortunately, Johann also accepted my care.

‘It’s good if Estelle takes care of me. We can spend time together.’

So I ended up attending to Johann’s meals and bedroom needs.

Of course, I didn’t have to prepare or work hard. The duke’s mansion had everything prepared.

‘Come to think of it, the people of the Blanchett Ducal House are a bit unexpected.’

I was sure the people of the Blanchett Ducal House would dislike me. Even though I was close to Johann, I could detect feelings of hatred.

But I didn’t feel much hatred from them.

Rather, it was close to hospitality.

‘Did Johann pull some strings?’

He’s a truly versatile mastermind. Having gotten the measure of him, I asked Johann.

“Is there anywhere that hurts?”

“The wound area is a bit uncomfortable.”

“Is it painful? I’ll look at it now.”

I bent down to check Johann’s wound.

Then Johann suddenly embraced me and put me beside the bed. He nuzzled his high nose against my nape and breathed ‘good’ in a languid sigh.

“I was uncomfortable without you.”

“What’s this? I was feeding you right in front of me.”

“It’s different from holding you.”

Johann was without a shirt over his bandaged upper body. I could clearly feel his body as the bandage rustled.

As I struggled to break free, Johann chuckled and said, ‘where do you think you’re going?’ and wouldn’t let go.

“Going to sleep like this?”

“It’s evening now, anyway.”

The hard muscles pressing against me, his lips tickling my ear, his heavy yet crisp scent.

“Shall we sleep like this?”

He teased my ear with his sweet voice.

My face turned red without me realizing it. But I tried not to show it.

‘I’m always pushed around with Johann.’

Honestly, I didn’t think I was the type to be easily swayed by others.

“Okay. Let’s sleep like this.”

I turned to face Johann and met his eyes.

One pillow shared, at a close distance where even our breath could be heard. Lying and looking into each other’s eyes felt strange.

Johann, who was quietly looking at me, yawned in a whispering tone.

“But I’m not sleepy. Tell me your story.”

“My story?”

“Anything’s fine. Just be comfortable.”

It was difficult to talk about what happened in Libertan because there was so much to hide.

But there was one thing I could do.

“I don’t have an interesting story to tell, even if you ask.”

Rabianne Orphanage.
The nobleman, Johan, might not enjoy the story of my commoner days.

Johan grabbed me and pulled me up onto the bed. Then he held me in his arms and patted my shoulder.

“Do it anyway. I want to know about you.”

“I lived with dozens of others in the orphanage. There were so many orphans. It was a chaotic place.”

Children were abandoned in the world in every era.

I was one of those children.

A child who didn’t know their parents. A forsaken child.

No one knew how I ended up in that orphanage. Not even the principal or the teachers.

There were too many children abandoned and running away repeatedly.

“I was the weakest and smallest one in the orphanage. The principal wanted to abandon me because he thought I was one less mouth to feed, but whether I was too small or too stupid, he forgot to send me away.”

“It was probably because you were stupid.”

“Right? I wasn’t a smart person. I used to vent my anger on the children, and once I was really beaten to the point of nearly dying…”

A spark of life passed through Johan’s red eyes.

“Tell me in detail. What did those bastards, the principal and others, do?”

“It’s all in the past. I don’t even care anymore.”

It was not because I was an angel that I was defending the principal.

‘But it’s too long ago.’

Besides, when I think about the time I spent in Libertan, it wasn’t bad when I was in the orphanage.

“Usually, in the orphanage, the small children become targets. Among the boys and girls there, many of them bullied me.”

Thinking about it, I really did receive a lot of hatred here and there.

“Estelle.”

Even his elegant long fingers calmly brushed my cheek.

“Shall I take revenge for you?”

“Huh?”

“The bastards who bullied you when you were young. I’ll find them one by one and take revenge for you.”

He was silently enraged.

Only then did I realize, and I shook my head, refusing.

“Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry at my wife. I’m angry at those bastards who tormented my wife.”

I couldn’t even remember how I was bullied.

The orphanage was too bleak, and the children had to bite and tear at each other to survive.

Therefore, I didn’t feel the need to take revenge.

“I’m fine now. I have Johan by my side.”

Johan sighed lightly at my naive words. He slowly pulled me tightly into his arms. Johan’s whole body embraced me.

“It would have been nice if I had been with you from then.”

He spoke languidly, like a sigh.

“I could have protected you then.”

“Would you have?”

Perhaps if I hadn’t been adopted by Libertan, if I had met Johan.

We wouldn’t have met like this.

You wouldn’t betray me by saying you’ll take revenge, and I wouldn’t be afraid of you.

The better the thoughts, the chillier the reality that I couldn’t became, making my heart go cold. Anyway, reality doesn’t change.

I became the adopted child of my enemy, Libertan, and he crawled up from the bottom to become Libertan’s revenge ghost.

I clasped my hands together and laughed lightly.

“Could we have been a couple back then too?”

“Of course. I would have found you and married you.”

But Johan never told me the truth, and I never revealed my secrets to him.

We are looking at each other’s illusions.

Even if this warm feeling and affection are all fake, bound to disappear someday.

‘Save me, please!’

You seemed so real then.

‘If you cry and beg, I’ll listen to everything.’

I’m the fake one.

So I’ve never had the real thing.

But if someone who truly loves me would speak to me with such a face, it felt like they would.

Johan kissed my smile on the cheek.

“Estelle, what are you thinking?”

“Just now, the other us that Johan talked about.”

Even though I had been betrayed so many times, I wanted to believe in Johan.

But still, I couldn’t completely give up on a way to escape. So it’s believing in Johan while being ready at any time.

“If Johan finds me like that, I think I’ll be happy.”

I snuggled into Johan’s sturdy arms, focusing only on the comfort of his warmth.

(This is a time divider.)

Estelle fell asleep in that state.
Johan gently stroked Estelle’s back as she slept.

“Sleep well.”

She really was a lovable girl, just like a rabbit.

Even as she was on guard, she would quickly open her eyes wide and scuttle after him.

“What do you think I’m going to do?”

A traditional Libertan thought came to Johan’s mind as he unconsciously smiled.

“She seemed to hear about the protection magic for the first time.”

It’s an understandable reaction if one knows nothing of magic. But for a Libertan, it was hard not to know.

In Libertan, there was a protection magic passed down through generations.

Johan held a slight magic power in his hand. He shouldn’t use magic, but handling this amount of power was fine.

Johan, carefully lifting Estelle’s sleeping clothes, breathed power into her collarbone.

This was the place where the descendants of Libertan engraved protection magic.

But nothing came to him for Estelle.

Then, just below, a faint scar like a sword wound caught his eye.