If there were problems with her lungs again, it might seriously threaten her life.

First, Miela approached Blair and used sacred power. However, for some reason, the healing of her wounds was unusually slow.

‘What is this?’

At the moment when a faint magic circle appeared near Blair’s collarbone, the chief physician waiting behind dropped his medical bag.

“Oops, I apologize.”

Due to that, while Miela couldn’t see the magic circle, Blair’s wounds were healed.

Having completed the treatment, Miela stepped back. From this point on, it was the domain of medical science.
“May I examine the Duchess’s condition more closely? There might be remaining burns.”

At Mirella’s suggestion, Herdin nodded lightly, indicating permission.

After a while, the chief physician, who had finished the examination, reported on Blair’s condition.

“Fortunately, the head injury seems to be a mild concussion. It would be good for her to rest for a few days.”

“And her respiratory system?”

“There doesn’t seem to be significant damage to the respiratory system either, so a bit more rest should be sufficient.”

After greeting Herdin, the chief physician quietly left the room.

Inside the room remained Blair, who was asleep, Herdin, and Mirella.

Recalling Mirella’s words a while ago, Herdin turned to look at her. He met her concerned eyes.

“Your Excellency, are you alright?”

Herdin scoffed at her.

If someone else had asked, it might have sounded like a simple greeting or concern, but because he knew this woman’s impudence, it didn’t sound pleasant.

“Isn’t it more urgent to treat critical patients?”

“But, since the Duchess has received urgent treatment, now it’s time to take care of Your Excellency—”

“Reverend.”

Herdin cut off Mirella before she could finish her sentence. There was an unmistakable irritation in his voice.

“Tend to my wife first. Everything else comes after.”

With Herdin’s firm attitude, Mirella reluctantly approached Blair and began to examine her body.

“Fortunately, it seems there are no remaining burns.”

“Make sure to show gratitude for your swift arrival. Whether it’s towards the temple or personally, whichever you prefer.”

“No, I’m just acting on behalf of the will of the gods.”

Mirella waved away any need for gratitude.

As Herdin was about to form a judgment that maybe she was truly a genuine follower of the gods, Mirella asked.

“But… How did the Duchess end up like this?”

She approached with an innocent expression.

Whether it was genuinely innocent or a facade for something malicious, any form of innocence from her felt unpleasant.

Herdin gave a bitter smile. But that was fleeting. Laughter disappeared from his face, leaving only a cold gaze.

“Reverend.”

Herdin slightly lowered his upper body towards Mirella, meeting her gaze. The closer gaze felt more eerie than exciting to Mirella.

“Have you never heard the saying, ‘Don’t speak of what you see and hear in someone else’s house’? You should have learned it during your time as an apprentice priest.”

Even though his voice wasn’t raised, and it wasn’t a threatening remark, the overwhelming force in his words made her involuntarily shrink.

With that, Herdin looked down at her, then spoke again.

“You should go now. Even though it might be interesting to you, some things are better left unsaid.”

Mirella, looking frightened, gazed at him before lowering her eyes and saying, “I apologize,” then hurriedly left the room.
“…I have committed a sacrilege.”

After finishing her greetings, Mirella promptly left the bedroom. Finally, only Herdin and Blair remained in the room.

Herdin, having erased the tension from earlier, approached the peacefully sleeping Blair and sat on the chair beside the bed. Only then did he let out a deep sigh, and it seemed like the tension had finally lifted.

Whether it was due to the mood or not, Blair’s expression seemed a bit more relaxed than before.

The image of her, having turned the aristocrat’s life upside down, then calmly remaining alone, brought out a wry smile. Suddenly, memories from the forest villa surfaced, and anger welled up.

Back when he arrived at the villa, following Blair’s traces.

The moment he saw the villa engulfed in flames, everything stopped. His mind was filled only with her face.

The face that chose to die, trapped inside a wardrobe, unable to escape the past memories invoked by hypnotism.

Even in the cold, dying from the cold, the image of her struggling to light a lighter came to mind.

And the image of her delighting in just one roasted marshmallow like a child.

…It felt insane.

Perhaps knowing that Blair might have already escaped from the villa, he still rushed inside.

After that, there was no recollection. He couldn’t remember in what state of mind or how he found Blair within the engulfed villa.

The moment he regained consciousness was when he faced her in the midst of the flames.