Domingo and Mild were still tending to Alexandre, who had yet to awaken, when I returned.

Philip had gone to see if he could prepare for the worstcase scenario.

I waited for Alexandre to wake up while drinking tea. Domingo and Mild continued to massage Alexandre’s eyes with eggs.

…

…

…

“How is His Majesty’s condition?”

Domingo wiped away his cold sweat at Philip’s question, which came around evening.

“There are no issues except for the bruise near the eye, which has almost completely subsided.”

“……Hoo.”

Both Philip’s complexion and the situation were not good at all. I was worried that Alexandre might never wake up.

‘I thought I had managed to avoid a death flag, and I was a bit relieved.’

The possibility of a new death flag from a trap I set… Achieving the goal of surviving is difficult.

With a sigh, I had the two people step aside for a moment, and I massaged the prince’s eyes with eggs.

“When will he wake up?”

It was then. Alexandre’s forehead twitched.

“Ugh.”

A moan escaped between his slightly parted lips.

I gestured to the three holding their breath to quickly take the egg away.

Right after the three people quietly left, Alexandre’s closed eyes trembled.

Now it was my turn to be a great actress. I gathered my voice and stuck close to the bed, tightly holding one of Alexandre’s hands.

“Oh, Arje. Are you conscious?”

Ugh, ‘oh’?

My insides are squirming, and my hands and feet are curling. But I mustn’t give away the removal of the death flag.

“Ugh…….”

“Please, open your eyes. Please!”

Alexandre’s eyelids lifted.

He stared at me blankly with blurry eyes, then soon mumbled with a faint smile.

“Impossible. Ellen worrying about me… Is this a dream?”

And then he closed his eyes again, so I quickly woke him up.

“It’s not a dream, Arje. Wake up.”

Alexandre opened his eyes again. Focus came into his eyes after blinking a few times.

“……Where? Ugh!”

He grasped his bruised eye as he tried to sit up.

“You’re at Count Morris’s residence.”

“Ah, I was meeting the Count…….”

Alexandre’s brow furrowed for a moment. It seemed he remembered what had happened to me.

I quickly intercepted him by grabbing his hand.

“Arje, there’s no such thing as collapsing all of a sudden.”

“……?”

“Do you know how shocked I was?”

“No, wait. Ellen. I…….”

He tried to say what he had to say. But since I had no intention of giving him the chance, I quickly burst into fake tears.

Loud enough for everyone outside to hear.

“Huhuhuhuk! You should have told me earlier if you were feeling so bad!”

As I lay down on the bed and sobbed, Alexandre was flustered.

“Ellen, calm down, please.”

“Madam, what’s the matter?”

“My lady? Are you alright?”

“Oh, His Majesty has awakened!”

The voices of Philip, Mild, and Domingo were heard in succession behind my back.

Everything was going according to plan.

“Calm down, please.”

Philip offered me his arms, preventing Alexandre from seeing my face pretending to cry.

“You were crying before, too…….”

He pretended to comfort me, crying into his chest, and handed me a handkerchief soaked enough to drop water when squeezed.

I took the handkerchief and shook my shoulders more, pretending to wipe my tears with it.

Poking my eye slightly for stimulation was an additional measure. A little stinging, but much better than facing a turbulent history.

“Sob!”

Philip comforted me in response.

“Madam, please calm down. Hasn’t he woken up now?”

“But still…….”

I turned my head towards Alexandre, flaunting my tearstreaked face. Alexandre’s eyes widened.

“Ellen, have you been crying so much that your eyes turned red? Because of me?”

I deliberately trembled my voice since he seemed not to believe my reaction.

“Well, of course. You’re such an important person to me.”

I mean, you are important.

It would be troublesome to act haughty here.

Philip spoke as I had taught him.

“Ellen was so surprised that she’s been tending to His Majesty here without moving since then.”
“Ellen nursed me…?”

“…….”

A surprised Alexandre covered his mouth with his hand.

“Ah, Ellen…….”

His eyes glistened moistly, unable to continue speaking, as if touched by my tensecond nursing care.

Philip gently patted my shoulder and spoke calmly.

“Your Majesty, it’s not surprising that you fainted all of a sudden.”

“I… fainted?”

“…Don’t you remember?”

“No, I do, but…….”

Alexandre, who had been examining our expressions, slightly furrowed his brow.

“Sir Mild?”

Sir Mild spoke in a gloomy tone.

“I was truly shocked as well. I thought Your Majesty had suddenly fainted… perhaps a chronic illness.”

“Fainted like that? A chronic illness?”

“Don’t you remember?”

Domingo spoke calmly.

“You had overworked yourself, so the doctor’s opinion was that you needed rest. So we waited for you to wake up.”

Of course, no doctor had been there.

“Overwork? No…….”

Alexandre shook his head.

“I think the Count hit me…….”

I handed the handkerchief back to Philip, then approached Alexandre and held his hand.

“Ellen?”