‘It’s better this way.’

Aidan thought so.

The embarrassment of being misunderstood was momentary, but a mistake could be irreversible.

Holding Brody like that would have inevitably led to a breakdown, especially after having endured so long.

But Brody, unaware of his inner thoughts, said,

“Ah, I apologize, Your Highness.”

She attempted to diffuse the situation by brightly speaking to Mrs. Murphy.

“Wow, what a good smell!”

“…It’s potato soup. I thought you might have difficulty with anything else, so I mashed it finely.”

Oh, luckily a good topic had arisen to shift the conversation.

“Potatoes, are they already in circulation these days?”

“No, I only brought a little.”

“I see. It’s not much quantity anyway. With winter here, the farming season must be over.”

Mrs. Murphy nodded her head.

In response, Brody, who always spoke only what was necessary, also nodded subtly.

It meant it was okay to leave now. No, this time it also implied that she should leave quickly.

However, Mrs. Murphy hesitated as she turned to grab the doorknob.

“…?”

The woman soon awkwardly spoke, turning her head back.

“Everyone was waiting for you to wake up. You wouldn’t believe the fuss they made about making the best potato soup…”

Finishing her words, Mrs. Murphy quickly bowed and exited the room.

Brody blinked her eyes in confusion once again.

Was it a hidden camera? Or some kind of plot?

Expecting a scolding but receiving kindness?

“Your Highness. It’s not just me who finds this strange, right? It’s good, but this reaction…”

Aidan sighed and stirred the potato soup that Mrs. Murphy had left. It seemed like he was trying to cool it down for Brody to eat.

‘Is he planning to feed me?’

Brody recalled a memory from the South when she had fainted due to Jax and woke up in an unknown inn.

However, unlike that time, he offered the tray and said,

“Seems like River had something to do with it.”

Ah, as expected… Although it was regrettable, Brody concentrated on the conversation and asked in surprise,

“Huh? Chief of Staff River? He framed this well for me? …Why?”

As the aroma wafted over, it was more tempting than she’d thought. Brody quickly picked up the spoon as she awaited an answer.

However, her grip was weaker than she’d expected.

As her spoon-holding hand shook and the tray wobbled, a large hand came to her aid.

After moving the tray next to her, Aidan scooped some soup and brought it to her lips.

“…”

…He did feed her.

But a lot was different ‘this time.’

In the South, whether Brody had strength in her hands or not, she had desperately wanted to help. Now, it seemed he considered her no more than a patient.

‘Is it that… he becomes gentle only when I’m dangerously ill?’

His help was warm, yet at the same time, it left a bitter taste.

‘I could have eaten myself if my hands hadn’t been shaking.’

With feelings both good and bad, she accepted the soup.

When the warm soup filled her previously empty stomach, it reacted with some discomfort.

At that moment, Brody glanced at Aidan with a slight frown.

“…?”

Surprisingly, he too was making a face.

‘Hmm, was he like this when he was holding me earlier? I didn’t see his face then…’

With a strange feeling, Brody took the spoon back from him. She was grateful for the care but didn’t want to feel overly indebted.

“I’ll eat myself.”

“Ah… okay.”

Confused by Brody’s sudden shift, Aidan looked at her bewilderedly.

Was she embarrassed to be caught by Mrs. Murphy? Thinking his actions might have been burdensome, he carefully retreated without further pressing.

Unbeknownst to her, he was lost in entirely different thoughts, not finely attuned to Brody’s reactions.
He was thinking about River.

‘I should have expected it. When he didn’t bother me even though I was absent for so long, I should have anticipated…’

Aidan spoke with a heavy tone.

“River has widely spread the news about you growing new crops.”

Brody’s hand, which was shaking as she had difficulty eating the soup, stopped. She looked at Aidan with a tilted head, and he continued.

“Not just that. He said you ran away, worried that your background would be a burden to me. I am a man who went to find a benefactor in the north, a man endowed with lofty loyalty and love.”

Her previously tilted head now nodded. I see. So that’s how he framed it. It felt like a very River-like strategic move.

“I do feel uncomfortable about owing him, but… this time, it will certainly make things easier.”

“Owing…?”

Aidan chuckled abruptly.

Brody, Brody. You really don’t know River.

Because you don’t know, you can be so laid-back.

“River didn’t arrange this for you. He used you.”

Brody pondered his words.

Right. River wasn’t someone who would do anything for Brody’s sake.

If she had no value to him? He would’ve sent someone to discreetly get rid of her so she couldn’t be by Aidan’s side.

Because that’s the kind of person River was.