“To think such a small body was almost cut open… Where on this small body would you even find a place to wound?”

Lady Temerly sobbed. She wiped her tears with a handkerchief, then suddenly raised her head, trembling with anger.

“Those people! I told them bloodletting was the wrong method! I’ll bury them all!”

As soon as one patient was saved, another seemed to emerge. And this patient, I couldn’t cure.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I stepped outside where Darius was waiting for me.

“Have you been waiting all this time?”

“I believed you would succeed.”

I was the one who had sent him away.

“Thank you. For saving a child precious to me.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you.”

It was Darius, the highest authority in the castle, who had suppressed the doctor’s opposition. It was because Darius had advised Lucion to reconsider that Rose’s family had given in.

“Thank you for trusting me and leaving it to me.”

We smiled and embraced each other. There was a refreshing sense of relief from unloading a heavy burden. And the fatigue from not sleeping properly since last night hit me all at once.

“Darius, I know you get worried when I fall asleep like this…”

My consciousness started to fade.

“How much do you intend to worry me… But it’s okay. I’m here now.”

Darius whispered something into my ear as I closed my eyes. I smiled faintly to his gentle voice.

Like a thread unraveling, Annette slumped into Darius’s arms.

Darius held the closed-eyed Annette as if handling something fragile.

Her pale skin, her prominent nose.

The blue eyes that usually shared so many stories were now hidden behind her eyelids.

This woman had saved Rose.

The mischievous younger sister of a friend he had known since childhood. She had broken through everyone’s criticism.

“Lady Annette saved my sister.”

“You nearly lost your sister because of your wrong choice.”

Lucion’s face was pale. Darius ignored him.

Every nerve in Darius was alert to the sensations Annette provided in his arms.

Soft, gentle, warm.

This small frame had ridden into the perilous forest and stayed up all night by a patient’s side.
“You’re still too reckless.”

The advice he had given her when they saw the wild boar, he now realized, should have been directed at her.

This woman, who energetically roamed around Inkheart Castle all day, yet seemed so small and fragile when her eyes were closed.

Just holding her brought a smile to his face, but seeing her exhausted and collapsed like this…

His heart twinged.

Just like when Annette had collapsed in the forest not long ago, his heart ached again.

Why? Why did looking at her bring a smile to his face and also cause his heart to ache?

Darius was lost in thought when it happened.

“Your Grace, we’ll take care of the lady.”

The servant’s reasonable suggestion made Darius open his eyes wide and stare at the servant.

“She’s my wife, I’ll do it.”

Yes, wife.

Although their marriage was a strategic alliance born of necessity, they had decided to enter into it without anyone’s interference, solely between the two of them.

Thus, Annette became his wife and his only family.

‘But what were you like when you first accepted Annette as your wife? You had little interest. The retainers were all concerned only about the dowry Annette would bring.’

A voice inside Darius spoke to him.

‘What have you done while Annette has been doing so much for you?’

His heart twinged again.

He had tried to treat her well, but seeing her work so hard for the North, he felt his efforts were insufficient.

He wanted to treat her better, especially since he hadn’t done enough at the beginning.

“Umm.”

“Shh.”

Annette showed signs of waking up as the unwavering comfort was disturbed.

Darius, worried she might wake up, gently soothed the murmuring Annette.

‘What future will Annette and I build together?’

The thought made his heart flutter.

“Give me a role too, Annette.”

Darius gently soothed the murmuring Annette, cautiously.