“Your Excellency, wait…!”

Lea called out to Akhia, who was crossing the corridor, pulling his wrist. For some reason, Akhia had been lingering on Edward’s words throughout their descent to Belarus.

At first, she tried to pass it off lightly, but leaving the dining room with a guest was uncharacteristic of Akhia.

“Your Excellency!”

Her desperate cry finally slowed his pace.

However, it was only for a moment. Akhia’s shoulders trembled as if trying to suppress something, his head bowed deeply.

“Your Excellency…?”

When Lea felt something was off about the Marquis and called him again, Akhia shouted with a voice filled with anger.

“Your Excellency, Your Excellency! Damn Your Excellency!”

Then he turned around abruptly, facing Lea with a finger pointing towards the dining room.

“That damn guy called Edward just fine, and until when should I be Your Excellency?”

“What?”

“Even between people of the same gender, you don’t call each other that casually. But what does it mean when you call someone by their personal name instead of their title?”

“Well…”

Lea knew as well. However, she found out after receiving etiquette education before coming up to the capital.

Lea was already used to calling Yeongsik Alencia as Edward, so she didn’t pay much attention. She thought it was just a title, and Akhia seemed to think it would be okay given the circumstances.

‘I was thoughtless.’

Regretting not understanding Akhia’s feelings all along, Lea lowered her head. When she opened her lips to convey an apology to him, Akhia, who had been staring at her, shouted towards somewhere.

“Who’s there?”

Lea, who hadn’t expected anyone to be there, turned around in surprise. Then, a familiar face revealed itself behind a pillar.

“Emma?”

“Sorry, I missed the timing to leave…”

The maid bowed her head while glancing at the two. It was awkward to just pass by when unknown men and women were fighting.

Moreover, where would a maid go casually when the master and mistress were quarreling? Emma’s awkwardness was apparent.

“No, it’s fine. Just go…”

Lea, who was about to tell Emma to go, took a short breath. Akhia turned around, showing that he had nothing more to say to Lea.

“Marquis…”

Lea closed her lips that were about to call Akhia’s name and watched his retreating figure.

Late at night when everyone was asleep, Lea woke up from the deep sleep, likely due to the tough journey.

“Ugh…”

In the room where darkness had settled, Lea exhaled a hot breath.

Lea’s nightclothes were soaked as if she had been caught in the rain, and her body, which was burning with fever, seemed to emit a faint heat.

‘Why is this happening…’

Lea’s eyes, which barely held on to her fading consciousness, slowly opened. Her body felt heavy as if it were stuck in lead, and even breathing was difficult.

‘I was fine until just before falling asleep… Ah!’

At the moment when Lea, trying to recall her condition, seemed to figure something out, she sighed.

“Is it a side effect?”

A heavy body, as if catching a cold or flu, and a lower abdomen tightly squeezed. Sensations that had become too familiar to her by now.

“I thought it was fine for a while.”

Since being with Akhia, there had been no side effects for a while, even when lying down together.
No, perhaps there was never a chance for side effects to occur.

“Hoo…”

Lea sat up from the bed.

‘Anyway, lying in bed and suffering won’t make things better.’

Since Akhia was just a few steps away, there was no need to endure it. Although the recent incident bothered her a bit, it wasn’t the time to worry about it now.

With that in mind, Lea picked up the shawl she had placed on the sofa and draped it over her body.

Despite the fact that there was no one else wandering outside, she couldn’t go out wearing only thin schmiz that clearly revealed the contours of her body.

So, Lea cautiously walked through the corridor to reach Akhia.

“This is strange.”

However, contrary to her desire to hurry, her body didn’t obey. Every step became difficult, and her whole body began to twist as if it were too challenging.

Lea sensed something unusual in the sensations she was feeling now.

‘Hurry.’

Gritting her teeth, she rushed down to the second floor to reach Akhia’s room.

But.

“…Where is the room?”

Since Akhia had come to Lea’s room on the third floor several times today, Lea didn’t know exactly where the Duke’s room was.

A passing comment from Emma, who mentioned that Akhia’s room was at the far end of the second floor, passed through Lea’s mind.

“So, which direction is the end of the corridor…”

As she stood on the staircase, which was located in the center, Lea couldn’t determine whether Akhia’s room was at the left or right end.

“Hoo…”

Lea, who sighed deeply at the situation she found herself in, raised her head.

“Let’s go left for now…”