In the tranquil dawn where everyone had fallen asleep, Lea took out a key from the pouch she received from Rickel.

Lea’s hand, which was holding the bedroom doorknob, tensed up involuntarily. The eerie voice of Rickel that echoed in her ears was still unforgettable.

It felt as though she was being watched from somewhere, even now.

‘This is not the time.’

Lea shook her head to shake off her distracting thoughts. Now, she could only think about the Count.

As she turned the doorknob, the pitchblack darkness enveloping the room washed over Lea.

Thinking about the man who would be suffering in this darkness devoid of any light, Lea let out a sigh without realizing it.

Lea, who was moving towards the bed, felt more nervous than ever before.

It was a place she had been visiting like a regular housewife these past few days. She felt nervous, perhaps because she thought she had come secretly.

As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, a shape protruding above the bed came into view.

‘Is he still unconscious?’

As expected. The pallid Count lay with his eyes closed like a corpse. Lea set down the medicines she had brought on the bedside table.

And then she scooped some fever reducer onto a spoon.

‘Lowering his fever is the priority.’

Just as Lea was bending over towards Akkia with the spoon containing the fever reducer, suddenly, a force pulled her arm, and she fell onto the bed.

Before she knew it, Lea found herself straddling the Count. Her eyes widened in surprise. When she lowered her gaze, the hand gripping her wrist came into view.

“……Count?”

The Count’s rough hand holding her wrist felt scorching hot. When she lifted her gaze, she saw his eyes partially open.

The Count’s crimson eyes conveyed a chilling presence even in the darkness.

“Are you conscious?!”

The moment Lea exclaimed in surprise upon realizing that the Count had regained consciousness.

“Si……Silent.”

His low, rumbling voice and the Count’s hot breath touched Lea.

He didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go of Lea, as he put more strength into the wrist he was holding.

‘It’s a relief……!’

The fact that he had regained consciousness was a positive sign. Seeing the Count who was more stable than she expected, she heaved a sigh of relief.

‘But is he really in pain? What is this strength!’

Lea was surprised by the Count’s strength, which was slowly pulling her down. She felt like she would be helplessly enveloped in the Count’s arms if this continued.

“Ho, hold on.”

A voice full of bewilderment flowed out. When she put her hand on his chest to stop him, she felt an abnormal pulse at her fingertips.

‘This is…….’

As if trying to find the cause of it, Lea’s hand fumbled over the Count’s body.

The Count’s naked state was visible through the gaps in his disheveled shirt.

‘As expected, it’s a side effect.’

Red dots that covered his entire body seemed to mark the beginning of vascular dilation. It was an allergic reaction to the leopard grass.

At the man’s hot breath laden with pain, Lea clenched her lips. When she touched his forehead, it felt like a blazing fire.

This was not the time to be doing this.

Just when she was about to reach for the table in a rush to lower his fever as soon as possible, the Count’s large hand held both of Lea’s arms in a firm grip.

“Such……fearlessness.”

With every word he uttered, a boiling heat erupted from the Count. Even with a pained expression on his face, he continued to speak to Lea.

“I never gave you permission to enter my room……. ”

Is that really important now? The treatment was urgent.

The Count’s red eyes that shone even within the heat constricted her heart.

“Just like……you seem worried about me.”

‘You call that concern?’

Lea was overwhelmed with emotion, thinking about how she had been worrying all day.

“Of course I was worried! I was worried something might happen to you, Count!”

The Count, who was dripping cold sweat, let out a laugh as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What are you to me, to worry……Ugh.”

“Count!”

But that was only for a moment. Soon, the Count let out a groan and let go of the hand that was holding Lea. Startled, Lea touched the Count’s forehead.

‘His body is like a furnace.’
Not only his forehead but his entire body was emanating a searing heat. The count seemed unable to control the fever surging through his body, expelling ragged breaths.

Seeing the count in such a state, Lea quickly prepared the fever reducer she had fetched earlier.

“Count, please try a little of this.”

Lea tilted the spoon filled with the potion over the count’s lips. However, the count who lost consciousness again was unable to swallow the medicine.

Even when she tried to give him the fever reducer, the medicine simply trickled between the count’s lips.

“What should I do?”

Not only the fever reducer but he also needed to take the medicine. It seemed like all the medicine would be wasted even before treatment.