Reciting the same words they had said to Leah.

‘Who is he? That man.’

His movements were as light as a knight’s. The man who suddenly appeared and subdued the human traffickers approached her.

“You are quite fearless. Coming into this slum alone.”

“…Ah. I was told this child’s mother was ill, so I just…”

“It’s one of the tricks used by human traffickers. They use young children like this to lure people in.”

Then the man knelt down to meet the child’s gaze.

“Do you see that man behind there?”

The child who was hiding behind the wall spotted the person the man was pointing to and nodded.

“If you go to that man and tell him, he will probably offer some help.”

The child started walking towards where the man pointed, but then turned back to face Leah. The child bowed and then left with quick steps.

“What will happen to the child?”

“Usually they are orphans, so they will likely arrange a suitable job for the child.”

“I see.”

“By the way, it seems like this is your first time in the capital. You shouldn’t easily give your affection to strangers here.”

He warned Leah with a warm smile like the gentle sunlight. But his words were kind, not rude.

Leah, who had been blankly staring at the man as he treated her like a noble lady, came to her senses.

“I will keep that in mind. Thank you for helping me today. Thanks to you, I avoided a big problem.”

Leah bowed deeply to the man. Smiling in amusement as he watched her fluster, he replied.

“Not at all. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Not at all…! Thanks to you, I’m not hurt anywhere!”

“That’s a relief.”

“…Yes.”

‘What is it?’

Leah felt a strange sense of familiarity from the man she continued to face.

‘I feel like I’ve seen him before…’

He was definitely a man she was seeing for the first time, but strangely, he felt familiar. As Leah was trying to recall her memories and figure out the man’s identity.

“Where are you headed? I will escort you there.”

The man politely asked her.

“I need to go to the Delta Apothecary… But I can go there alone. Instead, could you just tell me which direction to go?”

Having chased after the young child, she didn’t even know where she was standing right now. Rikel and the company staff might come looking for Leah.

But she thought it would be better to return to the apothecary rather than wait for Rikel, not knowing when he would come.

“I will escort you there, as I was coincidentally heading in that direction.”

“If you could do that, I would be truly grateful.”

How very kind of him. She felt a deep sense of relief as she watched the man leading the way for her.

.

.

.

“If you go straight that way, you’ll reach the Delta Apothecary.”

“I’m really grateful for today. I wonder if I should repay you somehow…”

“Then could you tell me your name?”

“…My name?”

Asking for her name as repayment. Tilting her head in puzzlement at the man’s response.

But well, it’s just a name.

“I’m Leah.”

“Then, Lady Leah.”

The man suddenly grabbed Leah’s hand and kissed the back of it.

“Until we meet again someday.”

As she stood there flustered. A familiar voice called out to Leah from behind.

“Rikel?”

“What in the world happened?! You were supposed to be headed to the slum. Are you okay?”

Rikel, who had already approached her, spoke as if shouting with a flushed face.

Judging by his flushed face and the sweat dripping down, he had come straight to find Leah after hearing from the company staff.

“I’m sorry. I was helping a child and ended up encountering human traffickers… But this person here helped me.”

Rikel frowned as if asking what she was talking about.

“Who helped you?”

“Huh? This person here… What?”

He was definitely behind her.

But whenever he had left, there was no one standing behind her.

“Anyway, I’m glad nothing happened to you. Let’s go for now. The Duke will be waiting.”

“Okay.”

Leah, who had been tilting her head for a moment, seemed to remember what she had to do and followed behind Rikel.

And there were eyes watching the two gradually moving away from the alley.

“Red…”

The man muttered as he watched Leah’s red hair fluttering as she moved away. The color, as if holding a fierce flame, was shining brilliantly.

“Haken.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The loyal subordinate next to the man gazed at Leah’s back as she walked away.

“Are you referring to that red-haired woman?”

“Yes. I have a feeling there’s something about her.”

Unusual red hair and a strangely familiar face. The man’s eyes had a cold glint as he watched Leah’s back moving away.

[This is the timeline separator]

It had already been two days since arriving in the capital.

As the memory of the strange dream became a bit hazy, Leah no longer avoided Akkia. Although it was still a bit uncomfortable being with him.

‘I can’t keep avoiding the Duke forever.’

Judging by his sullen face all this time. He seemed to be very offended by her behavior of seemingly avoiding him.

That’s why she was trying to act as if nothing was wrong while reading a book with the Duke in the study.

Through the window, a loud sound of horse hooves, the kind you might hear at a circus, was heard. Startled by this, Leah’s body shrunk back.

“Wh, what was that sound just now? You heard it too, right, Your Grace?!”

“Haa…”

Akkia, who closed the book he was reading with a ‘thud’ sound, rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. He seemed to know the cause of this noise.

“Your Grace?”

When she gave him a look demanding an explanation, he continued speaking with a dry laugh.

“I originally had a mare that I raised. Her name is Grace, but I couldn’t keep her in the Haidern estate, so I left her in Magnolia. I brought her to the mansion when I came to the capital.”

Then she remembered that a few days ago, two horses had entered the mansion’s stable.

‘No wonder they looked like a good breed. They were the Duke’s horses.’

They didn’t look ordinary, with the sheen of their coats and their well-built bodies, which made them seem unsuitable to be carriage horses.

It seemed he had left such high-quality horses in Magnolia to avoid suspicion about a sickly duke owning them.

Leah nodded and asked.

“Yes. But what about that horse?”

“The black horse is the mare I’ve been raising for a long time, Grace, and the brown stallion is just a horse I prepared in case of emergencies. But these two are trying to mate with each other, and that’s the problem.”

‘What the.’

She thought he had some serious concerns. It was a very trivial issue.

Moreover, the fact that the Duke named his horse Grace. In a way, it seemed to suit that arrogant man quite well.

“Then can’t you just let them breed together?”

In reality, mares could usually get pregnant from March to September. So now was the perfect time to pair them up.

The mansion wasn’t that big, so the noise from the stable reached even Leah’s bedroom.

‘No wonder I kept hearing strange noises since morning.’

The cause of the unidentified noise seemed to be the two horses in heat after all.

‘They will go into heat once until they meet their mate and get pregnant.’

When Leah shuddered at the thought of the noise from earlier.

Akkia replied in a resolute voice as if it was out of the question.

“Absolutely not. How could I let such a low-bred fellow mate with our Grace. If I had known this would happen, I should have brought a well-bred fellow suitable for our Grace.”

He lamented in a voice filled with genuine regret.

“Then wouldn’t it be best to quickly find a horse with good lineage? It’s best to resolve their pent-up desires as soon as possible. Horses get stressed too.”

“I’ll have to do that. If I don’t resolve the pent-up desires of those two, it seems they will even appear in my dreams and cry out to me.”

“Yes, that would be the best…”

But suddenly, Leah’s words were cut off.

The words ‘pent-up desires’ and ‘dreams’ suddenly took over her mind.

“What’s wrong? Did you think of any other good solutions?”

When Leah’s face, which had looked drowsy, suddenly stiffened, Akkia’s voice also hardened.

“Ah, no. Nothing…”

Leah answered awkwardly and hid her face with a book.

‘Why am I thinking of that damn dream again!’

She thought she had forgotten it all by now. It must have been a misunderstanding. Seeing that dream come to mind again with just those words.

Leah lowered the book and looked at Akkia.

More precisely, at the man’s lips.

‘Ha. This is driving me crazy.’

Leah, who fell into an inexplicable sense of self-loathing, abruptly got up from her seat. If she continued to face the Duke in the same space like this, her face would turn into a well-ripened tomato.

“Where are you going?”

“I, I just remembered that I have a very important matter to attend to! I’ll be on my way now!”

Leah hurriedly moved to put the book she was reading back on the shelf.

But perhaps because she moved too hastily. She forcefully shoved the book into the shelf, causing the books stacked on top to sway precariously.

And just as the thickest book was about to fall on Leah. Akkia, who had already approached her side, caught the falling book.

“What is it?”

At the same time, a warm breath touched her ear.

“What matter is so urgent that you’re leaving in such a hurry?”

The warm heat touching her back and the man’s arm on Leah’s waist. She didn’t need to look in a mirror to know.

That her face must be flushed red like a beetroot. Akkia called out to Leah, who had been keeping her head down, wondering what was going on.

“Leah.”

Another voice was added on top of his voice softly calling her name.

[Leah.]

‘Huh?’

Something was strange.

The familiarity she felt in the voice calling her name. It felt familiar as if she had heard it somewhere before.

‘What is it? What memory is this.’

Her pupils shook strongly from side to side in the incomprehensible situation.

“Your body is hot.”

Akkia, who had put down the book he was holding, brought his hand to Leah’s forehead.

[Duke… Ha, haa… I’m burning up…]

At Akkia’s words saying she was hot, another memory surfaced in Leah’s mind. Memories she thought were just a dirty dream.

“I think you have a fever.”

[I can’t hold it… Haa. In…]

The moment Leah in the memory whispered in a limp voice. The memories so far washed over Leah’s mind like a tidal wave.

‘No way.’

The vivid sensation etched on her lips as if imprinted, the air, and even the hot breath.

She realized. That it wasn’t a dream.

The coolness seeping from the man’s palm was far from enough. To cool her body that was burning up with fever.

‘Ah. I’m doomed.’

For the first time, she regretted taking the new drug that day.