“Are you looking for that guy as soon as you wake up?”

“It’s because Mikhail saved me. I should at least thank him for saving me.”

Jeremiah visibly frowned, clearly displeased.

“That guy saved you……”

Jeremiah muttered through gritted teeth.

“Where is he?”

Grinding his teeth, he continued.

“That bastard is currently locked up in prison.”

“What? In prison?”

Karina was shocked.

“Why?”

“Because he failed to fulfill his duty as a guard and left the Grand Duchess in danger.”

“No, that’s not true! Ugh…!”

When she raised her voice, her throat stung with pain.

Karina clutched her painful throat and spoke again calmly.

“He was only following my orders. He had to leave his post to carry out my command.”

Mikhail had left his post because of the errand she sent him on, and it was Karina herself who had left the Grand Duke’s mansion alone in the meantime.

She felt bad that Mikhail was suffering due to her wrong judgment.

‘I didn’t know Mikhail was going through hardship while I was unconscious.’

She felt it was a terrible situation.

Karina tried to go to where Mikhail was.

But Jeremiah stopped Karina as she tried to get up from her seat.

“Calm down. Your stability is the top priority right now.”

And he made her sit back down on the bed.

“You should focus only on recovering for now.”

Karina clutched her throat again and spoke.

“Release Mikhail.”

“……”

“Mikhail did nothing wrong. Rather, he saved me whenever I was in danger. Last time when I encountered the monster, I would have already died if it weren’t for Mikhail.”

“You encountered a monster?”

Jeremiah, who had been listening to Karina’s words, reacted sensitively to her statement about almost dying.

“Recently when I went into town, a monster appeared in the village. I didn’t know a monster had appeared and nearly suffered a great misfortune.”

“Then, that……”

Jeremiah remained frozen as if he had received a great shock.

Karina continued speaking, unconcerned.

“Mikhail is a benefactor who has saved my life several times. So much that I couldn’t repay him even if I dedicated my whole life.”

“……”

“So please release Mikhail. Right now.”

“……”

After a moment of silence, Jeremiah opened his mouth again.

“That guy only did what was natural. Because he’s the Grand Duchess’s guard.”

“I don’t think so.”

Karina objected.

“It’s not something anyone can do just because they’re assigned as a guard. This incident is a good example. The escaped prisoners originally intended to take me, the Grand Duchess, as a hostage.”

Karina hadn’t forgotten how the escaped prisoners had followed her into the building and abruptly asked if she was the Grand Duchess.

“The task of guarding me, the Grand Duchess, requires that much heavy responsibility.”

Mikhail, who wasn’t even a knight but a magician, had accepted her sudden unreasonable request to become her guard with a smile.

“As you said, he may have saved me just to fulfill his responsibility as a guard. But thanks to that, I didn’t die and kept my life. I can’t leave him in this unjust situation, even if I can’t properly repay him for saving me.”

Jeremiah, who had been listening silently to Karina’s words, asked again.

“Is that all?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if that’s really all the feelings you have for that guard.”

Karina was exasperated.

‘Are you still suspecting something between me and Mikhail?’

Karina glared at Jeremiah with an unpleasant look.

“Do you know how rude you’re being? I thought I clearly said no last time, but you still don’t understand?”

“Then why are you trying to divorce me?”

“…?”

Karina made an incredulous expression.

“You’re not really asking because you don’t know, right?”

“……”

Jeremiah just stared at Karina without saying anything.

“Ha.”

Karina let out a deflated laugh.

“I want to hear the clear reason directly from your mouth why you want a divorce from me.”

Jeremiah asked seriously.

“……”

Karina was momentarily at a loss for words.

She recalled all the unfair treatment and incidents she had endured until now.

Even if things had changed in the present, it didn’t erase all the wounds from the past.

There would be no end if she were to list out all the reasons why she wanted to divorce Jeremiah.

Karina let out a hollow laugh, as if sighing.

‘Even if I say it, he won’t understand anyway.’

So she decided to state the most fundamental reason.

Karina composed her expression quickly and answered in an indifferent voice.

“Because I don’t love you anymore.”

“Love?”

Jeremiah seemed very flustered when the word love suddenly came up.

But Karina didn’t care whether he believed it or not.

If only his following question hadn’t come.

“What was your original reason for wanting to marry me in the first place?”

“Are you playing word games with me now?”

Karina frowned sharply and asked as if confronting him.

She couldn’t understand why he was suddenly asking such a question when he had shown no interest or concern before.

“Answer me. What was the real reason you married me?”

Karina glared at Jeremiah and bit her lower lip.

“……”

The past before her regression. Words she never wanted to utter again even if they were true.

Never. Not even if she died.

But seeing how persistently he was asking, she thought it might not be bad to answer him.

And suddenly she became curious.

‘How will you react when you hear my answer?’

Karina’s eyes sank deeply.

The atmosphere between them changed chillingly in an instant.

Karina opened her mouth.

A very dry voice flowed out emotionlessly without pitch.

“Because I loved you.”

“……”

Karina’s face as she said those words was so cold that it was hard to believe she was someone uttering the word love.

Perhaps that was why Jeremiah couldn’t properly understand the meaning of Karina’s answer for a while even after hearing it.

No, he understood the literal meaning, but he couldn’t actually feel it.

“Back then.”

Karina added one more word, then snorted with a cynical smile.

As if she had said something utterly ridiculous.

Jeremiah’s expression turned strange.

He was frowning as if extremely confused and very displeased.

Seeing his expression, Karina smiled brightly, raising the corners of her mouth, and said again.

“Don’t worry. Not anymore.”

At Karina’s words, his frown deepened even more.

He seemed to find it extremely unpleasant that she had ever liked him, even for a moment.

‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

Her eyelids trembled finely.

‘Why does this matter!’

She didn’t understand why she was feeling the same way as back then again.

She no longer loved Jeremiah.

‘I don’t love him anymore, so why!’

Karina clenched her fists tightly.

Her hands turned pale white from the excessive force.

‘Bringing up such useless words.’

Thanks to that, she was immersed in pointless sentiments.

As her breathing quickened, she felt a terrible sensation as if falling off a cliff.

While anger welled up inside, tears welled up in her eyes.

‘Why am I like this, like a fool!’

Karina endured, gritting her teeth and glaring with her eyes wide open, trying not to let the tears fall.

‘That foolish woman from back then is already dead. Dead!’

Karina shouted inwardly and clenched her fists even tighter.

Her nails dug into her palms, creating wounds, but she didn’t even feel it.

“Now I absolutely despise you.”

She thought she had said it nonchalantly and confidently, but her voice cracked and trembled.

To make matters worse, the tears brimming in her eyes didn’t help her either.

The tears that had been filling her eyes, on the verge of spilling over, finally trickled down in a single drop.

‘No!’

She had no intention of showing herself crying while saying she hated him.

Karina quickly raised her hand to wipe away the fallen tear.

Then she pretended nothing was wrong again, putting strength in her eyes and facing Jeremiah head-on.

Jeremiah leaned his body close to Karina.

Karina didn’t back away and remained still in her place, but her body was visibly trembling pitifully.

Jeremiah slowly reached out his hand and carefully wiped Karina’s reddened eyes.

After gently wiping away the remaining tears, Jeremiah opened his mouth.

“…I’m not sure if you’re crying or angry.”

“…!”

Karina’s heart sank at his too gentle voice.

Somehow, she felt like an alarm was ringing in her head.

Startled, Karina opened her eyes wide and harshly brushed off Jeremiah’s touch.

“Don’t touch me!”

Karina warned, guarding against Jeremiah like a bristling cat.

“Calm down. Getting excited isn’t good for your wounds.”

She felt confused.

She felt like she wasn’t in her right mind because her wounds hadn’t fully healed yet.

Her wounds throbbed, probably because she had raised her voice loudly.

“Ugh…!”

Karina bit her lower lip and clutched the wounded area of her neck with her hand.

“Haa.”

Jeremiah sighed and made an expression as if he had no choice.

“Alright. I’ll do as you wish.”

“…?”

“I’ll release that guard.”

Karina was surprised by his words agreeing to release Mikhail so readily.

‘I was planning to go to the prison right now and release him myself if he said no.’

Karina looked at Jeremiah with an expression asking if he really meant it.

“So don’t aggravate your wounds any further.”

Jeremiah took Karina’s clenched fist and carefully uncurled it.

Then he slowly caressed the inside of her palm where her nails had dug in, leaving scratches, with his thumb.

“……”

She looked up at him, feeling dazed.

Jeremiah had returned to his usual expressionless face.

‘No, somehow he seems a bit softer than usual…?’

It was hard to gauge.

“We should apply medicine here too.”

“That’s not necessary.”

The calmed Karina quickly pulled her hand out of his grasp.

The ticklish feeling still lingered on her palm.

Feeling strange, Karina rubbed her palm against the back of her other hand to erase the remaining sensation.

Jeremiah, who had been watching that scene silently, opened his mouth.

“All the escaped prisoners have been dealt with, and the hostages you rescued are all safe.”

‘Ah!’

Come to think of it, she hadn’t heard what had happened after she fainted.

Still, it was welcome news to hear that all the hostages were safe.

“That’s a relief. Really.”

Karina let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her shoulders.

“The former hostages say they want to thank you and see you. What would you like to do?”

“Well, I’m not sure…”

She thought there wasn’t really a need to meet them.

‘It’s not like I really risked my life for them. I just did it because I wanted to survive myself, so there’s no reason to receive thanks.’

Then suddenly she remembered the maid named Jen whom she had seen that day.

A key figure who had shared a room with the deceased maid, and who had also shown kindness to Karina in the past.

And who had also stood up for her this time.

‘I’d like to meet that maid called Jen.’

“I’ll meet them! I want to see them too. Especially that maid called ‘Jen’, separately.”

Jeremiah nodded at her answer, saying he understood.

“I’ll arrange it. After your wounds have fully healed, of course.”

“Alright.”

“Have you calmed down now?”

Karina made an embarrassed expression, feeling like she had gotten unnecessarily excited.

“…Yes.”

“Then lie down and rest well now. A patient needs absolute rest.”

‘Who was it that made me so excited until now.’

Karina swallowed her complaints inwardly.

Still, she felt a tiny bit grateful.

Just a tiny, tiny bit grateful to him for eventually listening to her words.