In an instant, the Duke of Torpeo who became Mel did not realize he would naturally leave Adeline’s side.

Adeline recalled when the duke woke up.

“Is that my name?”

“…Pardon?”

“Mel, I mean.”

Asking if Mel was his name.

‘It seems the duke has lost his memory…’

Adeline looked at the duke with suspicious eyes.

This was the man who had mercilessly held a blade to her throat.

Now that same man was demanding answers from Adeline with eyes full of only confusion.

Just like this.

“Where on earth am I? More importantly, who are you? Ugh… Is my name really Mel?”

Adeline’s suspicion that the duke had lost his memory gradually turned into certainty.

Not knowing his name and not even knowing where he was.

The initial plan was to appear like a savior before the dying duke and become his lifesaving benefactor.

But the duke who had suddenly held a knife to her throat was quite different from what Adeline had expected.

‘Perhaps it’s better that he lost his memory.’

She didn’t know when the duke’s memories would return, but if she took good care of the injured duke, perhaps she could someday demand compensation for saving and protecting him.

If his memories didn’t return even after time passed, she would have no choice but to observe the situation and devise a plan.

Seeing hope, Adeline feigned innocence and began her gamble.

“Oh…! Mel, what are you saying? Do you really not remember your name?”

Mel was actually a word Adeline had cried out in her sleep, but at some point it had become the duke’s name.

The duke who had so naturally become Mel looked confused.

Of course, how could Mel be considered a person’s name? You wouldn’t even call a dog “honey”.

But Adeline pretended not to know. She couldn’t think of any other name, and above all, this man had brought it up first. She thought that if his memories returned, she could just make the excuse that she didn’t want to confuse him.

The duke, trapped in confusion, soon looked down at his shirt that was sticking clammily to his body.

“I don’t understand at all. I have a severe headache, and why am I so damp like this…”

“…”

“Why do I have no memories at all, and why do I look like this? Explain immediately.”

Adeline’s gaze narrowed as she looked at the duke.

It seems that even with memory loss, a duke is still a duke. Judging by the naturally imperious attitude that flowed out.

‘How do I explain his injuries? I don’t know why you look like this either…’

She had only been spoiled in the comments that the injured duke would come to the villa.

She had no idea where he had been injured like that, and it was equally frustrating that there was no way to explain it.

While she was pondering this.

Adeline recalled that the wooden bridge connecting the sea and the villa was broken. Suddenly, her wit came into play.

“You went out for some air in the middle of the night and didn’t return for a long time. I’m also wondering why Mel came back like this.”

“I did?”

“Yes! Mel. Where on earth did you go? When I saw you return with a big hole in your shoulder, I was so shocked. *sob sob*”

Adeline wiped away nonexistent tears with a handkerchief she pulled from her pocket.

“You were unconscious for days, as if poisoned by something you were stabbed with. Really, you don’t remember anything?”

The duke’s face showed that he couldn’t understand.

Of course, there was nothing comprehensible in what Adeline had said.

But Adeline couldn’t make up something she didn’t know herself.

She had to be prepared for when this man regained his memories, so she had made up an appropriate story.

“Phew. The important thing is, Mel, that you’ve woken up. Del is truly happy. That you’re safe like this. The goddess Helena truly helped us.”

The duke, who had maintained silence for a while, nodded slightly.

“I see.”

Whew.

Adeline let out a sigh of relief at the duke’s appearance, which seemed like he would accept it as is.

“Don’t you have any clothes to change into? No, more importantly, I’d like to wash up.”

From the moment he opened his eyes, his imperious attitude and natural demands for service.

‘He really is a duke to the bone.’

She wanted to throw it all away and shout ‘I’m also a daughter of a marquis family!’, but how could a guest express dissatisfaction?

Before she knew it, Adeline, who had become accustomed to changing the duke’s clothes and wiping him down, moved automatically.

You sweated a lot. Let me see.

She naturally approached and began to undo the buttons of his shirt one by one.

Even as the duke’s firm chest was revealed through the gradually opening shirt front, Adeline’s expression remained unwavering.

Look at this sweat. Are you alright? We need to change the bandages too, so wait a moment. I’ll help you change clothes.

Adeline decided to turn on her kindness mode for now.

So that even if his memories returned later, the duke would be moved by her deep thoughtfulness.

“You’re going to change my clothes? Yourself? You?”

It was such a natural gesture.

The duke stared blankly at the unbuttoning buttons as if entranced. Only when it reached the last button did he reach out towards Adeline.

“Ugh.”

But he had to stop due to the pain that suddenly assailed him.

A question arose in his mind at the woman’s actions of undressing him so naturally.

The woman who paid no mind at all to the duke’s thoughts.

Adeline, who had quickly unbuttoned his shirt, left to find new bandages.

As the bedroom door closed and Adeline came out, she let out the breath she had been holding.

Leaning against the closed door as if her legs had lost strength, Adeline bit her lip.

‘Is this really okay?’

She asked herself, but couldn’t find a definitive answer.

Okay, let’s just pretend to be close for now.

As if she had made up her mind, Adeline hurriedly gathered bandages and returned to the bedroom where Mel, not the duke, was waiting.

“Mel, did you wait? I’ll change your bandages right away.”

“Before that, tell me who you are… ugh.”

As if refusing to hear the duke’s question, Adeline tightly pulled on the bandage she was unwrapping.

“Not ‘you’, but ‘Del’. You may not remember because of your memory loss, but we were on respectful terms. Will you stop speaking informally now?”

Adeline smiled gently and pulled on the bandage once more with force.

Though Adeline spoke in a soft voice, the duke felt that he had no choice but to comply.

‘Right. What can you do when you’ve lost your memories? I’m also a daughter of the Credion marquis family, that’s what I’m saying.’

“Was… was that so?”

Just as he unconsciously spoke informally again, upon seeing Adeline’s raised expression, the duke quickly added one more syllable.

“…ma’am?”

At that moment, Adeline’s stiff mouth gradually loosened.

“Well done. Why can’t you remember when you didn’t hit your head?”

She smiled brightly and gently scolded him.

“More importantly, I’d like to wash up before changing clothes… ma’am.”

“Can you stand up?”

Mel, feeling an inexplicable sense of defeat, got out of bed without answering.

“Ugh.”

Perhaps due to lying down for so long?

Mel’s legs gave out as soon as he got up from the bed, and he swallowed a groan.

“I’ll support you. Here.”

“Do as you… ”

The duke, who had habitually spoken half a sentence again, parted his lips with a short sigh.

“…please.”

The duke who had lost his memory was cuter than expected. He was just like a haughty large cat.

Before they knew it, the two had reached the bathroom door.

“Mel. Look at me.”

As if coaxing a child, Adeline turned Mel around.

Then she quickly undid the remaining lower buttons that hadn’t been fully unbuttoned.

Starting from the right side where the bandage had been partially removed, the shirt tail fell with a thud.

The body she hadn’t properly looked at while focusing on treating the wounded shoulder caught her eye.

The fully revealed abs boasted clear grooves as if sculpted.

Countless fresh scars etched on the upper body without a single thread of clothing.

‘How did he end up like this…?’

“Ahem. I’d like to take a bath…”

Oops. She kept losing her mind when she looked at this man without realizing it.

Adeline spoke nonchalantly, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Shall I help you bathe?”

“I’ll pass on the bath. Please leave… ma’am.”

The duke quickly pushed Adeline out of the bathroom.

The tips of Mel’s ears that had turned away were as red as ripe cherries.

Taking long strides, he slammed the door shut and instantly disappeared into the bathroom.

Even as he turned on the water in the bathtub, the woman kept coming to mind. The woman who had shamelessly touched a man’s body.

Recalling the woman’s gaze that had traced down his upper body as if caressing it, he felt a rush of heat again.

He turned the faucet to cold water and submerged himself in the bathtub up to his head.

And so, the bath time seemed to continue for quite a while.

Adeline, who had been waiting outside the bathroom, began to feel uneasy as a considerable amount of time seemed to have passed.

‘It seems like an hour has passed…’

Did something happen?

Or did his memories perhaps return?

Don’t tell me he died?!

Adeline’s imagination ran wild.

Knock knock. After knocking, Adeline couldn’t bear the frustration when the duke didn’t come out even after a long time, and flung open the bathroom door.

The duke’s broad back in the bathtub came into Adeline’s view.

Perhaps he had used up all his energy recovering from his wounds. He was sleeping peacefully, leaning against the bathtub.

“Mel! Mel?”

Adeline shook the duke to wake him up. As if deeply asleep, he showed no reaction.

“Mmm.”

His brows furrowed as if in an uncomfortable position, and his long eyelashes trembled slightly.

Only his chest rose and fell as he breathed, but the duke was sound asleep.

No matter how she looked at him, he seemed to have fallen into a deep slumber.

Adeline was anxious that the duke, who had barely returned alive, might cross the Jordan River again if left like this.

Should she pull him out? She hesitated for a moment, but didn’t have the confidence to fully see the naked body of a well-built adult male hidden by the soapy water.

Soon, as if she had a good idea, she opened the bathtub plug to drain the water while simultaneously starting to wrap a large towel from his head.

Just as she left only his face exposed and was wrapping the large towel around him.

As if he felt Adeline fidgeting, the duke’s body trembled.

The man’s thick breath felt right in front of her. And the deep red eyes visible through the gaps between his covered hair.

Adeline’s heart dropped with a thud, not expecting him to wake up silently like this.

‘Too close.’

It was too close.

“Ah, no. I was… You weren’t coming out for so long. I was just trying to help.”

Adeline rambled on her own, making excuses, and hastily concluded.

“I’ve helped roughly, so rinse off and come out.”

Adeline wasn’t even aware of what she was saying.

She just wanted to leave the bathroom.

As soon as she finished speaking, Adeline stood up.

Adeline was pulled back towards the duke by a hand grasping her.

“…”

As Adeline sat on the edge of the bathtub, bringing their eye levels back in line.

Adeline slipped in the bathtub and plopped down on the duke’s smooth thigh.

She had tried to avoid him because he was too close.

Somehow, the distance between the two had become even closer than when they were facing each other.

So close that their noses would touch if Adeline moved even a little.

The red eyes visible through his half-closed eyelids were more decadent than ever.

He looked at Adeline askew for a while, then slowly raised his hand. He brushed Adeline’s disheveled hair back.

Adeline flinched at the hot touch on her ear.

There was no time to avoid it. Soon after, a languid voice mixed with hot breath resonated in her ear.

“What exactly is our relationship?”