Even though she wanted to follow Fabio right away to see if Enrico was alright, she was already worried that seeing him lying down would make her heart crumble.

“……”

In the end, Emilia opened her mouth slightly before closing it tightly.

Having just decided to cut ties with him, going to check on his physical condition seemed like an act that would leave room for feelings for both him and herself.

She wasn’t sure if she could really push him away after seeing him ill.

“Lady Emilia?”

“…I’m glad you’re alright. But shouldn’t you rest thoroughly for now?”

Emilia bowed her head deeply. Fabio wore a perplexed expression at the sight of her tightly clasping her hands in front of her skirt, as if trying to block everything out.

“I apologize. The Duke specifically asked me to bring you, so you’ll have to come with me.”

Does he have something to say about the incident? Come to think of it, from his perspective, he might be curious about the circumstances with Christina, but I had only thought from my own point of view.

I should distance myself after resolving this incident first.

I need to think rationally, but I’m disgusted by how I keep acting emotionally.

Emilia furrowed her brow slightly and nodded. A bitter taste, like biting into an astringent fruit, lingered in her mouth.

The sound of the bedroom door opening carefully was heard. Enrico’s eyelids slowly lifted, and his sharp gaze turned towards the door.

Even with the strong smell of medicine, the scent of blood couldn’t be erased.

Emilia, who was entering, flinched at the smell and stopped, her gaze, which had been fixed on the floor, now turning towards him.

White bandages wrapped around his forehead and the back of his head, and his bare upper body revealed small wounds.

Her wavering gaze quickly moved to his left arm wrapped in bandages, as if avoiding his toned muscular torso.

“…Were you not planning to come?”

Enrico, who had been quietly observing Emilia standing motionless in front of the closed door with no intention of approaching, spoke. At his low, husky, languid voice, her hands gripping her skirt tightened.

“You really weren’t planning to come, were you.”

I had instructed Fabio to bring her when I was told he wasn’t sleeping, but it took longer than expected, so I just said it.

I didn’t expect her to be unable to say anything, as if struck right on target. The hazy feeling from the medicine cleared up suddenly, like someone sobering up from alcohol.

“I thought rest should be your priority, so I was planning to visit later.”

“Or perhaps you weren’t as worried as expected. Usually, when someone gets hurt because of you, it’s human nature to want to check on them personally.”

“That’s……”

Enrico twisted his lips and smiled coldly.

“How heartless.”

Unlike the corners of his mouth that seemed to be sneering, the words he uttered as if sighing were strangely bitter.

“Last time you told me not to get hurt, but now you don’t even say that?”

Emilia’s hands were clasped so tightly that blood couldn’t circulate.

“…I’m sorry. This happened because of me, so how could I have the audacity to say anything? I thought seeing me in this situation might upset you, so I was planning to wait.”

“Then come closer and speak. Don’t stand by the door as if you’re about to run away at any moment.”

Enrico said with a gentle smile. In the suddenly quiet room, the small sound of Emilia swallowing dryly was blatantly audible.

Enrico had been starting to get annoyed with Emilia acting as if she were indifferent to everything, but upon closer inspection of her demeanor, she seemed tense, which slightly softened his hardening expression.

“More.”

He raised one eyebrow as he watched her legs stop halfway. At his words, she moved two more steps.

“Come closer.”

This distance should be enough, but how close did he want her to come? Emilia felt that if she got close enough to touch him, she might want to examine his injuries closely.

Moreover, it would be difficult to maintain her composure, so she didn’t want to get any closer. After chewing on the inside of her cheek for a moment, she carefully opened her mouth.

“…Wouldn’t it be better if I just briefly state my business and leave? You need to rest soon.”

Enrico’s purple eyes darkened. He could clearly see through Emilia’s pretense of concern while actually wanting to leave the bedroom quickly. As he stared at her intently, he slowly lowered his legs to the floor.

As soon as she saw him showing signs of standing up, she blinked her eyes in surprise.

“Shouldn’t you not be moving yet?”

“Isn’t it the one who regrets that should come here?”

He tilted his head slightly as he muttered. Their gazes remained locked in the air, and it seemed like he was about to stand up if this continued for just a bit longer.

Even with the slightest movement, blue veins stood out on his thick neck, and the muscles in his chest and shoulders twitched.

“…I’ll come!”

Emilia exclaimed urgently, raising both hands in front of her as if to stop him. Unlike her sluggish steps earlier, she quickly closed the distance and stood in front of him.

“Please lie down comfortably right away.”

“I can’t lie down.”

His large hand carefully reached out towards her thin wrist. At his touch, slowly wrapping around her like a snare, she flinched and lowered her gaze.

“I’m afraid you’ll run away again.”

She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them and spoke.

“I won’t run away. Not now.”

“So you’re saying you’ll run away later?”

“Isn’t that not why you called me now?”

“You’re changing the subject again.”

“Isn’t it you who’s changing the subject, not me? You called me because you had something to discuss, didn’t you? Weren’t you curious about the details of the incident?”

His gaze never left her. The flickering candlelight illuminating the bedroom was reflected in his calm purple eyes.

“Business… I don’t have any in particular. I just called you because I wanted to check on your condition. As for the details of the incident, we just need to focus on investigating that criminal.”

Emilia somehow wanted to cover her ears.

Rather than using saving her as an excuse to demand something in return, or sarcastically mocking her for going to the emergency stairs unprepared, she wished he would just act as usual, but why was he being so unusually kind today?

It was too much to dismiss as just a mood, as his eyes were constantly filled with concern, making her chest feel tight.

“So, how’s your body?”

Unaware of her feelings, Enrico drawled his words while busy scanning Emilia’s body up and down.

In the past, he would have been irritated by her not obediently listening to him and wanted to tame her immediately. But now, instead of being irritated, he found himself checking on her well-being first.

Perhaps he had become accustomed to her attitude, or his feelings had deepened, but the reason wasn’t that important anyway.

Right now, he was more concerned about yesterday’s incident than her behavior just now, and even though Fabio had told him there was nothing wrong with her health, he wanted to confirm it himself first.

‘I should have gotten rid of her completely…’

His gaze was drawn to her neck where medicine had been applied due to scratch marks. Seeing those wounds made him acutely aware of his huge mistake regarding Christina.

It was a decision meant to make her life miserable forever, but who knew it would lead to this situation.

Although he had hurriedly embraced Emilia when Christina pushed her, he could immediately tell that they had been struggling for quite some time before that.

It was strange enough that no traces of escape had been found until yesterday, but Christina had gone so far as to lock both the first and second floor emergency stairway exits.

If he had gone a little faster, such wounds wouldn’t have occurred, but the problem was that he wasted time looking for Emilia after belatedly noticing her absence.

The image of Emilia staring at Christina with terrified eyes and the chilling gleam of the blade directed at her were still vivid in his mind.

Even though his head was throbbing incessantly as if something was rummaging through it as soon as he opened his eyes, he felt he needed to see Emilia immediately to be at ease.

“…Why are you worried about me? You got hurt because of me. You should be angry at me.”

It was an unsettling situation, not knowing who had helped Christina escape from the labor camp in the first place.

Yet, Enrico’s eyes narrowed at Emilia’s behavior of venting her frustration at herself rather than asking about Christina.

“Why do you keep irritating me? Are you doing this on purpose?”

“That’s not it……”

Emilia trailed off, then tightly closed her lips and slowly raised her gaze, which had been lowered. The moment had come when she should no longer waver before him and must steel her heart.

Staying by Enrico’s side would lead to unhappiness for both of them. Even if it hurt now, if they were to part ways like this, the pain surely wouldn’t last long.

“Why. Did you expect that I would agree to terminate the contract if you angered me?”

The jade-colored eyes that he thought would waver remained calmly settled. Rather than being surprised, it was a composed reaction as if she was preparing herself mentally.

Enrico’s jaw tensed, and his expression, which had softened somewhat, began to harden again.

“Your Grace.”

“Don’t speak.”

The hand holding her tightened its grip. Her right hand slowly overlapped his.