Melly couldn’t remember at all how she had rushed to the hospital.

All she could recall was dismounting from her horse, telling the guard at the entrance that she was from the Pelton Duchy and handing over the reins, then immediately crossing the lobby only to realize she knew nothing about the hospital’s layout,

But that there was no one around.

When she finally found a nurse on duty, she was so happy she almost hugged her.

“Who are you here to see?”

The nurse who spotted Melly asked in a gruff voice.

Melly said Edric Pelton’s name. The nurse then looked Melly up and down and asked with a disapproving gaze.

“What is your relationship with the Duke?”

Melly instinctively realized she needed to answer this well.

After hesitating for a moment, Melly said resolutely.

“I’m his fiancée.”

The nurse’s eyes suddenly widened, then her gaze softened and her attitude became polite.

“You should have said so earlier. Follow me, Lady Rosalyn.”

With this one sentence, Melly could tell that the public still believed Edric would marry Rosalyn.

But right now, she didn’t care about that.

If only Edric was safe, she felt she could gladly play the role of Rosalyn.

“First, you need to change your clothes. If you catch a chill, it won’t be good for you, Lady Rosalyn, of course, nor for the Duke’s recovery.”

The nurse guided Melly to a changing room and handed her a spare lady’s dress. Melly silently complied, not for her own sake but because it was said to be bad for Edric.

The lady’s dress was loose on her. Just like all clothes that weren’t her own.

“Right now, the Duke needs absolute rest. Please don’t startle or excite him too much.”

The nurse cautioned Melly as she finally brought her to the door of what looked like the largest and best hospital room.

“Ah, yes. I’ll make sure not to.”

Melly promised.

Suddenly she realized she hadn’t asked about his condition in her haste.

“Excuse me…”

She hurriedly called out to the nurse, but she had already disappeared around the corner.

She should have asked earlier. If she had, she could have followed the nurse’s instructions better.

It was too late now. She would have to see his condition with her own eyes.

Knock knock−.

Melly steeled herself and knocked on the door.

There was no answer from inside.

‘Is he sleeping?’

Well, it was late, so that was possible.

Melly carefully opened the door. The hospital room was dark.

But perhaps because patients needed to be checked frequently, it wasn’t in complete darkness.

An oil lamp with a shade was softly illuminating the space. Melly slowly approached the bed, guided by that light.

Edric was indeed sleeping.

The blanket covered his chest, and a thin tube starting from his wrist was connected to a tall pole stand beside the bed. An inverted glass bottle slowly dripped fluid into the transparent tube, drop by drop.

There were no visible signs of external injury. His complexion didn’t look too bad either.

Melly was relieved, but she couldn’t completely put her mind at ease.

What she could see was only part of it. She couldn’t know the condition of the rest of his body without lifting the blanket.

But Melly didn’t want to disturb his sound sleep just to ease her own mind.

She sat down at the foot of the bed and looked down at Edric.

Perhaps because he had been injured while hunting on a day of pouring rain, his face was pale and his lips looked dry.

It was a weak appearance she had never seen in the ten years she had known him.

‘So you slept with me without any intention of marrying me.’

Suddenly, the devastatingly sunken look in his eyes when he said those words flashed in her mind. No, it would be more accurate to say it had never left her thoughts.

She had made a fuss over something that hadn’t even happened.

‘You know as well as I do that it was just a one-night stand.’

If she hadn’t said that, he would never have gone night hunting.

She had made Edric like this…

“Sob…”

Suddenly a sob burst out and Melly covered her mouth.

Tears blurred her vision of Edric’s face.

Before the tears rolling down his cheeks could wet the blanket, Melly quickly wiped her eyelids with the back of her hand.

She never knew she could cry this much.

It felt like she had cried more in these past few days than in her entire life.

Her mother had told her not to cry, that crying made one even more disliked.

Melly wiped away the tears that had welled up again and slowly stood up.

Then she moved closer to him and looked down at his sleeping face more closely.

The round eyeballs visible under his eyelids were fixed, without movement.

‘Did he receive a sedative?’

That might be the case. Sleep was the best recovery for patients, and since pain interfered with sleep, it was appropriate to use medication.

Melly thought it was time for her to leave now.

That seemed the best way not to disturb his rest.

“Sleep well.”

Melly whispered, barely audibly.

“And…”

‘I love you.’

She had wanted to tell him right away when they met, but somehow she felt shy and couldn’t get the words out.

Even though she could say it as much as she wanted while he was sound asleep.

It seems her timid personality was something she could never change, even if she died and came back to life.

Melly straightened up, silently self-deprecating.

Next time, when he’s fully recovered, she’ll tell him then. Looking at the loose navy dress she was wearing, she added one more promise.

‘I’ll dress up prettier and tell him.’

If she confessed looking like this, he might lose interest even if he had any.

She turned around with a slightly brighter expression.

At that moment, suddenly something large wrapped around her wrist and in an instant her body spun around and fell face-down on the bed.

By the time she wondered what was happening, she was face to face with a pair of deep blue eyes.

“And?”

Edric asked languidly, blinking his eyes.

“Sleep well. What were you going to say next? Melly?”

“W-Were you not sleeping?”

Flustered, Melly tried to get up, but Edric did not release his hand from her waist.

“Sleep well, and……”

He repeated exactly what Melly had said and pressed on.

“I’m asking what you were going to say next.”

He seemed determined not to let her go until she said those words.

Melly gulped dryly.

‘I love you.’

Once she missed the timing, it became difficult to bring it up again.

Melly came up with any words she could think of.

“I… I was going to tell you to get well soon.”

“…Really?”

Edric narrowed his eyes.

“Yes. Really.”

Melly said as if it were undoubtedly true. Then Edric’s hand wrapped around her waist loosened.

Melly could now freely raise her body, but somehow it was an unwelcome freedom.

Edric sat up. A wrinkle formed between his brows as if it was difficult.

“Are you badly hurt?”

Melly quickly placed a cushion behind his back and asked.

“Not much.”

“Let me see.”

“I said I’m not hurt much.”

“Still, show me. I want to see.”

At Melly’s persistence, Edric looked at her.

It was a gaze that seemed to burrow into her eyes.

The dim light, the strange gaze, the silence.

In an atmosphere similar to the night they spent together, Melly suddenly became very awkward.

“Ah, sorry. I asked for too much……”

“Look.”

He suddenly unbuttoned his patient gown and spread the collar to both sides.

“……”

Where was her boldness when she had demanded to see earlier? Melly couldn’t bring herself to look directly.

With an embarrassed face, she rolled only her eyeballs to look at his bare upper body.

There was the firm chest that had pressed down on her countless times last night, there were the intricate and symmetrical abdominal muscle divisions like a well-made quilt, and then…

A long centipede with dozens of legs was attached!

No, that wasn’t a centipede. It was the scar of a deep wound sewn with thread.

The black thread that stitched the wound looked like the legs of a centipede.

“You’re… badly hurt.”

Melly said in a trembling voice.

“It’s not much. This level is nothing.”

But Edric spoke as if it were insignificant and closed his patient gown again.

“If you go to the battlefield, you get hurt ten times more than this. You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

When Edric returned from serving at the front-line barracks three years ago, Melly saw a large red spider attached to his shoulder blade.

As the years passed, the spider gradually became smaller and fainter, but it didn’t disappear.

“It’s just a graze, so there’s no need to make a fuss, Melly.”

He finished buttoning his patient gown and leaned deep into the bed’s headrest.

Melly stood still, not knowing what to do.

The deeply cut wound was still shocking. If possible, she wanted to transfer it to her own body. But she knew well that it was impossible, and moreover, it didn’t seem right for her to cry and make a scene when the person himself was so calm.

‘He needs absolute rest, so please try not to excite him as much as possible.’

Hadn’t the nurse said that too?

Melly decided to be bold.

“Y-You’re right. Come to think of it, it was worse back then.”

“……”

Edric stared at her again. It was a soft gaze like the lamp in the hospital room.

For some reason, it was difficult to meet his eyes today. She thought it might be better to leave quickly.

He should rest a bit too.

“I’ve seen that you’re okay, so that’s enough. Rest now.”

It was just as Melly turned around.

“Wait.”

“……”

“Stay a little longer.”

Edric said.

Melly turned back slowly.

One side of his face that the lamp couldn’t illuminate looked shadowed. Perhaps because of that, he looked paler than when he was lying down, and his lips seemed even drier.

His face, always full of vitality and strength, had never looked as pitiful as it did today.

If his usual self was a golden lion, today he was like… a large dog abandoned in the rain.

Melly’s heart softened.

“Come here. Sit here.”

Edric tapped the bed beside him, just like he did on the terrace railing.

And Melly moved her steps as he instructed.

As if… she were under hypnosis.