Oz opened his eyes wide.

“Why… why are you like this, my lady?”

“I think I have indigestion from what I ate during the day.”

Melly said as she removed her hand from her mouth. But as she smelled the savory aroma of soufflé, the nauseous feeling returned. She covered her mouth and dry heaved a few more times.

Oz patted her back and his eyes sparkled as if he realized something.

“Co… could it be, my lady.”

“No.”

Melly quickly replied, knowing what she was thinking.

“It’s not that.”

Melly chuckled and shook her head once more.

“You know I’m not fooled by these symptoms just once or twice, right?”

“But this time could be different.”

Oz said that and quickly counted on his fingers.

“Let’s see… when was your expected date, my lady…”

“There’s no need to calculate.”

“…”

Melly stopped him.

It was all meaningless.

How many days had she held hope when her expected period was delayed by just a few days?

If it was even one day late, she would make a fuss as if pregnancy was confirmed, and after three days, she would name the child and rub her belly while talking to the baby.

The longest it had gone was seven days, wasn’t it?

But none of them were pregnancies.

Nothing lived in her womb. She had simply fallen completely for the trick her wretched body played to devastate her soul.

Oz was about to suggest that it would be good to take a test anyway, but stopped. Time would resolve it anyway.

If it was pregnancy, her belly would gradually swell whether she denied it or not, and if not, her menstrual blood would flow as scheduled before that.

All she could do now was to wait quietly until time proved it.

“Shall I bring you some digestive medicine, my lady?”

“Would you? Thank you.”

Melly knew that taking digestive medicine wouldn’t make food go down, but she still sent her away because she wanted to be alone.

She firmly believed that not being able to eat was due to extreme stress.

Being alone, his words came to mind again.

‘Back then, I thought it was love.’

Those bullet-like words so easily pierced through the armor Melly had carefully put up, leaving a huge hole in her heart.

He was someone who knew how to inflict the most fatal wound in the simplest way.

He was a man who could completely shatter the other person’s self-esteem without uttering a single vulgar word.

The words Edric had said before came to mind simultaneously, tormenting her.

‘You don’t need to come. You staying at home is helping.’

‘You’re quite selfish.’

‘I can’t make any promises with you.’

She thought she had forgotten, but she hadn’t.

She had just stored them away and covered them up, but not a single memory had disappeared. And now, those forcibly suppressed memories were crawling out like germs through the hole he had pierced, jabbing at various parts of Melly’s heart.

Even the words she hated the most would sound much kinder than this at this moment…

‘Perhaps the Duchess is infertile.’

No. No. It’s similar. Both are equally painful words, to the point where one can’t say which is better.

Suddenly, all the words in the world seemed like daggers made to attack her.

Even silence felt like an iron mace prepared to strike her down. Melly covered her ears completely with her hands to prevent any sound from seeping in.

Then, through the blood flow that hummed like a seashell, a faint voice was heard.

‘Get a mistress.’

It was the voice of her own heart.

She had forgotten in the confusion, but now she remembered.

She had gone in to say that, but ended up saying something else entirely.

‘Why did you marry me?’

If she had said to get a mistress as soon as they met, what would he have said?

Would he have said something harsher than what he said to me? Or…

‘Thank you. I was thinking about that anyway, but hearing you say it first makes me feel much lighter.’

Would he have said that with a smile?

Would I have felt better then?

“…”

Melly slowly removed her hands from her ears.

‘Back then, I thought it was love.’

Suddenly, those words seemed generous. Even more so than a grateful response spoken kindly with a smiling face.

Edric adjusted his attire and looked at himself in the mirror.

His eyes looked tired.

It was because he hadn’t slept the night before.

He pressed the inner corners of his eyebrows firmly with his thumb and index finger, then put on his glasses. And looked in the mirror again.

Even he thought the arrogantly slanted eyes within the smoothly rounded frames looked unpleasant.

Since he was young, only women liked him wearing glasses. Except for Melly…

The very thing that Melly, who liked him as he was, particularly disliked was his appearance with glasses on. Edric clearly remembered how she would smile awkwardly, feeling distant from him every time he wore glasses.

‘I don’t wear them because I want to.’

He wore them because the world was blurry without them, because he couldn’t distinguish between hypocrisy and truth otherwise.

But even though a head of a great noble family should rightfully keep his eyes and mind clear at all times, he thought it might be alright just for today.

At least this morning, he wanted to start the day without wearing the glasses Melly disliked. Gladly, if it could improve her mood even a little.

He grasped the frame of his glasses that crossed his temples.

Knock knock−.

Following the sudden knock, a small voice was heard.

“It’s me, dear.”

It was Melly.

“May I come in?”

“…Come in.”

Edric lowered his hand. His glasses were not in his hand.

The door opened and Melly entered.

She came in wearing a light pink blouse and a teal skirt that harmonized elegantly.

Edric’s deep blue eyes behind the glasses had never focused on Melly as intently as they did then.

He tried to grasp Melly’s intentions from her gaze, expression, gestures, gait, and everything else.

Melly’s thoughts, which were usually so easy to read, were particularly difficult to grasp today… until she picked up a clothes brush placed on one side of the dressing room.

“Let me tidy up your appearance a bit.”

She said with a soft smile as she went behind him.

The feeling of the brush sweeping across felt unfamiliar today. He took a step to the side.

“That’s enough, stop.”

“Just a moment. Let me just fix this part a bit more.”

Melly moved her feet as much as he had distanced himself and continued brushing.

Her touch was very attentive. But Edric’s suspicion grew.

He wondered if Melly had temporarily gone strange from the shock of his words last night.

The way she left the room in such a daze didn’t look good at all.

If that was the case, he had to take responsibility and apologize.

He couldn’t fully explain the reason to her.

According to what he had weighed in his mind last night, the weight of the two words was similar. Mentioning the article about her infertility wasn’t halving her pain, but doubling it.

It was better to just apologize regardless of the reason. He took a breath.

“Yesterday, I…”

“You know.”

They both opened their mouths at the same time. Since he had also done something wrong yesterday, Edric yielded the right to speak to her first.

Melly nodded as if grateful for being given the chance to speak.

“I’m sorry for provoking you with unnecessary words yesterday.”

“…”

“I didn’t mean to say such things, but somehow my words came out too harshly.”

“…”

“I’ll take to heart the advice to fulfill my duties as a duchess.”

Edric turned around.

Melly was holding the clothes brush tightly and bowing her head. She wasn’t apologizing out of unnecessary pride.

She was sincerely regretting what had happened last night.

Half of her lower lip was caught between her teeth, turning white.

Edric, who had been quietly observing this, raised his hand. And gently removed her lip from between her teeth.

“It’s okay.”

He gently lifted Melly’s chin to make her look at him.

“Just don’t do it again in the future.”

Melly’s brown eyes wavered transparently.

Her eyes curved along with Edric’s mouth as the corners of his lips slowly lifted.

Edric could finally feel at ease now.

‘Back then, I thought it was love.’

Although Melly might have been upset by those words, she didn’t turn away.

She knows that he didn’t really mean to say such things.

After all, he didn’t say that he thought it was love but it turned out not to be. He just said that he wasn’t sure these days, that his thoughts could change depending on her efforts.

So he was indirectly saying that whining and trying to confirm love would only have a negative effect on their relationship.

And thankfully, Melly understood his true intentions.

‘I really.’

Edric inwardly mocked himself.

It’s not like he doesn’t know what kind of woman Melly is.

Melly wasn’t the type to turn away because of just a few words.

Rather than blaming others, she was the type to analyze what problem she might have and find a solution.

Knowing this, yet still being anxious. With the extra edition incident as well, Edric thought he must care for her quite a bit.

“Can’t you come home early today?”

Melly asked as they left the dressing room. Her voice was bright and cheerful.

Originally, that’s what Edric had planned to do.

He had intended to finish work as quickly as possible and come home to spend quality time with her and improve her mood.

But now he had some leeway.

“If you come early today, I’ll brew you a delicious tea… Just for you.”

To Melly, who clearly expressed her intention not to bother him, Edric replied.

“We’ll see.”

Melly would always be there in the same place anyway.

So he thought it wouldn’t be too late to taste her tea in a comfortable mood after perfectly finishing his work.