Chapter 38

Eli's head swayed back and forth, left and right. It was dizzying.

"Your Grace, I, I'm dizzy…."

At Eli's groan, Erhardt finally stopped moving.

Eli, who had been swaying like someone with motion sickness, regained his composure.

He asked in a firm voice.

"Your eyes."

"Excuse me?"

"They said you were given some strange medicine."

But Eli's gaze was fixed firmly on the duke.

'I clearly said my eyes hurt.'

Erhardt frowned.

His gaze was so fierce that Eli shrank back.

'Did he catch me lying?'

But seeing the blood on his face, it seemed things had gone according to plan…?

Did something go wrong in the middle? I should have gone myself and pretended to put in the eye drops….

"Your Grace?"

At that moment, a feigned surprised voice came from behind.

Erhardt turned his head to follow the sound. Ivan's face was deathly pale.

Just as he was about to frown in confusion,

"Your Grace!"

Ante hurriedly approached the duke.

"Leaving without a word, where are you going! Huh, and so quickly…."

Ante, who had been panting as if he had been running, looked around at the tense atmosphere.

"Oh…."

Heaving a sigh, he quickly led Erhardt.

"This way, Your Grace. Come, come!"

Ante tried his best to pull Erhardt, but the duke stood as still as a rock.

He just frowned and stared intently at Eli.

Only after seeing Eli's gaze shift between Ante and Erhardt did the duke finally respond to Ante's urgency.

The door closed, and as they moved away from the room, Ante let go of Erhardt.

"Phew…."

Erhardt asked, hearing Ante's sigh of genuine exhaustion.

"Why are you sighing so much?"

"Do you really not know?"

"If I knew, would I ask?"

It was a response that left no room for argument. As Ante squeezed his eyes shut, Roine approached them.

She was worried that something else might have happened due to the duke and Ante suddenly leaving the meeting room.

"…Wipe the blood first."

Ante offered a handkerchief from his pocket. Erhardt glanced at it once and then turned his gaze away indifferently.

Ante sighed softly.

"I knew Your Grace was indifferent, but this is a bit much."

"What?"

"I mean Eli."

At the mention of Eli's name, Erhardt frowned openly.

"Speak clearly."

"We are used to it, but Eli is still young. Seeing you covered in blood like this, how frightened must that young person be?"

Ante sighed as if Eli were particularly dense.

"True. If it were any other child, they would have fainted long ago."

"…."

"Still, try to be a bit more careful with the blood. He is still young, after all."

Erhardt looked down at his hands at Ante's words.

The traces of blood were clear.

He had momentarily forgotten that the child was there.

But am I the type to worry about such things?

He was basically indifferent to others. Everyone in the estate knew that.

"Your Grace…."

At that moment, Roine cautiously approached him.

"I brought this because you left it behind."

She held out a small vial of medicine. The one Eli had given to the duke.

"That medicine, Eli gave it to me…."

"What?"

"He said his head hurt. But he didn't take it and gave it to you instead."

How could he be so considerate? Roine said, her voice filled with admiration.

Erhardt silently looked down at the vial in his hand.

The only reason he hadn't thrown away the medicine was because it was a children's headache medicine that wouldn't work on him, and he found it amusing to accept it.

But….

'Why am I so concerned?'

Erhardt clenched his fist without realizing it, so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand stood out.

"For heaven's sake, I would have taken it myself."

Ante said in an exaggerated voice, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

"I wouldn't care about such a stubborn person being sick or not…."

Ante's excited chatter stopped abruptly at Erhardt's sharp gaze.

At that moment, Erhardt reached out his hand.

Ante flinched and shrank back.

But his hand stopped in mid-air, not choking him or anything.

Ante said in a puzzled voice.

"Your Grace…?"

"Give it to me."

"What…?"

Erhardt's gaze was on Ante's hand, more precisely, the handkerchief he had just offered.

"Oh, yes…."

Ante quickly handed the handkerchief to the duke.

Erhardt snatched the handkerchief and began to roughly wipe the blood from his face.

When he lowered his hand, the white handkerchief was stained with blood.

'Does this much blood usually get on it?'

Clearly, it wasn't a sight fit for a child.

But the north is full of monsters. Seeing blood would become more common.

Erhardt frowned.

"Ante."

"Yes, yes, Your Grace!"

"Do the knights have these?"

"…Yes?"

At Ante's dazed voice, Erhardt held up the blood-stained handkerchief.

"No, of course… I don't think they do."

"Give them one each. So they can wipe blood immediately. Not just any cloth…."

Erhardt hesitated, about to say to tear any cloth and give it to them.

"Tell them to make it with a good cloth that wipes blood well."

But a cloth that wipes blood well is usually rough.

If it accidentally scratched a child's delicate face, it would be a problem.

"Make it as soft as possible."

Wait.

Since a child might see it, it would be good to pay attention to the pattern too.

Handkerchiefs are often lent to others.

Eli might need to borrow one from someone someday.

In that case,

"It would be good to add some floral patterns. Roine, tell the servants firmly. Ante will handle the distribution."

Roine and Ante, who suddenly became handkerchief delivery boys, just blinked in confusion.

* * *

I sat quietly in front of the mirror, letting Ivan tend to me.

'He seems to be putting more effort into dressing me up today.'

"Is something special happening today?"

At my question, Ivan nodded while tying a ribbon in my hair.

"Yes. The duke has specially allowed you to go out today."

"Go out?"

Since coming to the Schuetz estate from the orphanage, I had only taken occasional walks near the castle, never leaving its grounds.

"Can we go far?"

Excitement lit up my eyes, and Ivan smiled.

"Of course. We'll go to the central square of the estate by carriage. There are many interesting things to see."

"Wow!"

I was already planning to do some market research, so this was perfect!

Market research is essential for a comfortable and peaceful future.

'Time is running out.'

Four years from now, Damian will be sent to war by the emperor's order.

It's because the emperor fears that the grown-up Damian might seek revenge on the royal family.

Sending a 15-year-old child to war is absurd.

But Damian goes to war to rightfully inherit the name of Cleyder, and returns victorious five years later.

'And he returns with the heroine.'

The heroine, Ashabel, was an ordinary person living in a small village, but she turned out to have a powerful holy power that even a high priest couldn't possess.

She was caught up in the sudden war and, while fleeing, found Damian lying unconscious after an attack.

The heroine, with a heart like an angel, healed Damian and awakened her holy power.

Ashabel's power was incredible. Just a touch of her hand could heal wounds and even dispel long-standing nightmares.

She was a munchkin with powers she didn't even know she had. The heroine herself.

How could Damian not fall in love with her?