Chapter 7
Beware of Me
A few quiet days passed.
After an early breakfast, Marquis Lizerne immediately left the mansion, and until he returned late at night, Anes wandered around the estate.
The vast count’s mansion consisted of large rooms, so it didn’t take long to explore them all. She would look into each room one by one, and if she found a place she liked, she would spend the entire day there.
There was a slight regret that there wasn’t anything particularly memorable to do, but that only made her want to feel and touch everything more deeply.
“Miss? Ah! Found you!”
Thanks to this, every day with Tarin felt like a game of hide-and-seek. Being a young girl, she didn’t mind and took it as a playful activity.
Later, when entering the royal palace, she planned to bring this girl along. To protect her, she would need to secure her place firmly within the palace.
It seemed she always tried to find a source of motivation. Previously, she would tire easily at anything she did. She had limits for things done for herself. She had even entertained dangerous thoughts, like “If I give up this one life…”
“You found me quickly today, huh? Hmm? Already lunchtime, it seems.”
Tarin smiled as she came inside. Today, she hadn’t even become out of breath. She entered with the smile of a victor, the corners of her lips lifted proudly.
“Miss, you seem to stay a long time in places that are comfortable to sleep. Even if this place looks complicated and dangerous at first glance, there’s a reason for the sofa here.”
The place Anes had settled today was a strange attic on the top floor of the marquis’s mansion. The attic in the middle left had a roof shaped like a small hut. It looked less like a room and more like a tall watchtower.
Being high up with open spaces all around, the wind blew through and the ceiling structure was fully exposed, giving it a sense of complexity and slight danger, just as Tarin had said.
Yet there was a sofa there. Sitting on it, she immediately nodded in understanding.
Now she knew why the sofa was there.
Through the gap between the wall and roof, the bright blue sky was visible, and the wind, spreading through the center, brushed across her body, making it an incredibly refreshing spot.
Tarin usually came around lunchtime to let her know it was time to eat. At first, Anes didn’t even notice the passage of time as she explored the new spaces, and sometimes she would get so distracted that she would lose her way, only finding the dining room by evening.
Despite the mansion’s size, she was shocked at how she could get lost.
“You’ve come all the way up here, so you’ve seen all the places you can go, right?”
After walking floor by floor for about four days, she had explored everything.
To Tarin, she gave the excuse that she simply wanted to remember the place she lived more clearly. Explaining that it felt natural because her marriage was approaching, Tarin accepted it.
“Hmm, yes. That’s everything, then.”
But her goal wasn’t just to explore—it was to leave lasting memories. So she continued wandering and intended to rest in the place she liked each day.
Ever since childhood, she had dreamed of resting comfortably, even for a moment. No worries about what to eat for dinner, no concern about the hours of her part-time work, no landlord to worry about who raised the rent while pretending to be generous…
Once in the royal household, she wouldn’t have such leisure in any sense.
Perhaps the old life full of worries might be waiting for her again.
“Alright. Even after lunch today, I’ll rest intensely!”
After having lunch with Tarin, Anes went to her room’s terrace and sank into the sofa, which was like a sunbed.
Today, the sunlight was warm, and having eaten lunch, sleepiness began to creep in.
I wonder if Father is alright. He’s seemed tired lately.
After breakfast, she always made it a point to see him off. She wanted to check his condition in the bright light, and the time after breakfast was the only moment she spent with him.
The shadows under his eyes seemed darker recently, which worried her. She hoped it wasn’t due to mana—if it were simple overwork, it would still worry her.
“Mm… this feels so good…”
“I came worried and found you completely indulging in leisure.”
“Eek!”
Just as she tried to surrender herself to the warm sunlight and doze off, a man’s voice startled her. She leapt up, making a strange sound.
“W-who are you?!”
She shivered, remembering when a thief had broken into her villa in high school. After blurting out “Who are you?” her body froze in full from the memory.
Back then, the thief had entered through the window while she was sleeping. Luckily, she had the habit of wrapping herself tightly in blankets, so she could scream before anything worse happened.
The thief panicked, fled through the window, and she locked up and called the police, narrowly avoiding disaster. But the sight of knife marks on the blanket later had left her shaken.
And now, that memory…
She should have shouted, but her throat felt blocked, and she couldn’t make a sound. She even stopped breathing for a moment.
“You’re really startled. It’s not like there are no servants… Miss?”
The intruder spoke casually, entering her sight, and only when he noticed her frozen state did he seem to realize something was wrong.
His eyes hardened. The Crown Prince… she now knew who he was. She felt as if someone were pressing her chest with enormous force, rendering her powerless.
Help me… help me…
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept by, hitting him like a slap, and Teowin regained composure.
“Miss, what’s wrong?! Were you that startled?! Breathe! Just breathe!”
Anes had been leaning comfortably on the sofa, but she was frozen with her hands on her chest, not moving her chest or even her face, which was turning pale.
“Damn it.”
Teowin lifted her upper body, shocked at how rigid her body had become.
“How should I loosen her?!”
He needed to get her breathing again. Abandoning the idea of making her sit up, he climbed atop her and held her arms, gently massaging while thinking of a solution.
He cupped her face in his hands, softly stroking from her cheeks to her neck and shoulders. It might not work, but first he needed to relax her stiffened body.
Feeling her muscles slightly loosen, he bit his lip. Thankfully, this method wasn’t wrong. But she still wasn’t breathing.
He lightly placed his right hand over her neck. Muscles had relaxed slightly, but still no breath. He moved his hand down to the flat area between her chest and collarbones.
Her pale face looked into his, tears brimming in her eyes. Her heart raced under his palm, but she still made no effort to breathe.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Finally, Teowin cupped her face again, tilted her head back, and covered her slightly parted lips. Carefully, he blew his own breath into her.
Inhaling deeply and exhaling again, he filled her lungs as if she were breathing with him, repeating until…
“Ugh!”
Finally, Anes gasped, coughing violently, tears spilling from her eyes.
Teowin exhaled in relief, still atop her, and hugged her, patting her back. It felt like saving someone from the brink of death.
But then, she forcefully pushed him away. Anes glared fiercely, her raised hands trembling slightly.
Just as he feared she might strike him, she wriggled free and slid from beneath him.
Tears fell from her eyes once more, making Teowin’s heart tighten.
Without a word, she glared at him, opened the window, and slipped inside, slamming it shut with a loud bang.
She might call for others now. The crown prince who had sneaked into her room would likely be a source of gossip for some time.
Yet Teowin could not leave easily.
What kind of fear had made her freeze like that? Even her breathing seemed blocked, and he was shocked.
But no commotion came from inside. Teowin cautiously stood and looked in.
He saw her lying on the bed, wrapped tightly in blankets, motionless.
Realizing he could not soothe her today, Teowin quietly left.
