Chapter 43
The tension melted into relief, filling my chest to the brim.
My goodness—
It really is Bambi.
I could feel my mouth stretch wide into a grin.
From high above, a handsome young man with jet-black hair rested his chin on his hand and casually tossed out a remark.
“You look like you’re living just fine for someone who was kidnapped.”
“You knew?”
“How could I not? It’s about you.”
Thank goodness. I was honestly worried you’d smashed everything to pieces. At least the marquis’s valuable real estate is still intact.
Bambi lightly hopped down from the top of the golden statue, landing on the floor without a sound. It was a pretty high place, too.
It hadn’t even been a week since I last saw him, but somehow it felt like much longer. Probably because too many things had happened in between.
Half shocked, half delighted, I muttered,
“I didn’t think you’d come all the way here.”
Bambi tilted his head.
“I sent Gu-gu. I thought you’d noticed I was coming and split up from the other two. Wasn’t that it?”
“No… this place is really far.”
Bambi let out a light laugh, as if he’d just heard something ridiculous. That slight delay made the realization hit me late.
I protested belatedly,
“Then why would I prepare bathwater if I thought you were coming?”
“Why not? Maybe you wanted to wait for me while taking a bath.”
Bambi answered shamelessly, then slowly pulled my left shoulder while pushing my right at the same pace.
Before I even understood what was happening, I spun in place and turned a full circle.
When I faced him again, Bambi was wearing a strange expression—like he desperately wanted to find fault with something, but couldn’t, and was disappointed by it.
Then he said,
“They’re not starving you, at least.”
…Does that mean I gained weight?
“Don’t misunderstand, Sophie. I just mean you look better than when you were at that house.”
“Well, of course.”
Still, for some reason, his tone carried a faint sense of regret.
At that moment, Bambi pulled out a small, individually wrapped round chocolate. Instead of replying, I opened my mouth.
The first time I ever ate this chocolate was a long time ago.
It was the day I was locked in my room at the marquis’s estate and denied meals. I’d been forbidden from going out before, but that was the first time they’d ordered me to fast as well.
Was it the second day? Or the third?
Now I’m used to it, but back then, it was my first time fasting that long. I had no strength left, and the world spun so badly I couldn’t even stand.
And just like always, Bambi came.
He sat atop the balcony railing. When I barely managed to turn my head from the bed, Bambi stiffened at the sight of how gaunt I looked.
“You—what kind of state are you in?”
Hearing that on top of everything else made tears spill out on their own. It wasn’t something I could control.
Bambi stayed still for a few seconds, then vaulted over the railing and strode toward me. Until then, he’d always left after sitting on the railing—this was the first time he’d entered the room.
“What is it, Sophie? Say something. Hm?”
It was a surprisingly gentle voice for Bambi, but I didn’t notice at the time.
I didn’t even have the energy to make excuses. With a completely drained voice, I told him I’d been given both a confinement order and a fasting order by the marquis.
And Bambi got angry.
“Why would you just accept that? Are you stupid?”
“D‑Don’t… shout…”
After a moment, Bambi spoke again, this time much quieter.
“You should’ve asked someone to secretly bring you something. You’ve got plenty of maids on your side.”
“I can’t… Yesterday, Bessie got caught trying to bring me jerky… Gemma beat her half to death…”
I closed my eyes mid-sentence, but I could vividly picture what Bambi was doing—running his hands roughly through his hair.
“Unbelievable…”
I still had my eyes closed when I felt someone’s fingers brush my face. The tear clinging to my eyelashes disappeared.
“Don’t move.”
Even without being told, I couldn’t have moved anyway.
Bambi returned after I’d drifted into a light sleep.
When I opened my eyes again, he vaulted over the railing onto the balcony, opened the glass door, and entered the room.
In the assassin’s black-clad hands was a large handful of candy-shaped chocolates.
I blinked several times, wondering if I was really seeing this.
“What’s that?”
“It was the only place open. It was late…”
Bambi muttered something else, but I couldn’t hear it anymore.
The chocolate he unwrapped and put into my mouth back then tasted exactly the same as the one I was eating now.
Ever since then, whenever Bambi comes to see me, he always puts chocolate in my mouth—whether I’m confined or not.
As I rolled the familiar chocolate around on my tongue, I suddenly realized something.
Our eye levels didn’t match.
He hadn’t been this much taller before.
“You got taller.”
“A little. I’ll keep growing, too.”
Bambi looked more pleased than before as he answered.
The black-haired assassin took a seat on a nearby massage bed.
Seeing Bambi sitting there in assassin attire inside this luxurious bathroom felt incredibly out of place—yet he himself looked completely at ease, like it was his own home.
Resting his chin on his hand, his red eyes fixed on me.
“So, Lady Bartoli, what’s your plan? And why did our son’s father become the ‘Grand Duke of Glentino’?”
“Our son, my foot—”
I retorted incredulously, though inwardly I was slightly surprised. The story would be long, but he already knew Owen had become a grand duke.
I followed Bambi and sat on the edge of the foam-filled bathtub. Thankfully, the rim was wide enough to perch on.
“Bambi, listen…”
And I began explaining everything that had happened since his last visit.
That the birthday gift and letter were sent by Eluise, and that she definitely sent Arne.
That Owen and I entered a temporary marriage to raise Arne together—here Bambi’s eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t interrupt.
That we planned to formally register Arne into the ducal family, and that we were currently on our way to meet the dowager grand duchess to obtain permission for both the adoption and the marriage.
Even after I finished, Bambi didn’t react.
He just sat there with his arms crossed, brows furrowed, as if chewing over everything I’d said.
Finally, Bambi delivered his verdict.
“I don’t like it.”
“What? Why?”
Sure, his expression wasn’t great—but I’d thought Bambi would understand this was the best option.
Still puzzled, I carefully explained again.
That no matter how I looked at it, there was no risk or disadvantage for me—which was suspicious in its own way—but that Owen himself was undeniably trustworthy.
Even after hearing it all, Bambi turned away with a sulky expression.
“Yeah. That’s exactly it.”
“So you’re saying Owen—”
“The Grand Duke of Glentino.”
“…Right. That the grand duke is trustworthy?”
“……”
Looks like it.
And then it hit me. I knew Bambi well enough.
“You already finished investigating him, didn’t you? No—about the grand duke.”
“Yeah.”
“And he was clean.”
This time, Bambi didn’t answer. He just turned his head away, chin still resting on his hand.
Which was basically a yes.
Wow.
I was honestly impressed. If Bambi reacted like that, it meant not a speck of dirt turned up. The eldest son of the most powerful family in the empire, without even a single scandal.
So beneath that roguish exterior, he’d been living a perfectly upright life.
Holding back my laughter, I thanked him.
“Thanks, Bambi. I think I can feel even more at ease now.”
Bambi snapped his eyes open.
“I didn’t say that so you could relax, Sophie. Got it? Don’t trust people so easily. And don’t just endure things stupidly over there. And—”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I gently ruffled Bambi’s hair. When he rambled like this, it meant he was worried about me.
Instead of grumbling, Bambi stayed still and just looked away.
This time, I’ll never let Bambi die.
Ah—right.
That thought reminded me of something else.
“Bambi, you be careful too. How’s Leoni? You’ve pulled back all the assassins around her now, right?”
If I wanted Bambi to survive, cutting off his connection with Leoni was the top priority. In my previous life, it was Leoni’s escort knight who killed him.
Still wearing his crooked attitude, Bambi replied,
“Yeah. I left only the minimum surveillance. But your sister doesn’t seem to think the same way you do.”
“Well… I expected that.”
This was the period when Leoni and I were at our most hostile toward each other. So when she came home—on the very first day of my regression—she must’ve been even more convinced my declaration was just a clumsy diversion.
That much was fine for now. I added firmly,
“It’s okay. I’ll just keep telling her until she believes me.”
“You get bullied every day, and yet you still care about that kind of sister…”
“Me? Care about Leoni?”
What nonsense was he talking about? I just wanted to have a normal sisterly relationship with her.
But instead of correcting him, I smiled.
At the sound of my laughter, Bambi’s gaze flicked toward me.
No—
Not just for a moment.
His eyes returned to me, his face frighteningly stiff.
“Bambi? What is it?”
Bambi pointed to his own chest.
“You… right here—”
