Chapter 3
Whether it was because he was drowsy from sleep or dazed from the painkillers mixed with sleeping medication, his unfocused eyes rolled toward me. Meeting his gaze directly, I smiled brightly and continued quickly unwrapping the bandages.
“Your wounds have almost fully healed, so that’s a relief. You seem to be moving around when I’m not looking. I was told that if you keep doing that, your wounds could reopen and slow your recovery. If you want to heal quickly, please stay still and behave yourself.”
The attending physician, suspicious of how often the wounds kept reopening, had apparently decided it was better to monitor him secretly when he was alone, and assigned a knight to watch him. According to that knight, the man never once groaned, but would break out in a cold sweat, force himself up alone, and stand by the window, silently staring at the sky.
What kind of story did he have? How had he ended up appearing before me in such a state? What exactly was his identity?
I was overflowing with curiosity, but I deliberately didn’t ask. Ever since the day he appeared covered in blood, he hadn’t said a single word, as if undergoing some kind of vow of silence. He might have even lost his voice for real. For now, I decided to wait until he spoke first.
Carefully, I removed the bandages wrapped around his chest and shoulders, making sure not to reopen the wounds, then wrung out a wet cloth and gently wiped him, avoiding the injured areas. His body was unbelievably firm. His skin was smooth and beautiful, pleasant even to touch.
‘As pretty as his eyes. Really.’
It was a little disappointing that he was covered in wounds, but thinking about how he might look once all of them healed made my heart flutter in anticipation.
While I focused on wiping him down, I suddenly felt a sting on my forehead and slightly lifted my head. My eyes met his—he was still watching me without the slightest movement.
“…Do you hate it when I clean you myself?”
He lowered his gaze again and turned his head slightly toward the window. The man who had always stared at me so intently was the one now looking away first, and strangely, I felt a bit disappointed.
After cleaning his well-defined upper body, I helped him sit up and wiped down his back as well, revealing his sculpted muscles. All that was left was his lower body…
“Can I take this off?”
Instead of pants, he was wearing a cloth wrapped around his waist and upper thighs, tied with strings because of treatment. If he had been unconscious, I would have done it without asking, but since he was awake, it felt a bit embarrassing.
Even after my question, he only trembled his eyes slightly. It was an ambiguous reaction—neither yes nor no—but I had to clean him anyway.
Even for me, it wasn’t an easy task, so I steeled myself and focused only on the work, trying not to think about anything else. I struggled hard not to let my eyes drift there.
“Hah… done. I’ll cover you with a clean cloth again. Wait a moment.”
To avoid awkwardness, I smiled brightly and placed a dry, fluffy cloth under his hips, carefully lowering him back down before wrapping him up properly and tying it.
“From today, we won’t use bandages anymore, just medicine. If your wounds reopen again, the bed will get messy, and you’ll be in a lot of pain. So don’t move at all, alright? You need to behave if you want to heal quickly.”
Did he even understand how upsetting it was that his wounds kept reopening? He was such an obedient person, yet even while lying down he could still see the sky—so why did he insist on moving to the window?
Only later did I realize he might still be on guard. Just like animals need time to adjust in unfamiliar places, humans probably needed the same.
So from that day on, I personally took over all the work I had previously left to the servants. From feeding him, to giving him medicine, even washing his body.
Because I was the only one he allowed to approach without resistance.
It was difficult at first, but as I continued, I gradually became more interested. I felt proud watching his wounds slowly heal with my own eyes.
And a few days later, the physician who examined him smiled in satisfaction and nodded.
“It seems the nerves and muscles in his legs were not damaged. Walking will be difficult for now, but it is not an injury that cannot heal. With proper recovery, he should at least be able to walk without issue.”
“Any side effects?”
“He won’t be as perfect as before the injury, but that will depend on how much effort he puts into rehabilitation.”
Still, I was relieved that he would not lose the use of his legs. If there had been no hope, he would have fallen into despair.
At the physician’s words, color returned to the man’s face as well. I felt proud that I had chosen to treat him properly rather than ignore him.
“You heard that, right? You can recover. So hang in there a little longer.”
Since prolonged immobility could weaken his leg muscles, I personally massaged his left leg, encouraging him. It was the first time I had ever done something like this myself as a noblewoman, so I was clumsy, but he simply stared at me without saying a word.
“Lushea.”
“Ah! Father. You came all the way here? You could have sent for me.”
It was just then, while I was massaging his leg.
I was caught completely off guard by my father entering without knocking, and I suddenly felt very embarrassed.
My father praised me for treating the injured man, perhaps because of the plague that had killed so many people.
However, he clearly disapproved of how devoted I was becoming to him. He clicked his tongue, calling it unnecessary effort, but I ignored him completely. I knew he was jealous because I did things for this man that I never did for him.
My father—jealous? Mother would have laughed if she heard that from heaven.
“I heard about it from the physician. He’s young and physically strong, so he should recover enough to walk without taking too long.”
“Yes. The first doctor said there might be no hope, but if he hadn’t had the will to live, he might not have survived.”
“We won’t be seeing a corpse in this estate then. More importantly, Lushea, come with me for a moment.”
My father turned and left the room, apparently having business with me. I quickly tidied the man’s bedding and followed him.
“What is it you wanted to say?”
My father stopped in a hallway not far from the guest room where the man stayed and handed me a letter.
“It seems Joanna left a final will mentioning you. I thought it best that you see it yourself.”
Mother’s will…
When I first received it, I thought I should show it to Father first, so I hadn’t read it yet. With trembling hands, I carefully took it and glanced at my father before opening it.
It described how, as the plague spread through the capital, she had sensed her own death approaching and quickly written a few lines. A salon member she had visited recently collapsed, and it appeared they had been hiding their illness as their skin had already begun to rot. That person had been confirmed as highly contagious, and most nobles who attended the salon were likely to die.
The calm handwriting carried all the urgency of that situation. Seeing her familiar script made me miss my mother even more. I held back tears and continued reading—and at the very end, there was something about me.
My two older sisters were already happily married, so she had no regrets there. But she worried about her youngest daughter, me, whom she had not been able to love enough. She wrote that I was strong-willed and capable of sound judgment, so if I wished to serve the family, it would be acceptable. However, since no marriage had yet been arranged for me, she hoped I would be free to choose someone I loved and live as I wished.
I wasn’t someone who cried easily, but memories of all the times my mother had cared for me made my eyes sting.
“She always worried about my future… Even at the end, I must have been on her mind.”
“She often said you were her most fragile point. She also said you resembled your father too much. I don’t think that’s a problem, though.”
I had heard before that my eldest sister resembled my father and was rather cold, but I had never thought I was the same. Yet to Mother, perhaps there was no difference between us.
Somehow, that was a bit shocking.
“So why did you show me this will?”
“Because it contains your answer. I’m asking for your intention. Do you truly wish to receive heir training?”
It was something I had already discussed with my mother before. Whether a daughter could become an heir, what would happen to our house without a son—Mother had said that as long as I loved the family, I could become the heir.
So I had decided long ago: I would protect House Mariel and its lands.
“I wish to formally receive heir education. I will take responsibility for the family after you.”
“No kingdom here has ever trained a female heir before. It won’t be easy. Still, will you do it?”
“What in this world is easy? Didn’t you and Mother also face opposition from the king when you married? Yet you still married because you had resolve, didn’t you?”
“…Yes, you’re right. Then we’ll begin accelerated training tomorrow. The steward will prepare the documents for you.”
“Yes, Father.”
It had been a long time since I saw such a proud smile on my father’s face.
Others might say it didn’t look like a smile at all, but for him, even a slight softening of his usually rigid expression was rare. It reminded me of the times he would only show such an expression when my mother teased him, and somehow, it felt strangely nostalgic.
