Chapter 63
“What Happened at Dawn”
“Does the food suit your taste?”
“Y-yes, of course. Thank you for your concern, Your Grace.”
“It’s only right to do this much for my lifesaver.”
“L-lifesaver is a bit much…”
When Calier’s red eyes turned toward me, I awkwardly avoided his gaze and quickly lowered my head over the soup bowl in front of me.
‘This isn’t at all the situation I imagined earlier—how did it end up like this?’
Flustered by the unexpected situation, I kept scooping soup into my mouth and thought back to the conversation I’d had with May earlier that morning.
<One hour ago>
“Um, May?”
“Yes, my lady.”
May, who was neatly brushing my hair, lifted her head to look at me.
I met her gaze through the mirror and asked,
“Did His Grace the Grand Duke regain consciousness?”
“Yes, my lady. Fortunately, he woke up this morning.”
She beamed brightly as she said it, and I gave an awkward smile back.
From May’s expression in the mirror, it didn’t seem like Calier had said anything special…
‘So he really doesn’t remember what happened last night?’
“That’s… good. I was worried since His Grace had such a high fever last night.”
At my added comment, May blinked blankly for a moment before quickly nodding.
“Oh, right. I heard about that too—how you looked after His Grace last night?”
“I-I wouldn’t go as far as to say I ‘looked after’ him…”
I trailed off, embarrassed.
In truth, it wasn’t really much.
All I’d done was change his hot towel and give him fever medicine…
“My lady?”
“Y-yes?”
“Your face is red. You’re not sick, are you?”
“No, not at all! I’m perfectly fine.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but thank you for worrying.”
May studied me for a moment, then let out a soft sigh. She fixed my hair firmly in place so it wouldn’t fall and said,
“Honestly, when the butler told me you stayed by His Grace’s side all night, I was so shocked.”
“It… wasn’t really like that. But… you were shocked? Why?”
Biting her lips as if holding back laughter, she avoided answering.
When I pressed her with my eyes, she cleared her throat and finally replied,
“Apparently the butler came by at dawn to check on His Grace, worried his condition might worsen—and he almost fainted because he thought you were a ghost.”
“G-ghost?”
May giggled.
“He said you had a blanket pulled over your head all the way to your toes.”
“T-that’s because…!”
Heat rose to my face.
It was true—when I went to check on Calier, I’d covered myself with a blanket, and I’d come back to my room the same way.
‘Who… who’s there?!’
And right at my bedroom door, there was a thud—and then the sound of someone collapsing.
Turning around, I saw Zenber pale as a sheet, trembling.
‘Zenber?’
‘Aaaahhh!’
‘It’s me! Heidi!’
‘…My lady?’
He peeked up timidly, and I gave him an awkward smile.
‘D-did I scare you?’
‘My lady, what on earth…?’
‘Haha…’
Honestly, my heart had almost dropped more than his, but of course I couldn’t say that.
I glanced at May, whose eyes were full of curiosity, and coughed.
“My hair was such a mess when I woke up.”
“…Your hair?”
“Yes. I wasn’t feeling well last night, so I went to bed early, but I woke up at dawn worried about His Grace. So I threw the blanket over me and went to check quickly… and that’s when Zenber caught me.”
Hearing that, May laughed as if she understood.
Still feeling embarrassed, I smiled awkwardly, and she put a sapphire hairpin in my hair.
“Well, we wouldn’t care if our hair was messy, but you’re a noble lady.”
“I suppose it’s not very noble of me to be caught looking like that.”
Of course, I thought to myself, it was better to be caught looking messy than to have my hair color discovered.
May, oblivious to my thoughts, smiled at me in the mirror.
“Sounds like a lot happened last night.”
“It really did.”
I grinned playfully in the mirror.
When she finished, May glanced at my messy bed and said,
“Still, if you’re feeling unwell, please tell me.”
“I will.”
“Don’t always say you’re fine.”
Her face made it seem like my answer had hurt her feelings.
Feeling a pang in my chest, I deliberately made my voice cheerful.
“I’m really fine. I was only sick for a day.”
“Well, that’s lucky. Some people stay sick for the whole season.”
“Exactly.”
Lying repeatedly was starting to make me feel guilty.
May, unaware of my inner thoughts, smiled in relief.
“Esperos is finally in summer now.”
As if to mark the change, she threw open the curtains and the window.
Unlike the heat in Zeros, the breeze here was pleasantly cool.
Closing my eyes, I enjoyed the wind until May asked,
“So, my lady, what will you have for your meal?”
“Meal?”
“Yes, you skipped breakfast today.”
I glanced at the connecting door to Calier’s room.
I had indeed skipped breakfast and it was nearly lunchtime…
“I wonder if His Grace is sleeping right now?”
“When I came in earlier, he was. Oh—are you worried about going out and disturbing him?”
“Yes, I don’t want to bother him while he’s recovering.”
May thought for a moment, then nodded.
“You’re right. I’ll ask the butler if we can switch rooms, at least while His Grace recovers.”
“Really?”
My eyes widened—because my real reason for asking was that I didn’t want to run into Calier.
I eagerly waited for her answer.
“Yes, but don’t get your hopes up. His Grace personally assigned your room, so I don’t know if they’ll change it.”
“Of course. But at least ask.”
“Yes, my lady. I’ll go now!”
She left energetically. I clenched my fist, hoping her plan would work.
I really did hope it would work…
‘So why am I here like this?!’
I bit my lip and popped a slice of mandarin in my mouth.
Its sweet juice spread in my mouth, but my stomach felt sour.
While we were eating awkwardly, Calier suddenly spoke.
“I heard you looked after me yesterday.”
“…What?”
He had set his spoon down and was looking at me.
I avoided his gaze and nodded slightly.
“It wasn’t really looking after you. I don’t know if you remember, but I just changed your towel.”
“And the fever medicine?”
“…?”
“This morning at dawn—I thought you gave me fever medicine.”
“….”
“Was it not you?”
His low gaze seemed to be asking about that moment I wanted to keep secret.
Gulp.
My dry throat swallowed hard.
