Chapter 5
“Ha…?”
His slate-gray eyes pierced through her as he stared.
Just as the corner of his mouth curled in a faint smile and he was about to speak, a knock sounded at the door, and Alex entered.
“Duke, I’ve brought your shirt.”
Taking the shirt, Licio leaned down and whispered close to her flushed ear.
“Anaïs, I’ll show you the rest tonight. Look forward to it.”
With a sinister warning, Licio tapped the furrowed line on her brow with his index finger, then turned to put on the new shirt.
As he left the room, he commanded Alex,
“Throw that shirt away.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once Licio and Alex were gone, she was left alone in the room again.
“Is this really the place to change? Does he have some kind of obsession with cleanliness? Why throw away perfectly good clothes?”
It was the reason handsome men are such a pain. Anaïs would tell him everything when she came! She muttered to herself, but her chatter stopped abruptly, weighed down by the oppressive silence of the empty room.
Sigh… Anaïs should come… Did Dorothea even go to the temple? Why hasn’t she returned?
Tears rolled down the corners of her eyes. She felt pathetic, completely powerless.
“Maybe if I had some wine…”
Wine was out of the question; she couldn’t even wipe her own tears. Without even a drop of holy power, she couldn’t do anything. Anaïs… was this what you wanted? Are you satisfied now? Fine, you pitiful thing! So please… give me back my body…
Then she felt a familiar sensation—tiny, almost imperceptible bubbles rising inside her. She followed it with trained precision.
Holy power?
It was barely enough to heal a tiny scratch, so minuscule that she could hardly feel it unless she focused intensely.
“Just a single drop?”
Was this a joke? No way! She shouted in refusal, yet again, she felt the tiny bubble of holy power.
Even combined, it wasn’t enough to equal a grain of rice, but she decided to treat it as the gods’ answer to not give up—otherwise, she couldn’t endure this situation.
“Just watch. I’ll grow this holy power and get back on my feet!”
Ellen devoted herself to training. Hearing from the maid that Anaïs’s family had left after dinner only fueled her determination further.
She couldn’t move, and even washing herself was difficult. Several maids had to help transfer her to the bathtub.
At least it was somewhat better that nobles could wear bathrobes into the tub. Thin as they were, it was still preferable to exposing her body to several maids.
“I want to be alone for a while.”
This must have been a welcome command for the exhausted maids, and, indeed, they left without a word.
Once she confirmed no one remained, she resumed practicing her holy power.
Water and holy power worked well together, making the bathtub an ideal place to train.
Though her holy power was tiny now, with careful gathering and control, it would gradually grow. She had done the same as a child to develop strong holy power.
I don’t even want to heal others. I just need to save this body… no, at least one arm.
Even though she hadn’t been at it long, sweat was already forming on her forehead.
Perhaps from focusing too hard, she was startled by a sound she hadn’t noticed entering.
“Who’s there?”
Ellen’s holy power wasn’t strong enough to shine yet, so she couldn’t see anyone. Still, she asked nervously.
Strangely, no answer came.
As she turned to check, her body was suddenly pulled under the water.
Even submerged, she couldn’t understand what was happening.
All she could do was shake her head in the water.
But even this frantic movement gradually slowed.
Through her blonde hair spreading like paint in the water, a faint silhouette passed.
Save me!
She had gathered what little holy power she could, but it was pitifully weak and couldn’t hold out for long.
Water filled her mouth with a silent scream.
Please, anyone…
Just as her body thrashed, sensing death, she was pulled out of the tub.
Whoosh—
Water gushed like a waterfall, echoing with her coughs in the bathroom.
“Gck… cough, cough!”
“Anaïs!”
A large hand steadied her and lifted her head, finally letting her meet the slate-gray eyes that had saved her.
“Duke…”
Licio wrapped her, dripping wet, in a towel.
Perhaps surprised as well, his heart pounded strongly against her, yet Ellen felt warmth and stability in his embrace.
Soon the physician arrived to check her condition, confirming she was fine, and the maids helped her change out of her wet clothes.
Their movements were unusually cautious, perhaps out of fear of Licio’s reaction.
“What happened?”
Their question was so tense that even their shoulders trembled.
“She said she wanted to be alone and asked everyone to leave. We were just following the Duchess’s orders… we didn’t expect this to happen, Duke!”
One maid tearfully explained.
“You left her alone?”
“Yes, please forgive us just this once.”
As the maids knelt in apology, Ellen felt guilty.
“I sent them away myself.”
She was about to ask if anyone had entered the bathroom, but Licio was quicker.
“Was Anaïs alone in the bathroom?”
“Yes, she was alone.”
All the other maids confirmed the same.
She had definitely heard someone, and her body seemed to tilt and fall from her left shoulder. But lacking sensation in her shoulder, she couldn’t be sure someone had pushed her.
Was she really alone? Was it all an illusion?
When Licio signaled the knights to take her, the maids panicked, crying.
Even Ellen felt intimidated by the tall knights, so she understood the maids’ fear.
Not wanting to wrongfully accuse anyone, she quickly said,
“The maids did nothing wrong. Please don’t punish them. Everyone was already startled because of me.”
“Anaïs.”
“Please, Duke.”
Perhaps moved by her earnest plea, Licio sighed and sent the maids out.
With just the two of them left, Licio stared intently at her. She avoided his gaze, expecting scolding, and an awkward silence settled.
“You should sleep early; you must be tired.”
After a long silence, his words finally came, and she nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, I really want to rest.”
Licio helped her lie down and arranged the bed, then lay beside her.
Whether it was reassurance from his presence or sheer exhaustion, she quickly fell asleep.
Huff!
Some time later, Ellen woke with a silent scream, as if suffocating.
She had dreamed of drowning. Just like before, she could do nothing, pretending calm but secretly terrified.
Was what Anaïs said—that someone wanted to kill her—true? It was frightening…
No, no one entered the bathroom.
“Haah… haah…”
Even deep breaths staring at the ceiling did little to calm her.
Then, she felt a breath on her ear.
Turning, she saw Licio sleeping soundly.
I didn’t even get to thank him.
Ellen quietly watched him. Looking at him was better than staring at the ceiling.
His eyelid twitched slightly, and his hand brushed her cheek.
Still asleep, it seemed like a dream gesture. She couldn’t move him away anyway, so she let it be. It wasn’t uncomfortable.
So warm…
As she felt the warmth of his hand, she noticed a small wound on his thumb. He probably scratched it while saving her.
She felt sorry and wondered if her holy power could heal it.
Using the excuse that she needed to practice holy power, she moved her lips toward his thumb. She could only move her lips; nothing else in this body would obey.
She gently held the wound with her lips and concentrated to operate her holy power.
A minor injury like this would have been easy to heal in her own body, but in Anaïs’s body, even this caused sweat to form on her forehead.
Someone might think she was resurrecting the dead.
Did it work?
She pulled back her lips to check; despite her efforts, it was only slightly lessened—not fully healed.
Driven by determination, she latched onto his finger again, even swallowing it slightly.
“Anaïs. What are you doing?”
His voice, echoing as if from deep within a cave, made her flinch, and she pushed his finger out with her tongue
