Chapter : 27
I hurried straight to the bathroom, supported by Duke Casiar.
Even with an injury, my healthy body still managed to maintain its once-a-day routine.
After emptying myself and returning, a wave of shame hit me belatedly.
Could there be anyone else in this book who’s as embarrassed as I am right now?
If there is, I wish someone would tell me it’s okay.
I wanted to hide in a mouse hole, but the pain in my ankle was beyond what I could endure, so I had no choice but to return to bed with Duke Casiar’s help.
An awkward silence lingered between the duke and me.
I glanced at him, just in case.
“Why not just laugh it off? Holding it in feels worse, you know.”
As soon as I finished speaking, a short laugh escaped from Duke Casiar’s twitching lips.
He even covered his lower face with his hand, as if embarrassed for laughing.
“Did it show? I tried to hide it as best I could.”
My face flushed bright red, and I felt like I might suffocate at any moment.
“Emptying your bowels is a natural phenomenon for any human being when the time comes, right? Even you, Duke, have to do it. Did you really think I lived off dew like some fairy?”
“I thought so,” he admitted.
Wait, is he saying he thought I was a fairy?
I looked at Duke Casiar with a bewildered expression.
“Purple eyes aren’t common, and your tiny face has all the features packed in perfectly. Your small body feels like it might break if held.”
Is he talking about me?
It wasn’t that the body I had entered didn’t look fairy-like.
Alioce Riel, small and pretty, looked so delicate and enchanting that when I recalled my past life’s memories, I secretly felt like I had hit the jackpot.
But when a man more unrealistically perfect than me says such things, it doesn’t really hit the mark.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, and you even helped me sleep on nights I suffered from insomnia. I thought it might be true.”
Even saying it himself, Duke Casiar seemed a little shy.
So he thought I looked like a fairy… That actually felt kind of nice.
“Of course, I know that’s not the case today.”
Duke Casiar’s words killed my mood.
It’s true I’m not a fairy, but I wanted to enjoy that feeling a little longer.
Such an oblivious man.
“I’ve washed my face and eaten. I think my business is done, so you can leave now.”
I suddenly wanted to be alone.
Even though I asked him to leave, Duke Casiar placed a chair next to me and sat down.
“What are you doing?”
“Nursing.”
“It’s just an injured ankle. What’s there to nurse?”
“Didn’t you say yourself that you’re not a fairy? Then there will occasionally be things I need to do for you.”
Right. Occasionally, people have to go to the bathroom.
I had nothing to argue with.
“Have the fallen rocks still not been cleared? If the path were open, we could call Lili right now.”
“Well, I haven’t heard anything yet.”
Duke Casiar pulled out a book, seemingly prepared in advance.
It looked like he intended to stay by my side and read.
Was I really stuck here with him with no escape?
I secretly sighed and watched Duke Casiar flipping the pages beside me.
Seeing him care for me, I couldn’t believe he was planning to take a loved one hostage to threaten me.
What kind of villain, upon seeing someone with an ankle injury, would wash their face, cook for them carefully, and even feed them with a spoon?
Even without love, he was this devoted.
The more his real actions differed from the image I had of Duke Casiar, the more my head spun.
“Duke, can I ask you just one question?”
Duke Casiar shifted his gaze from the book to me, as if asking what I was curious about.
“You said you wanted to borrow my power to prevent harm from coming to your precious people, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why would you try to take someone else’s precious person hostage?”
If I couldn’t answer it myself, asking was the best solution.
Since the duke had already shown me his heart, he wouldn’t need to hide his reason.
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you pretending not to know now? Just yesterday, you said you wouldn’t go easy on Roan. Weren’t you trying to find out Roan’s identity to take them hostage?”
“How do you get that story? I have no reason to take Roan hostage.”
Duke Casiar genuinely seemed unable to understand my reasoning.
“I thought I’d threaten you if you went against me…”
“Whatever wild imagination you had with that little head, I’m not petty enough to take someone’s precious person hostage. I might kidnap the person directly, that’s more efficient. There’s no need to go through the trouble of taking someone else to threaten.”
Ah, hearing it that way, it made sense.
“Then what did you mean by not going easy?”
I had thought it was a warning that I wouldn’t be able to protect Roan.
“It meant I would act according to my heart, no matter who your heart leaned toward.”
Wait, that sounds a little strange.
“Who does my heart lean toward?”
“Do I really need to say it for you to feel satisfied?”
“You have to say it. I don’t even know my own feelings.”
Seeing my frustration, Duke Casiar looked at me with a face like a dejected puppy.
“Your heart isn’t toward Roan?”
Seeing that I couldn’t answer, that was right.
Where did he get that absurd misunderstanding?
“Now I see, it seems you also make ridiculous assumptions with that little head of yours.”
“But didn’t you smile brightly, happy, at Roan’s letter asking you out on a date?”
“I was just pleased. That sly charm that hasn’t changed with age. How could I smile freely now with everyone watching?”
My sharp words seemed to confuse Duke Casiar, but also comfort him.
He must have thought I liked Roan.
The ‘not going easy’ remark must have been about our acting as a married couple.
No wonder he was unusually assertive that day.
“But why did you say you wouldn’t go easy? Even if I liked Roan, wouldn’t it be enough to just appear as a proper married couple?”
“Why would I want to go easy?”
That’s what I was asking!
Was the ‘happy couple’ act just a concept?
Before I could understand further, Duke Casiar stood up, turning his back to me.
“I want you to remain at the ducal residence forever. I need you desperately now.”
His ears were red, as if angry, while saying that.
“The wind is chilly. I’ll fetch some warm tea.”
With that, Duke Casiar left the room briskly.
Ah… does that mean he wants to keep me at the ducal residence?
Seeing how desperately he needs me, it seems he’s developed a fondness for sleep.
So he was being nice to me too, to make me want to live at the ducal residence.
If I did, Duke Casiar could sleep peacefully for life.
Now everything made sense.
“So this is what they mean by an obsessive man?”
But I had no intention of being bound by his obsession and staying at the ducal residence forever.
I didn’t want to live and die as a nanny who sang lullabies to the duke without ever experiencing real love.
“Once my ankle heals, I’ll find a way to put the duke to sleep properly.”
I made a vow.
Whether it was black magic or a magical potion—I’d try anything.
Drinking the chamomile tea Duke Casiar had brewed, I dozed off lightly, only to wake at the sound of someone knocking on the window.
There was only one person who could be knocking at the second-floor window.
“Soo? Come in.”
I spoke in a half-asleep voice, and Soo opened the window and climbed in.
“Soo, your face…”
Looking at his face, my sleep completely vanished.
There were bloodstains on him.
“Are you hurt? Did someone attack you? This isn’t right. I’ll call the duke.”
Forgetting about my own injury, I tried to get up but sank back, clutching my ankle.
Soo rushed to check my ankle.
“This isn’t my blood.”
“Not yours? Then whose…?”
Soo pulled out a purple potion from his cloak pocket and handed it to me.
“This potion is good for bone recovery. Drink it, and your bone will be fully healed by tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
I took the potion absentmindedly, feeling his gaze fixed on me, as if telling me to drink it in front of him.
The faster I healed, the better.
Since it was good for my body, I didn’t hesitate and drank it in one gulp.
It tasted sweet, yet fishy.
“What’s this made of?”
“Dark Dragon’s blood.”
The Dark Dragon was notorious as the tyrant of the canyon, making it extremely difficult to capture.
For that reason, the Dark Dragon’s spoils were sold at exorbitant prices.
“Did you buy something this rare?”
Does Duke Casiar give him a big salary? Even then, it would be too expensive for a guard.
Dark Dragon blood was excellent for healing broken bones and was sold at prices high enough to build three houses.
“No.”
“Then how did you get the blood?”
“I caught it.”
You caught the Dark Dragon? Alone?
I heard even groups of strong knights would take an entire day.
“Were the knights who went with you strong?”
“There were none. I went alone.”
He caught the Dark Dragon by himself in half a day? How strong is Soo?
“And this.”
Soo handed me a red gem.
“This was embedded in the Dark Dragon’s head. It’s nothing special, but please take it as a token of thanks for the gift you gave me before.”
In an instant, Soo disappeared outside the window.
His swift movement made the ribbon attached to his sword handle flutter.
It was the ribbon I had used to tie the gift box.
So he really liked that ribbon.
I looked at the gem in my hand.
Since he handed it so casually, it probably wasn’t too expensive. I decided to keep it.
I put the gem in a small box, planning to decide later what to do with it.
As the evening darkened, thanks to the potion Soo gave me, the pain in my ankle had subsided significantly.
I still couldn’t move easily, but if I slept well, I’d recover.
As I prepared for bed, Duke Casiar entered the room.
He was carrying a pillow.
“Why are you here? I was just about to sleep.”
He approached and sat beside my bed.
“Tonight…”
He buried his face in the pillow and peeked at me.
“I want you to let me sleep with you.”
