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Chapter 17
“You idiot! Not there—this way!”
“What, idiot? Fel, you bastard. You wanna go?”
“Hey, can you guys shut up?”
The low bickering caused the lashes on Litricia’s closed eyes to twitch slightly.
“Mmm…”
Her pupils shifted beneath her pale, veined eyelids.
At last, her tightly shut eyes slowly opened.
“Where… am I? The count’s estate?”
Just as Piril had said—that the loss of sight was only temporary—Litricia’s eyes, unlike last night, had regained focus.
But her vision wasn’t fully back yet, and she had to squint to see her surroundings clearly.
Then, the blinding sunlight pouring through the large windows made her grimace.
“Sigh… How long was I unconscious this time? If my brother finds out, he’s going to throw a fit.”
Litricia was about to tidy up the bed before Isis barged in yelling, but instead she lay back down and stared blankly at the ceiling.
Then, with a soft thud, she collapsed into the bed once more.
“This is such a pain. Let him yell if he wants…”
Half-awake, she weakly hugged the blanket to herself.
As her groggy mind slowly cleared, Isis’s harsh words from the banquet began to replay in her head.
It wasn’t surprising anymore, but it still reminded her just how deeply Isis despised her.
“No matter what I do, he’s always hated me. So why have I spent my life tiptoeing around him?”
As she buried her face in the blanket, a loud shriek sounded outside the door.
“Ah! If His Grace finds out, we’re screwed!”
Startled by the commotion, Litricia pulled the blanket tighter.
“His Grace?”
Still dazed, she echoed what she heard and suddenly sat up in bed.
“That’s right—His Grace, the Grand Duke…!”
As her senses returned, Kylian’s whispered words before she blacked out struck her like lightning.
“You can’t see, can you?”
“He knew. He knew I couldn’t see. But how… how did he know?”
Wondering whether her blindness had been that obvious, Litricia stood up from the bed.
Only then did she realize she wasn’t in her own room.
She stopped when something crinkled underfoot.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Picking up the notebook Kylian had dropped the night before, she turned it over in her hands.
The luxurious cover was embossed with Braille. As her fingers absently traced the raised dots, she suddenly withdrew her hand.
It was definitely the first time she had seen this item, yet her stomach churned uneasily.
Eventually setting the notebook aside, she approached the door, where voices were still whispering.
“What do we do? Do we keep waiting? Should we just go in?”
“How many times do I have to tell you, Fel? Are you dying to get beheaded by our lord?”
“Then should I just keep holding all this stuff? Ugh. Hang on—let me just knock and see if she’s awake—”
Just as the man beyond the door, apparently named Fel, prepared to knock—
Bang! Litricia turned the knob and flung the door open.
“Uh… uh…!”
Caught mid-motion with a fist raised in the air, Fel froze, facing Litricia.
Startled by the unexpected encounter, the freckled young man flushed bright red.
“G-good morning! Or good noon, I mean—good day, my lady!”
“…Idiot.”
Embarrassed by Fel’s flustered greeting, the knight beside him shook his head.
“Oh! You’re the attendant I met in the forest yesterday, right?”
“Yes! You remember me!”
Fel rocked from side to side, delighted that Litricia recognized him.
Each movement made the silver-threaded wolf insignia on his knight’s uniform glimmer.
“So you’re not an attendant—you’re a knight.”
“Ha ha, yesterday was… complicated. Allow me to formally introduce myself. Fel Dottro of the Silvano Order! Please, just call me Fel!”
With his arms full of luggage, Fel scratched the back of his head sheepishly. But Litricia couldn’t return his cheerful smile.
“The Silvano Order… That’s the Grand Duke’s knights? Then this place…”
“Oh, this is His Grace’s townhouse!”
“What?”
“You don’t remember? His Grace carried you here himself!”
Fel mimed holding someone in his arms like a lover, and shrugged.
“Well, I guess it’s understandable. You didn’t look well yesterday.”
“My goodness…”
Litricia was too shocked to speak and covered her mouth. That’s when Fel noticed the notebook in her hand.
“Huh? That’s my lord’s notebook. Why do you have it, my lady?”
“I found it on the floor under the bed.”
Absentmindedly fingering the floral pattern on the cover, she replied.
“Really? He never loses anything. How unusual.”
Fel frowned and wrinkled his nose in suspicion.
“Please, allow me. I’ll return it to him.”
“No, I’ll give it back myself.”
When Fel extended a gloved hand, Litricia shook her head lightly.
She touched the ring still on her finger—the one she and Kylian had exchanged in front of the emperor.
The whole situation was strange and confusing, but she still had things to discuss with the Grand Duke. Since she was already here, it made sense to meet him.
She could return the notebook and also apologize for the unexpected trouble she’d caused.
“Oh… if you insist. He’s probably at the training grounds right now…”
“Really? Thank you, Fel. Which way are they?”
“Wait, you’re going now?”
Fel shifted in surprise as Litricia stepped past him with a polite thank-you.
“The gift! You have to check the gift first!”
“Gift? What gift?”
Litricia blinked up at Fel, who blocked her path like a quick-footed ferret.
“What else? These—what His Grace sent you!”
Proudly, Fel handed over the boxes in his arms and stepped aside with a grand gesture.
Then, everything he had been hiding behind his body came into view.
An easel, the finest paints and palettes, and more.
Litricia’s mouth dropped open at the pile of items outside the room.
“All of this… His Grace really sent all of this to me?”
“Yes! You must love painting, my lady! Do you like it?”
“I… don’t paint…”
Litricia’s expression grew dazed at the mountain of supplies.
These gifts, supposedly prepared for her by the Grand Duke, made no sense.
She had liked drawing as a child, before being adopted into the Esta family. But afterward, she hadn’t touched a brush—until her recent stay at the Grand Duke’s estate.
So, to the current Litricia, Kylian’s gifts felt completely out of the blue.
“There must be some mistake. He wouldn’t send all this to someone he just met yesterday, right?”
“Huh? But this isn’t your first meeting, is it? His Grace went to Lotus Forest because of you—oops!”
Fel suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth.
“What do you mean by that, Fel?”
***
Clang!
The clash of blades rang out the moment they stepped into the training grounds, vibrating through the air with a deadly edge.
“Uh… we’re here. This is the training ground.”
“Thanks, Fel. You can go now.”
“Oh, um…”
Fel, who had guided her at her request, scratched his chin.
His usual over-the-top cheeriness had deflated, and he looked sullen.
“What’s wrong?”
“I must’ve said something wrong again, didn’t I? That’s just how I am. I talk too much, and sometimes I can’t tell what should or shouldn’t be said. That’s why I’m always getting scolded by my lord! Ugh.”
He grabbed at his head and ruffled his hair, then bowed deeply.
He was clearly on edge after realizing Litricia had learned that her encounter with Kylian in the forest had been planned.
“If I said anything offensive, I sincerely apologize. Whatever it was!”
“No, it’s okay. I’m not upset. I just have a lot to think about.”
Litricia relaxed her expression to spare Fel from pulling out all his hair.
When she did, Fel’s sunken face lit up, his cheeks lifting with a relieved smile.
He stuck close to her side again and, seeing her nearly trip over a rock, quickly caught her hand.
“Really? That’s a relief. Ah—watch out! There’s a rock in front of you!”
Thanks to him, she avoided an ungraceful fall and gave him a faint smile.
With her blurry vision, she scanned the training grounds, searching for Kylian.
With that striking silver hair of his, even her poor eyesight would recognize him immediately.
As she continued scanning, suddenly—between her and Fel—a hand thrust in.
“Step away from my wife, Fel.”
