“…….”
Odely felt a strange emotion at Ludville’s actions.
“……You came again.”
She spoke without opening her eyes.
“…….”
“I already finished my medicine, and the physician already came by. You just changed the towel, too.”
Ludville paused for a moment.
But soon, as if nothing had happened, he withdrew his hand and said,
“……Your breathing seemed irregular.”
“I don’t think that’s enough reason to come in and out five times.”
“…….”
Once again, he gave no explanation.
Then a strange silence fell between them.
Ludville picked up the kettle on the table and poured some warm herbal tea.
He placed the cup near her hand and said,
“I was the one who agreed to handle your follow-up care.”
Was that clause supposed to apply starting now?
Odely remembered the clause that had turned their marriage contract into a waiver of control over her own body in an instant.
[Article 11. The Lady is prohibited from performing purification more than twice a day. If this provision is violated, all authority over the subsequent treatment and care shall belong entirely to the Grand Duke.]
He had said he would monitor and protect her overall physical condition and intervene when necessary.
“You’re taking care of me more simply than I expected.”
She muttered the words.
Wasn’t he merely checking on her condition and taking care of her from time to time?
‘If this is all…….’
Even if she overused her purification power later, perhaps she could get away with it to some extent.
Of course, she had no intention of deliberately ruining her health, but there could be unavoidable circumstances.
But Ludville answered as if he had read Odely’s thoughts.
“I’ll let it go this time.”
“…….”
“If you collapse and end up bedridden for the same reason next time…….”
For a moment, an intense emotion seemed to flicker faintly in his violet eyes.
He trailed off, as though swallowing the rest of his words.
“……Well. I’ll leave that to your imagination.”
He had not raised his voice even once, yet it was more threatening than any threat could have been.
Odely suddenly remembered one of the countless regressions she had experienced.
At that time, Ludville had been the Emperor, and after placing Odely on the throne as Empress…….
‘……He locked me up.’
There had been nothing lacking in the Empress’s Palace.
Gold-threaded curtains, soft blankets, extravagant jewels and beautiful flowers, sweet desserts.
A physician came by morning and evening, and musicians played love songs in the garden every day.
But…….
The doors were locked, and knights stood outside the windows.
The only places she could reach on foot were her room, the bathroom, and the balcony.
Purification was forbidden.
A formation that suppressed mana had been placed throughout the entire Empress’s Palace.
“We’ve prepared everything you need.”
“Because I must never let you be exposed to danger again.”
“……I love you, Odely. My Empress.”
“If this isn’t love, then what is it?”
She remembered the mad words he had whispered while kissing her knees.
A life completely controlled under the excuse of simply ‘protecting’ her.
The Odely of that time had been no different from a bird in a cage.
‘It was…… like that back then.’
It had been when Ludville’s mental state was, to put it mildly, very unstable.
He had mentioned taking care of her in the contract, but the Ludville of now, who had lost all his memories and did not even know the concept of regression, would not act that extremely.
So that could not be what he meant.
……Probably.
“Then, please get some rest.”
He quietly turned away.
The door closed, and silence settled over the room once again.
Left alone, Odely thought.
She would not repeat what happened back then.
Because she would never let things become like that again.
****
A few days later, Odely finally regained enough strength.
But as soon as she opened her eyes, she realized that many things had changed.
For one thing, Odely was no longer allowed to return to the old annex.
“Lady Cardel’s residence will be changed.”
The head butler, Theodore, politely delivered the Grand Duke’s message.
“From now on, the room where Lady Cardel will stay will be the private bedroom traditionally used by the Grand Duke’s wife. It is located next to His Highness’s bedroom.”
Odely blinked with a dazed mind that had not fully woken up yet.
For a moment, she wondered if she was dreaming, but it seemed to be reality.
“……Butler, isn’t this the room I’m in right now?”
“That is correct. The room you are currently staying in will be your residence from now on.”
Odely was speechless.
She clearly remembered being examined by the physician in the Grand Duke’s bedroom and closing her eyes as if she were about to faint.
But when she opened her eyes, the bed had already been changed.
The room was enormous, incomparable to the simple and worn guest room she had used before.
The ceiling was decorated with golden moldings and elaborate painted murals, and a crystal chandelier hung from the center.
The bed was a four-poster canopy bed.
Pure white canopy curtains let the light through softly around the head of the bed, while a silk blanket embroidered with gold thread covered Odely’s body.
The windows were large, curved windows stretching from floor to ceiling, with pearl-colored lace curtains and layers of purple velvet drapes hanging around them.
When the maids drew back the curtains, the Grand Duke’s Castle gardens could be seen beyond the windows.
White birch trees, a quiet fountain, and snow-covered maze-like hedges stretched out beneath the stone balcony.
This room was definitely not just a guest room.
Anyone could tell that it was ‘the owner’s room.’
“Did you move my room while I was asleep?”
They had already moved her before telling her.
“It was an arrangement made with Lady Cardel’s health in mind.”
Theodore continued speaking in his usual polite and courteous manner.
“The annex has poor insulation due to its structure.”
“Even so, you should have told me first……”
“If you had woken up beneath those cold stone walls, I would have carried that heartbreaking sight in my heart for the rest of my life.”
He made a subtle joke.
Odely could feel the sincerity behind his words.
It seemed that he had grown quite attached to Odely while worrying about and taking care of her health, rather than doing so merely as part of his duties.
“During seasons like this, when the sun rises late, the cold air that seeps through the walls reaches all the way to your bones.”
Leona, who Odely had not even noticed entering, approached with a broad smile.
She had the look of someone whose greatest wish had finally come true.
“The northern winds in the middle of winter are even more persistent than monsters when it comes to wearing people down.”
Odely let out a small sigh.
‘I only fainted for a little while…….’
And her residence had already been changed.
On top of that, Leona spoke excitedly from early in the morning.
“Lady Cardel, or should I call you Madam now? Ahh, I’m so excited!”
She was indeed going to become the Grand Duchess, and technically, Leona was not wrong……
‘It’s a contract marriage. Isn’t this getting a little too serious?’
She felt like she was being dragged into something.
Just then, Theodore spoke as if he had remembered something belatedly.
“Of course, once the two of you officially hold your wedding ceremony, we have also prepared a separate room for the two of you to share.”
“…….”
Hmm.
Odely decided that she definitely needed to add a clause stating that they would sleep in separate rooms.
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