The next day, Lionel visited Madame Katana’s room.
The maid, who was examining Madame Katana, was startled by Lionel’s appearance.
“Duke, you came?”
Lionel, who wore only a shirt, pants, and a vest, had a harsher expression than usual. The maid looked back at Madame Katana, frightened.
“Looks like she’s still sleeping.”
“That’s right.”
“Okay. Get out.”
At Lionel’s words, the maid ran out of the bedroom.
In the empty room, only Lionel and Madame Katana were left.
Lionel stared at Madame Katana, who remained still.
“……”
His mood seemed to be getting weirder.
An unanswered question ran through his mind.
‘Why did this woman save me?’
Even though she knew her life would be in danger? Was it because she knew that her life would be in danger even if she didn’t save him?
Obviously, Madame Katana had asked him to choose her over Marianne from the beginning. But why this?
What attracted him to Madame Katana?
The attraction was instinctive. That night, Lionel wasn’t normal, but he wasn’t completely unaware.
He could vividly recall the memories of that hot night in his head. His body felt like it was on fire. A mixture of poison and fever took over his body.
It seemed that the blood in his body was circulating at will because of the excitement caused by the fever. His lust ran wild.
He must have been like a mad beast in the middle of the breeding season.
After a moment of storm and ecst**y, Lionel remembered how she looked at him. She looked at him with a worried expression on her face.
She took his hand and whispered words.
He couldn’t remember her words, but the moment she touched him, he was healed. As if by magic, all his pain disappeared in an instant.
A mysterious light had been absorbed into his body.
‘Why did I feel that way?’
Even if Madame Katana possessed mysterious powers, it didn’t really matter to Lionel.
“Riv.”
Lionel muttered her name and grabbed Riv’s hand. Marianne had talked about it before.
Riv’s dry hands were rough and ugly because of years of labor. They were bigger and callused, unlike normal women.
Stroking her hand, Lionel murmured.
“My hands are messed up, too, so we have something in common. Olivia de Katana.”
As a soldier, his hands were also rough due to long training.
“Wake up quickly. I’m waiting.”
Lionel gently stroked Riv’s face.
“Riv seems to suit you better than the grandiose “Olivia”.”
The last place Lionel’s hand touched was Riv’s parched lips . He looked at her plump lips for a long time.
Madame Katana, Riv, woke up the next day.
***
Wind blew through the ivory-colored curtains by the open window.
A breeze blew in and tickled the tip of her nose. She could smell the faint scent of flowers and subtle notes of grass. Outside the window, birds were sweetly chirping one after another.
Riv opened her eyes.
How long had she been asleep? Her head was blank.
‘Where am I? Why am I here?’
Riv realized that she was lying on a bed.
A soft, dazzling white sheet covered her body.
Riv quickly looked around the clean room beyond the bed. She belatedly realized.
This was not Ailte Palace.
‘Where did I wake up?’
Riv had no idea whether she was dead or alive.
‘Am I even alive?’
Riv’s last memories were when she was locked up in a small room by Princess Marianne, then she met Queen Selina.
Queen Selina ordered Riv to go back to her room. Did she walk to her room by herself? Was she carried?
‘What happened after I collapsed?’
Riv suffered from terrible chills. At the same time, her body became so hot it felt like she was burning.
Her body was so cold and hot, she couldn’t move or properly rest.
She thought she would die if she was left like this.
Then she lost consciousness.
‘I thought there would be no pain if I died while I was passed out.’
She thought that if she died this time, it would be less painful than when she was burnt in her past life.
It was merciful to die while asleep.
‘But this doesn’t feel like the afterlife.’
This room was too real to be considered heaven or hell.
Riv exhaled heavily. Her neck hurt. It was difficult to even swallow saliva, as if her throat was swollen. Riv grabbed the soft sheet with both of her hands. Just then, the door opened and a middle-aged woman in a gray-white dress appeared. She noticed Riv was awake and gave her a wide smile.
“You are awake, my Lady.”
“…?”
Riv hardened at the word “lady”. The woman looked at Riv and spoke softly.
“If the word Lady is awkward, may I call you Miss Katana? Do you have any other nicknames?”
Riv was puzzled at the woman’s friendly tone.
No one had ever asked for Riv’s name or nickname, as she was a symbol of misfortune and was despised by the royal family.
“Miss Katana?”
The middle-aged woman continued to speak to her.
“The master has not decided what to call Madame Katana, so may I call you by your surname or Miss?”
Riv was confused and opened her mouth.
“Who is ‘master’?”
“Ah, I guess you don’t remember. The master is the Duke of Sentoren.”
“And where am I?”
“The Duke of Sentoren’s mansion.”
What happened after Riv fell unconscious? Why was she here?
The Duke seemed to be unharmed, but as she tried to remember, Riv felt a terrible headache and grabbed her head.
“Please don’t overdo it, my Lady.”
The middle-aged woman helped her up and placed soft cushions behind her back to keep her from getting out of bed.
Riv found herself wearing fine muslin pajamas.
“W-Where did these pajamas come from?”
Riv didn’t know that there were pajamas that would fit her.
The pajamas were a little wide and the sleeves were short, but they fit Riv’s body comfortably.
The middle-aged woman laughed.
“The master brought the young lady in a hurry, so we couldn’t prepare proper clothes. We will prepare clothes that fit you well soon.”
Riv stared at the woman who spoke naturally to her.
“And who are you?”
“Ah, my introduction is late. My name is Claudel and I belong to the Duke of Sentoren. I serve as the chief maid and I am also the Duke’s personal maid.”
Riv wanted to check.
“Then, did the Duke of Sentoren bring me here?”
“That’s right.”
Riv was skeptical. Why did the Duke of Sentoren bring her here and even have her taken care of?
“Did you say your name was Claudel?”
“Yes.”
“Why did the Duke bring me here?”
Claudel could not answer easily. She observed Riv.
“You probably don’t understand the situation.”
When Riv nodded her head, Claudel said.
“It is true that the Duke of Sentoren brought the young lady. That was his will. He seems to hold Miss Katana deep in his heart.”
“Pardon? He likes me?”
Riv pondered her words and tilted her head.
She seemed to be dreaming.
“The Duke introduced Miss Katana as his fiancée.”
“What?”
‘What the hell is this?’
Riv thought she was crazy.
“Fiancée? Surely you jest?”
“I am not. Miss Katana will be the Duchess of Sentoren.”
“……?”
Riv froze at the words that she was to become the Duchess of Sentoren.
She wondered if this was still part of Marianne’s prank. Marianne was probably laughing somewhere, watching Riv.
‘Is this real?’
The Duke of Sentoren had a fiancée.
“The Duke is engaged to Princess Marianne.”
“Their engagement has been broken.”
Riv’s head felt more dizzy. She had been exposed to too much information, and could not properly carry on with her thoughts.
Even if Lionel was grateful to her, the situation itself was out of the ordinary.
‘It was good I avoided death, but this wasn’t what I expected!’
Riv wanted to scream. Claudel tilted her head at the fearful expression she had seen.
“What’s wrong, MIss?”
Riv’s mind wandered.
She had overcome the crisis of death, but she was not relieved.
Riv could not be relieved under any circumstances.
Even if she risked her life, now what?
It was absurd to hear that the Duke would take her as his wife. Neither the nobles nor the royal family would understand or support them.
Was it really possible to marry the Duke of Sentoren? If she did get married, what next?
To Riv, the outcome of everything was clear.
“Haa.”
Riv crossed her arms over her face.
“Miss Katana? Are you sick? Doctors are on standby. Doctors, quickly!”
“No. I want to be alone.”
Riv gritted her teeth.
“I need time to think.”
Claudel nodded her head and disappeared from Riv’s sight. Riv helplessly fell on her side.
She opened her eyes. She could not react properly as she didn’t have the energy.
She wanted to hope, and she wanted to live like crazy, but not like this. She didn’t want to fall into the endless darkness again.
‘I don’t want to despair anymore.’
Just then, Claudel’s voice came from the room beyond.
“Miss, I brought you something to eat.”
Riv was still lying on her bed, not moving.
She smelled something delicious.
Claudel brought a tray and showed it to her.
“I’ll leave you alone, so you can eat.”
Claudel placed it on the table next to the bed. Claudel stepped away.
Riv lifted her head to the smell of the delicious food and tried to lift her body up, but she was too dizzy to control her body with strength.
“Haa.”
Severe headache, lethargy. Weren’t all these things proof that she was alive? Riv laughed out loud. After a while, the door opened again. The sound of heavy, dull footsteps rang, and she turned her head to look.
She could see a man’s solid body approaching. She lifted her eyes and saw Lionel in a dark suit.