‘It’s been like that so far, and she hasn’t said a word.
Not a word!’


The evidence of brutal assault, clear even in the dark, raised a fire of anger in his heart.
He knew he was not a trustworthy husband to her.
But he thought he could at least be her protector, but it seems he couldn’t even be that to her.
Of course, he had never protected her, so it wasn’t something he couldn’t understand.

He managed to control his stomach that was about to explode, and when he returned to Edith’s room, Edith was asleep.
But the tears on her eyelashes and cheeks were still glistening in the light.

“Edith…”

He called her name in a low voice, but Edith was soundly asleep as if she had relaxed.

“What the hell are you… What are you hiding?”

Edith, who kept her mouth shut even though Ludwig and he were receiving all sorts of contempt from people.
He wondered if the day would come when he could reach her truth, but Killian let out a long sigh that melted his stuffiness inside.
But he was infinitely careful and gentle when she applied the medicine to her body.

He had to gather his patience from time to time because of Edith’s tickling and small moaning, but Killian drugged her body and held her until the break of dawn.
Killian let out a self-deprecating laugh as he watched Edith digging for warmth without even knowing it was him.

‘It was me who was stupid.
What can I do with her shaken like this?’

Killian thought he was crazy even as he kissed Edith on the cheek.
Unless he was crazy, how could he be swayed like this by a woman who didn’t even know her true feelings?

* * *

When she woke up in the morning, she felt refreshed.
She thought it was because she had a very cozy dream last night, and she slept through it without waking up even once.
In that cozy dream, someone gently caressed her body.

She didn’t know who it was, but she didn’t hate it when someone gently caressed her, as if that someone was touching something fragile.
No, it was good enough to bring tears to her eyes.
She wanted to entrust her body to that hand, and entrust her heart to that warmth.

‘It’s really strange that it’s a dream full of senses.’

It was the first time she had a dream in which she saw nothing and did not have a story of death.
But thanks to that, the gloomy mood of last night was blown away, and she stretched for a long time.
However, the feeling of having to be soft was strange.

“Huh?”

It felt like the acupuncture needles were sticking to her back as if she had applied sticky body lotion.


“Uh? What is this?”

When she reached over her shoulder and touched it, there was definitely something on her back.
And by applying it to the ‘bruised area’, she noticed that it was an ointment.

‘Killian…!’

Killian was the only one who would do this.
Sophia and Killian were the only people who knew she had bruises, and Sophia wasn’t the best person to drug her.

‘Then, I hope that dream… Killian…?’

Just imagining Killian anointing her made her toes curl up.
But misunderstanding was forbidden.
He was Killian, who had been brought up under strict upbringing, so he couldn’t stand to see a woman injured to the point of black bruising.
No matter how much he hated her.

‘Don’t fall asleep.
No, if I hadn’t been sleeping, wouldn’t they have applied the ointment?’

If she hadn’t fallen asleep, she would not have been able to make another sweet scene with him, she kept feeling regretful.
But it was useless to regret what has already passed.
The fact that he took care of her was something she was grateful for.

‘By the way, I think he had got a sense of something about Sofia, but what’s going to happen…’

Actually, she didn’t have high expectations.
Sophia was a maid sent to her under the name of Count Rigelhoff, and she came with the mission of watching over her so that Duke Ludwig would not persecute her.
However, Killian’s acting ability far exceeded her expectations.
Today was not the day to help Renan with his work, so she was just sitting in her room reading a book, when suddenly Killian entered her room with a knight and grabbed Sophia.

“Killian! What is this!”

She asked in surprise, but Killian’s gaze was on Sophia.

“I will kick this maid out, Edith.”

“Yes? Kick out… Huh?”

“Pull it out.”

Even though she was dumbfounded and asked, Killian gave an order to the knight, only glaring at Sophia terribly.
Embarrassed, Sophia screamed as soon as she was grabbed by the knight.


“This can’t be! I am the maid Count Rigelhoff sent to guard the lady!”

“Oh yeah?”

“What on earth are you taking me off to do to my lady! Count Rigelhoff will never sit idly by!”

Sophia stiffened her head at the subject and scolded them.
But Killian didn’t waver at all.

“It’s no use having a maid around Edith who can’t do her duty like you.”

“What nonsense is that! I’ve been taking care of the young lady since she was little…!”

“From an early age? You mean she has been treated like that since she was little?”

The temperature of his voice dropped dramatically.
He sat down in the chair next to her and asked Sophia as if interrogating her in earnest.

“You.
What do you think is the duty of a maid?”

“That, that’s it, so that the master can always be comfortable and healthy, it’s to check before being called.”

“So you know well.”

“Of course! Since I was young, I have been thoroughly educated as a maid only for the lady.”

“Then it’s even weirder.”

Killian turned his head slightly and looked at Sophia.

“Has a maid so well aware of her duty not reported or treated the bruises on her master’s body?”

For the first time, Sophia’s mouth shut tight.

“Besides, no matter how much I think about it, the person who will make that scar… I mean, it seemed like you were the only one that could do it.”


“Oh no!”

Sophia protested no, but her eyes turned to Edith.
Every time she opened her mouth, the threat of not letting her go was palpable.

“Even if you stare at Edith like if you were going to eat her, Edith didn’t say a word.
Was she good or foolish?”

The surroundings became quiet.
Sophia’s throat gurgled, to the point where you could hear her saliva dripping.

“Ah, I didn’t know about the minor injuries she didn’t talk about.
It’s my fault for not looking into it…”

“Is she slightly injured? If it’s something trivial, can I give you a minor beating and let it go?”

“Yes…?”

“I am amazed that you are trying to deceive me to the end.
Well, you’re the maid that Shane Rigelhoff sent in with his spirit, so you’re not an ordinary maid.”

However, Sophia seemed surprised by something other than that Killian was barely aware of her true identity.

“He, too, the young master, said that he saw the young lady’s wounds… Do you mean…?”

She was looking back and forth between Edith and Killian with her eyes wide open.
There, Killian laughed.

“What are you so surprised about? Edith and I are married, so is it really that surprising that a husband checked his wife’s body?”

Perhaps that was the point, Sophia couldn’t even control her mouth opening.

“I want you to be flogged for blaspheming the nobility, but seeing how well you are treated as a vassal by the Rigelhoffs that they begged to let you go, it’s more suspicious.”

It’s not even morning yet, when the hell did the Rigelhoffs get the news? She stuck out her tongue at Killian’s ability to act.

“I will not listen to your opinion in kicking out this maid of honor.”


Killian’s gaze finally turned to her.
Edith nodded her head, not showing too much delight.

“Anna and Leonard.
Keep silent about what you see and hear in this room until you die.
Neither will be safe if the story leaks out.”

Anna and the knight gave a short answer to Killian’s threat.
Like Anna, the face of the knight named Leonard was terribly businesslike.

Seeing the terrifying resemblance between their expressions, she had a hunch that the two would never reveal this.
In the meantime, Anna had packed all of Sophia’s belongings.
From the moment the knight seized Sofia, she had been squirming something, but from the moment Killian said that she would kick Sofia out of there, she seemed to have packed Sofia’s things.

It’s the behavior that resembles the owner.

“Anna.
Take good care of Edith.
I have to send her noble maid in her carriage from her Rigelhof family.”

‘Oh my god.’

It seemed that the Rigelhofs had even sent a carriage to take Sophia.
Why didn’t they spread rumors around the neighborhood that she’s a suspicious person? Killian gave her a long, meaningless gaze before taking Sophia out.

Left in a desolate room, she was completely absorbed in what had just blown up like a storm.
Then Anna quietly came to her and whispered.

“It’s my negligence for not taking good care of the lady’s condition.
If you punish me, I will gladly accept it.”

“Uh? Oh no! What’s wrong with Anna…!”

Sophia deliberately waited when she changed her clothes so that Anna would not notice her injury.
It was impossible for Anna to notice the bruises on her body, as she did not separately attend baths or receive massages.
Still, Anna had a grievous expression on her face, as if she really was to blame.

“Thank you for your forgiveness.
Then… May I take a look at your body?”

A sigh came out.
If she said no, she might be punished by Anna.
so she nodded shyly and went to the bedside to take off her clothes.

As she took off her outer dress and carefully lowered her chemise for the last time, she felt Anna catch her breath behind her back.

How bad was that?

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