That day, I received all kinds of care throughout the day. It seemed like every person walking on two legs in the Duke’s mansion was worried about me, constantly offering words of concern.
Gray even planted himself in my room and showered me with nagging.
“Push-ups? With that twig-like body of yours? Are you crazy?”
“Whose crazy mouth is calling their sister crazy while she’s lying down in pain?”
“It’s Gray’s. Hmph. Solea can’t even lift an arm even when Gray teases her. Gray is sad.”
“…I wish you were dead.”
My neck must have been strained during the push-ups too, as even the back of my neck was sore, making it impossible to turn my head to the side.
With just my eyes slightly turned, I cursed at Gray, and he lightly flicked my forehead, careful not to hurt me.
“Geez. You idiot. If you want to exercise, call me.”
It was the same spot where the fountain pen had hit me yesterday.
“Ah! You crazy bastard! Why did you hit me!”
“Who hit my daughter!”
Perhaps thinking we hadn’t reconciled yet, Duke Bergo, who had rushed in at dawn in a panic, carefully left the room after calling the doctor, worried he might startle me.
And then, I thought he had gone back, but he had been in the corridor all this time?
As soon as Duke Bergo’s voice was heard from outside the door, Gray raised his voice to answer.
“I just gave her a little flick, but she’s exaggerating!”
“How could you flick your sick sister! Gray!”
“I just lightly touched her with my finger, I swear!”
“Did your father teach you to treat your sister like that, huh?”
“No, Dad! It’s not like that!”
Go fight outside.
The door hadn’t even opened, but watching them fight like a teenage son and father in real-time from the side made me feel like my ears were going to fall off.
Gray, feeling frustrated too, suddenly stood up.
“Hey, wait a minute. I’m going to go fight with Dad, so stay still.”
Without waiting for my response, Gray crossed the room and as soon as he opened the door, he raised his voice.
“Dad, if you’re going to be like this, just come in. And Solea might be in pain right now, but her mouth is still that of a rascal.”
“How can you call your sister a rascal? I’ve never seen a child as gentle as our daughter since I grew hair on my head!”
“Gentle? She’s been completely reborn as a total rascal. Dad, did you lose your memory too?”
Gray. True to his name as Gray the bastard, you’re opening a new paradigm of impiety with your all-or-nothing jokes.
“You insolent child, there’s nothing you won’t say to your father!”
“Ah!”
It seemed Gray got flicked on the forehead, as he yelled, and perhaps because fighting in front of a patient’s room was inappropriate, the two gradually moved away from my room.
Still, they were just as noisy.
They sure fight persistently.
Just by watching them shout and fight like that, you wouldn’t know Gray was adopted.
All those who gossip should be made to stay at the Duke’s mansion. Seeing how they interact without any reservations, and Gray’s lack of manners, no one would dare gossip about him being adopted.
In the midst of the chaos, Anne cautiously opened the door and entered.
“What’s the matter, Anne?”
“…I kept thinking about what might have suddenly made you sick again, my lady.”
I’m worried.
Those trembling eyes.
Anne carefully lifted her skirt. As she raised it to her knees, white underpants began to show.
“I have what you want, my lady.”
No, you don’t.
I can’t even turn my head, so please don’t do this, I beg you.
What stopped my imagination from running ahead faster than Usain Bolt was a book that came out of Anne’s pocket inside her skirt.
“You stayed up all night reading, and that’s why you got sick, right?”
“What?”
Anne said with a flushed face.
“I couldn’t find part 3… so I asked the bookstore owner for another recommendation. I’ll read it to you from now on so you won’t get sick.”
Why are you trying to be crushed by the disaster you brought upon yourself? Go back.
It was a loyalty that brought tears to my eyes, but in truth, it was a loyalty that didn’t need to be shown.
In my heart, I wanted to shake my head, wave my hands, and express my refusal with all my limbs, but the only thing I could move skillfully was my tongue.
“No, Anne. I think there’s a misunderstanding.”
“It’s okay, my lady. Don’t be embarrassed. I can do this much for you. My sister reads things like this too!”
“No, really, no.”
“I haven’t told anyone.”
“You just said your sister reads things like this.”
“I said a colleague reads it. That’s why my sister recommended a bookstore that sells related books. I stopped by home briefly this morning. Anyway, my lady, trust the bookstore owner’s taste!”
Watching Anne clench her right hand into a fist, making a resolution she didn’t need to, made me sigh.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding.”
I tried to express my refusal as best as I could with my eyes, but Anne, thinking I was refusing out of embarrassment, gently covered me with the blanket up to my chest and spoke kindly.
“It’s okay, my lady. Just listen comfortably. They say the story is surprisingly interesting. Now, the title. Why Did the Duchess Give Beef to the Stable Boy?”
Who came up with that title?
“Anne. I really don’t want to hear it. I’m fine, really.”
“You got sick because you stayed up all night reading. I heard you not sleeping until late last night. Just trust me! I’ll hide it quickly when Young Master Gray comes!”
Anne stubbornly began to read the book.
The reason the Duchess gave beef to the stable boy was elaborately and in detail laid out.
I see… quite a hot stable boy.
Anne, working at the Duke’s mansion, picked out a book about the Duchess having an affair with the stable boy. Where does this innocence come from?
Watching Anne, with a flushed face, trying to read the part where the Duchess secretly meets the stable boy behind the stable among the dry grass, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Oh, is it funny? Does it suit your taste?”
“Haha… No, keep going.”
Anne, with a flushed face, earnestly read the stable boy’s lines.
It was true that the absurdity of the situation made me laugh.
Who am I, really?
Why does this maid keep pondering over the reason for my illness and go to a bookstore to get such a book, Gray not only stays by my side but also tells me to call him when I exercise, and Duke Bergo can’t even enter the room but cherishes me so much?
“…I’m envious.”
“…Envious?”
Anne’s eyes, which had been trying not to show her flushed face, darted around for the first time.
“But my lady…”
“No, it’s really a misunderstanding. Let’s clear this up. It’s not true. I lost my memory, right? But Solea is so loved right now. The whole family is worried about her, right? So even though I’m lying here stupidly because of muscle pain from overdoing push-ups yesterday, no one is saying anything, and everyone is worried and comforting me. It’s Solea’s life. Not the Duchess in that book, but this Solea’s life that I’m envious of.”
Anne looked at me with a gentle smile.
“Muscle pain wouldn’t come just from doing a few push-ups, but anyway, it’s natural for Solea to be loved. You always smiled at us. You were kind and gentle, and when I was hurt, you were the one who worried the most.”
The person who got muscle pain from just a few push-ups. That’s me.
I feel so sorry for the original Solea.
I’m sorry. I’m destroying the image Solea built up. I’m really sorry for turning you into a lady who likes shady erotic novels.
After reading the book for a while, Anne quickly hid it back in her skirt when Gray returned.
Gray, who came in with a bowl of fragrant soup, told Anne to rest as he would feed me himself, then carefully helped me sit up in bed.
I wanted to eat with my own hands, but I couldn’t move my arms, so I had no choice but to accept the soup Gray fed me.
Despite his fierce expression, Gray gently blew on the soup and fed me until I finished the whole bowl, then said.
“Don’t get sick.”
“Mind your own business.”
While bickering with Gray, I realized that Heyman hadn’t shown up at all.
“Where’s Heyman?”
At my question, Gray sighed with annoyance and ran his hand through his hair.
“After his magic whatever class, he locks himself in his room all day and sleeps. I wonder if he really needs to take magic classes like that, but since he insists, I can’t stop him. Ugh, why are both of you like this?”
Even after clearing the empty soup bowl, Gray didn’t leave the room and spent time telling me funny stories.
“Stop making me laugh! My stomach hurts!”
“That’s just the right amount of exercise for you. Exercise should be done gradually. What got into you to suddenly do push-ups? Ugh, I can’t even smack you.”
Perhaps because he got scolded by Duke Bergo, Gray didn’t flick my forehead again, but he still teased me.
I wondered if this is what it would feel like to have a real older brother.
The next day, I was finally able to get up and move after receiving treatment from a physician who had rushed from the capital.
“Anne, I want to have a meal with the Duke.”
“Really? The Duke will be delighted! Just a moment!”
Anne, who was helping me with my morning preparations, finished styling my hair and ran off with a bright smile to inform the Duke.
I heard Marcilla scolding her from outside the room.
“Anne! How many times have I told you not to run in the hallway?”
“The young lady wants to have breakfast with the Duke!”
“Oh my, really! Run, Anne!”
“Yes!”
Anne’s energetic footsteps made me smile.
I am truly loved.
A little later, when I went to the dining room, Duke Bergo greeted me with a bright smile. Even though I had avoided him for over a week until we briefly met at dawn yesterday, there was no sign of anger.
Instead, he seemed genuinely happy just to see me walking around normally.
…What a strange person.
“Are you feeling better now? Is there anywhere else that hurts?”
“You even called a physician to treat me. I’m sorry. I keep getting sick, and it’s wasting money.”
“Wasting money… Solea.”
It was only after hearing the Duke call my name that I realized.
Ah, I’ve belittled Solea again without realizing it.
The Duke put down the knife he was holding on the table and smiled gently.
“Do you know?”
“Yes?”
“Daddy has a lot of money.”
What is he talking about? I was tense and confused, looking at Duke Bergo with bewildered eyes, and he continued in a playful tone.
“I could fill a carriage with physicians. So don’t worry about money. Just worry about yourself, my good daughter.”
“Ah… Yes.”
My neck kept feeling warm.
I lowered my head and silently spooned soup into my mouth.
After finishing the meal, the Duke, who said he had to go straight to the office due to a lot of work, handed me a flower.
“How about having tea where this flower blooms this time? The doctor said it’s best to stick to walking in the garden for now.”
“…Thank you.”
The Duke’s large hand covered my head. His warm palm gently stroked my hair.
My heart felt like it was floating. Even though they aren’t my family, I keep wanting to settle here. I couldn’t help but smile.
While walking in the garden with the flower the Duke gave me, I found a rose that had bloomed earlier than the others.
Would he like it if I brought this to him?
Avoiding the thorns, I picked a rose and headed to the Duke’s office.
But through the slightly open office door, I heard Solea’s name.
“Duke, if Lady Solea marries Marquis Fernando’s heir, you can gain ownership of the southern granary area.”
The marriage talk I heard when I first came here flashed through my mind.
I thought he cherished me dearly. So that’s what it was.
…Somehow, there couldn’t be such luck for someone like me.
Without realizing the thorns were digging into my palm, I clenched the rose and then threw it out the window.
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