Tiuran gulped dryly.
Could it be that the Grand Duke hasn't slept from the day the Grand Duchess lost consciousness until now?
Tiuran, who was pouring water into a basin and glancing at him with a sideways glance, soon denied her thoughts.
Ordinary humans can't be so fine without sleeping for so long. She took turns taking care of Marisen, so the timing must just not be right.
"Bring the towel here."
While she was lost in thought for a moment, the Grand Duke reached out to her.
Tiuran hurriedly took out a clean towel and soaked it in ice-cold water. Then she squeezed out the water and placed it on the man's sculpted hand.
The man who grabbed it immediately carefully cooled his wife's forehead. It was as if he was touching a glass craft.
In fact, the woman, limp like a corpse, looked like she was about to be shattered. Perhaps, because of such anxiety, the man can't take his eyes off the Grand Duchess.
After hesitating for a moment, Tiuran muttered in a creeping volce.
"Her Highness is recovering little by little. She will no longer be in a dangerous situation, so you can leave it to us to take care of her now..."
"It looks like Darren has started whining to the servant as well."
Tiuran shut up at the voice that came out like a knife.
The man who was turning over the towel and carefully stealing the sweaty woman's nape with the cold part on the other side added calmly.
"If he asks, tell him that the Grand Duke said this."
After a pause, the Grand Duke slowly finished speaking.
"Why are those who are so incompetent that they can't even endure a few days of absence, eating up food in my house?"
Even though he wasn't addressing her, Tiuran felt a chill run down her spine for a moment.
The man nodded without even looking at her.
"It's a nuisance. Just go out."
"Then, I'll be waiting in the next room. Please call me anytime if you need it."
Tiuran carefully stepped back and stepped back from the bed. Even in the meantime, the man's gaze was still fixed on his sleeping wife's face.
The dark light of the late afternoon that came in from the window faintly illuminated the man's face. As if he had been suffering from a frosty gastritis, he looked very lonely and alone.
At that moment, Tiuran thought that the man actually needed his wife's presence.
After staring at his face with deep fatigue for a moment. Tiuran quietly opened the door and went outside.
***
Time passed without a trace.
I felt the wounds on my body heal little by little. The pain in my stomach, which had been throbbing as if it was screaming not to forget something I had lost, faded, and the blood that had been dripping down from time to time soon stopped.
The pain in my back and pelvis was still there, but it was incomparable to the pain I had during pregnancy. The sensation of my legs, which had always been tingling, was better than before, and my heavy body became easier to move around thanks to the ease of my heavy body.
But for some reason, that fact made me even more distressed. It was hard for me to accept my body trying to return to its old state, as if I had never had a child.
My mind is still fixed on that night, but my body tries to move towards life on its own. This fact was so amazing that there were occasional complaints.
I have no way of knowing why people around me are so proud of my health.
Even after going through all kinds of hardships, it was a body that held on to life tenaciously. Even though my legs were crushed and I lost my lifelike child in pain as my stomach was crushed, it was a life that continued unfolding.
It was clear that even if I left it alone, my body would persistently live in a reality that was no better than hell.
So please leave me alone.
"Eat."
I looked at the man who held out the porridge bowl with terrible disgust.
When he first offered me food, I just didn't respond.
Still, when the man didn't give up, I overturned the bowl. He immediately had the new food prepared and tried to feed me the old way between us.
However, the act of forcibly feeding food through the mouth was nowhere to be found as hot. Only a sense of duty was vaguely felt, like a mother bird chewing food to her sick cubs.
Absurdly, I felt a sharp pain at this fact. His change seemed to tell me about my situation as a complete failure as a woman, and my heart was torn to shreds.
The bitter pain drove me even crazier. I couldn't accept that this man left me with a sore heart.
I squeezed the remaining strength and pushed him away. Then I picked up the spoon with my hand. I ate food and drank medicine as if I were chewing and swallowing the desire to die and disappear.
This time, I gave up my useless rebellion and picked up the spoon. And I diligently swallowed my food to escape the eyes that watched me like a jailer.
When I finally finished eating, this time he handed over the medicine. Even that was forcibly pushed down my throat, and then I leaned against the cushion, exhausted.
Then, as if it were a matter of course, he lay down next to me. He was to hold me all night as I crawled out of bed and headed for the grave.
I, who had endured the shackles-like hand wrapping around my body, suddenly demanded.
"...Burn the sleeping candle."
The man who was pulling a thick cotton quilt over my shoulder gave me an incomprehensible look.
When he didn't move, I added with my dry lips.
"I can't sleep deeply. I need medicine."
The calm man who had been silently looking down at me for a long time finally stood up.
I looked at his slow-moving back, then turned my gaze to the window where the sun was beginning to set.
The sky, which had a vivid scarlet color, gradually turned dark red. However, before long, even he was enveloped in thick darkness little by little.
I inhaled the smell of strong smoke and lowered my eyelids. Before I knew it, I could feel the man back in bed, holding me to his chest and carefully covering my head.
As my senses became dull, the touch didn't feel as painful as before.
I fell asleep with joy. But the moment of calm was not long in coming.
Perhaps I had developed a tolerance for the medicinal effect, but I opened my eyes when the windows were dyed with a deep blue. It was when the tip of the sun, which had not yet crossed the hill, was burning red on the edge of the castle wall.
I stiffened my upper body and looked out the window at the end of the day approaching.
How long was I staring at it?
Suddenly, I realized what had awakened my consciousness. A thin cry was mixed with a faint scream of the wind.
I let out a vain laugh. It was an auditory hallucination that had been following me for the past few days. I could get used to it, but why did my heart feel like it was rubbing every moment?
I, who had been squinting my shoulders, soon covered my ears. Then, sadly, the cry echoing in my head intensified.
It seemed to be blaming me. I wonder if the baby cries like that every night because he resents that I didn't give birth to him completely. I feel like I'm going crazy thinking about it.
I stood up to run outside. Then I realized that someone was hugging my waist, and I paused and turned my head.
I saw a man lying on a pillow with one face buried in it.
Even though my vision was dizzy, as if my senses had failed, I looked down at that strangely clear face from a distance.
It was unfamiliar to me that he slept so deeply that I thought he might be dead. Isn't he a man who always stood up with agility, even if I moved a little?
Although the strength of the forearm that was holding me was still there, the man's consciousness seemed to be completely cut off.
'...Is it because of the sleeping grass?'
A faint question came to mind through my hazy consciousness.
Even if I sometimes burned a sleeping candle in the bedroom, he did not show any reaction beyond a little stretching.
Maybe he was tired of watching me.
I, who had been staring at the appearance of the blade standing out of nowhere, even in a defenseless state, reached for the hair that was piercing his eyelids, as if attracted by something.
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