Endless conflicts ensued with a completely unreasonable Duke.
Shioana got angry and even tried to plead with tears. However, he did not seem to have any intention of changing what he had said at all.
As morning dawned, Shioana made a decision.
"It doesn't matter. No matter how much you try to hold me back, I'm leaving."
She had already signed the contract for the new house she was moving into, and she had secured almost all the furniture and necessities. She received a lot of help from Raul with this, so she was very grateful to him.
'I should treat you to a proper meal later.'
Raul said that Martha's cooking suited his taste quite well. Since he usually eats out a lot, simple home-cooked meals might feel different to him.
As the uneventful day drew to a close, Shioana returned to the Bernhard mansion.
However, Martha was loitering in the garden.
"Martha! What about Harriet?"
"Miss, what should we do? The young master was fine this morning, but suddenly he has a high fever."
She said that because he was suffering from a high fever, Martha gave him medicine and wiped his body with lukewarm water, but the fever did not drop at all.
"Go on, go on."
Shioana, who rushed frantically to the room where Harriet was, discovered that her nephew's pale face was swollen and bright red.
Whenever this happened, Harriet's condition was always at its worst. It was like this the last time she took him to the vet, too.
"I need to go to the hospital right away."
However, since the sun had already begun to set, all the hospitals must have been closed. Shioana, holding Harriet, circled in place.
She was so furious that not even tears flowed. She poured out all sorts of resentment toward God inwardly.
'How could this happen? He is a poor child who has never even seen his mother's face.'
She had to save her nephew at all costs.
The place she found after running outside was the Duke's bedroom.
No matter how hard she racked her brain, he was the only person at this point who had enough power and wealth to help Harriet.
"...What?"
As expected, his voice was cold, showing his disapproval of Harriet.
"I don't know what you want, but I'll do whatever you want. Harriet is very sick."
Up until now, Shioana had strongly wanted to deny that the Duke was Etienne. That was why she treated him with utmost respect, but even that was meaningless now.
Her nephew was the one who brought her back to life after she had lost her will to live. No matter how much she hated Eli, Harriet was of the Evgenia family's bloodline. She had a duty to protect this little child.
“It’s amazing.”
The Duke, leaning back on the bed, turned his head sharply.
"If you tell me not to leave here, I'll stay. I'll take care of you and sleep with you at night."
Shioana's voice began to tremble.
Harriet burst into irritable sobs in the embrace, feeling even more distressed.
"Harriet, it's okay. You'll be fine soon. Just hang in there a little longer. Okay."
Shioana's heart burned as she continued to soothe and comfort the child.
If he turns his back on the two of them now, Harriet might really be in trouble this time.
"Etienne, please, I beg of you."
When Shioana called his name, Etienne's broad back twitched, and a moment of silence followed.
Soon the Duke rang the bell, and soon the servant found the bedroom.
"Tell them to bring the doctor and check on that child."
At the Duke's words, Shioana bowed low enough to touch her forehead to the ground and went outside.
Just then, a doctor who was staying at the mansion for the Duke's poisoning treatment came over soon.
In his haste, the doctor checked on Harriet's condition in the reception room on the second floor. Fortunately, the doctor did not seem to be wary of her and Harriet simply because of their low status, unlike the hospital in District 5.
"It's a baby born a bit early."
The doctor, who had removed the clothes and was palpating the abdomen and chest, shook his head.
Shioana wiped her eyes with her hand at the doctor's reaction. No matter where she went, the stories were all similar.
They say the baby was born too early and is excessively frail. Although she was told he might not make it through the first year, Harriet had already passed his first birthday.
"Please help bring the fever down."
Since regaining health depended entirely on God, he had to take care of what he could do right now first. The doctor rolled up his sleeves, looked around, and spoke.
"For now, it would be better to move the child to a room rather than here. This is not a very good environment for the patient."
Furthermore, the doctor said he would look after Harriet by his side all night.
"Thank you, Sir."
That was all Shioana could say at the moment. She felt a hundred times more relieved that there was a doctor more skilled than herself by Harriet's side.
"I am merely carrying out the orders given to me by His Excellency the Duke. Please go back and rest. I will let you know if anything comes up."
Shioana, who was forced outside because she was interfering with patient treatment, slumped down in the hallway.
Harriet has crossed the threshold of death countless times with that small body.
"...Miss, please don't act like this. Go get some sleep."
Martha, who was standing next to the doctor, stepped out slightly and helped Shioana stand up.
"You need to regain your strength so you can hug Master Harriet when he wakes up."
"Martha, our Harriet will be okay, right?"
"Of course. Master Eli used to suffer from fevers quite often in the past, too. But he was healthy once he grew up, wasn't he?"
"Then I'll come back in a little while."
Besides, come to think of it, there was something she absolutely had to take care of right now. Clutching the dress with trembling hands, she stood before the door of the Duke's bedroom.
As she entered the bedroom, Etienne was sitting upright as if he were waiting for Shioana.
"He's quite skilled, so you can rest assured."
The low-whispering face did not seem to comfort her at all. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his eyes curved as if he had spotted amusing prey.
"Thank you."
"There is nothing to be thankful for."
"Since you helped us, if you tell me what you want..."
At her words, Etienne got out of bed and stood by the window, moving his finger to call Shioana. She slowly stood beside him, and the two of them gazed silently at the night sky for a long time.
"Is there anything I can't have?"
"...Ah."
He was Duke Bernhard, after all. He would lack nothing. Shioana rubbed her flushed cheeks, overwhelmed by a belated wave of shame.
"But it’s not that you are the only one who can give me something."
A chill ran down Shioana's spine at Etienne's meaningful words. He slowly turned and stood looking at Shioana.
"Let's have a very grand wedding."
She just blinked because she couldn't understand what she had just heard.
"But Miss Diana..."
"Are you telling me to commit bigamy?"
Only then did Shioana realize that he was serious. She took a step back in the sudden surge of fear.
"This doesn't make sense."
"...What makes such a mess of things?"
"You said you didn't believe me."
"Yeah, I never trust you."
He reached out and gently swept Shioana's bangs to the side.
"But why do you want to marry me?"
"Shioana, you're wrong. We're having a late wedding."
"Etienne, thank you for helping Harriet, but this isn't right."
"You betrayed me, and now you're even going back on what you just said?"
Etienne's long fingers held her cheek and playfully touched the area near her lips.
"Nothing will change. You just need to stay by my side."
The bedroom was so hot with the fireplace blazing that one wouldn't feel cold even naked.
However, Shioana kept trembling as if she were standing in the fields of Regbell in the middle of winter.
"And from now on, don't talk about that child in front of me."
Etienne's smooth forehead, which had been uttering Harriet's name, crumpled in an instant. He then wrapped his hand around the slender neck of Shioana, who was trembling like a small beast cornered at its limbs.
The blue veins in her neck twitched, as if she were tense from Etienne's touch. Etienne, having lowered his head, pressed his lips against her neck and whispered softly.
"If we get married, we will have a child."
“...Etienne!”
It seemed like he wasn't in his right mind because the detoxification wasn't complete.
Although there was a difference in social status between the two in Regbell, eloping at night would not have caused any major trouble for the family.
However, if Etienne marries her now, that will become a problem.
Seeing the young worry on Shioana's face, he whispered softly.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of all the complicated problems."
"That's not the point right now."
On top of that, Shioana was worried about the marriage itself. It was clear that everything was going to go wrong.
As she bit her lip tightly, not knowing what to do, Etienne frowned sharply.
"Why are you disappointed that you couldn't start a life with Raul? You have that exact look on your face..."
"Who, who said that?"
Shioana's voice trembled because, although she had no intention of marrying Raul, it was true that she had planned a new life after the divorce.
"How did you manage to stab someone in the back when you are so terrible at lying?"
"I’ve said it many times, but what happened back then..."
"What's the point of digging up the past?"
The words 'you are the one living bound to the past' rose to her throat, but she held them back.
There was no point in provoking Etienne, who had particularly shiny red eyes today, to make things better.
'Since Harriet is still receiving treatment.'
As she bit her lip again, Etienne pushed his finger into Shioana's lips. Startled by Etienne's sudden action, she tilted her head back to pull his finger out.
"...What are you doing?"
"I don't like it when my things get scratched. I'd rather you bite my finger."
Etienne smiled brightly with his finger bitten by her.
Shioana was terrified because his face was so beautiful, completely at odds with the words he had uttered.
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