Chapter 13

Unexpectedly, Noel had seen him that day.

He thought that she would scream in fear seeing that much blood.

But instead, she was worried and even took care of him.

Did she eat something wrong?

She’s being absurd. She kept throwing sharp words while also being worried about him at the same time.

‘What was wrong with her?’ Rupert thought.

Eventually, he stopped himself from overthinking the situation. His wound could heal naturally, but he still let Noel treat it as she pleased.

Somehow, even the way she stitched his wound was pretty good. In fact, it was better than the ones done by doctors who have learnt it professionally.

‘Was she the same woman I’ve known so far?’

“……”

In the midst of all of that, he noticed Noel as she focused on his wound. Soon, a problem arose.

He smelled her sweet scent as he tried to figure out whether it was due to the soap or perfume she used.

At the moment, he was truly embarrassed. He knew what he felt right then as he has experienced this before.

It was a problem that he knew all too well.

‘Why the hell in this situation?’

In fact, until just before, Rupert was incredibly unconscious of her as a woman. They just had to sleep with each other several times as a compulsory clause at the beginning of their marriage.

He couldn’t figure out why he felt this impulse all of a sudden.

Rupert wondered if he had gone crazy.

It may be due to the fact that he has been overly focused on her recently.

It was also strange that Noel got angry and threw disappointed gazes at him, but he managed to feel this way about her now.

‘My head must be all jumbled up because of the curse.’

In the meantime, Noel, who did not notice his contemplation, recommended more alcohol.

Drinking alcohol in this situation?

He could picture the dangerous situation that may arise.

“No need, you look human right now.”

Rupert said.

“Pardon?”

But his expression crumbled after seeing how she had interpreted his words. Rupert rephrased his words.

“It means that I don’t want to get into an accident because of my drunkenness.”

Of course, once again, Noel interpreted his words completely differently from his original intention. He didn’t feel like correcting his words again, and he turned his body in the opposite direction.

‘Certainly, I am just intoxicated right now.’

“Alright, then go to sleep quickly.”

‘This woman must have used some sort of trick.’

Really, everything has been such a mess since Noel spontaneously changed.

Knowing that, Rupert closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

And oddly enough, that day, after a very long time, he dreamed of his childhood.

Shortly after his mother died, it was the first and last time that someone had hugged and comforted him…

* * *

I opened my eyes.

“… what?”

And I realized that I was lying on the bed of my room.

‘Strange. Was it just a dream that I treated Rupert’s wound yesterday?’

But it was too vivid for it to be a dream.

With that thought, I came out of my room and went into Rupert’s.

He wasn’t inside but I noticed the torn bed linen in the corner.

‘So it wasn’t a dream.’

But how did I get to my room?

“Could it be that Rupert moved me…?”

That was very unexpected.

‘But no matter how much we hated each other, it was only fair that he moved me as his lifesaver.’

Yesterday’s event flashed through my mind.

After nursing hard, it seemed like Rupert’s condition had improved, so relief took over me and I decided to close my eyes for a while.

Thinking back on the situation, I grunted.

“No, but where the hell was this injured person going?”

Was it even possible for a person with such a wound to move?

You couldn’t have carried me because you were injured.

I knew that he was stronger than ordinary people because of his curse. Still…

‘Regardless of how bad the wound is, don’t you feel any pain?’

I sighed in defeat.

“Uh, I won’t treat anymore patients who have such poor cooperation.”

As long as you’re fine, my job is done.

There were many people who were worried about him even if I’m not there. His aides were capable of taking care of him with extreme sincerity.

Besides, I was still mad at the conversation I had with him last time.

‘You said that it was a waste of time to talk about Leah.’

An extremely bad guy with absolutely no blood or tears!

I muttered inwardly while cursing at him.

Looking at Rupert’s condition yesterday, it seems like judgment of him being a dangerous man was right. He didn’t tell me exactly what happened, but it was obvious.

‘I’m glad Leah didn’t catch sight of him.’

If she had seen it, it might have been a very big problem.

‘A father who is strong enough to be called a devil could get that badly hurt. Did he overdo it that much? ‘

I know to some extent that he had self-destructive desires.

For some reason, Rupert was a man who did not let go of his hope to live a good life while also contradicting himself due to the hatred he carried for his curse.

Of course, it was difficult to say that he had a ‘healthy’ mental state.

It is said that everyone has about one or two traumas, and Rupert was no exception.

“Mom, where are you?”

Then, I heard Leah’s cute voice from the hallway.

It seemed like she looking for me as soon as she woke up.

I answered her immediately.

“Leah!”

I quickly walked out of the room.

Leah, who finally found me, jumped and hugged me at once.

“Good morning!”

I cradled the little child and smiled broadly.

“Good morning, my daughter.”

Then I pecked the child’s white cheek.

“Mom loves you again today!”

Leah giggled.

“Me too!”

Just listening to the sound of her laughter filled me with joy.

As soon as I saw my daughter, the worries that I had encountered last night came flooding back.

In the future, I have to come up with a solution so that I can protect this child.

‘Is Rupert bound to be someone dangerous both to me and Leah?’

I recalled his bloody appearance from yesterday.

In the end, will there be a day when Rupert is covered with someone else’s blood and not his own?

‘No, we’re still fine.’

I suppressed my anxiety and continued to rub my cheek against Leah’s soft ones.

2. Self-renewal

The current me, Noel Ainel, had no popularity.

Even at this age, in my mid-twenties, the only person I could consider myself ‘close’ to was one of my relatives who I had known since childhood.

And the biggest reason for this was, of course, my filthy personality from the past.

I still don’t know why I was like that.

Anyway, because of my nature, rumors spread amongst the marquis, socialites, and even the young lords.

‘I shouldn’t be complaining since those are things that I actually did.’

My only source of comfort was that the new maids were a little less afraid of me compared to the other employees.

Jenna hurt Leah accidentally some time ago and was forgiven so she doesn’t avoid me that much.

Of course, the other maids weren’t very willing to accept the new me because of the sufferings they had to go through before.

Considering the situation, there were very few people around that could be trusted.

My father?

‘If I break up with Rupert, my father will try to sell me as a concubine to another family.’

He was never a reliable parent. That’s why, I always had to worry about my future.

Meanwhile, time passed by steadily.

“Mom, this way!”

I laughed proudly as I watched Leah’s lively figure run after the ball.

How does she keep getting cuter as the days go by?

Although I was worried, I didn’t want to make Leah anxious. I was trying to spend time with her simultaneously.

Perhaps, thanks to that, Leah’s personality has become a little more lively than before.

‘Well, when I first started playing ball with Leah, the maids looked at me as if they saw a ghost.’

Before I regained my memories, I could never endure sweating or dust. Even now, I think I was an overly picky person.

Again, I was reflecting on the days of my past.

Soon, Leah stopped on her tracks. Someone was standing in front of her.

‘Looking at their clothes, were they a member of the Raven Knights?’

The Raven Knights are the knights that serve directly under Ainel.

Rupert chose these people mainly for their ability and the amount of determination they possessed. Thanks to that, he was famous for his skills that were considered to be one of the best in the country.

“Leah, what’s going on?”

The knight couldn’t hurt the master’s daughter so I called out to the child first.

“Mom, he picked up the ball!”

Then, Leah lifted the hem of her dress and greeted the knight cheerfully.

“Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it, my lady.”

It was a voice that didn’t have any emotions at all.

‘It is great that the knight was able to keep calm despite Leah’s deadly cuteness.’

I pondered very hard and turned my gaze to the knight.

As our eyes met, the knight greeted me very politely.

“Greetings Marchioness of Ainel, this is Aren.”

‘What?’

I was surprised to hear the name.

“Oh, yes… so your name is Aren, right?”