Chapter 39

‘…..That’s going to be hard.’

This was already the second time an assassination was attempted within the estate of Renbird. If this had happened on their journey, he’d have taken care of his pride, but this happened inside the accommodation.

The first time was done so cleverly that one couldn’t tell whether it was a suicide or a murder that it could have aggravated the anger of Kalcion now that he tried to do things openly this time.

‘Maybe he’s angry because his pride was hurt, not because I was hurt.’

She never expected it. But, it would have been more problematic if Kalcion had sincerely worried about Selena.

However, her life was almost brought to an end, so she felt sorry for the loving concern of a person. Even though this happened, it was bitter that there was none to sincerely worry about her and comfort her.

Selena held out her trembling arm towards Kalcion.

“Please help me. My legs, they……”

She couldn’t expect a warm heart and tender words, but she could at least feel comforted by his touch. He could never refuse an arm asking for help.

As expected, Kalcion leaned in without a word, and instead of holding her outstretched hand, he embraced her.

It automatically calmed her. How nice it would be to experience a real loving act like this.

‘From now on, we should focus on physical acts.’

Kalcion had better get rid of his walls. In a word, he was the one who would increase the debt by a thousand.

“Kyaah! What’s going on?!”

The maids returned and stood before the door, screaming in surprise when they found knights in wariness. One beat later, Mrs. Janet appeared. Her breath was a little rough, and her hair was messy. She seemed to have rushed in.

“Your Excellency, what has happened here?”

“An attempt of assassination.”

Her jaw stiffened by the short reply from him. She didn’t make a fuss like the other maids, but she looked surprised.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“He was after Selena, not me.”

“……..Ah.”

Replying vaguely, she only nodded. As a matter of courtesy, she posed no more questions.

Selena frowned.

‘How can you not say a word to someone who almost died?’

It’s the same with Kalcion. People in this world were too unkind to say something out of courtesy, whether they meant it or not.

“Thoroughly investigate and ensure if there were any more personnel involved.”

“I’ll do as you say.”

Selena patted his chest, irritated by his endless commands.

“Oh, come on. I want to go into the room and rest.”

Kalcion turned obediently to Selena’s nervous whisper. As his body moved, Selena’s wet clothes were seen clinging to her skin.

“Oh, my!”

The maids hurried to cover them with towels. Kalcion momentarily turned his head and ordered the servants and knights to look away.

“Examine the path of invasion. I am going to rest now.”

“Rest assured, Your Excellency.”

Kalcion scooped her up before walking towards the room.

Behind his back, Mrs. Janet’s shouts were heard, which began to stir up the servants. If there was a gap in the deployment of security and an assailant crawled in, it was definitely Mrs. Janet’s mistake.

Was it because it was the first time she made such a mistake, or was she angry because Selena, whom she’d wanted to be killed, was alive?

Selena’s lips rolled as a cold thought subdued her head.

This time, it ended with an attack, but it was a dizzying incident that could have killed her if Kalcion hadn’t come to save her.

As time went by, cold chills ran down her body as she saw the situation from a more objective perspective. She wasn’t playing a wrestling match on an entertainment show. She almost died just now. Fear that she hadn’t realized engulfed her.

“It would be better to sleep together in my room for safety, or do you want to sleep separately?”

Kalcion, who was naturally heading to his room, suddenly asked Selena. It couldn’t happen without him going crazy.

“No, no, absolutely not!”

Selena shook her head violently. From her wet hair, a few droplets of water splashed onto his face. In a clear message but unfamiliar act, Kalcion quietly opened the door.

The room was simple, almost the same as yesterday. Kalcion put her down on the sofa, and she bent down as he was about to stand up.

Selena’s hand, which was gripping the hem of her dress, was shaking with anxiety. Now that she had found a room to breathe properly, she could feel fear. Her whole body had been trembling uncontrollably.

She didn’t want to cling to this heartless Northern Duke, but he was the safest man at the moment. Although he couldn’t say comforting words, he had the sense to sit next to her.

“Are you cold?”

“I’m cold and…..scared.”

“Could be because you’re still wet. First, change your clothes.”

Kalcion called the maids to bring her a change of clothes.

“Uh, where are you going to change……”

The maid, who brought them, asked embarrassedly at the view of the small room that had no corner to change. While shaking her head, Selena took the clothes herself.

“I’ll take care of it.”

Now, she didn’t even want to get close to any maid. The maid left the room, carrying an extra towel in her hands.

“Would you mind turning around for a second?”

“I’ll go out.”

“No!”

Selena quickly caught Kalcion.

“This room is safe. To the door, to the window, and up to the ceiling.”

“No, I’m scared of being alone.”

He sighed briefly before sitting back down, turning his back towards her. Fear was not a feeling that could disappear through persuasion. Even though he was an ace during training, there were many stories where he’d failed to move a finger in the game. He could, to some extent, understand her fear.

Only then did Selena begin to change in relief. Even though she wasn’t visible to him, he could feel even the slightest shift of her figure right behind him.

He could hear the sound of Selena pulling up wet clothes, loosening the knot of the ribbon, and the sound of fabric sticking to her flesh being swept past the skin.

Kalcion gulped down on his dry throat due to an unprepared auditory stimulus. His hand on the armrest of the sofa clenched into a fist, which made his veins visible. The security kept him from opening the window to fight off the heat…….therefore, the heat flowed down to his neck.

However, after the sound of Selena undressing that lasted for a while, he heard the sound of new clothes being put on.

“Selena?”

“Ah…… wait a minute.”

“What’s the matter?”

“No, I…… I think it’s starting to hurt.”

Hurt?

Kalcion’s eyebrows gathered in displeasure. He was often sensitive to injuries. There were many cases where minor injuries remain as a major aftereffect. His own subordinates had to go to rest just by cutting their hands on a piece of paper.

“May I turn around?”

“Ah, no. Wait a minute.”

She hastily sewed up the ribbons. She could wear it quickly because it was a night dress. After she was done, she sat down, and Kalcion examined her body.

“Let me see.”

“Here and…..”

She rolled up her sleeves to reveal a scratch on her forearm. He also noticed a bruise on her wrist. With a serious look on his face, Kalcion grabbed her by the arm and looked around it.

“You must have hit your elbow, too.”

“Ah.”

She was so busy resisting that she wasn’t conscious when she probably bumped into something while swinging her arms. As she listened to Kalcion, she found a black bruise already sitting there.

“Ugh……”

It was the first time she had had such a big bruise on herself. She grimaced. She hated herself.

“Is it only the arm that’s injured? Sometimes you hurt your feet while resisting.”

“Oh, really?”

She pulled the hem of her skirt up to her thighs. She did it unconsciously.

“…….Ahem.”

Taken aback, Kalcion coughed quietly and looked down at her leg.

Women all over the world wore long dresses that came down to their feet so as to not expose their legs. Exposing her legs was nothing short of being naked, but Kalcion, knowing her true intentions, desperately tried to remind himself of her true intentions.

However, no indication of leftover scars was found on her exposed skin above.

“We need to apply some medicine.”

Looking at the thick swelling mark as if grazed by a sharp object, Kalcion once again prompted. A bruise reached her knee, and her hallux was broken.

Based on some traces, he could figure out how the physical assault went. Kalcion ordered the maid to bring medicine and bandages.

“You’re not calling a doctor?”

“The only doctor is a man.”

He replied. Selena was confused at what it had to do with medical practice, but she kept quiet. Since it was his consideration, it would be better to just take it well.

Kalcion carefully applied medicine to each of Selena’s wounds and bandaged her.

It was not a bad choice to leave it to him. He was skillful. She couldn’t believe that his big hands were treating her as delicately as a cotton ball. He was acting like she was a glass that would break when touched until the last wound was treated and patched up.

There were no warm words of comfort, but an icicle hanging somewhere in her body broke when his friendly touch landed on her.

“Next…..”

Kalcion’s eyes, which had been carefully scanning for more wounds after tying a knot in the bandage, touched the broken hallux.

“I’ll have to sharpen the toenails.”

“Oh, there.”

Before she could say she’d take care of it, Kalcion grabbed her ankle and placed it on his thigh.

Selena shut her mouth, gently allowing him to continue.

It might not smell after washing up, but she was ashamed at someone having to actually put their eyes on her feet.

Kalcion took out the tool and began to sharpen the tip of her toe.

The feeling of bone harvesting spread like honey falling in water. It felt like honey was spreading at the end of her feet.

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