Chapter 18

It had been a few days, but he still remembered that day vividly, so he had to check Liv’s breath again and again.

The warmth of her hand touching his cheek was warm. Feeling the faint warmth spread throughout his body, Dane closed his eyes.

As Dane stepped out of the bedroom, a man was standing right next to the door.

“I don’t mind even the smallest things, so if something happens, tell me right away.”

As he brushed his tousled hair back, he saw blood on his palms. It was blood from Liv’s head.

The clothes he couldn’t change into were also a mess of dust and bloodstains. As he wrapped his bloody palms around his chin, he smelled a faint smell of blood.

‘What kind of bastard?’

When Liv’s life and death became certain, anger flared up, and his five senses that had been lost slowly returned, stimulating his reason.

‘What kind of bastard dared to do something like this?’

The fragile face he had shown in the bedroom was gone, and only anger filled his face. His bulging jaw muscles showed how much he was holding back.

If they were caught, he would kill them in the most painful way. All sorts of torture methods came to mind.

‘Death will be your only salvation, so you should hope that you stop breathing quickly.’

Dane headed for the Ragnell mansion with sharp eyes.

“I didn’t find any clues. According to the employees, there were no outsiders visiting for several days, and the study was on this floor, so it was difficult to enter from the outside.”

It was difficult to ignore an incident like the bombing and the explosion that took place in a noble’s mansion. The man who came out to investigate after receiving instructions from the imperial palace was still at a loss as to how to finish the work, so he was glad to see Dane.

“On top of that, as you can see, the study is like this…… There was nothing to salvage.”

The study was a mess. Unable to withstand the strong explosion, all the window glass shattered, and all the bookshelves spilled, leaving hundreds of books strewn about. Even if the intruder had left a clue, it would have disappeared without a trace.

“The explosion appears to have occurred in a secret room next to the study.”

Looking at the torn portrait strewn across the floor, Dane headed to the place led by the man.

The place where Liv was found caught his eye.

The bookshelf on the desk and the thick books that filled between them. That served as Liv’s shield. Without anything, she might have been even more injured than she was now.

Remembering the time he found her, he missed the warmth of her being in his bedroom. He wanted to rush to her side right now and feel the proof that she was alive.

“Here it is.”

Beyond the study of Ragnell’s mansion was a secret room that no one knew. It was probably only known to Anton Ragnell and his closest aides.

“It was…… a secret room.”

But the secret room was blown away by the explosion, and now nothing existed. One can see the sky through the gaps. It was fortunate that the entire mansion was not blown away.

“A piece of clothing believed to be Anton Ragnell and body parts were found under the mansion. Charles Gordon, the butler who went missing after the explosion, was thought to be the prime suspect…… However, last night, a body that looked like Charles Gordon was found under the mansion. The two were probably caught up in the explosion together.”

Anton Ragnell and the butler of the mansion died. The body caught in the explosion was torn mercilessly and could not be found.

Dane already had a headache about how to tell Liv about this news.

“Is Lady Ragnell awake?”

“Yes. She is safe and sound.”

“That’s a relief. I’ll visit you again when the lady recovers to some extent. There is no way to find any clues here now, so further investigation is pointless. What do you think?”

“I am of the same opinion.”

“This is *sigh*…… The wedding will be moved forward unfortunately. I hope the lady gets well as soon as possible.”

The man left without regret as if he had waited.

They would do anything as long as they accepted bribes, so they didn’t expect much in the first place. On the contrary, he was grateful for turning it off quickly.

Dane stood alone and looked around the ruined study.

On the day of the explosion, he had to remain here, scouring the area for possible traces or riding a horse to search the surroundings for suspicious persons.

But there was no way he could leave her side, who was caught up in the explosion and could not open her eyes. Now that a few days have passed, even the slightest possibility of finding traces has disappeared.

Unable to control his simmering emotions, Dane kicked the bookshelf with his foot.

‘Carl Rayleigh, that bastard. Maybe he did this with ill intentions towards the Ragnell family. Or did a bastard who held a grudge against me do this?’

Dane gritted his teeth. He wanted to catch the guy right away and crush his face with his feet.

The cruel nature that he had hidden tightly in front of Liv was revealed. In his mind, Dane imagined something he couldn’t even put into words. But contrary to his simmering heart, the Ragnell mansion gave him no clue.

Eyes full of vicious energy wandered through the piles of books and found a piece of paper. Dane went through the pile of books and picked it up.

It’s in Hale.

The handwriting that was unique enough to be memorable was not Anton’s handwriting.

This was the only strange trace he found here. Dane folded the paper and tucked it deep in his pocket.

“Wele back, Sir.”

“Didn’t Lady Ragnell wake up?”

“Master!”

A servant ing down the stairs spotted Dane and called out urgently. Dane sensed something was wrong and ran to his bedroom.

When he opened the door roughly and entered, he saw Liv with her head down and her ears covered. The doctor was standing in front of Liv with a serious expression.

“Liv.”

Dane approached Liv. Without realizing he had arrived, Liv only looked at the duvet with blank eyes. Dane carefully wrapped his arms around Liv’s face to make her look at him, and only then did Liv’s eyes fall into his.

Liv opened her trembling mouth, and a hoarse voice came out.

“I… I…… My left ear is weird……. I can’t hear anything…….”

If it was on the left, it was where the blood flowed. But the blood was clearly flowing from her head, not her ears. There was no way he didn’t know because he had even stopped the bleeding with his own hands. He looked at the doctor in a hurry.

“I listened to the lady and examined her ears, but I didn’t see anything wrong. I suspect that the impact on her head caused the problem.”

“Is there any chance for her hearing to e back?”

“…… That’s…… I’m sorry. I’m not sure either. If she’s lucky…….”

“Damn, does it make sense that you don’t know?!”

“I’m sorry. There is no special trauma, so the only way is to wait and see……”

Dane stared at the doctor with his glaring eyes at the words that felt insincere, and Liv trembled and sobbed.

‘Damn it!’

The first thing to do was calm her down. Dane sat down next to Liv and hugged her in his arms.

“I just thought my mind was blank, but it wasn’t……. I can’t hear…….”

Due to the unbelievable reality, Liv couldn’t finish her words and cried her heart out.

Dane cursed his helplessness to do anything and hugged the collapsing Liv with an ashen face.

‘Damn it! Damn it! What the hell is this…….’

Dane couldn’t believe what had happened in an instant. Liv’s scream-like sobs echoed through the bedroom.

A single candle flickering precariously in the darkened room created a shadow. The shadows casted by the candles shook together as one body whenever the candle flickered.

Liv, exhausted from crying, fell asleep and lay on Dane’s arm.

Lying down, Dane stroked Liv’s left ear with a gentle touch. It was so peaceful that he thought the situation a while ago was just a dream.

Liv’s eyelids moved slightly. Dane said, kissing Liv on the head.

“It’s still late at night. Sleep more.”

Liv, who suddenly woke up, focused on her ears.

It wasn’t a dream. One of her ears was still deaf. Even his hand stroking her ear made no sound, and could only be felt.

Believing that there would be nowhere else to fall, Liv was pained by the situation in front of her.

‘Why only me……. Why am I the only one experiencing this kind of ordeal? Is it because I don’t have enough scars on my face that I can’t hear in my other ear anymore?’

Dane carefully wiped Liv’s tears away.

“It’s a temporary condition, so it will recover on its own over time.”

Liv cried so much that her eyelids would be hurt by the slightest touch.

“The lady knows how lucky I am, right? I’ll give you all my luck. So you don’t have to worry about anything. It will e back naturally in time.”

Dane kissed Liv’s ear as if he were blessing her.

“If it doesn’t e back, I’ll do whatever it takes to get it back to normal.”

His voice blew like warm rays of sunshine.

It was amazing. Struggling in deep frustration, she returned to the shore again at his word.

Little by little, an unfounded faith that seemed like a foolish thing to be true began to bloom.

“It’s okay. It’s just that my ear was startled for a moment. It will return when I get some rest.”

‘Yes, it’s going to be okay. As he said…… Eventually, it’ll all e back.’

Liv dug into his shoulders and nodded. Dane pulled Liv closely who was clinging to him tightly. Far from feeling unfortable in his arms, she was glad.

‘It’s okay……. It’s going to be as he says. It’s alright……. I don’t have to worry about anything.’

Feeling his touch patting her on the back, Liv closed her eyes again.