Chapter 35

It appeared that he felt something was amiss as he kept on touching her hand.

“Your Highness?”

“It’s not ‘Your Highness’, but Knox.”

He said it bluntly before he stopped touching her hand.

“By the way, why is your hand so hot? It’s definitely way warmer than usual.”

“Ah……”

Only then Vivian understood his actual intention of touching her hand incessantly before. Still, she didn’t expect it to be revealed that easily.

Vivian clutched onto her hat even more despite not having taken it off earlier.

“Maybe it was due to the sunlight being quite intense today.”

“It’s bad to deceive me just because my eyes can’t see that well.”

“Knox. That is—woahhh!”

As her feet were swept through the air, Vivian’s head immediately spun around. Her heavy head straight away felt dizzy with just a little movement. On top of that, she also felt that her whole body was being overturned at once.

“Why did you even come, when you know you have a fever? You should let me know and get plenty of rest instead.”

As one would have expected, Knox could see clearly through her condition. His frown increasingly deepened when he didn’t receive any response from Vivian at all.

“…Were you forced to come here?”

“No, I came here solely because I wanted to. I’m so sorry for lying.”

“You always try to cover things up when it’s related to your own family.”

Vivian protested a little against Knox, who dropped her gently on the bed.

“…I’ve never done that.”

“You’re even doing it now.”

“Isn’t it due to Knox, who always tries to make me talk more than needed?”

Vivian’s gaze impulsively turned towards Knox, who had picked up on the words she just uttered.

Words that she could have never dared to speak towards the Young Lady had been thrown upon the Grand Duke, who was significantly of an even higher status. Vivian had regretted it—albeit later—in her heart, but still, her mouth couldn’t cease talking at all.

“I’d like you to focus on the matter at hand, not on my other problem.”

“Okay. I’ll do that, then.”

Vivian was taken by surprise how utterly acceptant Knox was, which made her soon try to lift her upper body.

It was immediately then, Knox’s obstinate hand had pinned her down to ensure that she had lain entirely on the bed.

“So please, take some rest now.”

“Still, the one who needs to rest right now isn’t me, but Knox…”

“As you can see, I’m quite well today. Also, it’s fortunate that I’ve changed my blanket today—so, it’s pretty clean.”

It was still a better blanket when compared to the one she was used to, even if he hadn’t changed it. The soft touch that enveloped her body immediately sealed her mouth shut.

“Just take a nap.”

“But the visit……”

“I’m fine. So, come on.”

Vivian, who was utterly defeated, eventually closed her eyes due to his constant stroke of pats upon her.

Whenever she came here, she always felt like sleeping. Before long, Vivian was already immersed within that odd sensation. Still, she couldn’t fully overcome her fatigued body.

As soon as the tension had finally loosened, Vivian let herself fall into a peaceful slumber.

Knock knock!

It wasn’t that long after she had fallen asleep that the firmly closed door was opened, which was accompanied by a knock. The butler had stepped into the room with a small tray in hand, which contained a simple meal that was already prepared beforehand.

“Master, the meal…”

“Shhhh.”

A male voice echoed quietly as it seemed to not want a single thing to resonate within that silent room had quickly stopped the butler’s words. Only after the veteran butler’s words had immediately vanished did the Grand Duke remove his index finger from his lips.

“I don’t need it, so I’ll skip it for today.”

“The Young Countess?”

Instead of answering, the Grand Duke only stared at the butler. Then only the butler realized who was the one under the arms of his owner that had made him this overtly expressive.

I would’ve never expected Master’s frozen heart to melt this quickly. The head of the butler immediately bowed with a proud smile on his face.

“I understand. I guess I was being a bit too meddlesome. Well then, I hope you’ll enjoy yourselves.”