98.

The baby predator pricked its ears and turned its gaze toward the window overlooking the drawbridge. My eyes followed Antoinette’s line of sight almost reflexively.

Just then, muffled voices drifted through the door of the study, and the door creaked open cautiously. A young maid stepped in hesitantly.

In that moment, all my attention shifted to her.

Though my intense gaze weighed heavily on her, the maid moved quickly to fulfill her duty, whispering something to Erika’s assistant.

At last, the assistant, whose face had been drawn in despair, lit up as if she’d just been handed salvation. The moment she turned to me with a gleam of relief, I found myself springing to my feet before I even realized it.

‘They’re back.’

“My Lord! They’ve returned!”

Erika’s assistant announced with a voice brimming with joy. Anyone overhearing might have thought she was announcing the reunion of long-lost family after a decade.

Before her words even finished, I was already moving. By the time I regained my senses, I was throwing the study door open.

“My Lord!”

Glen called out behind me, his voice panicked, but I was already marching briskly down the corridor. My pace quickened with each step, as if I were heading toward Archie’s garden.

Servants I passed along the way gave me bewildered looks as I strode past, but I couldn’t have cared less.

By the time I descended the stairs, I wanted to skip two at a time. Finally, at the bottom, I saw a gathering of people near the entrance hall, their chatter filling the air.

The first thing I noticed was Archie, smaller than anyone else in the crowd. He was surrounded by maids holding dry towels. Behind him, the McFoy knights were drying themselves with whatever they could find.

But my eyes kept moving.

‘This doesn’t make sense. He should stand out.’

No matter where I looked, I couldn’t see that familiar, shining silver hair.

As a wave of frustration washed over me, my stalled thoughts resumed, thanks to Antoinette.

‘…No, it’s not that.’

This wasn’t a matter worth overthinking. I might have already known the answer all along.

‘I just wanted to see Norma all day.’

The realization hit me like a punch, and I had no choice but to admit it to myself the moment I instinctively searched for him with my eyes.

‘I wanted to see him. Damn it, why?’

A blaring red alarm seemed to go off in my head.

“Damn it.”

My steps slowed, and a curse slipped from my lips.

“Aunt?”

Fortunately, the shock of my realization didn’t last long. Archie’s voice snapped me back to reality, and I quickly took in my surroundings again.

Yes, there was Archie, soaked to the bone, along with the drenched knights.

‘Soaked?’

The sight reignited my urgency, and my pace quickened once more. As I approached, the maids wrapping Archie in towels scurried back with bowed heads, sensing my mood.

“What in the world happened to you?”

I demanded, my expression severe as I questioned Archie. To his credit, he didn’t falter under my glare.

Narrowing my eyes, I alternated my gaze between Archie, who met me confidently, and the Second Knight Corps members, who were groveling on the floor.

“You seem too proud of yourself to be the one who caused this mess.”

“It wasn’t me. It was… Uncle.”

Archie said, scrunching his face as though the memory still upset him. For the child who adored his uncle, such an expression was unusual—it meant something had definitely happened.

But if Norma was the one responsible, where was he?

I turned my attention to Harry, who was prostrated on the ground like the other knights.

“Sir Forn. Where is Norma?”

Harry lifted his head slightly and knelt on one knee. Bowing deeply, his expression apologetic, he spoke with great caution.

“The lord Diazi stated that appearing before you in a drenched state would be improper, so he has gone to prepare himself before greeting you.”

“What…?”

What kind of ridiculous excuse was that?

I felt my frustration bubbling over. Of all the things Norma could have said, this was the most absurd justification imaginable.

I was flabbergasted. Considering I had badgered Erika’s assistant nearly every minute, someone among the staff must have informed Norma that I was coming down. And yet, he had the audacity to disappear with such a flimsy excuse?

My expression darkened, and Archie, ever perceptive, decided to chime in.

“Maybe it’s because I said I’d tell you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well… Uncle stayed underwater for a long time. It was dangerous, so I told him I’d report it all to you.”

Archie, who had intended to defend his uncle, furrowed his brow, still upset as he recalled what had happened in the grove.

Underwater.

Archie’s explanation was curt and fragmented, shaped by his childlike perspective, but it was enough for me to piece things together.

I couldn’t help but remember the story Norma had shared with me before our marriage, back when he was half out of his mind.

 

[With a voice tinged with tears, it begged me to die. To die for its sake.]

 

Norma had told me how, during his time sealed underwater, he constantly heard that voice pleading for his death. The memory of it left me momentarily dazed.

If even I felt this way recalling his story, I couldn’t begin to imagine how he must have felt living through it again.

“…Sir Forn. What is your assessment of him?”

I asked, keeping my voice steady.

“He appeared… as he always does.”

Harry replied with cautious tact, understanding my unspoken question.

‘As he always does.’

I repeated silently. It felt like a vague dodge, but Harry Forn was not the type to offer empty reassurances to soothe me. If he said it, he meant it.

I remained silent for a moment, prompting Erika to step closer and ask.

“My lady, what will you do?”

‘What else?’

I let my gaze sweep over the knights, who were visibly tense as I deliberated. Though my scrutiny wasn’t meant to intimidate, it had that effect nonetheless.

“…I’ll return to my duties. Sir Forn, follow me and explain everything in detail,” I said at last, turning abruptly.

The knights, except for Harry, visibly relaxed in unison. Erika glanced at me with an expression that silently asked if I was sure, but I dismissed her concern with ease.

“You can rest now.”

I told Archie, giving his head a light pat. I then left, feigning nonchalance.

To anyone observing, I might have seemed indifferent to the commotion. Perhaps even capricious.

But my mind was in complete turmoil.

The word underwater had nearly made me bite my thumbnail—a nervous habit I hadn’t indulged in years. In my mind, I had already stormed into the bathhouse several times, ready to confirm Norma’s condition with my own eyes.

But the reason I withdrew so quickly was simple: if I stayed, I might actually seek him out.

If I go to him now, it’ll seem like I’ve been chasing after him all day because I missed him.

While I had admitted to myself that I did want to see him, anything more conspicuous would fill me with irreparable self-loathing. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I was selfish enough to prioritize my pride even now.

Retreat. Retreat.

Following this primal instinct, I retreated with haste. Yet the retreat left me feeling hollow.

Harry said he seemed fine, so he must be fine. Besides, I’ll see him at dinner anyway.

With one last attempt at self-justification, I marched back to my office. A perfect coward. Truly, Norma must have married poorly.

* * *

In my entire life, I had never looked forward to a meal as much as that dinner.

Yet despite my anticipation, the dinner turned out to be the most disappointing meal of my life.

As the head of the McFoy family, I had been stood up twice in one day—once at tea, and now at dinner—by my husband and my nephew.

“…Is today cursed or something?”

I muttered, glaring at the empty chairs.

It wasn’t like me to anticipate dinner so eagerly, but my reason was straightforward: I simply wanted to see for myself that Norma was okay. Naturally. Without making a fuss about it.

I glared at the empty chairs again.

I had already known Archie wouldn’t come. The boy, who had clearly overexerted himself, was showing signs of a cold and was firmly confined to bed under the no-nonsense orders of his physician, Jan.

But Norma?

He had announced his absence at the last minute, claiming he needed to tend to Archie because of his cold.

Though Archie wasn’t severely ill, the excuse triggered a cascade of intrusive thoughts in my mind.

I always had a habit of imagining the worst.

In this case, the worst scenario I conjured was Norma being so shaken by his experience in the water that he suddenly realized all this talk of love and devotion was just a delusion. Why I considered this the worst, I couldn’t say.

After staring at Norma’s empty chair for what felt like forever, I finally averted my gaze.

“…Well, it’s possible,” I said aloud.

Harry had mentioned that Archie was badly shaken and that Norma felt deeply sorry. Skipping dinner to care for the boy was plausible enough.

I began eating in silence.

“Honestly, if he’s tending to the boy, then I worried for nothing. He must be just fine,” I muttered to myself, though my voice betrayed an edge of irritation.

For now, I maintained an outward facade of composure. My nerves, however, were taut as a bowstring.

It’s fine. I’ll see him in the bedroom later.

There was still a chance to check on him naturally.

Even as I wrapped up the rest of my duties after dinner, my composure held. My patience remained intact.

But when I arrived at the shared bedroom I used with Norma, the sight of it empty—devoid of the man who always waited for me—pricked at that patience.

This was the same man who had snuck into my study earlier, whispering, “Come back early tonight. I’ll be waiting.” And yet now, there wasn’t even a trace of him.

Even then, I endured.

Sitting idly on the massive bed—large enough for five grown men to roll across—I waited.

Then came a soft knock.

A maid entered cautiously, her face drawn with unease. Bowing deeply, she spoke.

“My lady, the lord has retired early and will be sleeping in his private quarters tonight.”

The tension in my nerves snapped, and my patience evaporated in an instant.

“Where is he?”

Sleeping early? Did he really think I wouldn’t know he wasn’t actually asleep?

Whatever ridiculous excuse Norma was hiding behind, it was clear: he was avoiding me.

* * *

Norma wasn’t avoiding Aisa out of fear of being scolded.

In fact, the moment he arrived back at the estate, his first thought was to go see her. He knew she was always busy, so he didn’t expect her to come to meet him. But at the very least, he had planned to head straight to her office.

Even if he ended up interrupting her, it couldn’t be helped. That’s how desperate he was to see her. If only for a moment, he wanted to hold her hand—just once. He wanted to look into her eyes and silently declare to himself that he hadn’t hesitated, not for a second, in rejecting Igor’s call.

However, fate had other plans. On the way back to the main estate, Norma suddenly noticed something unusual—he felt his body heating up.

At first, he dismissed it as nothing. But by the time he dismounted from his horse, it became clear: he had a fever. Though it was only mild, the warmth was unmistakable.

For someone like Norma, blessed with innate divine power and rarely ill, it was an unusual occurrence.

That wasn’t to say he’d never fallen sick before. He could recall only one time—shortly after Nicholas was born, when his mother had passed away. On that occasion, he had fallen gravely ill.