~Chapter 10~
Could it be that Ered also brought Sertien along?
‘But I’ve never heard of a villa being nearby.’
As I waited, there was no sign of anyone coming to find me, so I decided to get up and look for Ered myself.
Getting up with an injured body was quite a hassle.
It felt like my entire body was screaming.
I’ve always been confident in my physical strength, and even when I got hurt, I usually recovered quickly, so I hadn’t experienced this kind of pain often. It seemed I was seriously injured this time.
‘Well, considering the size of the explosion, it’s a miracle I can even walk.’
At least I could walk, which was fortunate.
It hurt every time I moved, but it wasn’t unbearable.
I held onto my creaking body and carefully opened the door to step outside.
It seemed like the villa was rarely used. Even after stepping out into the hallway, I didn’t see anyone around.
Just at a glance, it seemed really big, and I started to worry that I might miss someone if I wandered around, making me wonder if I should go back to the room.
Plus, the villa was so large that I thought I could easily get lost while exploring.
But staying still felt too boring, and I was growing curious.
Despite being injured, the fact that I wanted to move around showed that I wasn’t in my right mind.
The hallway had several large, long windows, and it seemed like a lot of time had passed, as the sky was dark.
I also saw that it was raining, which made me think that it was lucky it rained after the fire broke out.
‘At least the damage won’t spread any further…’
I continued walking along the hallway with the windows.
After walking a bit, I spotted a door.
It was a room about the same size as the one I had been in earlier.
I didn’t plan on entering the room, but the door was wide open, so I thought it might be okay to take a peek. I figured I’d just take a look and head back.
It seemed like an unused room, as there wasn’t much inside besides the bed.
There didn’t seem to be much to see, so I was about to leave when something caught my eye.
‘What’s that?’
There was a piece of paper on the floor.
Unable to suppress my curiosity, I went into the room and picked up the paper.
I even bent down with my aching body to grab the paper.
After struggling to pick it up, I was shocked and frozen.
What I had picked up was a photograph.
And the reason I was surprised was because of the person in the photo.
‘This… this is me!’
The person in the photo, sitting in a chair with a gentle smile, was none other than me, “Ltiya Alpress.”
But something was strange. I didn’t remember ever taking a picture like this.
Judging by my appearance in the photo, it was probably from two or three years ago, which would have been after I had already possessed Ltiya’s body.
It was also odd that a picture of me was in a villa like this.
The more I thought about it, the less sense it made, and I stood there in a daze. Suddenly, I sensed someone’s presence.
Had I been here too long?
Startled, I turned around.
The moment I saw the person standing behind me, I was struck dumb, staring at him as if I were entranced.
I couldn’t help it.
I’d never seen such a mysteriously handsome man before.
With jet-black hair and eyes that had a dull, cloudy quality, he was the type of handsome man I had never encountered.
His sharp gaze gave him such a cold impression that I felt like even if I spoke to him, he wouldn’t reply.
‘How could someone so good-looking exist, and I’ve never heard of him before?’
In terms of looks alone, he was on par with Phaedris.
No, to be honest, I found this man more to my taste, so I thought he was even better looking than Phaedris.
But why was this incredibly handsome man in what I assumed to be Ered’s villa?
Could he be a butler? But his clothes were far too luxurious, and he had an air of nobility that didn’t seem fitting for a butler.
‘I can’t believe I’m staring at someone so openly.’
Feeling like I was being rude, I averted my gaze.
But it seemed like he was staring at me just as blankly.
Who was he, and why was he looking at me so intensely?
Feeling awkward about the silence, I decided to speak first.
Maybe this wasn’t Ered’s villa, but this man’s? With that thought, I said,
“Um… I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be wandering around, but when I woke up, no one was around…”
Was he upset that I had been walking around like this?
As I nervously wondered, the man, upon hearing my voice, looked like he was about to cry and stepped toward me.
“Are you really the Commander of the Imperial Knights?”
“Huh…?”
I blushed, wide-eyed and confused by his sudden question.
He grabbed my left hand with both of his and asked again.
“Yes… I am the Commander of the Imperial Knights…”
“Do you know anyone named Erias?”
“Erias?”
It was a name I had never heard before.
Seeing my utterly confused expression, the man muttered to himself as if berating himself, while stepping away from me.
“Even your voice is the same…”
‘Do I resemble someone?’
Just as I was thinking that, I heard light footsteps in the distance.
“Dad! Mom’s gone missing!”
It was a voice I knew well.
Hearing it made me smile, relieved that Sertien was safe.
But… wait, did he just say “Dad”…?
Finally realizing the situation, I looked at the man in front of me in shock.
The man turned around when he heard Sertien’s voice.
Sertien entered the room, pushing the door open a bit wider, and it seemed Ered was with him, following behind.
“Huh? Mom’s here!”
“When did you wake up? If you’re up, you should’ve stayed put. You disappeared and made us worry.”
Ered scolded me.
But I didn’t have the mental space to respond to his scolding.
I blankly stared at Ered and mumbled.
“Um, is this person perhaps Sertien’s…?”
Hearing his name, Sertien looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
Ered glanced at the man next to him and said,
“Why are you here again? You should’ve helped the patient back to bed as soon as you saw her.”
“….”
“Oh, I haven’t introduced you yet, have I? This is Latryne Priscillia, Sertien’s father, the one you were so curious about. Satisfied now?”
“….”
I was at a loss for words.
It was shocking enough that the man in front of me was Sertien’s father, but to think that he was the Latryne, the Duke, who was the mastermind behind everything?
Latryne, who had shown me such an emotional expression just moments ago, was now staring blankly into space with no expression at all.
He didn’t seem to care whether I was looking at him or not.
While I stayed silent, Latryne spoke to me in a calm tone.
“If you continue standing, your body will suffer. Let’s return to the bedroom.”
“But what exactly is going on? Where is this place…?”
“Go and rest first. How did you even manage to come this far in your condition? I’ll explain everything once you lie down. Look… you’re already bleeding.”
Only then did I look down at my leg.
Just as Ered had said, a little blood was seeping out.
I hadn’t noticed it at all, probably because of everything that had just happened.
Now, I could feel the pain starting to throb in my leg.
I had been fine when I came here, but now I wasn’t sure I could move any further.
Seeing my face grow pale, Ered asked,
“What’s wrong, Is it hard to walk?”
I was about to answer when Latryne, who was standing beside me, suddenly lifted me up.
He seemed to be heading straight to the bedroom I had been in earlier.
I was surprised, but I couldn’t exactly ask him to put me down, so I simply averted my eyes, feeling awkward as I stayed in his arms.
That’s how I ended up back in the room where I had been.
Latryne carefully laid me down on the bed and said,
“Since your condition was critical, I brought you to my villa in a hurry. Although a doctor treated you, you’re not fully recovered yet, so please be cautious.”
‘The Duke is calling me “Commander”…’
It was surprising, and a little nerve-wracking, that he, a Duke, was addressing me so formally.
Caught off guard, I ended up speaking too formally myself.
“Oh… no. I’m the one who caused the trouble. I’m sorry…”
“No need to apologize. I heard my son caused you some trouble. I’m the one who should apologize.”
“No, no, I’m the one who made things worse. You came looking for Seri and found me instead, didn’t you? Thank you so much.”
At my words, Latryne’s expression became somewhat complicated. He was silent for a moment before speaking again.
“Yes, I’m just glad I was able to find you. …I’m sorry, but I have some urgent business to attend to. If you need anything, please call me. I’ll come right away.”
“Of course.”
I didn’t know why Latryne was being so considerate, but I felt awkward and didn’t know how to respond, so I nodded.
Latryne bowed his head slightly, then calmly left the room.
As he left, he didn’t forget to take Sertien with him.
“Sertien, let’s go.”
“Huh? Why? I want to stay with Mom.”
“She’s sick and needs to rest. You’ll be a distraction if you stay.”
“Ugh…”
Even though Sertien seemed reluctant, he obediently followed Latryne out of the room.
It seemed he listened to Latryne quite well.
‘Looks like he still hasn’t cleared up the misunderstanding that I’m his mom.’
Well, I wasn’t sure how I’d ever get through to his stubbornness anyway.
Almost as if he were running away, Latryne left the room and, after putting Sertien to bed, went into the study alone.
Though it was called a study, since this villa was rarely used, the room was practically empty.
