~Chapter 12~
It seemed that this person named Erias was really weak.
The doctor gave me a painkiller, telling me to take it if the pain became unbearable, and said he would ask the maid to change my bandages later before leaving the room.
I wondered who had changed my clothes, but it seemed there was a maid working at the villa.
The rain continued to pour down.
Even if my body recovered, I wasn’t sure if I could return to the palace in this weather.
‘Are Latryne and Sertien asleep? It’ll be a problem if the rain doesn’t stop. I wonder if we can even make it to the palace…’
I thought I should talk to Latryne, so I got up.
It looked like the villa was in the mountains, and if it rained too much, there was a risk of being trapped due to a landslide.
I thought it would be better to head to the palace before things got worse.
I carefully opened the door.
The villa was even quieter than before.
Although I stepped out, I wasn’t sure exactly where Latryne would be, so I stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.
For some reason, it felt like the situation was similar to the first time I had gotten up.
Well, I could find him somehow.
Just like back then, I wasn’t thinking too far ahead.
Still, I had gotten used to the layout of this kind of house, so it wasn’t too hard to guess where Latryne might be.
I headed to what seemed like the largest bedroom.
I figured that at this hour, the place where Latryne would most likely be was a bedroom.
‘This has to be the bedroom, right?’
I stood in front of the biggest-looking bedroom door and mumbled to myself.
I felt bad for waking him at this hour, but if I didn’t say something soon, things could get worse, so I knocked on the door.
“…”
But no matter how long I waited after knocking, there was no response.
Even after knocking two or three times, it was the same.
After thinking about what to do for a moment, I decided to carefully open the door.
Inside the dark room, without any lights on, I could vaguely see the edge of the coat Latryne had been wearing.
I thought this must be the right bedroom and peeked in to check the room, but to my surprise, Latryne wasn’t there.
‘Huh…?’
Instead, what I saw was Sertien, peacefully asleep, unaware of anything.
Sertien was lying in the middle of a bed large enough for two adults, covered with a blanket, occasionally moving his lips in his sleep.
He looked so cute that I quietly walked over to him, making sure not to make a sound.
“Mm, mom…”
Sertien mumbled in his sleep, calling for his mother, and I gently patted his hair a few times.
He’s the son of the villain who’s not even mentioned in the novel…
I had wondered who Sertien took after to be so handsome, but now I could see he really resembled his father.
And with the added genes of his mother, who supposedly looked exactly like me, it seemed he had become the ultimate boss in terms of looks.
As much as I wanted to keep watching cute Sertien, the important thing right now was finding Latryne, so I left the room and began searching for him.
I wondered where Latryne could be if he wasn’t in the bedroom, and I started thinking about possible places.
Though I didn’t know much, I recalled that people who were the owners of mansions often spent time in their studies.
I wasn’t sure if a villa like this would have a proper study, but I decided to search for a room that looked like a study.
While looking for the study, I ended up exploring various parts of the villa.
It truly didn’t seem like anyone lived here, as there were no signs of anyone having stayed.
From the dark kitchen to the drawing room… everything was like that.
‘My legs are starting to hurt…’
Just as that thought crossed my mind, I happened to spot a large painting hanging at the end of the hallway.
It looked like a portrait of a person, and I felt like the person in the painting seemed familiar. As I got closer, I realized the face looked familiar.
It wasn’t me… it looked like Erias.
“…”
‘I do look pretty similar…’
In the painting, Erias was smiling happily, with a younger-looking Sertien sitting on her lap, staring up with big, round eyes.
Seeing this painting made me feel a sudden pang of sympathy for Sertien.
Maybe it’s because Sertien kept following me and calling me “mom” that I was starting to feel like I really was his mother?
No matter what, I could never be his real mother.
Feeling a bit bitter, I suddenly noticed a light coming from somewhere.
The moment I saw the light, the first thought that crossed my mind was that Latryne might be there.
Feeling a sense of relief, I turned toward the light and walked toward it, limping slightly.
The light was coming from a slightly open door.
When I peeked in, I saw just a lamp illuminating a few books and an otherwise empty bookshelf and room.
I wondered if this was the study I had been looking for.
Carefully I opened the door wider, and there, lying on a bed in the corner, was Latryne, looking as if he had passed out.
He was so deeply asleep that I hesitated to wake him.
I stood there, unsure for a moment, but when thunder rumbled again, I realized I couldn’t just wait any longer. I stepped inside.
Latryne was so deeply asleep that he didn’t stir even as I approached.
From what Phaedris said, he had probably only arrived at the palace earlier today.
After arriving at the palace, he had been busy searching for his missing son and taking care of my treatment, so he must have been exhausted.
I took this moment to observe Latryne closely, as he lay there, still in his daytime clothes and sleeping in an uncomfortable position.
In the novel, I had imagined Latryne to be more rugged, with a masculine appearance and sharp features.
But the Latryne I met in real life wasn’t like that.
He was the perfect example of a handsome young man. In fact, Phaedris looked more like the Latryne I had imagined.
Latryne had a slightly delicate, cat-like face and a slim build.
‘Wow… he’s really my type. I thought Phaedris would be, but…’
His skin was incredibly pale, and with his jet-black hair, it made him look almost ghostly.
I needed to wake him up and talk, but here I was, just staring at his face.
I quickly snapped out of it and reminded myself that sneaking into a room and staring at someone while they sleep was creepy, to say the least.
Determined to wake him and get on with it, I gently shook Latryne.
“Um, Your Grace.”
“…”
But he was in such a deep sleep, that he didn’t even blink.
“Your Grace?”
I shook him again, trying to wake him up, but then I felt someone’s presence.
Since the only people in the villa were the doctor and Sertien, I thought Sertien might have woken up and come looking for his father.
But the footsteps sounded too heavy to be Sertien’s.
And they were too light to be the doctor’s…
‘Who could it be?’
Finding it odd, I stopped trying to wake Latryne and turned my head to check the door, just as it opened, someone stepped inside.
“Master, aren’t you going to change into your nightclothes…?”
It was a woman’s voice.
I froze on the spot, not expecting anyone else to be there, and then I locked eyes with the woman who had just walked in.
Was she the maid?
Judging by her maid outfit, it seemed likely.
I figured she was probably the one who had dressed me in my nightclothes.
Feeling embarrassed, I tried to move away from Latryne, but the maid suddenly pointed at me and shouted.
“You… you’ve come back to take our master away again! You filthy creature…!”
What did I just hear?
I couldn’t immediately process what she had said, so I just stood there, frozen in place, like a broken machine.
The maid was staring at me with clear disdain.
I had never heard anyone speak to me like this before, and I was shocked. The maid was so loud that Latryne stirred and slowly sat up.
“…What’s going on… Commander? What brings you here?”
Latryne frowned slightly, pressing his hand to his head, clearly still tired. He looked at me and then turned to the angry maid, his face hardening.
I wasn’t sure why Latryne’s expression had turned so serious.
He hadn’t heard what the maid had said earlier, so it couldn’t be because of that. There must have been another reason.
“What’s going on?”
He was addressing the maid.
I knew Latryne was polite, but I hadn’t expected him to be so formal, even with his own maid.
Of course, when dealing with other people’s servants, I tried to be respectful too, but with my own household staff, I was a bit more casual.
The maid scowled, as if she had done nothing wrong, and began to speak to Latryne.
“I noticed that you fell asleep without changing your clothes, so I brought some comfortable ones. But when I entered, I saw her watching you! Wasn’t she supposed to be dead? Why is she alive and trying to dirty you again? If we don’t throw her out right away—”
Latryne abruptly cut her off, his voice harsh, and the maid couldn’t say another word.
“Enough. Do you even realize who you’re talking about?”
“Of course, it’s ‘Madam,’ isn’t it? I could never forget that face.”
“I made it very clear, didn’t I? This is the commander of the Imperial Guard. You are to treat her with respect. And yet you’ve already caused such a scene.”
“…That’s impossible. The commander of the Imperial Guard? That’s nonsense. I know that face too well. That face is unmistakably… Madam’s…”
Latryne silenced the maid with a cold look.
