“Your Highness, it’s Rockman. I’m coming in.”
Before long, Rockman, the chief physician, entered the bedchamber.
As always, he started with checking Julia’s pulse. After completing that and a few other examinations, he confirmed that aside from her fever, her condition had not significantly changed. Rockman prescribed medication to reduce her fever and a tea to help her regain strength. The tea contained a mild sedative, and Julia soon drifted into sleep.
“Her Highness’s fever seems to flare up intermittently, likely because her chronic heart condition hasn’t fully healed,” Rockman quietly reported.
Fernan, who had been watching her sleep, responded anxiously. “Hasn’t it been several months since she started the medication? Why is her recovery so slow?”
“Perhaps her inherently frail constitution is making recovery difficult, or there could be other reasons… but nothing else is evident at this time,” Rockman replied cautiously. Fernan, lost in thought, lightly nodded, and Rockman offered a respectful bow before leaving the room.
Fernan continued to gaze at her sleeping face as if trying to imprint it in his memory. His gaze shifted slightly downward, noticing her fragile hands resting on top of the blanket. Julia always seemed so small and delicate to him—so light that he would often worry if it was alright to lift her.
Would it help if she ate better? Or perhaps he should call a priest for a blessing ceremony? Fernan, with a solemn look on his face, quietly took a seat nearby, watching over her for a long time.
A knock on the door broke the silence a few hours later. Outside, he heard Lloyd’s voice.
“Your Highness, are you there? I have an urgent report.”
Fernan glanced at Julia briefly before standing and quietly stepping out of the room. As he left, Julia’s closed eyes slowly opened.
She had just woken up, stirred by the voices she heard outside the door. Her body felt hot and uneasy. As she exhaled deeply, faint voices from outside drifted into the room.
“We may have been discovered. Marquis Elodi has… this time….”
Still groggy, she wasn’t in a state to listen closely and, of course, had no intention of eavesdropping. But the mention of “Marquis Elodi” struck her sharply.
Though she instinctively focused her hearing toward the door, the voices outside had softened, and she couldn’t make out anything more.
Julia let out a tired sigh, her eyes heavy with fatigue. Was her father once again causing trouble for Fernan? She remembered hearing previously that the Marquis was watching Fernan under the emperor’s orders.
Even after abandoning her family name, her father’s shadow continued to follow her. Though she had no desire to return as his daughter, hearing that name drew her focus involuntarily. Julia closed her eyes tightly, as if fleeing from reality, feeling a throbbing pain in her head.
—
Two days later, Julia was able to leave her sickbed. Though her body ached from lying in bed for days, she was still able to move.
“Julia.”
Fernan approached her with a few long strides as she stepped out of her room, freshly dressed.
“Shouldn’t you be resting a bit more?”
“I’m fine. The fever has mostly subsided.”
Over the past two days, Fernan had stayed by her side, keeping vigil. Each time she awoke, he had been there, watching over her with the same calm gaze.
Julia took a deep breath, looking out through the window.
“Your Highness, are you free today?”
The unexpected illness had disrupted her plans to go to the seaside with him, so she thought today would be the perfect opportunity to spend time together.
The day was particularly sunny, and she felt that a walk along the beach would clear her mind. However, Fernan hesitated before answering, his expression troubled.
“I have urgent affairs to attend to, so I’ll need to be away today.”
“Oh….”
“Is there something you wanted to do?”
Julia shook her head slightly, masking her disappointment. “No, it can wait. There’s still plenty of time.”
They still had half a week left of their agreed time with Cedric.
“I’ll be back soon, so please wait for me.”
He tried to reassure her quickly, but even after saying this, he found it hard to step away. Julia, sensing his hesitation, looked up at him calmly, as if to assure him.
“Go ahead. Don’t worry about me.”
Despite her words, Fernan didn’t seem ready to leave. Suddenly, he took a step closer and gently took her hand. Then, with his other hand, he held her fragile back and pulled her into his arms.
His cool and pleasant scent washed over her, and Julia, momentarily startled, found her cheek pressed against his shirt.
This wasn’t the first time he had embraced her, but standing face-to-face like this felt strangely intimate. She felt his hand tenderly smoothing her hair, a gentle touch she would never have imagined in the past.
Caught in the moment, Julia impulsively lifted her hands to his broad back. Even when she spread her arms wide, she couldn’t fully encircle him. She lightly clutched his shirt as she embraced him, feeling his solid form tense momentarily in response.
Long ago, she had deeply yearned for his embrace. There had been days when she wished he would look at her just once and treat her with kindness.
Julia slowly closed her eyes. Yet those days of longing were far behind her. She no longer wished to bind herself by walking into another oppressive path with him.
She no longer wanted to be a pawn to her father, nor did she wish to be confined by titles like Grand Duchess or someone’s wife, losing her freedom in the process.
And she hoped he, too, would be free of the burdens her family name had placed on him.
For now, she simply savored the fleeting beauty of this moment, knowing it might never come again.
—
“Are you sure the Grand Duke is here?”
The sharp voice of Marquis Elodi resonated through the dim room at an inn on the outskirts of the Sairef territory. He was hiding here, observing Fernan’s movements.
“Absolutely, sir. Isn’t the heightened security suspicious enough?”
The adjutant replied calmly. Indeed, the sudden tightening of security had prevented the marquis from entering the territory, forcing him to stay cooped up in the inn.
“There’s definitely a woman hidden in that residence,” the adjutant continued, and the marquis clicked his tongue in irritation, narrowing his eyes.
Though he had only suspicions, rumors of Fernan’s mystery woman had already spread throughout the capital. For over a year, the Grand Duke had rejected all marriage proposals, and now he had even refused the imperial marriage.
Yes, there had to be a woman. Otherwise, would he have forsaken an imperial match? Such a marriage would have given him leverage against the emperor’s unyielding pressure; surely, he wouldn’t discard it without reason.
“I should have known he was shady from the moment he mistreated that wench, Julia…” The marquis gritted his teeth, fury twisting his face.
The days of glory when he rode on Fernan’s coattails seemed like distant memories, but the radiance of those days still haunted him. His various ventures, backed by the Grand Duke’s reputation, had thrived, and he had countless people clamoring to earn his favor.
The emperor’s favor was, of course, a given. The marquis had been like an adviser, privy to every state affair.
As he clenched his fist, his anger shifted direction, and he muttered through clenched teeth, “If only that wretched girl had stayed in place, things wouldn’t have come to this.”
Thinking of his vanished daughter ignited his rage even more.
“I told her countless times to produce an heir, yet she dared to defy me and disappear like this!”
The marquis struck the table hard with his fist, sending a glass of water tumbling to the floor.
“If only she’d left behind an heir, I wouldn’t be suffering like this now!”
With a genuine heir bearing the Elodi name, he could have maintained his power without needing that troublesome girl. The aide, familiar with the marquis’s volatile moods, nodded without surprise.
“Sir, let’s focus on getting past the security checks first,” the aide suggested.
“Yes… yes, I must. There’s more pressing matters now.”
His rage quickly simmered down, though it flared up frequently these days. The marquis paced around, deep in thought.
“First, we need a man to get inside the Grand Duke’s residence and find out exactly what he’s up to.”
“Yes, sir, especially since there may indeed be a woman hidden there.”
“Yes… if there is, she may be his only weakness,” the marquis mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
“Go and find a few reliable men—three or so who could pass as coachmen or laborers.”
“Yes, sir.”
The adjutant responded crisply, heading to the door. Just as he reached for the doorknob, someone threw the door open with a bang.
“Ah—!”
The aide’s startled cry was cut short as he fell to the ground. Shocked, the marquis dropped his cigar and spun around.
Standing behind his fallen aide, with fierce eyes fixed upon him, was none other than Fernan himself.
