“…I told you to rest.”
Estribal, who opened the door first, was looking down at Ciello with indifferent eyes.
“What did you do without listening to me?”
Ciello, who was holding the doorknob, asked Estribal nervously.
“Uh…What were you doing instead of going, Duke?”
“That…”
Estribal closed his mouth. Fortunately or unfortunately, Ciello inferred that his silence was not because he was curious about the answer, but because he was upset.
“That… I came to apologize for the prank. Here.”
Ciello held out a handkerchief. But Estribal shook his head.
“…It’s okay. You just use it.”
“Are you very angry?”
Ciello watched his mood while biting her lips. Estribal sighed deeply and brushed his hair.
“It’s not that… Stop biting your lips.”
He had definitely opened the door at the end of his hesitation to talk about future plans. But when he came back and saw Ciello properly, she was pitiful in his eyes.
Could it be because she couldn’t even have her favorite meal and had to fill up with supplements and medicine? Her cracked lips were so dry they seemed about to burst at any moment, and her originally slim face had become smaller.
Was this the reward for pouring all nerves into the mansion? He couldn’t open his mouth to say what he should say, seeing her looking at him with that look and saying sorry.
“I’m really okay. I just woke up from sleep earlier and was out of my mind…”
“No.”
Estribal cut off Ciello’s words.
“Huh?”
Estribal spoke firmly towards the bewildered Ciello.
“You’re not okay at all. Your skin has turned pale because you haven’t seen the sun for a few days, I can’t even tell if there’s any color. I’ll have to put more firewood in the stove. And your face has lost all its flesh so I can only see your features… I can’t keep you inside anymore.”
Tsk. He clicked his tongue and made strange nagging noises. Ciello touched her cheek with a dumbfounded face, wondering if that was the case.
“Lord Pien said that the source of your strength is presence, and that it helps just to have someone watching you. So…”
He seemed to hear Serpiente’s sneer, but he ignored it and finished his sentence.
“I won’t keep you from leaving the mansion as before, but for the time being, I’ll keep you in my sight, so know that.”
Ciello tilted her head. Does that mean she can go outside? Does it mean she can’t go out without surveillance? But he can’t follow her every time she goes out. So in the end, does it mean she can’t go out? But it’s also a bit much to ask all of this one by one.
“Well, um…”
Ciello nodded her head with a half-understood face. Estribal made a chin gesture with satisfaction under his expressionless face.
“Then go to bed.”
Estribal calmly pulled the chair back and sat down in front of the bed. Ciello, who was flustered, looked at him.
“Huh? Now?”
“Why. Don’t like it?”
Estribal even spread out a book and took his place and asked. Ciello, afraid of upsetting his mood again, quickly went back into bed and mumbled.
“Oh, no! That’s not it. I’m actually more comfortable sleeping with others…”
“What?”
Estribal’s eyes widened. But Ciello’s answer was calm.
“I used to sleep together with others at the orphanage. And there were times when I shared a room with other people at the inn. Actually, it’s more awkward to use a room alone.”
“That’s…a relief.”
It was ambiguous. What was a relief, but Estribal lightly coughed and turned his gaze to the book.
“Go to sleep. It’s going to be busy from tomorrow on.”
“Yes. You too, Duke.”
Ciello answered softly and closed her eyes. Only then did Estribal’s gaze turn back to Ciello. Unlike when he was scolding the servants and worrying, his expression had also softened. He looked at the sleeping Ciello for a long time and muttered softly.
“…Maybe I should get some sleep too.”
Estribal closed the book. It was a book that hadn’t turned a single page since he entered this room.
****
The next day, a late breakfast was prepared in Ciello’s room.
Ciello had already swallowed her saliva at the sight of the food, which looked delicious and was easy to digest on an empty stomach, but Estribal didn’t easily pass any of it.
“…Isn’t the spoon too big and heavy for a patient?”
“Huh? But…”
Estribal commanded.
“Bring smaller utensils.”
While the flustered servants were looking at each other, Ciello quickly intervened.
“But if we prepare new dishes now, we’ll have to wait again. It’ll all get cold…”
“Just have them do it again.”
Ciello, who looked perfectly fine with the dishes, the servants whose faces turned pale, and the delicious food she wanted to put in her mouth right now, racked her brains as she looked at them alternately.
“Ah! But if you use a smaller spoon, you’ll have to spoon more, right? Then your arm will hurt more…”
“…That makes sense.”
Estribal nodded his head. Thanks to that, the servants sighed with relief. It was a bit of a strange persuasion, but the problem that was initially raised was also strange, so the result wasn’t too strange. Ciello quickly grabbed the spoon.
“Then can I eat right away?”
“Yes. You guys step back.”
The servants bowed and stepped back, and Ciello started eating with sparkling eyes.
“You don’t seem to have lost your appetite.”
“Of course. It’s really delicious. Especially, the pot-au-feu is perfect.”
Ciello slurped the warm soup with a spoon and said.
“I see.”
Estribal faintly lifted the corners of his mouth and watched her. Ciello, who had been engrossed in eating for a while, raised her head as if she had just remembered.
“Aren’t you going to eat, Duke? With me…uh, you can eat, right?”
Ciello asked, leaving out a few key words, perhaps a bit embarrassed. Of course, he could eat even when Ciello wasn’t there. But since there was no need or reason to have a proper meal, he had been eating just enough not to be considered strange by others.
“…Yeah. Maybe I will.”
Estribal slowly put food in his mouth. Ciello looked at him with expectant eyes.
“It’s really delicious, isn’t it?”
The food was excellent, both subjectively and objectively. But Estribal nodded his head with a face that didn’t feel a great thrill.
‘I remember putting something better in my mouth recently.’
“…Fruit? Green grapes…”
Estribal frowned and muttered to himself.
“Huh?”
Ciello glanced at his expression.
‘He doesn’t seem to like the meal. Maybe because it’s a patient’s meal. Well, he’s not a person with a good expression in the first place…’
“…It’s nothing. Anyway, we need to talk about work.”
Estribal gestured around Ciello with an indifferent face and nodded his head.
“Lord Serpiente?”
–Oh yeah. I’m ready to go out too. This has grown a lot.
Serpiente, who revealed himself, fluttered and sat on Ciello’s head. Ciello retorted.
“I’m originally big, you know?”
“…Was that so?”
Estribal looked at Ciello with a face that he didn’t know at all. Ciello stuck out her lips and grumbled.
“It’s because you’re too big, Duke.”
“Let’s say that. Anyway…You must know by now that I am completely bound by the emperor of this Atuna Empire. The evidence is…”
Estribal paused for a moment and slowly wet his mouth with a glass of water.
“There’s no need to show it twice.”
Ciello nodded quietly. Estribal put down the glass of water and continued.
“Originally, I planned to return Lord Pien to his original place according to the emperor’s command…”
“Excuse me, Duke, just a moment.”
Ciello intervened cautiously, but firmly.
“Where is Lord Pien’s original place?”
“That’s obviously…”
Estribal paused strangely. Ciello didn’t miss that gap.
“I heard that Lord Serpiente is not owned by the empire.”
Estribal’s expression hardened.
“When did you know?”
“Well… The Peregrine Liberation Force…”
At the chilliness of his expression, Ciello quickly shrank and answered softly. Estribal sighed uncomfortably.
“Yes. They’re right. But I’m a person who has no choice but to obey the emperor’s command. If it hadn’t been for the incident a few days ago, I would have naturally returned Lord Pien to the imperial treasury.”
–Are you still saying that? Really.
Serpiente sneered as if teasing, but Estribal was silent.
Serpiente knew very well. From the beginning to now, this man, not agent Estribal, not Duke Trepe, the real him, never thought of returning Serpiente to the emperor.
But since Serpiente couldn’t say more than that, he just watched them while flicking his tongue.
“The situation has changed. If I can be freed by Lord Serpiente’s power, there’s no need to carry out the command. I also have many regrets about the emperor of this empire.”
His eyes flashed coldly. It was a very old resentment. Ciello stopped moving the dishes in the tense atmosphere. Estribal, who noticed this, changed the subject.
“Anyway, I need to talk to those independent forces of the old kingdom. I have to hide them from the emperor’s eyes to survive. I don’t really like them, but…”
Ciello quickly added to his words.
“By the way, Duke, um, I’m really not in any relationship!”
“…Noah, you said.”
Estribal pinpointed the word Ciello had omitted very accurately. As if he was the only one who thought so. But Ciello didn’t notice that and nodded her head.
“Yes. I just thought I might hear something, so I met him.”
“Does that young one think so too?”
At Estribal’s question, Ciello nodded her head.
“Of course. He says the executives are pretending to be nice to me.”
Estribal nodded his head expressionlessly, but his demeanor strongly denied Ciello’s words.
“Let’s talk about it since it came up.”
The moment Ciello was about to add an excuse, Estribal opened his mouth first.
“Ciello. Aren’t you my lover?”
