Chapter 28

“Where is Bunny right now?”

“She’s probably in the study room…”

Angelus didn’t wait for his aide to finish speaking—he was already striding out of the sitting room.

Chronic insomnia, endless nightmares, and now Bunny’s betrayal.

Everything around him seemed intent on fueling his persistent headaches.

‘This is all my fault.’

He should have never trusted her.

That wild foal—he had always known she needed constant surveillance, strict discipline, and relentless oversight to be kept in check.

And yet—

“One day, I’d love to be able to walk freely outside the castle.”

“And eat lots of delicious food, buy toys, dolls, books…”

He just couldn’t bring himself to ignore her.

She resembled Ophelia too much.

Even those jewel-bright, sparkling eyes—irritatingly beautiful, just like hers.

Even knowing she was beyond salvation, he had been far too lenient.

Angelus kicked open the study room door.

“You. Stop what you’re doing and come out.”

His voice was low and scraped against the air like a blade against stone.

“Gasp! M-My Lord!”

Viscount Liden shot up from his seat in shock.

Across from him, Doha’s eyes gleamed.

‘So, the news finally reached him.’

The only reason she had endured Liden’s excruciatingly dull lessons was because she was waiting for Angelus to come.

As soon as Liden’s bulky frame blocked Angelus’s line of sight, she subtly lowered her head.

Then, clutching the fabric over her heart with trembling fingers, she forced her breaths to come out in harsh, erratic gasps before covering her mouth with a quivering hand.

“I knew you were smarter than you let on. What were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that?”

“……”

“Hah, forget it. I don’t need to hear your excuses. Move to the secondary palace. Now.”

Angelus’s fury was frigid.

Though his reason had all but abandoned him, outwardly, he remained eerily composed.

“If I have to replace every last servant, I’ll make sure you never so much as think of pulling such reckless nonsense again.”

He reached for her wrist—

But Doha grabbed his hand first.

“…You’re right. It’s my fault.”

Her hand was trembling violently.

Even now, it was so frail that it felt like bones wrapped in the thinnest layer of skin.

“I-I… I-I was too stupid, too inattentive to pay attention to my lessons. T-The teacher taught me perfectly, but my memory is bad, I’m just useless, so—it’s all my fault.”

Angelus had no choice but to grip her hand tightly, almost instinctively, as if trying to hold together something on the verge of shattering.

“Why are you…”

Why are you trembling so much?

Just as he tried to lean closer, to get a better look at the girl who was gasping for breath,

Doha’s knees buckled.

And she collapsed.

* * *

“Call the physician immediately!”

Ah, my poor ears.

Doha nearly scowled as Angelus shouted directly into her ear.

She was momentarily startled by his unexpectedly intense reaction, but before she could process it, an unsettling chill pressed closer.

Then, suddenly—her body lifted off the ground.

Angelus had scooped her into his arms.

Viscount Liden, visibly flustered, rushed after him.

“L-Lord Angelus! The young lady was perfectly fine just a moment ago! I have no idea what happened—”

“Shut your mouth.”

Angelus’s voice was cold, his tone sharp enough to cut through the air.

Then, he came to a brief halt and cast a piercing gaze at Liden, one laced with biting frost.

“You’ve been teaching her in the same room every day. Are you really telling me you failed to notice how weak she had become?”

“No, I swear she was healthy until just now…”

Liden was utterly baffled.

The girl had been alert, her eyes wide open and attentive just moments ago—so how could she suddenly collapse like this?

Now it looked as though he had been forcing an unwell child to sit through lessons.

And to make matters worse, the timing couldn’t have been worse.

She had collapsed right after parroting the words he had drilled into her—making it seem as if she had been coerced into saying them under threat.

Is she faking it?

Liden’s eyes darted toward Doha, still cradled in Angelus’s arms.

“Wait, I saw it! Just now—her eyes moved under her eyelids!”

“……”

“She’s only pretending to be unconscious!”

“Viscount.”

Angelus spoke his name in a low, deliberate tone.

A chilling energy rippled through his deep blue eyes, eerily reminiscent of a restless sea.

It was the kind of gaze one would expect from someone possessed, as though a ghost had taken hold of his very soul.

Just making eye contact with him left Liden feeling trapped—like prey ensnared in an unbreakable net.

“…Do you have a death wish?”

Liden swallowed hard.

He didn’t even dare deny it. He simply lowered his head and took a step back.

“Keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn’t try anything stupid.”

Without further hesitation, Angelus issued his command to his aide.

Then, with hurried footsteps, he disappeared from sight—Doha still in his arms.

“…Let’s go.”

Liden clenched his teeth as the aide roughly dragged him away.

Grit.

His snake-like eyes, bloodshot and veined with crimson, fixated obsessively on the direction they had gone.

* * *

She had nearly been caught.

Doha felt cold sweat trickling down her back as she swallowed a breath of relief.

It was a good thing Angelus had no resistance to displays of weakness and vulnerability.

‘That’s why, despite being sharp, he keeps falling for the Grand Duchess’s tricks.’

Of course, much of it was due to the Kredel family’s deeply ingrained values—where kindness toward the weak was seen as a noble virtue.

Doha was soon laid down on a soft bed.

“Why is the physician taking so long?”

“They’ll be here soon.”

The moment she heard that, Doha decided it was time to wake up.

If a physician examined her, they would immediately realize she hadn’t actually fainted.

“Uhh….”

She groaned weakly, as if just regaining consciousness, and turned her head—only to freeze.

Angelus was sitting right beside her, silently staring. His eyes were sunken, dark shadows beneath them making him look utterly exhausted.

What the hell?

He looked terrible—like someone who hadn’t slept in days.

Honestly, if anyone should be lying in this bed, it was him, not her.

“You’re awake.”

Angelus exhaled deeply, his tense expression finally easing. The raw relief that flickered across his face was unexpected.

“…Did you not sleep?”

“And that’s your first question?”

The brief moment of calm vanished as his brows furrowed once more.

Doha nearly pointed out how awful he looked—bad enough that even she had to ask first—but she held back.

Instead, she glanced around as if uncertain, hesitating before asking,

“Why am I here?”

“Don’t you remember?”

“No.”

“You collapsed after hearing what I said.”

No, that wasn’t the reason at all.

Doha had been preparing for this moment for nearly a week—training herself to faint the moment Angelus appeared.

That’s why he was so relieved when I woke up.

He must’ve thought she had passed out from shock.

Did he… feel guilty?

Ironically, she had been so focused on perfecting her fainting act that she hadn’t even listened to whatever he had said.

Now that she thought about it, she vaguely recalled something about being sent to the secondary palace.

Doha hesitated, lowering her gaze as if torn, before murmuring,

“It wasn’t because of you. I think I’m just… sick. My body hasn’t been feeling right lately.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything instead of letting it get to this point—”

Angelus started to raise his voice but stopped himself mid-sentence, lips pressing into a thin line.

“…Never mind. I won’t blame you for being sick. Just wait a little longer—the physician will be here soon.”

Wow.

Doha was genuinely impressed. That was real progress.

Is this really the same man who once said compensating a maid was enough, no matter what happened to her?

Maybe, just maybe, his opinion of Bunny had improved—if only a little.

She hoped so. Because he needed to believe every word she was about to say.

“I’ve been feeling… strange lately,” she said quietly. “My mind feels foggy, my body feels weird…”

“What do you mean ‘weird’?”

“I wake up in unfamiliar places, I don’t feel like myself, my memories are all jumbled, and sometimes I do things without knowing why… I don’t understand what’s happening to me.”

She gnawed anxiously at her fingernails, speaking in a rambling, disjointed manner.

To anyone listening, it would sound like symptoms of a mental illness.

“…We need to call a different physician. I know one who specializes in this kind of—”

Angelus moved to stand—

But he didn’t get the chance.

Doha grabbed onto his sleeve, holding on tightly.

“I think you should see that physician first.”

“…What?”

“You have insomnia, don’t you?”

Angelus blinked slowly.

He had expected her to draw a line, to push him away—but instead, she sounded genuinely concerned.

“If you let an illness go untreated, it only gets worse.”

“……”

It was just a sleeve.

All he had to do was shake her off—it wouldn’t even take effort.

So why wasn’t he pulling away?

“…That’s ridiculous. Losing sleep for a few nights doesn’t mean I have insomnia.”

Angelus scoffed dismissively, but he made no effort to move away. Instead, he sank back into his chair.

Doha exhaled in relief.

If he had really gone looking for a psychiatrist, things would have gotten complicated.

Now came the next step.

She hesitated, as if reluctant to speak, as if she were about to reveal something big.

“…I think I know why this is happening.”

“You do?”

“Yes, but… I can’t say it.”

“Why not?”

“Because… you’ll get mad at me.”

“Tell me. I won’t.”

At that, Doha slowly reached over and opened the drawer beside the bed.

She pulled out a small jewelry box and placed it in Angelus’s hands.

“What’s this?”

He frowned, puzzled, and lifted the lid.

Inside, wrapped neatly in a handkerchief, were seven round pills.

The medicine Viscount Liden had given her.

She hadn’t taken a single one.

“When I stopped taking the pills Viscount Liden gave me… I started feeling better.”