Chapter 7

“Here, Loelle. Drink this.”

Mr. Haeven warmly handed me a cup of brewed tea, and I blankly accepted it. I didn’t think of drinking it—I just stared at the ripples gently forming on the surface of the tea.

“I’ve never seen someone with such a stubborn will to live. It’s a miracle he’s alive. A real miracle. More importantly, who on earth is that guy? He looked like someone you know.”

“He is.”

“What?”

“He’s… the Duke.”

“Ah, the Duke. The Duke…? …The D-Duke?!”

I slowly nodded at Mr. Haeven, who repeated the question in shock.

For a brief moment, Mr. Haeven face looked dazed. Then, as if the realization was gradually sinking in and horrifying him more and more, his face turned pale.

“Y-You mean… the Duke I know? That Duke?”

“Yes. It’s really him. Duke Rochester.”

“Wow… What is a high noble like him doing here…? This isn’t even part of the ducal territory, so why is he here…?”

I felt the same way as Mr. Haeven. Why in the world was that man here? Just passing near Count Ivelle land should’ve caused a stir—but he was right next to the Forest of Silence, practically beside Anas.

‘Why does it have to be Reus…?’

“But when do you think he’ll wake up?”

“Hmm. It’ll take about three hours for the antidote to fully work. And at least a full day before he regains full consciousness.”

‘Well, that’s a relief.’

“I’ll go make a recovery potion. Even though he’s past the critical point, his condition is still bad enough that it wouldn’t be surprising if he died. So you watch over him, and if he seems even slightly worse, run to the next room.”

“Okay”

After saying that, Mr. Haeven left the room. I placed the teacup back on the shelf and buried my face in my hands.

It was because of the thought dominating my mind.

The original story.

‘Wasn’t this never in the original story?’

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no such event in the original.

Loelle saving Reus and becoming his fiancée, or having any kind of personal connection—none of that ever happened.

“But then… what the heck is this situation?”

Ever since I reincarnated into this world, the events that were supposed to happen always happened.

Things like wars or major incidents that would make the front page of a newspaper. Even recently, just as I remembered, there was a land dispute in the south.

So it meant the flow of the world matched the events of the original story.

If that’s the case…

‘Was Reus originally destined to be in life-threatening danger around this time?’

And since it didn’t involve the main character, it wasn’t mentioned in the book?

‘Then there’s only one variable, right?’

Me—who knows the future.

In other words, me—who knows the original plot and recently acted against what the world had predetermined.

Whether it was because I asked Cassien to break off the engagement, or because I started preparing a fake identity to escape early—I wasn’t sure.

But even to me, it seemed like a very plausible explanation.

“Damn it.”

This won’t throw the entire storyline off course… right? If it messes up my escape plan…

“No, don’t panic. As long as I don’t get found out, I’ll be fine.”

They said it would take about a day for Reus to regain consciousness. So if I just act like I was never part of this story and keep my head down, nothing should happen.

After a long while trying to reassure myself, I finally thought to check on Reus. I lifted my head from my hands and looked at him.

‘His face is so pale…’

He was sweating coldly, and I couldn’t help but feel bad. Worried, I reached out and touched his forehead—he was burning up.

Even though I didn’t want anything to do with Reus, seeing someone’s life in danger was distressing in its own way.

Especially someone who I never imagined would end up like this.

I thought I should wipe the sweat from his face and reached toward the shelf—

And then, I screamed like I’d been struck by lightning.

“Ahh—!”

Reus’s half-opened eyes were staring straight at me.

Startled beyond belief, I quickly covered his eyes with a loud smack.

‘What?! He’s not supposed to regain consciousness for at least three more hours…’

No, they said it would take a full day before he came to!

How could he be awake already…? Does this even make sense?

For a moment, I truly wondered if Reus was even human—or if he was some kind of monster born to play the villain.

But strangely, he didn’t react further.

‘Did he just wake up for a second…?’

That thought didn’t last long, because I felt his eyebrows twitch under my hand.

And then a rough, metallic voice came from Reus’s mouth.

“Move your hand—.”

What now?

My brain started spinning faster than ever.

And my conclusion was:

‘Screw it. I’ll just run and erase all the evidence!’

He’s sick and not fully conscious, so if I run now, how could he possibly know who I am?

I started to pull my hand away and head for the door—but Reus, clearly sensing I was about to flee, grabbed my wrist tightly.

Instead of getting farther away from him, I just froze with my hand caught.

The only lucky thing was that he couldn’t move his other arm. I figured if I tried hard enough, I could break free. But no matter how hard I pulled, my hand didn’t budge at all.

‘He was on the verge of death just now—how is he this strong?!’

At this rate, it seemed like it would be faster for Reus to remove my hand himself.

So I changed my plan quickly.

First, I’d let him know I wasn’t a threat. Then I’d buy time, and when an opening showed up—I’d run.

I stopped trying to pull away and gently placed my hand back over his eyes. Reus immediately let out a grinding noise through clenched teeth.

“Aren’t you going to move your hand—?”

Suddenly, he applied a ton of pressure to my wrist. I clung to it desperately and leaned closer.

“The antidote… hasn’t fully circulated yet…”

I whispered so quietly it was barely a voice.

‘This is the best I can do.’

It was the only choice I had.

I had to show I wasn’t an enemy—without revealing who I was.

But under my hand, Reus’s brow furrowed deeply. He must’ve been frustrated because he couldn’t hear me clearly.

So I moved my face even closer and repeated:

“The antidote isn’t fully working yet, so please don’t push yourself…”

“I don’t care—just move your—ugh… hand—.”

Under Reus’s bloodstained clothes, his muscles twitched. This crazy villain was trying to get up even though his body was a wreck.

He looked exhausted, but the energy coming off him was so intense I instinctively pressed down harder on him with my free hand.

Reus let out a weak groan and slumped back down.

I quickly added more words as I saw him groaning non-stop.

“I-I don’t mean to hurt you…! So please don’t move…”

Maybe it was my trembling voice—or the apology in my touch—but Reus slightly loosened his grip on my wrist.

Surely by now, even Reus must’ve realized.

Even if he was out of it, someone who couldn’t even pull free from a wrist grab wasn’t going to hurt him.

Thankfully, he didn’t try to get up again. Though he still looked pretty annoyed…

‘As long as I don’t get found out, I’ll be fine.’

Feeling slightly reassured, I whispered,

“I’ll give you the recovery potion soon. So can you please stay still until then…?”

“Ugh…”

Reus couldn’t answer. He just kept groaning.

Now that he was more conscious, the pain seemed to hit harder. After a while of groaning, he finally let go of my wrist.

‘Now’s my chance.’

I quickly pulled the blanket up to cover his head and ran out of the room without looking back.

‘I’m really sorry…!’

Feeling guilty for thinking of this as a good escape opportunity while someone was sick, I kept silently apologizing in my head. I was calming my pounding heart in front of the room when I ran into Mr. Haeven coming out of the next room.

“Loelle? Why are you out here? Did something happen to the Duke?”

“No… He’s too energetic—that’s the problem…”

Mr. Haeven didn’t quite catch my mumble and tilted his head.

“Huh? What was that?”

“Nothing. Anyway, Mr. Haeven, I think I should head back now.”

He glanced at the clock in response. It had been just past midnight when I left the count’s estate, but the clock now pointed to 3 a.m.

“I see. It’s already this late. Should I walk you back?”

“I can go by myself.”

“I’d feel uneasy letting you go alone…”

Maybe it was because of the Duke’s attack, but Mr. Haeven was more worried than usual.

I understood his concern, but I quickly waved my hand.

“If you leave, who will take care of the Duke? I’ll be fine.”

“Then at least let me walk you partway—”

“Actually, I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

I nodded, and Mr. Haeven raised his eyebrows as if to say, “Go ahead.”

“When the Duke wakes up…”