SEM 14

#014

Flicker. Flicker.

Tightly closed eyelids twitched slightly. As the dim light gradually sharpened, a middle-aged woman Eliana had never seen before greeted her.

“You’re awake, Lady Hoffman.”

“Ah!”

Eliana, who had been lying face down, hurried to sit up when she saw Emma but collapsed back down.

“Oh my, it’s too soon for you to get up.”

Emma shook her head and gently stopped Eliana. Her swift approach and helping hands were kind and tender.

“Who are you?”

Her whole body felt stiff, probably from lying down for too long. Eliana turned her head.

“I’m Emma, head maid of the Duke of Cryber’s household. The Duke ordered me to attend to you, Lady Hoffman.”

“You’re the head maid of the Duke of Cryber’s household?”

Emma nodded and wiped the sweat from Eliana’s forehead.

“Yes. According to the doctor, you didn’t receive treatment in time. Your wound not only reopened but also became infected.”

As Emma explained Eliana’s condition, wrinkles formed deeply across the bridge of her nose. She clearly found it displeasing.

“…”

“He said he couldn’t understand what you were thinking, going out in such a ridiculous dress in your condition. But he did commend your mental strength.”

Emma gave Eliana a thumbs-up. It was hard to tell if she was teasing or praising her—she was that cheeky.

“Where am I?”

“The Mendis Hotel, in a suite room. Don’t worry, Sir Lottier, the loudest knight in the Duke’s household, is standing guard outside.”

Emma winked playfully, leaving Eliana feeling overwhelmed.

“I see. But how long have I been unconscious?”

After meeting Gredy and overexerting herself, she had fainted the moment the marriage was decided. Judging from the daylight, quite some time had passed.

“It’s been two days since you lost consciousness, and the Hoffman estate has sent people twenty-two times demanding your return.”

“Oh no!”

Startled by the fact that she’d been unconscious for two days, Eliana was even more shocked by the Count’s actions. Most of all, she couldn’t figure out why Gredy hadn’t returned her to the Hoffman family.

“That tall fellow named Rodin is also standing guard at the front of the hotel, drenched in cold sweat.”

Emma shrugged her shoulders.

Only then did Eliana remember Rodin had also been whipped by the Count. He likely hadn’t received proper treatment either.

Noticing Eliana biting her lip, Emma gently brought a cup of water with a straw to her lips.

Only then did Eliana realize how severely dehydrated she was.

“You sweated a lot. You need fluids.”

As the lukewarm water slid down her throat, her eyes flew open from the refreshing sensation. She let out a small exclamation without realizing it. When she opened her eyes again, Emma was smiling.

“You probably want a good bath, but you’ll have to settle for this for now.”

While wiping Eliana’s body with a lukewarm towel, Emma continued,

“The wounds on your back are worse than expected. Dresses with open backs are out of the question, so I chose one that’s fully covered up to the neck. Will that be okay?”

“A dress?”

“Yes. It’s a wedding, after all. You should wear a wedding dress.”

“A wedding dress? What do you mean by that?!”

Eliana, who had been lying down calmly under Emma’s care, suddenly lifted her head in alarm.

“Are you getting up? Just be careful not to lean on your back. You’ll need to be cautious if you want to wear a wedding dress at the ceremony.”

As Eliana nodded, Emma signaled to the waiting maids. As two of them gently helped her sit up, Emma piled up large pillows behind her.

“Here, lean forward onto these.”

“Thank you.”

The new position was much more comfortable than lying flat, and Eliana let out a quiet sigh.

“Since you’re awake, it’d be best to eat something. You’ll need to take your medicine.”

“More importantly—what do you mean, wedding dress? What’s going on?”

“Oh my! I thought everything was already decided with His Grace.”

Emma looked down at Eliana with wide eyes, covering her mouth like a startled young girl. Eliana furrowed her brow in thought.

As Emma said, her brain still felt foggy after two days of inactivity.

‘What on earth is going on?’

“Then… when is the wedding?”

“Wednesday, two weeks from now.”

“…What?”

Eliana’s jaw dropped at Emma’s cheerful response.

She had wanted to leave the Hoffman household as soon as possible—but she hadn’t expected to be marrying Duke Gredy Cryber in just two weeks.

“He secured a priest by offering a donation equivalent to the temple’s annual budget, and he paid five times the usual cost for the wedding dress.”

While preparing Eliana’s food, Emma calmly explained what had happened.

Every time she opened her mouth, Eliana flinched in astonishment.

“If you keep moving like that, your wound will reopen.”

Emma scolded her after seeing the blood beginning to seep through the bandages on her back.

“Ah!”

Eliana winced as a sharp pain shot through her back.

“As you know, this isn’t exactly the right place to secretly bring in a temple priest…”

Emma bit her lip, clearly unhappy with the situation.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not okay at all. Saying you’re fine with wounds like that? Nonsense.”

Emma shook her head and brought a spoonful of soup to Eliana’s lips. Strangely, she never asked about how Eliana had gotten hurt.

“…”

“If you move too much, your wound will reopen. And a bloodstained wedding dress would be a juicy piece of gossip for the socialites.”

At Emma’s words, Eliana opened her mouth. The warm, gentle soup flowed in softly.

Only then did Eliana realize she hadn’t eaten in a long time. Her stomach growled loudly at the first spoonful.

Forgetting her pride, Eliana quietly let Emma feed her spoonful after spoonful.

“You’re like a baby bird.”

Emma wiped the soup from her lips with a napkin.

“You can’t just barge into a lady’s room without knocking!”

Emma shouted, and Gredy raised both hands in surrender.

Eliana rolled her eyes at his sudden entrance. Because of the wound on her back, she wasn’t wearing anything on her upper body. Though a pillow covered her front, it still made her uneasy.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Oh heavens! What happened to your forehead?”

Emma, who had been glaring at him with her hands on her hips, gasped when she saw the bandage on his forehead.

“It’s just a scratch.”

“…You went to the Imperial Palace.”

Her voice dropped a pitch, sounding ominously low.

“It’s not the first time. I’m fine, Emma. But could you bring me something to eat? No one feeds me when you’re not at the manor.”

“You haven’t even eaten yet?”

Gredy gently patted her back and smoothly ushered her out of the room.

“Please, Emma. While you get things ready, I’ll have a word with my future wife.”

‘So this is a suite room?’

Eliana didn’t know the exact layout, but through the cracked door she saw a sitting room, which meant there were other spaces besides this bedroom.

Click.

“You look better than I expected.”

Leaning against the closed door, Gredy stared intently at Eliana.

“Thanks to you.”

Eliana hugged the pillow tighter. Though it was due to her injury, she couldn’t help being self-conscious about her bare upper body.

Gredy locked the door and strode toward her bed.

“Drop the shy maiden act.”

“…Excuse me?”

Eliana raised her head slightly, revealing her collarbone under her neckline.

“Or is that how imperial seductresses lure men in?”

Gredy let out a long sigh, brushing his hair back.

The injury from the seal the emperor had thrown throbbed. He could’ve gone to a priest for healing, but he didn’t.

The emperor always tormented Gredy in this way to assert his authority. If Gredy went to heal his wounds, the emperor would only cause worse ones next time.

As he stared at Eliana comfortably lying there being spoon-fed, rage bubbled in his chest. For some reason, she always made him angry.

‘Our first meeting was awful too.’

The woman who once let herself be beaten by street thugs now calmly ate soup to survive. The contrast was both satisfying and unsettling.

Gredy brushed his hair back again and shook his head. He was misdirecting his anger. Realizing this, he straightened his expression.

This whole situation was orchestrated by Rosella, and in a way, Eliana was just a marionette dancing on the stage Rosella had built.