“Uh… Mm…”
As she opened her eyes to the low groaning sounds, the first thing that met Leje’s gaze was a familiar ceiling.
“Wh… Where…?”
Murmuring in a daze, she sat up and looked around.
Her blurry vision began to clear over time, and she realized she was in the mansion of the Weinstein family, now referred to as a castle.
“What… how…?”
Her mind was foggy as she slowly began to search through her memories.
She remembered battling a monstrous beast, getting caught in an avalanche, and losing consciousness.
That was the last thing she could recall.
“Am I… dead?”
Logically, surviving such an avalanche seemed almost impossible.
“I don’t think so…”
But every sensation felt far too real for that to be the case.
The morning sunlight streaming through the window.
The soft sensation of the bed.
The cold air of the Count’s Domain brushing against her skin.
All of it told her that this was reality.
“Ugh…”
Feeling a throbbing in her head, just as she was trying to piece together the situation…
-Click.
“Huh?”
With the sound of a door opening, she turned her head toward the direction of the noise.
What she saw was the familiar figure of a boy.
“Young Master! Please leave the care of the Duchess to us!”
“This was all my fault; I should at least take responsibility for this…”
Ignoring the uncomfortable-faced handmaid, Rudell stepped inside.
He held a basin of water and wet towels.
“But…!!”
“Enough, Leje might wake up, so let’s prepare some food… huh…?”
As he responded to the pleading handmaid and turned his head…
He locked eyes with Leje, who was sitting up on the bed, and a surprised voice escaped his lips.
“Ah, hello? Good morning?”
While looking at him, Leje waved her hand lightly.
“Leje!!”
At the same time, Rudell rushed over, taking her hand and shouted.
“R-Rudell?!”
Taken aback by his sudden action, she stared at him in confusion.
His green eyes, filled with mixed emotions, were brimming with tears.
What on earth was happening…
Waking up to find herself in the Count’s castle, and why was Rudell looking at her with that expression?
“Ugh…”
Overwhelmed by everything happening at once, she released a low groan.
Then the next moment…
“Eh?!”
Rudell’s subsequent action left Leje stunned.
He had reached out and pulled her into his embrace.
“R-Rud-Rudell?!”
At the same time, a voice filled with embarrassment escaped her lips, but that was brief.
“I’m sorry… Really sorry. Because of me…”
“…”
Watching Rudell speak in a hushed tone, she finally realized the meaning behind his expression.
He was blaming himself.
‘If only I had been a little faster, if only I had been a little more capable…‘
Though he did not voice it, his thoughts were crystal clear to Leje.
“Seriously…”
To say “I’m sorry” immediately after she wakes up…
How could someone be this foolish?
As that thought crossed her mind, she reached out and gently caressed Rudell’s cheek, which trembled with heavy breaths.
“Leje…?”
At her gesture, Rudell slowly lifted his gaze to look at her.
What should she say in this situation?
“Rudell, could you close your eyes for a second?”
“Huh? Out of the blue?”
While pondering, she spoke with a faint smile, and though Rudell looked bewildered, he slowly closed his eyes.
And when a few seconds passed…
“Okay, you can open them now.”
Following her voice, Rudell slowly opened his eyes.
“Eh…?”
A bewildered voice escaped him.
The reason was the sight of Leje’s palm just inches from his face, ready to slap him.
As he watched in disbelief…
“You idiot!!”
With her furious shout, the slap connected fiercely with Rudell’s forehead…
“Geh!?”
“Y-Young Master!?”
In the Count’s mansion…
With a loud thump, the handmaid’s scream echoed down the hallway.
*
How much time had passed…
“What am I supposed to do now?”
Rudell remarked in disbelief, pointing at the bump on his forehead.
“Hmph. Consider it punishment for not coming sooner.”
Leje replied with a haughty voice, dipping bread into her soup and tossing it into her mouth.
“Ugh…”
And because of her words, Rudell could only emit a low groan.
In a way, he found himself unable to refute anything she said at the moment.
After all, it was he who had set up that reckless plan that could have buried the Duchess in an avalanche.
And it was also him who had actually executed it.
The fact that Leje was left unconscious for over three days was entirely his responsibility.
“So? What happened after that?”
“It’s simple. The monstrous beast was killed, and the Count’s Domain began reconstruction, that’s the end of it.”
There was more omitted in between, but overall, there couldn’t be a simpler explanation.
The monstrous beast had died buried under the avalanche, and with supplies beginning to come in, the Count’s Domain started its restoration.
In the meantime, the remains of the cart carrying Gord, the representative of the Gold Rush Trading Guild, were discovered along with bodies and were handed over to his family, but there was no need to inform Leje of that.
“By the way… are you really okay? Is it alright to move already?”
“Look at me? Don’t you recognize me? I’m the guy you’ve been teasing as your ogre all the time.”
“That’s true, but…”
A normal ogre would be dead if caught in an avalanche…
Thoughts raced through Rudell’s mind, but he swallowed those words.
He knew better than anyone how resilient her body was beyond common sense.
“And what you should be worried about right now isn’t that, right?”
“Yeah… you’re right…”
After finishing the last of her soup, Leje looked at Rudell, and he sighed before nodding.
Duke Lagrind.
By now, he would have heard about what had happened in the Count’s Domain.
There wouldn’t be a parent who would just sit idle while their only daughter was caught in such a dangerous incident and lost consciousness for days.
[We are doomed…]
[How about we flee to the Empire right now?]
Carlos and Maria were uttering such desperate words, after all.
When it came to matters involving their only daughter, a person could become frighteningly ruthless.
That was exactly who Dasus El Lagrind was.
“It was fun up until now. Let’s meet again in the next life.”
“Ugh, stop with the pointless talk. There won’t be anything bad happen to the Count’s mansion. Even if my father wants to, I’ll stop him.”
As she replied softly looking at Rudell, he sighed gloomily.
Her stepping up for the Count’s mansion was entirely of her own will.
So she thought, no matter what happened in that situation, it was ultimately her responsibility.
“No need to push yourself… this was purely my fault…”
“Tsk! I told you to stop that talk!”
“Ugh…”
Leje, with a sinister expression, snapped again, and Rudell averted his gaze with a dejected look.
“Just to reiterate, I don’t intend to hold the Count’s family responsible for this. I won’t let my father do anything either, and going to help the Count’s Domain was entirely my decision; agreeing with your plan is my responsibility too. Got it?”
“Ah, got it…”
With her firm resolve, Rudell found himself unable to say anything further.
He could completely understand her mindset, being one who never fell short in responsibility in the original story.
But…
‘I wish I’d at least be punished for this…‘
Yet, his conscience wouldn’t allow him to simply let this slide without any repercussions.
Of course, he knew that bringing that up wouldn’t have any effect on Leje, so he could only observe her reactions in silence.
“By the way, have you heard from your father?”
“From what I heard, he’s supposed to arrive this evening…”
The Duke was coming to visit tonight.
Because of that, other areas besides the room where she was staying were bustling with activity.
“I need to think of what to say to Dad in the meantime.”
At Rudell’s answer, Leje muttered, and just then…
-Knock knock knock.
With a strangely urgent knock, the door opened.
“Janice? What’s wrong?”
The figure that appeared next was none other than Janice, the head maid of the Count’s family.
Seeing the anxious expression on her face, Rudell felt something was off and asked her.
“Well… The Duke has just sent word that he’ll be arriving shortly.”
“Huh…?”
“What…!”
At her words, both Rudell and Leje looked at her with astonished expressions.
