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“That’s fine. I’ll head to the Archduke’s office and see what I can do.”

I didn’t have any other choices, anyway. As I prepared to leave for Kyle’s office, I turned to Elvin with one parting remark.

“By the way, Elvin, why don’t you brush up a little more on your manners next time?”

I scolded him for skipping the usual courtesies and using his pettiness to immediately commandeer the conversation that Jean and I had been having. Of course, I knew that Elvin was well-versed in polite etiquette and rarely ever made any mistakes. Today’s lapse in his manners stemmed from a desire to quickly resolve the situation, so I couldn’t blame him too much. I was just thankful that he gave me a chance to scold him.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Upon realizing his mistake, he formally greeted me; however, my scolding seemed to have little impact on him because he still smiled at me mockingly.

What an annoying child.

****

Jean and Marina accompanied me as I made my way to Kyle’s office. I had tried to go alone, but they followed me with all kinds of worries. Though, honestly, knowing that I had their support comforted me.

Before long, we arrived at my destination. I sighed in trepidation at the fact that a certain Archduke was waiting just beyond the door.

“Haah…”

I took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. There was no response.

What’s wrong? Isn’t he in? Why is there no answer?

I knocked on the door a few more times, but still to no avail.

“Master,” Jean cleared his throat as he called out, “the Archduchess has come to see you.”

Only more silence greeted us.

Uh, did something bad happen to him?

At this point, I figured standing here and calling out to him would continue to be pointless, so I would just have to forcefully enter the room. After warning Jean and Marina to step back, I yanked open the door and burst into his office.

“Get out.”

From the instant I heard his scathing tone, I knew everything was alright. So, I gestured to Jean and Marina, who were still hovering hesitantly around the doorway, to go before I closed the door behind me.

I don’t think I should have done that.

“Didn’t you hear me say to get out?”

Kyle didn’t bother to lift his eyes from the document he was reading to greet me.

Well, I would also prefer to leave, but I can’t.

Tilting my head to one side, I tried to peer more closely at his shoulder. From first glance, it seemed to be pretty severe since he was bleeding profusely through his shirt. Then, I noticed that there were a variety of medicines and medical supplies laid out on the edge of Kyle’s desk. I surmised that Jean must have left those behind the last time he was in here in the hopes that Kyle would come around and use them, but he hadn’t touched anything.

What a cold-hearted person, allowing Jean to continue worrying like that.

I lowered my head slightly as I approached him.

“Archduke, I’m sorry about yesterday.”

My apology was not at all forced or insincere. I wasn’t apologizing for the sake of apologizing—I really did mean it. Last night, I had betrayed his trust and trespassed in an area that was important for him to protect.

Even though I’ll have to do it again, someday.

More importantly, I also needed to clear up the misunderstanding surrounding my deal with the emperor, or lack thereof, even if my words might not make much of a difference to him. For both our sakes, we couldn’t stay like this forever.

My apology must have worked because Kyle finally looked up at me. Now that I had his attention, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to continue explaining myself.

“No matter how curious I was, it was a careless thing to do. So, I completely understand that you’re upset at me… but I hope you know this: I didn’t do it because of some deal with the Emperor nor did I do it for Doman.”

“… Doman?”

The fact that Kyle only reacted to hearing Doman’s name puzzled me. Did he have a grudge against him from beforehand or something?

“Anyway,” I continued, “everyone is worried about you, so I hope you’ll agree to receive treatment…”

“Who is worried about me?” Kyle sneered.

His tone was mocking and coarse, as if asking me if I was really trying to say that people believed he was hurt. However, I understood where his skepticism was coming from. Ever since he was afflicted with his curse, the people around him gradually avoided him. Those who remained kept their distance and even disbelieved his words at times. They couldn’t believe that the ruthless, cold-hearted Archduke was capable of feeling pain or dying, even if he were to shed blood before their eyes.

“People realized it later,” I replied

I meant it. After his heart froze over, many regretted not taking him more seriously or paying closer attention to him while he was still alive. Including Riddel.

“Are you going to try to control me again with your words? I already told you that I wouldn’t be swayed by you anymore.”

I’m not trying to make him any angrier than he already is.

Seeing as how he was still so hostile, I figured I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. I conceded and took a step back.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll go back now. However, I’m still worried about your shoulder, so please have someone look at it later.”

“Don’t say bullshit… No,” he paused.

Kyle suddenly looked like he was scheming something and smirked derisively at me.

“If you care so much, then I want to be personally treated by you.”

“… Eh?” I blinked in surprise. “What?”

“If you’re so worried, then you should oversee my care.”

What? Sometimes—no, often I find it hard to understand what is on your mind. Just heal yourself. What are you trying to get at by asking me to do it? Don’t you still hate me after what happened yesterday?

“Okay,” I sighed. “I’ll take care of your injury.”

I didn’t understand where he was going with this, but I didn’t reject his suggestion. No matter his reasoning, I figured this was the least I could do to express my gratitude toward him for sparing my life yesterday.

Honestly, I had expected the worst outcome possible.

When I accepted his offer, Kyle frowned and furrowed his brows at me.

“What’s wrong, Archduke? Is there a problem?”

Only

“No, there isn’t.”

If there wasn’t anything wrong, then why did he make such a perplexing expression at me? However, I didn’t want to risk us getting off-topic, so I decided not to explore the matter further.

“Then, could you move over? I think it will be hard for me to treat your shoulder if you are sitting over there.”

Stop staring at me and please get up from your desk.

Kyle glared at me as he rose from his seat and settled himself on the sofa in the middle of the room. I picked up the box of medical supplies that Jean had left and went to his side.

“…”

Oh my God. What is this?

As I peeled back the collar of Kyle’s shirt to get a better look at his injury, the medicine box nearly fell from my hands.