Chapter 73

Ramon’s guess wasn’t entirely wrong.

Recently, Edwin had accepted the fact that he couldn’t escape Elicia anymore and decided to stop forcing himself to build walls or avoid her.

He couldn’t stand by and watch her get torn apart like that again.

‘No, that’s just an excuse.’

The truth was that he wanted to keep her all to himself.

He wanted her to wear fine clothes in his arms, eat precious food, and live happily without suffering anymore.

But at the same time, he didn’t want to become someone who blocked Elicia’s dreams.

Her body was battered to the point where there wasn’t a single unharmed place left, yet from morning to night she locked herself inside the office handling official duties and reviewing pressing issues.

So instead of voicing his desire, Edwin wanted to stay by her side wherever she went and protect her. Even that proved difficult.

‘They can’t even come out because they’re afraid of me.’

The people of Bellamare whom Elicia cherished so dearly.

Even though they tried to hide it, there was no way he wouldn’t notice unfamiliar presences lingering around the residence.

To give them a chance, Edwin would carry Elicia on walks through the garden or deliberately slow the carriage to a crawl.

Though the residence and administrative office were close, they still had to pass through the city. If the people truly wanted to, they could easily block the road and speak their minds.

But because Edwin was always there, the people were too afraid of him to step forward.

‘I hope they don’t miss their last chance.’

Leaving a patient alone for too long was worrying.

As he headed back to the office to tear into the officials who had exhausted Eli, what happened moments ago suddenly resurfaced in his mind.

‘Eli has no idea how much she stirs someone’s reason.’

When she reached out as if asking to be held, how adorable she looked. When she gazed up at him with urging eyes, unaware that they could be read in another way—

His vision had nearly spun out.

It was dangerous.

But because Eli had begun trusting him purely, he couldn’t bare his improper desires. All he could do was collapse weakly and take deep breaths.

He had no intention of claiming her under the excuse of a grand noble’s duty.

If they could stay together while respecting each other, sometimes like friends and sometimes like political partners, that was more than enough. He had repeated that vow countless times.

‘If anyone saw this, they’d laugh at how undignified a duke looks.’

But it didn’t matter.

Right now, just seeing Eli alive and smiling was happiness beyond measure.

* * *

The carriage was slow even on ordinary days, but today it crawled especially badly.

The road was uneven, so moving slowly did help reduce the shock to my injured ankle, but this was excessive.

I stared blankly out the window at the scenery creeping by.

Gareth, riding alongside the carriage, noticed my gaze and spoke up.

“Do you need something?”

“Not really… but are you sure your jaw is okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s a confident answer for someone whose face is still swollen.”

I had heard a rough explanation from my physician Gilbert.

While I had been asleep for several days, Edwin had punished Gareth for failing to properly protect the duchess.

For someone as strict about military discipline as he was, it was apparently a very light punishment.

Still, Gareth claimed it was nothing serious, ignored Gilbert’s scolding, went to a barber, and used pliers to yank out a broken molar.

In many ways, he was impressive.

“Thank you for giving me another chance.”

“You lost a tooth because of me. I can’t pretend I didn’t notice.”

“You could. That’s your position, Madam.”

“Don’t paint me as some cold-blooded monster.”

Edwin had intended to dismiss Gareth and assign another knight as my guard.

But I refused.

The cave incident was largely my responsibility. If Gareth had ignored my orders and killed the people, he wouldn’t have been punished by Edwin.

But I stayed in the cave while hiding my identity because I cared about their situation, and that became a butterfly effect that led to all this.

If Gareth was guilty of anything, it was following my unreasonable demand.

‘And honestly, there’s one more reason…’

It was tied to my death in the past.

The day I was dragged before Elicia, the ones who stormed my home to arrest me were elite knights who had served as Edwin’s close aides at the time.

I had been close to Edwin since childhood, so I knew his aides well.

But the way they beat me and dragged me out, they didn’t seem human at all.

‘I thought I’d definitely run into them this time since he brought the entire force.’

When I first heard that Edwin’s elite troops had come down to Bellamare, I didn’t think I could face them normally.

They were the ones who had brutally killed Nero, who tried to protect me. That poor, small child.

But throughout my stay in Bellamare, I never saw their faces even once.

“By the way, Sir, I have something I’m curious about.”

“Ask away.”

“Is there an age limit to joining the duke’s personal guard?”

“Are you hoping to join? Even for you, Madam, that’s a bit…”

Gareth shot me a clear look telling me to give up, which I ignored as I moved on to the real question.

“They all seem pretty young for a personal guard. If they’re retainers who’ve served the duke’s family for generations, wouldn’t their ages be more varied?”

“Ah.”

For once, Gareth looked troubled.

“I don’t know the full details either, but when His Grace inherited the dukedom and went on his first campaign, the personal guard rebelled. During the suppression, half of them were slaughtered.”

“A rebellion? What are you talking about?”

I couldn’t hide my shock.

I’d never heard of this in my previous life.

Back then, even at a young age, Edwin had the loyalty and respect of the knights.

Even hardened veterans wouldn’t have dared to think of rebellion.

“Tell me more. What exactly happened?”

“My apologies. It’s classified, and at the time I was only a junior squire, so I don’t know the details. However…”

If close aides had rebelled against a newly installed young lord, the surrounding nobles wouldn’t have stayed quiet.

The north would have turned into a blood-soaked battlefield.

So the rebellion was thoroughly concealed, and to the outside world it was known only that the duke inherited his title and reorganized the personal guard extensively.

‘What on earth happened?’

This was completely different from what I knew, and my mind went blank.

Had Edwin changed?

‘I don’t know.’

My thoughts grew tangled.

There had been differences from the past in this life, but those had clear causes.

The mine collapse was one example. Unlike the previous duchess, I didn’t go on the winter hunt, so the mountain wasn’t closed and the accident happened earlier.

Because the miners didn’t stop working.

But Edwin was different. His changes didn’t feel like an extension of any cause I had altered.

‘Maybe this world isn’t just a repeat of the past.’

What if it’s an entirely different world that only looks similar?

Then how should I see Edwin?

The man who had run desperately through treacherous mountain paths day and night to save me.

“…”

I didn’t know what to do.

Just then, as an indistinct emotion gently brushed against my heart, the carriage I had almost forgotten was moving screeched to a halt.

The coachman shouted for someone to get lost, and knights rushed forward after sensing trouble.

“Duchess! Please, you have to listen to us!”