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It seemed to be the first time ever since she entered Nelia’s body that it rained so much.
Nelia just closed her eyes as she heard the rain..
She was worried about Duke Hart, who must be alone on a day like this, but she comforted herself by thinking that he would be fine as he was lying in bed quietly.
When the wagon arrived in front of the building, the surroundings were already dark. There were not many people in the street because of the rain.
‘It’s said to be in a separate palace west of the main palace.’
Nelia walked there, remembering the star palace where she was supposed to meet Carlos. The more she went to the detached palace, the fewer people were there.
She saw the building that Carlos said to be a detached palace in no time. It was a building as dark as the cloudy weather.
Zenuit, who had followed in the form of dragon, tilted her head.
[Is this really the place?]
That was the question Nelia wanted to also ask.
“This is the right place, right?”
This was the only building around, so it was impossible to be the opposite.
But it still remained a question. It was raining and it was dinner time, but she couldn’t sense any movement at all here.
As if there were no one.
However, Nelia thought she couldn’t keep pacing around, so she stepped into the building. The rain is growing heavier and her skirt is a bit wet even though she used an umbrella.
She felt a chill.
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The building was open.
‘Where am I supposed to go?’
It was then.
A faint sound of piano came from above.
Looking around, Nelia stopped and stood still at the sound of the piano came from the second floor.
Nelia looked at Zenuit. Zenuit was looking up as if he also heard the sound of piano.
[There must be someone upstairs.]
Nelia nodded her head quietly and moved slowly toward the upstairs.
The building must be used at this time, and the stairs that are used to go up made a creaking sound. It didn’t seem to be maintained at all.
When he arrived at the hallway on the second floor, she saw the space where it was shone by the light.
‘I guess he’s there.’
Before she knew it, the sound of piano stopped.
Nelia walked down the hallway carefully and stood at the door where the sound of piano came from. She opened the door with a squeak.
She saw someone sitting in front of the piano.
It was Carlos.
However……. He looked a bit strange.
Carlos was lowering his head with his right arm clenched tightly. Nelia hurriedly approached Carlos as he seemed weird with his right arm shaking.
“Your Highness!”
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His eyes were closed tightly. Thick vein was visible on his neck, as if he were enduring tremendous pain.
Nelia, who was confused, wondered if she should get someone.
[He must hurt so much.]
Nelia looked up at Zenuit. Zenuit spoke in a serious tone.
[It’ll be better if you caress his arm.]
According to Zenuit, Carlos’ right arm must be hurt now, but there was no way he could get better if she just rubbed his arm.
She ever gave Carlos a light massage when Carlos’ arm stiffened, but he wasn’t suffering in pain back then.
As Nelia was agonizing, Zenuit urged her.
[Think of it as if saving someone.]
As he said, she was terrified seeing Carlos, who seemed about to die soon.
‘Yes……. Let’s do everything for now.’
If something bad happened to Carlos when there were only two of them, she might be falsely accused.
Nelia, who was barely reaching out, grasped Carlos’ trembling arm.
She was worried about what to do if Carlos pushed her away, he didn’t even seem to know that he held his arm because he was too occupied in enduring the pain.
Nelia rubbed Carlos’ arm lightly. His arm was as stiff as rock.
Carlos’ closed eyes twitched. His trembling arm slowly came to a stop.
The protruding veins on Carlos’ neck also subsided little by little. Nelia sighed when she saw it.
‘What happened as soon as he got here?’
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Even so, she would have been very confused if she came all by herself, since she was able to handle it quite poorly due to Zenuit.
She didn’t like it when he said to follow her, but she got help in such an unexpected situation. Nelia looked at Zenuit as if to thank him. However, he just stared unusually at Carlos, she couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.
For a moment, she was flabbergasted by the unusual appearance of Zenuit, but she had no choice other than turning her attention after feeling some tugging on her arm.
When she turned her head, Carlos’ black eyes were staring directly at her.
“…… How did you do that?”
What is he talking about, doing what, all of a sudden? Nelia couldn’t understand what Carlos was asking about.
“What…….?”
“Things you have done to me just now.”
The fierce eyes that blinked seemed to be filled with rage.
Nelia wondered if she caused bad things to him by caressing his arm.
“It’s just……. I felt like something wrong also happened to Your Highness’ arm just like time, so I caressed it a bit to help.”
Carlos frowned. Then lowered his gaze to look at his right arm.
“I must have guessed it right…….”
Carlos muttered in a small voice to himself. Nelia couldn’t figure out what he was saying.
Anyway…… That’s not the problem right now.
“Is your arm okay now?”
Carlos, who was staring at his arm, slowly raised his head and met Nelia’s gaze at her question.
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His dark eyes looked particularly deep and distant today, perhaps either because of the dark night sky or the gloomy atmosphere of the building.
As if in the depth of the sea where nobody knows what’s about to happen.
“No.”
Nelia tilted her head at the strange answer.
“Pardon…….?”
“I’m not fine.”
At Carlos’ answer, the lightning struck as if roaring outside.
“The reason why I was in so much pain right now is because of the medicine that Duke Hart gave me.”
Carlos’ eyes glint at the sudden lightning.
***
The duke, who was lying on the bed, stood up and glanced at the clock. It was 7 o’clock in the evening.
He thought he fell asleep for a while, and woke up to the loud sound of thunder.
Duke Hart’s eyes turned to the window. The heavy rain was raging against the window.
“Did Nelia manage to meet her parents when it rained this much?”
The duke, who was concerned about Nelia, opened the drawer and took out the transformation medicine because of the unusual weather.
She said she would be back soon after meeting her parents nearby, but somehow he didn’t feel good about it. As if he was about to turn.
Is it because of the bad weather?
Just as he stared at the window, there was a knock on the door.
“Your Grace, it’s Ton.”
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Duke Hart frowned.
Ton must have known he was in poor condition on such a rainy day, so he wouldn’t come here until something particular happened.
Duke Hart answered while putting the bottle he was holding in his pocket.
“Come in.”
Soon the door opened and Ton walked in and stood in front of the bed.
“Excuse me, but Your Grace…… has a visitor.”
“Visitor?”
“Yes……. I’ll just send them back on a day like today, but I tolerate it because their one of Nelia’s family.”
Duke Hart’s eyebrows twitched.
Nelia said she would go to see her parents who came up to the capital from the marquisate.
But, family?
“He’s Nelia’s brother.”
Why isn’t he with his family after not being able to meet for a long time?
“Since Nelia is out now, shall I send him back?”
Ton didn’t seem to wonder that Nelia’s brother came here because he had no idea that Nelia had gone to visit her parents.
On the other hand, Duke Hart, who sensed something was off, rose from the bed.
“Let’s come down.”
***
Duke Hart, who had changed his clothes, entered the parlor where Leighton sat. He could see Leighton looking around busily inside.
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Leighton, who spotted Duke Hart, sprang up from his seat.
“Oh……. Good evening, Your Grace!”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Leighton.”
Leighton looked quite moved.
“You even know my name…….”
“Of course. Aren’t you the only brother of Nelia?”
“Nelia must have talked about me a lot.”
Leighton caressed his nape in embarrassment. Then, he blinked and asked as if realizing something.
“Now that I think about it, why did Your Grace come down alone?”
He seemed to want to ask where she was headed to.
Duke Hart sat on the sofa across from him with a smile.
“Nelia is currently outside.”
Duke Hart concealed the fact that Nelia had gone to visit her parents from Leighton.
“At such a late hour?”
As expected, he reacted as if he had no idea where Nelia was headed to.
“She said she had somewhere to go for sometime.”
Leighton muttered to himself, ‘That brat walks around at such a late hour without having fear toward others……’
After that, he glanced up at the duke and asked.
“But…… Is Your Grace ill? Your Grace doesn’t look well.”
The duke actually felt his body as very heavy from the moment he got up. It wasn’t originally this bad even with the rain, but his symptoms were particularly severe today.
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However, the duke smiled as usual on the outside as if nothing couldn’t possibly go wrong.
“I’m fine.”
“Yes, Your Grace should take care. No matter how much money you have, it’s all over if Your Grace falls sick.”
Leighton certainly had a different personality from Nelia. Even having shared a brief conversation, the duke could feel his insolent and simple-minded personality.
Even so, he didn’t see, bad just because he’s Nelia’s family.
“I was thinking of coming over to Nelia’s house sometime, but thank you for personally coming here.”
Leighton grinned with a light laugh at the grateful utterance for a moment, and soon asked as if sensing something strange.
“But…… why would Your Grace come over to my house?”
“Nelia did a fantastic job. I got a lot of help from her.”
Leighton said with a virtuous look.
“Oh, she’s good at doing her job because she resembles me. I’m glad I was helpful to you, too.”
The duke asked while slowly looking at Leighton.
“Wouldn’t it be strange if I visited Nelia’s house to greet them?”
“Of course not! Your Grace is always welcome.”
“When would you like me to visit?”
“My parents are always at home, so Your Grace can come anytime.”
When he answered that their parents were always at home, it became clear that Nelia lied to the duke.
Nelia definitely said her parents were in the territory, so they asked her to keep Zenu.
Duke Hart momentarily hardened his expression at Leighton’s reply, but Leighton, who was excited, failed to notice it.
“Oh, by the way, Your Grace. I heard you are raising a snake.”
Duke Hart quickly controlled his expression at Leighton’s question.
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“Snake?”
“Did Nelia not tell you? When I went to Your Grace’s office last time, I was really surprised to see a snake.”
Duke Hart finally caught up with what he was talking about.
Leighton had caught the sight of his snake form in the palace’s office. Nelia covered up the situation by pretending that Leighton saw the snake he raised that day.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m raising it in the office for a reason.”
“Regardless of how many reasons there are, Your Grace’s taste is very unique. Raising a snake.”
At the end of Leighton’s words, there was a sound of thunder outside the window. The lightning struck again.
Duke Hart’s eyes turned to the window. The weather was unusual.
At the same time, he suddenly had an ominous feeling. It was more like an animal instinct.
“Oh the weather is really bad. That brat, Nelia had gone in such a time, where the h*ll is she going in this heavy rain……. Huh? Your Grace?”
Duke Hart rose from his seat. His eyes were growing a little darker than a moment ago.
“I apologize in advance. I think I have to move first.”
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