“Where’s Rowena?”

“She retired to her bedroom after having her meal around noon, probably tired from managing the household affairs until late last night. The young master is currently in class.”

“That teacher, the author, you’ve done a background check on him, right?”

“Yes, sir, I did. His identity was guaranteed by master Felix as well.”

Killian, who had a hard time trying to suppress the uncomfortable feeling at the assuring reply, passed by Jenok.

“Um, …… Your Excellency.”

Jenok caught him as he was having difficulty in turning the doorknob.

“Your left arm, are you okay?”

At his words Killian looked down at his left arm.

It was the area where he had suffered the lingering pain after being bitten by a dog covering Damian in their previous encounter in the park. Thanks to the frantic efforts of his doctor, The injury was healed without leaving a trace, and although on the surface there was nothing wrong with him, he was often hit by terrible ache and pain with cramps in his arm. He did not know the exact reason, and every time the symptoms manifested, it was all he could do to take painkillers.

“I heard that the neighboring country has more advanced medicine. You should go there and get a more in-depth examination ……..”

“I don’t have the time for that.”

Cutting off from his subordinate’s concerned advice, Killian opened the door.

Exiting his office, he walked up the stairs past the servants and servants who greeted him with deep bows and opened the bedroom door. At the same time, Melissa and Joan, who were carefully drawing the curtains closed, looked at him like startled rabbits.

“You-. Your Excellency!”

“Shh.”

As they tried to greet him with courtesy, Killian approached the bed and looked at them with a gesture so they would quietly get out.

Rowena was sleeping like a princess in a fairy tale on a large mattress that could easily fit the two of them, and there would still remain a lot of empty sapce. Walking carefully so as not to wake her, Killian pulled a stool over to the bedside and sat down .

His heated eyes studied every corner of the sleeping woman.

Hair that flowed down over her shoulders like golden threads, her long, fluttering long lashes, her high nose and deliciously plump lips.

She was a woman who had given birth to a child, struggled for the past five years, and yet showed no signs of aging. She looked the same as when he first met her, not even slightly changed.

-Mr. Killian, what is your favorite fruit? For me, I like wild berries the most.

He remembered the woman on the train who was shy to even make eye contact and just fidgeted with her hands.

-I have never been out of the village. So this is my first time going to a city and I’m really excited and nervous. I’m also worried.

Her porcelain white cheeks were flushed red and she had a bashful smile and a pure laugh revealing her hidden teeth.

“For the portrait …… I think that expression would be the best.”

He tried to remember when he had last seen that smile, but he couldn’t recall it at all. If only he could keep that moment forever preserved, he would want to transfer the laughter in his memory directly to the portrait, which contained just an empty face.

“Hmmm …….”

Rowena tossed and turned, her brow furrowed as if she was having some kind of nightmare whilst he was lost in thought.Turning her body to lie down on the opposite side of the bed, Killian extended his arm, as was his habit, and slowly brushed a hand down from her forehead to her eyes.

Unlike him, whose hands were colder than others, Rowena’s body temperature was on the higher side, like a child’s. As he repeatedly patted down her forehead, eyes, and cheeks, her expression relaxed in the pleasant coolness. At the sight of her, Killian began to talk to himself as if he was brainwashed.

“What are you dreaming about?”

“…….”

“What’s out there that makes you look like that?”

There was no answer to his small question. Rowena, holding his hand in both of hers, brought his hand toward her warm neck .

“Am I not in that dream?”

He repeated the question, though she was sound asleep and would not answer.

“I would only be a nightmare for you.”

Five years ago, he had brutally abandoned her, a brutal mistake that no excuse could ever explain or cover up.

Yet despite knowing the whole story, he never made any apologies to her. He willingly chose to remain silent.

****