As expected, Melly came to the hospital.

Edric could tell what expression Melly was wearing, where she was looking, and where her gaze was fixed, even through his closed eyelids.

The newly found composure had cleared his eyes like that.

“Sleep well. And……”

Melly hesitated as if trying to say something.

Edric barely held back a laugh.

How timid. Coming all this way and not even able to say ‘I love you’ once.

‘Tsk. I guess I’ll have to help her.’

Edric grabbed Melly’s arm as she was about to turn away and pulled her towards him.

Melly’s eyes widened as she suddenly fell on top of him.

Her transparent brown eyes, reflecting the lamplight, were subtly seductive.

Edric couldn’t understand at all.

Why had he thought this woman was ordinary until now?

She was this pretty and lovable, not to mention seductive.

“Melly.”

Edric looked at her with the face of a resigned man and said.

“It was truly shameless of a selfish man like me to think of having a good woman like you for life. I don’t deserve to have you.”

“……”

At those words, Melly’s eyes welled up. Her eyes, moist with tears, were as transparent as brown crystals.

In his youth, he had found the boys who made the girls they liked cry to be quite pathetic, but now he understood why.

She’s pretty and beautiful. To the point where he wanted to possess her right away.

Melly spoke desperately.

“I… I want you, Edric Pelton!”

Yes. That’s how it should be.

“I love you.”

I love you too. But I’ll save those words.

Because, though you may not know it, Melly Enwood.

In this game, the one who reveals more emotion is the weaker one.

“I want to ask one thing.”

Edric hid his true feelings completely and asked with worry and concern.

“Can you be a great duchess?”

“……”

“As you know, the position of a duchess is never an easy one. You’ll have to learn etiquette meticulously, and constantly socialize with people in high society to expand your network. Can you do it?”

Melly answered without hesitation.

“I can. I will.”

Edric barely managed to hold back the smile that kept trying to appear. He held it back so much that his wound area throbbed.

“Give me a chance. I’ll work hard.”

He confirmed that Melly had become completely his person, not just in body but in heart as well. With that, he could use each of his skills one by one with a more relaxed mind.

“Then let’s get married.”

“……”

“Marry me. Melly Enwood.”

He proposed plainly. It was a proposal that lacked even half the desperation of what he had planned to do on the terrace last evening, almost as if he were bestowing charity.

Nevertheless, tears of emotion overflowed uncontrollably from Melly’s eyes.

She was pretty even when crying with anxiety, but this was pretty in its own way.

Edric pulled Melly into his arms and patted her back.

“Stop crying now. It’s not like someone died.”

But Melly cried even more sorrowfully, and that was what Edric had hoped for.

Feeling his patient gown shoulder becoming damp with her tears, he thought.

‘Yes. Cry all you want. But only in my arms.’

But there came a moment when he wished Melly’s crying would stop.

The warmth of her soft body and her sobbing reminded him exactly of that night. He wanted to change this crying into a different kind of crying.

“Melly.”

At the subtle call, Melly’s tears stopped abruptly.

It was because the huskiness in his voice reminded her of the passion from the previous night.

She lifted herself from him.

And looked at him, trying to confirm if the suggestiveness she heard in his voice was just her imagination.

But it wasn’t imagination.

“…!”

Edric’s hand, which had been on her waist, slowly moved up her back and undid the fastening of her dress.

Melly felt as if her breath had stopped.

[This is the timeline separator]

Melly’s limp brown hair rippled like waves on the white sheets.

Her shoulders, lying on her side, heaved with each breath she took.

Shoulders so delicate they seemed they might break.

Edric raised his hand and gently covered those shoulders with the blanket.

As his fingertips brushed her shoulder in the process, Melly’s body twitched.

Even in her sleep, the memory of last night must have come to her.

“I won’t do it anymore.”

He comforted her, patting her shoulder. Only then did Melly seem to relax, letting go of her consciousness in his arms once again.

He propped up his head and played with Melly’s hair.

The texture of her hair against his fingertips wasn’t particularly good.

It wasn’t naturally glossy hair. But at this moment, her hair felt softer and more lovable than any woman’s silky hair.

Edric wanted to savor this moment for as long as possible. Even more than last night’s passion.

When he was in contact with her, it was hard to separate.

It was the same at the hotel.

He had planned to end it with just one time and return home, but in the end, he stayed up all night.

After leaving the hotel, Melly fell fast asleep in the carriage until they arrived at the duke’s residence.

That day, from Melly’s quiet breathing as she slept on his shoulder, he felt various emotions all at once.

Confidence, protective instinct, sympathy for her exhaustion from accepting his large frame with her small body. And… the sense of security that came from her finally becoming his woman.

He felt a deep fulfillment in his heart. And he wanted to laugh at those who pursued stimulating pleasures and committed debauchery with multiple partners. He wanted to tell them that physical and emotional exchange with just one person was the real thing.

He wanted to tell them that compared to the complete union felt in bed with one person, their pleasures were mere acts of excretion.

Feeling a deep coziness as if wrapped in a feather duvet, he finally became certain at that moment.

This is love. What he was feeling was definitely love. If this wasn’t love, then what could love possibly be?

“……”

The light brown hair slipped through his fingertips, revealing her ear shell as white and thin as a seashell.

It was the only part of her body that would flush red, when her complexion never changed otherwise.

He gently caressed her ear shell, then leaned in to whisper.

“Melly.”

Even though she was clearly asleep, Melly’s ear shell automatically changed color.

“Shall I tell you how to become a good duchess?”

“Mmm…”

Melly responded hazily in her sleep.

“Bear an heir quickly.”

“…”

Her eyelashes twitched slightly, then slowly lifted along with her eyelids. And what she saw was…

The man’s bright blue eyes above her, shining clearly even in the dim pre-dawn light.

The IV needle had already been removed from his wrist.

[This is the timeline separator]

News of their engagement was announced at the mansion on the day Edric was discharged from the hospital with Melly.

The mansion staff were shocked to the point of fainting when they heard the news.

“I thought so.”

Bella, a young female servant, clapped her hands together and said.

“Now that I think about it, it was a bit strange.”

“What was?”

“His Grace, I mean. I saw him coming from the direction of Lady Melly’s quarters several times. His Grace doesn’t have much business over there, does he?”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Lena, her senior, objected.

“They’ve been close for a long time.”

“But not to the extent of visiting each other’s quarters. Maybe ten years ago, but not now.”

Everyone nodded at Sarah’s rebuttal.

“Besides, Lady Melly, I thought she’d become unusually pretty lately. Don’t you think? She used to have such a poor complexion, but now her cheeks are rosy, her eyes are bright, and her expression is cheerful.”

“That’s true.”

Everyone agreed once again.

“And this time, while His Grace was hospitalized, Lady Melly volunteered to nurse him and stayed at the hospital the whole time, right? How is that possible between just friends?”

“Well, that’s right.”

They agreed for the third time.

“Who do you think fell in love first?”

“I think it was His Grace.”

“No, that can’t be.”

Lisa objected.

“His Grace wouldn’t do that. You’ve seen the ladies he’s brought home before. To be honest, I can’t say Lady Melly is better than them, can I? Although, of course, I do care for Lady Melly.”

“Then did Lady Melly fall in love first? I didn’t notice any signs of that at all.”

Opinions were divided.

No one could guess which side had fallen in love first or when.

Melly was too good at hiding her emotions, and Edric’s standards were too high.

Everyone was dying to know the behind-the-scenes story of these two. But both Melly and Edric were tight-lipped, and there was a social distance between them and the servants, so their curiosity would have to remain curiosity forever.

After the two returned to the mansion, the servants often saw them walking side by side in the garden.

Sometimes they held hands, sometimes they walked arm in arm. Edric often gave Melly loving looks, and Melly responded to his love with rosy cheeks.

The sight of the two whispering sweet nothings under the pink feathery clouds was as beautiful as a picture in a frame. It was a brilliant time, like flowers just in full bloom.

But the petals fell too quickly.

The former duchess returned.

Eida’s gloomy appearance when she left the house was nowhere to be seen.

She was bright and full of energy.

And her eyes shone fierce and sharp, as if she had come back with a firm resolve.

She summoned the two to her drawing room.

“I have decided to accept you as my daughter-in-law, Melly.”

Melly’s face, which had been tense at her appearance, lit up with joy.

“Thank you…”

“And.”

But before Melly could finish her words of gratitude, Lady Pelton cut her off. An inexplicable sense of discomfort swept through the room.

“I will not be going down to the southern estate.”

“…”

“It seems I have much to do here.”