“How is she?”
“Her condition is not good.”

The doctor replied with a very dark face.

“I heard from Lady Harmon that she wasn’t able to sleep for at least three days, without even taking a sip of water.”
“…”
“Her body is ruined because she lost all her energy, and even the place she was trapped in was a magic tool full of black magic, so it was probably several times harder.”

The more he listened to the doctor’s explanation, the darker Kael’s expression grew.
He had expected her condition to be bad, but the more he looked into it, the worse her situation was.

“I heard the priest say that if it wasn’t for the necklace she had around her neck, she would have gone mad due to the energy of the black magic.”
“Necklace?”
“You didn’t know? It’s not your usual necklace with sacred power. Perhaps it was given to her by her brother in the temple.”

It meant that the necklace Simeon gave Adeline had protected her.
Kael closed his eyes patiently. Even her brother, who was quite a long distance away, protected Adeline, so the fact that he couldn’t do anything despite being by her side bothered him.

“It’s only been a day, though. I need to keep monitoring her. She has gotten better than when she was rescued yesterday. She will need more time than we thought.”

It had been a full day since Adeline had been moved to the mansion in the capital.
After a day, he expected to see some improvement, but Adeline fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up.

“Don’t worry too much. Seeing that she endured it like that, she is a very strong person. I’m sure she will get through it, Your Grace.”

The doctor tried to comfort Kael, but it was useless.
He didn’t want to create situations she had to endure and overcome.
Kael’s promise to sign the marriage contract with Adeline was that she would have honor and freedom that she could enjoy comfortably, not torture and false accusations.

“As you said, I’ll be residing here for a week to monitor Her Grace, so her improvement…”
“Lord Bamon! Her Grace is having a seizure!”

Towards the end of their conversation, the head maid urgently called the doctor with a pale face.
The doctor rushed into the room, and Kael followed immediately.
Kael’s heart sank as soon as he heard the word seizure.

“Everyone, grab Her Grace’s arms! You have to keep her steady so I can give her medicine!”

When he went into the room, Adeline was having a seizure on the bed.
Seeing her whole body twisting and moving, and her face stained with pain, with her eyes tightly closed, Kael’s heart was ripped apart.

“You can’t, Your Grace! You have to take it!”

The maids held Adeline strongly, and the doctor tried to take the chance to give her the medicine, but all the medicine flowed out of her mouth.
She had to take the medicine to stop the seizure, but since nothing went in, the movements of her body twisting around were only getting rougher.

“Ahh!!”

As resistance grew, the maid, who was holding down her right arm, tumbled down from the bed. The situation got worse and worse.

“Your Grace, you can’t come near…”
“Is this the medicine?”

Kael drew near to Adeline as he asked. The doctor tried to stop him, but with no intention of listening at all, he only asked what the medicine was.
As soon as Kael checked the doctor’s answer, he put the extremely bitter medicine in his mouth.
Then, he approached the struggling Adeline, pressed her tightly as if hugging her, and kissed her.
The medicine flowed through her slightly open lips.
Adeline, who was resisting by twisting her whole body, quickly calmed down when Kael touched her lips.
The seizure stopped as soon as his warmth reached her, as if what she wanted from the beginning was Kael’s kiss, not medicine.

“…”

Kael barely pulled his lips away and looked at Adeline, who had fallen asleep again.
He reached out and gently swept Adeline’s lips. Seeing her scabbed lips, he remembered the night of the blizzard.

[There was a little wine smudge on your lips.]

On the day he wiped the wine smudge as if he was possessed, Adeline’s lips were soft and red. There were no wounds.

‘If I hadn’t been like that then…’

If only the black scar hadn’t devoured Kael that night. If only he could have saved Adeline.
The fact that Adeline wouldn’t have had to suffer while being hurt like this distressed Kael.

Kael sighed and looked at Adeline once again.
However, Kael’s eyes looking at her were so sad that it seemed like he would collapse at any moment, and everyone watched him while holding their breaths.
It was the first time.
The first time that Kael, who had been asked if he had lost his heart because his emotions were never revealed easily, showed such a sad appearance.

“…”

Kael, who could not take his eyes off Adeline for a long time, barely got up and turned around, and his vision filled with another pair of light green eyes.

“Marquis Tien.”

It was Enoch. Enoch was watching him.

***

“What did the doctor say?”

Kael told Enoch everything he had heard.
The more he heard, the darker and stiffer Enoch’s expression grew.

Since Kael had found and killed all the Red Knights who were staying elsewhere, as well as the ones who were at the base, the capital had turned upside down.
The nobles who did not know the reason were trying to find out why the northern ruler had revealed his power, and because of that, the story about the emperor spread rapidly.

Since Adeline was involved in the situation, the news soon spread to the East. As soon as Enoch heard about it, he rushed to the capital using a portal.
His hands continued to tremble from the moment he heard the news until he entered Kael’s mansion.
He couldn’t get himself together knowing that his beloved sister had been taken away on a false charge of murder and was tortured until she collapsed.

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“I have no excuse to give you. It is my fault. I apologize.”

Kael sincerely apologized, and Enoch looked at him in silence.

In fact, Enoch was as angry with Kael as he was with the emperor. He vowed to protect Adeline and vowed never to hurt her.
But Kael could not protect Adeline. Even though he knew the situation was helpless, his anger did not subside.

But the moment he saw Kael kissing her to calm her seizure, and the moment he saw Adeline going back to sleep and his agonized face, the boiling temperature subsided a little.
It was real suffering. Even if Enoch didn’t tear him apart, he looked like he was already in hell.

“I believe this will be the last time. The last time Your Grace fails to protect Adeline. If this happens again, then we will protect her.”

Enoch said firmly. He could never lose Adeline. If Kael could not fully protect her, Enoch and his brothers would not give their sister to him.

“I promise you. This will never happen again.”

Kael was equally determined as Enoch.

“And I promise you one more thing.”

He made another promise in a low, subsided voice.

“I will find all those who set up this trap and punish them. The pain Adeline felt, they will receive it times worse.”
“…”
“I swear on my life and on the honor of the North. I will make sure of that.”

Kael’s blue-grey eyes burned in a blue light.

***

Adeline didn’t wake up until three days later.
Fortunately, she didn’t have any more seizures, and the doctor also said he could see her getting better day after day, but heavy eyelids rarely showed her clear, pale-green eyes.

“Your Grace.”
“How did it go?”
“It was all proved.”

Vero reported quickly as he came into the office.

While Adeline was asleep, Kael took action to remove Adeline’s false accusation.
The Red Knights’ investigation records were obtained and verified, and they compared what Adeline was doing at the time of the victim’s death to prove that she was not in a situation where she could cast black magic.
Looking into it a little closer, it was easy to see that Adeline was not guilty of anything. Nevertheless, Kael’s anger deepened when he realized that he had brought the situation to this point.

“What about the Emperor?”
“It seems he’s still looking into the situation. Since the captain is also being held by us.”

The captain of the knights was the only person Kael kept alive. He had to get information from him, and since he was the one who locked Adeline directly in the magic box, he didn’t want to allow him to die easily.

“Did the captain open his mouth?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Take care so that he doesn’t take his own life and find all the people involved. We have to find out who’s behind this.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”

Kael quickly gave the order, then headed to Adeline’s bedroom.
He checked on her whenever he had time.
He sat by the bedside to see if she showed any signs of discomfort, and sincerely prayed that he would soon be able to face her clear eyes again.

“Your Grace!”

As he was walking towards the bedroom, Melissa came running with loud steps.

“Her Grace has awakened!”

The moment he heard Melissa’s words, Kael’s mind went blank.
Kael ran straight towards Adeline’s room with a dazed expression. He didn’t have time to hesitate. I wanted to see Adeline even if just a moment sooner.

“Adeline!”

He kicked the large door open and called out to Adeline, breathing heavily.
When she heard Kael’s voice, Adeline, who was leaning against the bed supported by the maids, turned her head towards the door.

“Ah, Ka…”

There was no chance for Adeline to say hello.
Kael rushed over and hugged Adeline tightly.
He held Adeline tightly in his arms, as if she would disappear at any moment if he relaxed just a little, and poured out all the warmth he had.

“Never, and I mean never again stay away from me.”

As if he was possessed by something, the sincerity that he had kept deep in his heart leaked out through his voice.

The moment his shaky voice was conveyed to Adeline, Kael realized.
It wasn’t a simple interest, and it wasn’t a simple concern.
Obviously, it was something beyond those feelings.

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