A Thoughtful Gift and a Shameless Plea
Starting a week later, Chloe began to take her first tentative steps. Even the doctor who had solemnly declared it would be a long time before she could walk again called her recovery speed a miracle. She still needed a splint and someone to lean on, but compared to the days when she could do nothing but lie in bed, she felt like dancing every single day.
Word gradually spread that the lord was recovering at an impossibly fast rate, and rumors began to circulate that she might not be an ordinary human after all.
Someone who had always been on the move found it unbearable to stay still.
Today, while Delma was once again scolding her to stop overdoing it, Chloe heard that Builder had come to visit. It had been a while since they last met, so she was glad to see him and eager to hear the latest news straight from him. She had him brought to the reception room beside her bedroom.
A short while later, Builder entered the reception room after being shown in. The moment he saw Chloe’s face, his eyes welled with tears. The usually steadfast and stubborn Builder sniffled with a reddened nose, and Chloe was taken aback.
“Why are you crying? I’m fine.”
“Hic… My Lord. I’m so sorry. We should have been the ones protecting you. Instead, you were the one protecting us, and you ended up getting hurt like this. Hic… hic…”
Builder’s shoulders shook as he wept. Only after Chloe repeatedly assured him that she was all right did he finally stop crying.
“Enough of that—sit down. Anna, go tell them to bring some refreshments.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
Anna answered promptly and left the room. Delma draped a blanket over Chloe’s knees where she sat on the sofa and arranged cushions all around so she could sit more comfortably.
It looked like it would take more time before Chloe could escape Delma’s overprotectiveness. The head maid refused to leave her side, acting exactly like a mother beast who had lost and then recovered her cub.
“I understand. I’m basically being treated like a baby right now.”
Chloe smiled awkwardly at Delma’s excessive care, but Builder shook his head as though it were only natural.
“What about the village? I heard it’s almost completely cleaned up.”
“Yes, My Lord. We uprooted and burned every tree stained with Cullen blood, then replaced them with new saplings. We also buried the ashes from the burned Cullen cub deep beneath the defensive herbs so the smell would never surface again.”
“Well done. Anything else?”
“Thanks to you and the knights, not a single villager was injured. However…”
Both Chloe and Builder already knew what would come next. That day, none of the villagers had been hurt, but thirty-five knights had lost their lives. Five of them had died during treatment after losing limbs.
Even Red Bear, the knight commander, had sustained serious injuries and was still confined to his bed. Whenever Chloe thought of those who had died, she still felt her blood boil with rage.
After that day, a significant change had come over the Grace Knights. Despite the absence of their commander, they had not neglected their training. Their loyalty toward the lord who had fought to the very end with her fragile body now soared to the heavens.
“I’m looking into that matter right now. We’ll find out who was behind it soon enough.”
She didn’t need to say it aloud—she already had a good idea who was responsible—but they needed clear evidence. If they went after Patrasche without proof or witnesses, that cunning man would likely twist the narrative and pin crimes on them that had never existed.
But they were blood relatives. How could he go this far?
Chloe suspected that Patrasche’s ambition would not be satisfied until he had stolen everything she possessed and driven her out into the streets.
She absolutely could not sit still and let that happen. Yet she still had far too little to work with. A sense of urgency gripped her. She had no idea what Patrasche might be plotting next after this failure. Another reason to recover quickly had just been added to the list.
“The reason I asked to see you today, My Lord, is that I have something to give you.”
“For me?”
Chloe’s eyes widened with curiosity.
Builder stepped outside for a moment, then dragged something in. It was an object familiar even to Chloe.
“Is that a wheelchair?”
“I made it because I thought walking must still be difficult for you, My Lord.”
When Chloe’s face lit up with obvious delight, Builder smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head.
The wheelchair he had brought was made entirely of wood. The wheels were wooden too, so the ride would probably lack cushioning, but the fact that she wouldn’t have to struggle along on crutches filled Chloe with excitement.
“Thank you so much! Delma! I want to try sitting in it!”
Chloe stretched her arms toward Delma like an eager child, then belatedly realized Builder was watching and lowered them in embarrassment. Delma paid no mind to her bashfulness. She strode forward, lifted Chloe as easily as if she were carrying a princess, and gently settled her into the wheelchair.
Builder, who had jumped up to help, stared with wide eyes as Delma effortlessly lifted and moved the lord. There was no sign of strain on the head maid’s face even though she was carrying a girl nearly full-grown.
“Wow! It’s so comfortable! Thank you, Builder—really.”
The wheelchair Builder had crafted with such care had a plush cushion and handles wrapped in soft fabric, making it feel as comfortable as sitting on a sofa. Chloe, who had expected it to be uncomfortable since it was made only of wood, kept exclaiming in surprise at how pleasant it actually was.
“I’m truly glad you find it comfortable.”
Seeing that the lord genuinely liked the wheelchair he had made, Builder was moved to tears. The thought that he had been of even the smallest help to her made the many sleepless nights worthwhile.
Chloe rolled the wheelchair Builder had given her out into the garden to feel the breeze. After being stuck inside for so long, simply being outdoors made her feel alive again. Delma and Anna stuck to her like glue, never leaving her side for even a moment. If Chloe so much as breathed heavily, they would turn pale and immediately check on her condition.
Delma and Anna applied ointment to Chloe’s body so frequently that they had already used up the week’s supply the doctor had prescribed in just three days. The head cook was constantly busy preparing easily digestible meals. Not a single maid complained while disinfecting and washing the blood-stained bandages and bedding every day.
Simply knowing the lord had awakened had brought new vitality to Grace Castle.
“The wind is quite cold. Shall we go back inside now?”
The breeze had grown sharp. Delma draped a blanket over Chloe’s shoulders while she sat in the wheelchair, and Anna added a scarf and hat. Still not satisfied, they circled around her, checking for any spot where the cold air might slip through.
“I spent too long lying down. It feels stifling. I’d like to stay just a little longer.”
Chloe suddenly felt like acting a bit spoiled. Even walking a short distance still left her gasping for breath and brought tears to her eyes from the pain that wracked her whole body. Yet having survived a brush with death, even this felt like something to be grateful for.
“Then you must come inside after just a little more time. Understood?”
Delma was placing yet another blanket over Chloe’s shoulders when the warning left her lips.
“Chloe!”
A voice she wouldn’t want to hear even in her dreams suddenly rang out. With a sinking feeling, Chloe looked toward the sound. There was Ray, golden hair streaming behind him, running toward her with a bouquet of flowers. Taken purely as a scene, it was beautiful enough to belong in a movie. The problem was that the man running was Ray.
“Why is that bastard here?”
It was a face she had hoped never to see in this place again.
“Chloe! Oh! My beloved Chloe, what in the world happened to you!”
Clang!
A sharp blade slid from its sheath in an instant, forming an X in front of Ray and blocking his approach. The knight’s murderous aura stopped the man who had been running forward while sobbing pathetically in his tracks. He stumbled backward.
“Who let him in?”
Chloe asked in a tired voice without even glancing at the approaching Ray. Soon afterward, two flustered servants came running, panting heavily, and stopped behind him.
“We’re sorry, My Lord! We told him he wasn’t allowed!”
Chloe had no desire to scold the servants. She was simply curious who had dared to let Ray inside the castle despite her orders. After the previous incident she had intended to root out such disloyal people, but the matter had slipped her mind amid everything else that needed doing.
The two servants were gasping for breath, having apparently followed Ray all the way from the entrance.
“Remove him. And bring me the person who let that thing inside.”
The moment Chloe finished speaking, one of the knights standing nearby ran quickly toward the castle gate.
“What are you doing here? Who said you could come?”
When Chloe fixed him with a fierce glare the instant she saw him, Ray dropped to his knees with a thud and began sobbing as though the world were ending.
“Hic… Chloe. When I heard you’d been hurt, I realized all over again just how much I love you.”
Chloe’s face twisted in disgust as she fought the urge to vomit.
“I don’t even remember how I got here.”
“You probably came by carriage.”
“Hic… I heard you were on the verge of death, so I raced here like a madman.”
“Even if I were on death’s door, there would be no reason for me to see you.”
“What are you saying? We’re clearly still engaged.”
“Didn’t you get the notice that the engagement was broken?”
“No. I can’t accept that. I still love you too much. I can’t live without you.”
Chloe could no longer stand listening to him.
“Be honest. You came here because you have something else you want from me, right?”
Ray had come prepared to be thrown out the moment he spoke truthfully. But from the way things looked now, it seemed Chloe’s feelings for him hadn’t completely disappeared. He made his eyes even moister and spoke in the most pitiful voice he could manage.
“You remember how I said I was going to acquire the theater before, right?”
“I do.”
Chloe had no memory of it whatsoever but pretended she did.
“I’ve been making steady payments, so now I only need to pay the final balance.”
“And of course those steady payments came from the money I gave you?”
“W-well, yes, but isn’t it good for the fiancé of the Grace lord to own a proper business? You said yourself that you were investing in me.”
“Keep talking.”
When Chloe neither interrupted nor stopped him, Ray’s courage grew. It really had been a good idea to listen to Erma and come here one more time, acting as if he had lost his mind.
“So please—just invest three hundred gold in me one last time. I won’t come to you with this kind of request again. I wanted to become a man you could lean on, someone with not only looks but also financial strength. This is the final hurdle. If we get past it, we can be happy again, Chloe. All right?”