Chapter 3

——♦ ⋄· 🜲· ⋄ ♦——

Erhen thought.

If he were to die right now, he would want to see her face for the last time.

This was the reason why he couldn’t calm down until he saw Charlotte, even though he was out of breath.

“Hey?”

It was really strange.

Through his fading consciousness, he gasped when he saw Charlotte’s shocked face.

A year after breaking up with her, Erhen finally found peace.

*   *   *

Charlotte was completely frozen as he greeted her, and indulged himself. Unlike her, who was rigid, Erhen lusted after Charlotte more and more deeply.

Erhen, who was stroking her cheek, placed his hands on the bed and raised his upper body. Charlotte’s head naturally tilted.

They became closer to each other. Charlotte, embarrassed by the unfamiliar sensation she had never experienced before, threw her head back.

“Gak, ha!”

But it was useless.

Erhen grabbed the back of her head strongly and breathed again as if he would not allow her to escape. While they were deeply engaged, Erhen caught her as she ran away.

He was persistent.

He persistently explored every inch of Charlotte’s mouth, and wrapped his arms around her waist as if he was delving deeper into it.

If it was a dream, would she disappear? As if he would never see her again.

“Stop!”

Charlotte, who was exhaling intermittently, finally pushed his chest with all her strength.

It felt like each other’s breath was close enough to mix. Seeing his shy appearance, Charlotte hurriedly rubbed her lips with the back of her hand.

Perhaps only then did he come to his senses, as Erhen wiped his lips with his wrist and looked at Charlotte with confused eyes.

“…”

“…”

Their eyes met each other uncontrollably.

Just for a moment, Charlotte frantically got out of bed and ran to the door.

Bang. The door, which opened without hesitation, closed again with a loud noise as Charlotte left.

Charlotte covered her mouth with both hands and ran quickly down the hallway. Once she was far enough away from Erhen’s room, she placed her hands on the wall and took a deep breath.

Her heart was beating like crazy.

“Viscountess?”

What brought Charlotte to her senses was the voice of Philip, who was on his way to Erhen’s room.

Philip, who was carrying a bundle of documents, asked with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong? Your face is red…”

“No, no, no, there is.”

“Yes?”

Charlotte caught her breath.

“His Excellency the Duke has woken up.”

At those words, Philip gasped, and ran to Erhen’s room.

Watching Philip walking away, Charlotte walked towards the terrace. As she opened the door and went out onto the terrace, the cold air enveloped her.

Charlotte’s lips trembled. She almost lost her mind. She almost clung to him.

She couldn’t breathe.

“Meanwhile, why was he so good at kissing…?”

Her breath leaked out along with a long sigh.

Perhaps because she came out to the terrace without even wearing a blanket, she was brought to her senses quickly as her head cooled. She bit her lip gently.

Rather than feeling resentful that her first kiss had been so meaningless, she first had questions about Erhen.

Why? The reason he called her name and kissed her.

Erhen Rosenheim. He was her ex-husband, whom she divorced after our contract ended. That too was a year ago.

“He must have lost his senses.”

Otherwise, there was no other reason. There shouldn’t have been any. What was his mindset when he left the Peacock House? When he came here?

Since he was wondering if he was dreaming before kissing her, when he came to his senses, he could have thought of this itself as a dream.

That was it.

If she didn’t talk about it, it would be like it never happened, and she could just erase it from her memory. Just after the divorce, she left the dukedom and lived well until now.

She promised herself once again as she left the terrace to call the doctor. Still, Charlotte struggled to swallow the new questions that kept coming her way.

At that moment when their lips touched, the reason why she couldn’t reject him even for a moment.

*   *   *

After Charlotte left the room. Erhen, who was touching his lips with a puzzled expression, realized that this was reality when he suddenly felt pain in his abdomen.

After regulating his breath for a while and enduring the pain, he got used to it. Erhen began to piece together his fragmented memories.

On the way back after completing a mission under Michael’s orders, he was ambushed by unknown people.

It was a group of about thirty people, including two wizards. He was not sloppy and would not encounter them because he was unlucky. Like elite soldiers, they knew about him in advance, with the skill to cast magic without any techniques or messages and systematically attacked him.

After a melee, Erhen survived alone.

He ripped off the pattern that could provide information that would reveal their background from the corpse closest to him, then raised his head and looked at the crescent moon shining brightly in the night sky.

There was too much blood shed in the bitter cold. He also lost consciousness because he used too much magical power.

In a state where he felt like he was going to collapse at any moment, there was only one thing he could think of.

The memory stopped there.

“…”

The space he glanced at was different from the Dukedom. The bedding in this place, which was not a hospital, was pure white and clean, and the furniture in the room was harmonious in a luxurious but modern design.

Unlike other nobles, she liked clean and simple things, and still had the same mysterious and elegant taste as before.

Exactly, it was Charlotte’s preference. If so, the answer was confirmed.

Neither Charlotte looking at him nor her lips that he had tasted were a dream.

“Ah, you crazy bastard.”

After he finished assessing the situation, a curse naturally came out of Erhen’s mouth.

*   *   *

“Are you okay, Your Excellency?”

Philip entered the room without hesitation and shouted in a shaky voice.

When he saw Philip with red eyes, the past fact of being surprised came to Erhen again and his mind calmed. Erhen opened his mouth after a long time.

“… I’ve worried you, Philip.”

“No. I’m so glad to see you again.”

Philip had to gather his strength because he couldn’t cry in front of his superior who had just opened their eyes safely.

“And from now on, Your Excellency, please reconsider going alone so that doesn’t happen.”

Erhen chuckled at those words. Unlike his smiling self, Philip had a rather serious expression.

“Let me think about it.”

“Please do so!”

Philip added, biting his lip tightly at the expression and tone of voice that seemed to have no intention of doing so.

Seeing Philip answering without hesitation as soon as he spoke, Erhen continued the conversation.

“By the way, how long have I been asleep?”

“You haven’t woken up in a week.”

“One week… What has been investigated so far?”

As soon as Philip woke up, he found it absurd that his superior was asking about the progress of work and events, but he felt relieved that he was somehow acting like the Duke of Rosenheim.

He answered without saying anything.

“Yes. We found traces of His Excellency’s battle in a forest not far from here, and the pattern found on the corpse there is the same as the pattern on the cloth found in His Excellency’s clothes.”

“And?”

“The tail has not yet been caught, but we are monitoring the imperial forces as our top priority. It’s in progres.”

The rebellion against the tyrant Emperor Rufus, called the ‘Brilliant Rebellion’, succeeded and Michael, who ascended to the throne, downgraded the empire to a kingdom. It was a choice to keep up with the rapidly changing situation of the continent.

The Lohadin Empire once dominated the continent as a magical powerhouse. However, for unknown reasons, the number of wizards began to plummet, and their old reputation faded into obscurity.

People naturally thought that the age of magic was coming to an end. And Lohadin could no longer use its power as an empire against neighboring countries that began investing in science to combat magic. It was no longer the titan of the continent.

Instead, Michael chose cooperation. The king’s quick response freed the people of Lohadin from the threat of war with other countries. However, there were still forces that missed the era of tyrants.

“They were professionally trained. It wasn’t a ragtag group.”

“We will take note of this and continue our investigation.”

Philip then reported on the events of the past week when Erhen could not wake up.

Meanwhile, a doctor came in, guided by Lida. It seemed like Charlotte, who went out first, had called. The doctor began examining Erhen with a brief greeting and self-introduction.

“Your Excellency has recovered from any wounds or internal injuries that were fatal due to your constitution, but the lacerations on your abdomen will need to be watched a little longer.”

In fact, over the course of a week, Erhen’s severe trauma recovered rapidly.

He had amazing resilience, a special constitution often found in wizards. This recovery power was proportional to the magical power stored in the body.

In addition, Erhen possessed superior magical power as the best wizard in Lohadin.

“I understand.”

“After a little while, you will be able to resume your daily life without overdoing yourself, but we recommend that you rest well for at least a month.”

Currently, Erhen’s magical power has not recovered to half of its usual level, so the doctor prescribed a one-month recovery period instead.

While the doctor was examining the doctor, Lida waited by Philip’s side. Philip quietly asked, wondering if Charlotte had not met with him.

“Didn’t the Viscountess visit with you?”

“Yes. I have something to think about for a moment.”

“Hmm. Well, I guess you have a lot to think about.”

Philip nodded with a sour expression as if he understood.

Charlotte and Erhen have been divorced for a year. After the divorce, my boss, Erhen, focused on work like a crazy person, and in the meantime, Charlotte seemed to be naturally forgotten. However, it’s not like there was anything special on Charlotte’s part.

But then he suddenly showed up at his ex-wife’s house covered in blood. It was always like that, but seeing Erhen even more crazy about work, Philip’s suspicions became confirmed.

Philip asked loudly.

“Where is the Viscountess? I have something I need to ask her.”

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***