Chapter 39

“……?”

I stared intently at Etias, who had turned his gaze away.

From his slightly parted lips, ragged breaths escaped.

“Are you really sick?”

His ears and cheeks were still flushed red.

My heart sank with worry.

“Did you… not take your pneumonia medicine?”

I had ensured ample supplies were sent to the revolutionary army through the poor relief hospital. Could it have been insufficient?

“Why are you breathing like this? Please, look at me for a moment….”

“Stop. Leave.”

As I stepped closer out of concern, Etias flinched violently and even turned his entire body away.

He ended up facing the wall, despite there being no window there.

His posture felt unusually awkward, his voice tinged with panic, and his breathing… so uncharacteristically rough for always composed Etias.

“You really seem unwell. Should we at least see a doctor together?”

But I couldn’t just back down in a situation like this.

My little kitten, I can’t let you suffer.

I moved closer to Etias, who was facing the wall, and grabbed his arm.

If you were to collapse…

A painful image flashed in my mind – Etias lying on the freezing floor of this icy room, closing his eyes as tears of sorrow slid down his cheeks.

Along with that, my own vision darkening as well.

‘Absolutely not!’

Just as I thought that, Etias grabbed my arm and spun me around.

My back hit the hard wall he’d been facing, and it took me a few seconds to realise he had pinned me there.

Then, like a kabedon, Etias was standing before me, staring.

“…….”

From between his parted lips came ragged, heated breaths.

‘That gaze….’

My heart pounded as his blue eyes met mine.

Never once had I imagined Etias would look at me like that.

This man, who always hid his ambitions and everything about himself, enduring hardships calmly and stoically.

His eyes now burned with a dangerous glint, as if he was barely clinging to the last thread of reason.

“Haa….”

His low voice came out mixed with rough breathing.

“Katrin.”

His eyes seemed to be desperately restraining something rising violently within.

I was speechless.

“…Damn it.”

His voice was strained, as if he was gritting his teeth to endure.

Slowly, he lifted a hand and gently swept down the ends of my hair.

He looked like he was forcing himself to focus on something else to keep control.

“…….”

His cool scent lingered at my nose, and my heart raced faster.

“I’m… not in my right mind right now.”

After a few tens of seconds, his voice finally sounded slightly calmer, though still ragged.

“…I can’t explain it, but… damn, I feel like I’m going crazy because of you.”

‘Because of me?’

His blue eyes still looked as if he stood at the edge of a burning cliff.

As if he was fighting desperately against the instinct to throw himself off it.

“It’s just a temporary effect, so don’t ask more.”

His voice came out in a low growl mixed with a plea.

“Leave. Now.”

“…….”

I wanted to ask, ‘Are you really okay?’ but looking at his face, it felt like if I said one more word, something he was holding back would explode.

When I nodded, Etias stepped back and gave me space to pass.

I slipped past him, opened the office door, and left.

Thump. Thump.

My heart was pounding wildly in my chest.

Etias’s face, biting his lips with an expression filled with raw, desperate yearning, remained vivid before my eyes.

“…What… was that?”

Outside the magistrate building, I asked Heros, who was waiting with the carriage, about a sudden thought that came to mind.

“Philios was arrested yesterday for distributing illegal drugs, right? Like aphrodisiac substances.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Can you find out if it was Prince Etias who reported him?”

After a while, Heros returned from the magistrate with the information.

He confirmed my suspicions.

“As you guessed, Prince Etias reported Philios Regallo, saying he accidentally ingested an illegal aphrodisiac because of him. Philios is furiously denying it, claiming he never even met the Prince.”

“Ha….”

“But the testimony of the teahouse staff who saw them in the same place backed Prince Etias’s statement.”

I gazed at the magistrate building with wavering eyes.

‘Etias….’

Etias was not the type to accidentally ingest a suspicious drug.

He might have discovered that Philios possessed an illegal substance by chance, but—

If that was the case, it meant he intentionally took it.

My head spun with conflicting thoughts.

‘…Is it his sense of justice?’

One of the reasons I liked Etias was his unyielding righteousness.

Even after losing everything and being reduced to a mere magistrate official, he never hesitated to help the weak and punish the wicked.

‘No, maybe he discovered Philios’s scheme and did it for me…’

Feeling my heart pound hard, I shook my head.

No way. If that were true, wouldn’t he have given me some hint?

“About that illegal aphrodisiac, is there an antidote?”

“There isn’t really one. It’s not something that causes lasting harm – just a bit of feverishness for a day or two. He’ll be fine soon.”

Relieved by his words, I raised my hand and pressed it against my chest.

“It’s just a temporary effect, so don’t ask more.”

Thump- thump-

My mischievous heart kept recalling his expression from earlier.

His slightly flushed face, the fierce frown as he struggled to control himself.

“Damn it, I feel like I’m going crazy because of you.”

His voice, rough and pained, echoed in my ears.

I felt my fingertips tingle and flinched as I tried to calm myself down.

“What should we do about Philios Regallo?”

“He’ll probably try to post bail to get released, right?”

The money Philios brought to the mansion yesterday would all be used for his bail.

It would be enough to make the Marquis of Regallo grab the back of his neck in rage.

“Pressure the Regallo family. Tell them if they don’t pay the remaining balance immediately, the deal will be cancelled.”

“Understood, my lady.”

At least this way, I can get back at him a little.

The Marchioness of Regallo pleaded tearfully with her husband, but he, filled with rage, spoke coldly as if dismissing her completely.

“This is all your fault. How did you raise Philios to become such a disgraceful thug? What kind of education did you give him?!”

On top of the broken engagement with Elemoer, Philios had now been permanently dismissed from his official magistrate position.

Even if he inherited the marquis title, with a criminal record like this, there was no way he could marry into a decent family.

“Dear, please, is money more important right now? Our son should be our priority.”

“It’s not just money! If we don’t pay the balance, we’ll lose the entire deposit too! Our family will suffer massive losses!”

Their finances were already in crisis, desperately needing a new business opportunity. They had purchased new business rights from Katrin Elemoer, and ruining that deal was unthinkable.

“How did you even raise him? Always flocking around gossiping women and wasting money! Tsk!”

“And what about you?! Did I give birth to him alone? Do you think I didn’t hear about how you harassed magistrate women in your youth and got sued? He turned out like you – why blame me?!”

“You wretched woman! Watch what you say!”

The Marquis furrowed his brows in fury, but the Marchioness didn’t back down.

“And it’s your fault our family finances are in ruin too – how many businesses have you failed?!”

“Why bring up my business failures now? We’re talking about Philios here, aren’t we?!”

“When Philios tried to seduce Katrin, you were flattering him too! Telling him to extract some money from her!”

“You were no different! You kept nagging him to charm her and bring back some of her jewels!”

Their argument raged on endlessly, finally ending with both of them cursing Katrin as heartless and cruel for demanding the balance payment.

And the next day—

The Marchioness secretly gathered up the remaining balance money and used it to file bail for her son Philios.

Philios was released, but the furious Marquis stormed about in rage.

But there was nothing to be done. The money was already spent. Their deal with Katrin Elemoer collapsed, and they lost their deposit as well.

“What?! It went to Marquis Winsome?!”

Upon hearing that their business rights had been sold to his rival, Marquis Winsome, the Marquis of Regallo fell sick with anger.

As the family fortunes declined, their servants left one by one, and the shadow of ruin loomed heavily over House Regallo.

“My lady, harder… please….”

A few days later, I was sitting on top of Heros, who was lying beneath me, his face slightly flushed as he looked up at me, panting heavily.