Yelena calmly put away the paper. She went over to her bed and flopped down on it. She stayed still momentarily, and then suddenly began stamping her feet.
There was no end to it.
Next, Yelena started rolling around on the bed. She couldn’t stay still.
Yelena’s husband’s voice vividly echoed in her head.
‘I need you, Yelena. So please don’t get hurt. Please continue staying by my side.’
“…!”
Roll, roll.
A while later, Yelena finally calmed down—or got exhausted—and lay still on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
“He said he needs me,” she mumbled quietly, the words scattering into the air. “He asked to continue staying by his side…”
He had kissed the back of her hand as he had said those things.
It was soft and sweet.
A part of it even felt reverent, like the loyalty oath of a knight, swearing to devote his life to his lady.
Yelena silently held the back of her hand. Her mouth gently opened to let out laughter for no reason. She felt like she was on top of a cloud, rather than her bed.
“Goodness, to think that at one point, he tried to annul our marriage because he thought that was what I wanted,” Yelena scoffed, the words she spoke to herself filled with resentment over the incident.
All was well. She was happy, even.
Her husband’s words, no matter how they were interpreted, meant that he had come to regard her as special.
Their relationship had progressed. Quickly, at that.
Whenever she thought about it, she felt joy in her heart, and it was hard to stay still in her excitement. Like now.
‘Wait, he said that I asked if I was someone he needed… Just when did I ask such a question?’
Did she ask it in her sleep?
Well, when she asked wasn’t important.
‘How far have we progressed?’
Could her goal of falling in love with her husband be achieved after going a little further?
‘Anyhow, at the very least, I think we’re halfway there.’
She felt like if being in love was 10, they were at 5.
“Hehe.”
No one was watching, so Yelena let her silly expression stay on her face.
Before she knew it, they were halfway there. She hadn’t even realized they reached that point.
It was like they were smooth sailing on fair winds. Things would work out even without her trying to speed things up.
“…No, but still, I need to hurry up and do something about this damned patient treatment.”
Yelena suddenly sat up on the bed.
Going on a relaxed date was fine, but it was a separate matter from wanting to free herself from her predicament as a patient. For countless reasons.
There weren’t many good things about being a patient, but there sure were an overwhelming number of bad things about it.
Yelena tidied her clothes and hair, which were mussed by her rolling around. She rang her bell right after.
“Madam, did you call?”
“Abbie, I’m going on a walk, so get ready.”
“A walk?”
“Inside the castle, so don’t worry.”
Dockter had told Yelena not to overwork herself, but he actually encouraged taking walks indoors. Yelena was more than happy to oblige.
For starters, just being able to walk around made her feel less stuffy. Taking walks indoors allowed Yelena to show the people she encountered how very healthy she was.
These days, Yelena was most lively when taking her indoor walks.
That was intentional, of course.
“Understood. Please wait,” Abbie said and then stepped out. When she returned, she helped Yelena get ready for her walk, though there wasn’t much that needed to be done.
Yelena covered the bruise on her neck with a scarf and then exited her quarters.
She was met by two enthusiastic knights outside her door, as if they had been waiting for her.
“Madam!”
“We will take responsibility for your walk and escort you safely today as well.”
The two knights, with their eyes sparkling brightly, were none other than Max and Thomas.
She was used to this.
For the past few days, whenever Yelena got up to take her walk, they volunteered to follow and guard her.
Abbie facilitated this.
If Yelena so much as opened her mouth to utter the word “walk,” the two men were immediately at her beck and call.
Yelena decided to just go along with it.
‘Though I’m not sure why I need to be guarded on an indoor walk…’
Well, if they insisted, so be it.
Thomas and Max’s hair were damp with sweat, as if they had come straight from training. They maintained an appropriate distance from Yelena, perhaps because they were worried about the smell.
‘Colin isn’t here today either,’ Yelena suddenly thought to herself.
The three of them used to always go around together. Up until Yelena’s kidnapping, that was.
Ever since that problematic day, the trio turned into a duo.
Yelena realized that it was already several days since she had last seen Colin’s face.
“Sir Max, Sir Thomas.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“I was just wondering about Sir Colin…”
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