Epilogue 1.
The doctor handed the house call bag to the coachman and delivered his conclusion.
“Immediate surgery is impossible, so I believe he’ll need consistent medicinal treatment combined with eye drops.”
Rowena, who had been listening to the doctor with bated breath, carefully opened her mouth.
“What are the chances of recovery?”
“To speak honestly... it’s fifty-fifty.”
“Fifty-fifty...
you say.”
“If he had received treatment earlier, the odds might have been a bit higher.”
“…….”
“For now, we must watch and wait for the prognosis.”
Rowena swallowed a groan at the composed reply. Jenok, who had come out to see the doctor off with her, interjected.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“I’ve already received the consultation fee through the secretary.”
The doctor tilted his head at the envelope Jenok held out.
“You come all this way every time, so we must give you a little extra.”
Smiling faintly, Jenok slipped the thick envelope into the doctor’s coat pocket. It was a sort of hush money, and it was also why they went to the trouble of bringing a doctor from afar despite having a personal physician.
“Well, I say...…”
The doctor accepted it, pretending he couldn’t refuse, and climbed into the carriage. The coachman closed the carriage door and cracked his whip.
At the same time, the drawbridge rose with a heavy sound. Until the carriage had crossed the entire long bridge and the drawbridge rose again, Rowena stared blankly at the receding carriage. Seeing that she looked ready to stand there for another hour, Jenok cautiously spoke to her.
“The wind is cold. Please go inside.”
“Was returning to the country too much after all?”
Rowena muttered, staring motionlessly at the closed drawbridge. Jenok lowered his eyes and shook his head.
“It would have been the same even if he had stayed there.”
Killian had half-given up and refused treatment, so even a renowned physician would have struggled to cure him.
“I wish he would get better soon.”
Rowena sighed and rubbed her face with one hand. Seeing her worried face, Jenok comforted her.
“He will get better. Now that the Duchess is by his side.”
It had been only ten days since they had formally sworn before God and signed the marriage vows.
Due to Killian’s condition and to prevent Rowena from being exposed to the outside and becoming a target for enemies, the wedding was held immediately upon their return at the chapel of the ducal residence, before only two guests—who were also witnesses—including him.
The other witness was inside the castle. While Rowena was composing her troubled heart at Jenok’s comfort, a maid who had approached unnoticed spoke to her.
“My lady?”
“What is it?”
Rowena snapped out of her thoughts and turned around. The hesitant maid moved her lips.
“The guest...…”
* * *
Jeremy, who had roughly crammed his luggage into the trunk, huffed.
“You’re out of your mind, and the Duke is out of his mind too.”
“Uncle.”
“I must have been crazy to stand as a witness. Now I have to take you and run away again.”
“You have to tell me what happened for me to know.”
Rowena let out a deep sigh and blocked the door. Jeremy, who had been about to leave wearing his coat and carrying the trunk, finally spilled his guts before his niece.
“What, so I can’t even play in the water with my great-nephew as a grand-uncle?”
“Water...
play?”
Rowena’s eyes wavered at the unexpected word. Jeremy, not noticing this, clicked his tongue and continued.
“Yeah. There’s a large lake nearby, so I was going to take him out and teach him to swim and play in the water. But somehow the Duke bastard caught wind of it and came for me.”
“Ha... Uncle...”
She finally understood the situation. Rowena first snatched the trunk from Jeremy’s hand.
“Rowena!”
“Hear me out first. It’s my fault.”
“What?”
“Before returning to the country, Damian nearly drowned in the lake. He almost died.”
Jeremy had flown into a rage at the request to be a witness for the wedding along with the invitation. He had rushed here, but not because he had accepted her request. Upon arrival, Jeremy had scoffed that he had barely survived and escaped, and now he was supposed to go back to that castle like a madman.
It was a natural reaction. Jeremy, who tried to take her hand and leave at once, and Killian, who glared at him fiercely, clashed. Standing between the two men, Rowena explained what had happened step by step. It would have taken two all-nighters to tell everything, so she had omitted the incident where Damian had nearly drowned in the lake.
“If something like that had happened, you should have told me beforehand!”
“I’m sorry. I had just returned to the country and was overwhelmed with the wedding. ......Where are you going?”
Though the trunk was already in her hands, Jeremy took off his coat and opened the door past her. Rowena grabbed her uncle again and asked once more.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going back to your husband.”
“......Why?”
Given her uncle’s personality, he would never be the first to extend a hand of reconciliation or apologize. Killian was the same, so the two were like parallel lines that would never meet. Looking at him with an anxious heart, she received an answer that seemed to ask why she would even ask something so obvious.
“He can’t be afraid of water forever, can he? I’m not going to raise my son to be a coward. He has to overcome it. I’m going to say that.”
“You mean to take him back to the lake?”
“Of course not! We have to start from a smaller place first.”
“Uncle!”
Startled, Rowena desperately stopped Jeremy.
“Damian is still afraid of water. He hates it so much he won’t even use the bathtub when washing.”
“Then we must resolve that phobia before it’s too late. Are you going to leave it be?”
“That’s—!”
Just as Rowena faltered at the rapid-fire words, a cold voice interjected from behind.
“The child falls under the parents’ jurisdiction, so we will handle it ourselves.”
“......Dear.”
Killian, who had appeared without her noticing, took Rowena’s hand and led her out of the room. He quickly led her to the study before Jeremy could catch up. The moment the door clicked shut with a thud, Rowena was pulled into a tight embrace from behind.
“Killian......?”
“I’ve been waiting.”
Killian rested his chin on her slender shoulder and whispered into her left ear. The heat that began at her left ear from his hot breath spread to her cheek and nape. Blushing with embarrassment, Rowena placed her hand on her waist to loosen his grip.
“U-Uncle said he was packing his bags. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. What’s the problem if that old man leaves?”
“Killian!”
Rather than withdrawing his hand, Killian wrapped his arms around her waist even tighter and planted a kiss on her nape. Gasping, Rowena took a short breath and pushed him away with a trembling voice.
“He is my one and only blood relative.”
“Your family is me and Damian.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
It felt like being blocked by a solid wall. It was the first time she had felt this way since their hearts had connected. Letting out a small sigh, Rowena twisted her body to escape his embrace.
“Jeremy is the one who raised me. He’s no different from my parents.”
“That’s why I’m holding back.”
“…….”
At the bland reply, Rowena clamped her mouth shut like a mute who had eaten honey. Killian’s words were true.
Due to various circumstances, the marriage had been held in secret and the honeymoon omitted. Instead, Killian had wanted to spend time alone with her often in the castle. But every time, he had been blocked by Jeremy’s interference.
—Rowena! I was looking for you. Come here.
—Rowena! Come look at this.
—Rowena!
Whenever the couple was in an intimate atmosphere, the bedroom door would burst open without warning. The servants and maids, including Jenok, tried to stop him, but they couldn’t aggressively obstruct him because he was the Duchess’s one and only blood relative and uncle. Killian’s lukewarm attitude also played a significant part.
“If it were anyone else, by now...... mph.”
“Stop.”
Rowena covered his mouth with one hand as he was about to utter something murderous, and raised her eyebrows.
“Don’t say anything more. I’ll say it again: he’s my uncle. Your wife’s blood.”
Instead of answering, Killian swept down the hand covering his mouth and bit her finger.
“Ah!”
“I know. But there’s something you need to know too.”
“Killian!”
“I’m your husband.”
Killian licked the small tooth mark on her index finger with his tongue and looked down at his wife with eyes that seemed ready to devour her. Rowena stepped back and averted her gaze.
“Didn’t you say you would serve me like a goddess?”
“I said not in bed.”
The beast bared its teeth and growled. Rowena stammered under the suffocating pressure.
“W-we’re not in bed yet.”
“Then allow me to escort you there.”
“Kyak!”
Killian reached out and lifted Rowena into his arms like a princess. The flustered Rowena pushed against his chest.
“Ah, it’s still broad daylight!”
“All the better. At night, that intruder comes barging in.”
“Killian! ......Ah!”
Before she could refute him, a soft bed touched her back. Killian climbed over her so she couldn’t escape and undid the buttons at his collar one by one. Rowena’s gaze was captivated by the broad, firm shoulders and prominent collarbone slowly being revealed. When she unconsciously reached out her hand, Killian placed his own over the back of hers and made her touch his cheek.
“Have you had your fill of the view, my lady?”
His secretive gaze made her feel as if she had become a noblewoman carrying on an affair.
Intertwining her fingers one by one, Killian captured her other hand as well and leaned down. At his face suddenly drawing near, Rowena held her breath.
She saw him every day and had grown used to him, but when their faces were this close, her mind went blank like a sheet of paper.
Well-defined eyebrows and slightly deep-set vivid blue eyes, lips with heavy pigmentation. Ten years had passed since they first met, but as he aged, the elegance etched into his body and the breathtaking sensuality only grew.
Just as their lips were about to touch, Rowena squeezed her eyes shut and barely recalled one thing.
“Eye drops!”