ADLG 28

Chapter 28

Even though the night was deep, Heinrich couldn’t fall into a peaceful sleep.

Perhaps because of that, he would wake up every time someone walked through the corridor.

And for a while now, he had been hearing slow footsteps circling near his bedroom.

At first, he thought it was the butler or his nanny.

Since Heinrich had been feeling down, the two of them were clearly worried about him.

But after waking up repeatedly to the sound, he realized it wasn’t either of them.

The footsteps were too regular—so precise that hearing them made one’s back straighten unconsciously.

Heinrich gradually realized who the owner of those footsteps was.

“It seems… the lady is outside my room.”

He blinked and then pushed the blanket aside, getting up.

Many thoughts crossed his mind, but more than anything, he couldn’t bear not knowing why Livenia had come to see him.

When he opened the door and peeked out, Livenia gasped in surprise.

However, as always, she quickly composed herself and spoke in a calm voice.

“Your Grace, are you feeling well?”

“I’m fine. It itches more than it hurts, so I can’t sleep.”

He said it calmly on purpose, trying to appear composed.

But Livenia only frowned more in response.

“I should find a doctor outside the ducal estate. There must be someone skilled in skin treatment.”

That wasn’t what he meant.

After a moment of hesitation, Heinrich opened the door wider.

“Madam, instead of standing in the corridor, would you come in and talk?”

Normally, Livenia would have refused—but today, she nodded.

When she entered, Heinrich hurried to light the magestone lamp, but then stopped and instead lit a candle placed in the corner.

He had heard that Livenia rarely used magestones for the household’s sake, so using them in front of her felt childish.

He felt embarrassed by such unusual thoughts but couldn’t stop himself.

“Your Grace, come sit here. I can light the candle.”

“No, it’s fine. Let’s sit together.”

Livenia did not press him further and instead matched his pace as they sat on the sofa.

The two sat side by side, watching the flickering candlelight.

Perhaps because he had been scolded earlier, Heinrich didn’t know what to say.

He even wondered if she had come to finish what she hadn’t been able to say earlier.

But after a long silence, what Livenia said was completely different from what he expected.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace.”

“…Pardon?”

“For raising my voice at you during the day. I regret it.”

“Oh, no! That was my fault. I deserved to be scolded. I even asked you to teach me properly!”

He waved his hands in protest.

But Livenia still didn’t look convinced.

“You are diligent in fulfilling your duties as the duke, so I will also be honest with you.”

“With me?”

“My mother, the former Countess Pselin, suffered from a long illness. She was in great pain until the moment she passed away. Because of that… I find it difficult when someone suffers in front of me.”

She lowered her head.

Perhaps embarrassed to confess this flaw, her once pale face turned bright red.

“How foolish, isn’t it? Because of this weak and foolish heart, I may have been too harsh with you.”

“Harsh? Not at all!”

“No. In my shock earlier, I treated you carelessly. The first thing I should have said to you was something else.”

Livenia slowly lifted her head.

She took Heinrich’s injured hand and brought it close to her lips—so close it looked like a kiss, or like she was unable to bring herself to kiss it.

“Thank you sincerely. You saved my life.”

The most beautiful, elegant golden-haired angel Heinrich had ever seen. A proud woman who, despite her embarrassment, always said what needed to be said.

“If it were necessary to protect your life, I would have thrown myself into danger without hesitation. And yet I criticized your courage. I am ashamed.”

It was the most solemn sight Heinrich had ever witnessed.

He couldn’t say a word, completely dazed.

Seeing this, Livenia lowered her head again, eyes reddening.

“If this is not enough as an apology, you may punish me however you wish.”

“Punish? No, that’s not what I—”

He hurriedly tried to refuse, but a sudden thought flashed in his mind.

“Well… I do have one request, if that’s okay…”

In the end, Heinrich got everything he had wanted from the recent poisoning incident.

In society, it became known that Livenia had punished the traitors on Heinrich’s orders.

He had initially refused, feeling like he was stealing Livenia’s credit, but she was firm.

“It was because you began the investigation that I was able to act.”

In the end, Heinrich accepted.

Because it made it easier for him to achieve what he wanted.

Once the traitors within the ducal estate were gone, Livenia’s attitude clearly changed.

If Heinrich made a light joke during meals, she responded with a natural smile. If he suggested a tea party in the garden, she did not refuse.

And sometimes, she even came to his bedroom to wake him personally.

Those moments were Heinrich’s favorites.

When Livenia’s warm hand brushed his forehead, cheeks, and earlobes, he would be gently pulled from deep sleep.

“Good morning, Heinrich.”

And when she called his name in that gentle voice, there was no better morning than that.

His request from that day had been simple: to call him by name.

He had been calling her “Madam,” but Livenia seemed to think it was just an affectionate form of address.

If he asked her to call him “dear” or something similar, she would surely be uncomfortable.

But “Your Grace” felt too distant.

So a name was best.

Fortunately, she had not refused—and she now called him by name regularly.

The two also talked far more than before.

Because they often had tea in the garden, Heinrich could finally ask the questions he had always been curious about.

The first thing he asked was whether she had been disappointed in him after the poisoning incident.

At that question, Livenia was so startled she covered her mouth with both hands.

“Me, test you? How could I ever do such a thing?”

“But as soon as I was injured, you immediately exposed all the traitors. I couldn’t understand why you didn’t act sooner when you had the ability…”

“I’ll make this clear. That was not a test.”

She raised one finger firmly, looking like a strict teacher.

“First, I couldn’t identify all the traitors either. I suspected a few, including the head maid, but there was no solid evidence. Punishing without evidence only breeds distrust.”

When Livenia entered teacher mode, Heinrich naturally shifted into student mode and nodded diligently.

Punishment without evidence leads to distrust. He made sure to remember it.

“Second, their target wasn’t you—it was me. If I had exposed them immediately, the already chaotic estate would have been thrown into further turmoil. If you hadn’t been injured this time, I would have continued observing them.”

“That’s…”

He began to speak, but Livenia cut him off gently but firmly.

“Third, you wanted to catch them yourself. I believed you might succeed, and I wanted to give you that opportunity. It wasn’t a test—it was a chance.”

A chance.

That meant trust.

Heinrich’s heart beat faster.

As he mulled over her words, Livenia smiled slightly.

“What was the second thing you wanted to say?”

“Oh—about the second reason. If the traitors were targeting you, weren’t you in danger too?”

“What matters most to me is the safety of you and House Baldwin. That’s why I am here.”

That still sounded strange to him. His cheek puffed slightly.

“My mother said even sixteen-year-olds aren’t adults.”

Livenia’s eyes widened in surprise.

He felt oddly proud that he had startled her.

“If that’s true, then by your logic, aren’t you also a child who should be protected by adults?”

Livenia seemed momentarily speechless.