Christa walked and walked and walked. She was walking on a field of white snow, and despite her thin clothing, she wasn’t cold at all. The white snow felt different under her feet. At first, the sensation was fun, so she kept stepping on the snow.

Her footprints stamped on the snow with the sound of squishing. Even though she was barefoot, her toes didn’t feel cold. The snow falling from the sky was warm, like pollen. Christa walked and walked and walked in the snow.

In the distance, someone was calling to her. She couldn’t hear the voice, but she could sense it.

Over the distant mountains, she could see something shining. She couldn’t wait to see it, so she had to run. She was out of breath and struggling to climb the mountain.

She decided to take a break, so she sat down near a rock to catch her breath. Then someone patted her on the back. She turned around and saw a lion cub scratching at the hem of her skirt with its thick front paws.

It was the king of the lions, so even if it was a cub, it was as big as a hunting dog. But strangely, she felt no fear.

She reaches out and he squirms, and when she nips at the nape of his neck, he turns over to show her his belly.

She heard him purr, and he rubbed against her for a while, and it was so cute to be picked up. The sound of his raspy voice and the sight of his clear, brilliant golden eyes make her heart grow heavy.

‘Was it you who called for me?’

Instead of answering, he let out a small yawn and burrowed into her arms. Instinctively, she knew it was him who had called her. She kissed the nape of his neck.

As she burrowed through his soft underbelly fur, she smelled the warmth of sunlight. It smelled like the warmth of summer, like the smell of stewed milk.

When she opened her eyes, she realized she’d been dreaming. It was so vivid that Christa opened her eyes to check if a lion cub is in her arms. But she quickly regained her sense of reality. She blinked and looked around.

The banquet would last a week. The first day she was laid up with a fever, but the next day she was fine. At night, however, she would wake up with a low-grade fever and quickly fall asleep.

Her body felt weak. She often dropped things she held in her fingertips, and she was constantly feeling languid. Hilda and Annette offered to call the doctor whenever she felt like it, but she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, since she was just feeling lazy and sleepy.

She didn’t want to make a big deal out of it because she saw Dr. Kenneth at least once a week. Today was the day to see him for a routine checkup.

He gave her a quick checkup with a morning dose of medicine.

“Your pulse is still too weak. You must continue to take the medicine pills I make.”

She nodded, as she had been taking the horrible-tasting pills every day.

“You’re eating your meals on time, right?”

Since coming to this place, she’s naturally been eating a lot more since she’s been in the company of the people who has been so desperate to feed her at every mealtime.

Also, since she had recently started working in the garden, she often felt hungry, and watching the people here eat made her feel appetite for some reason.

So she was eating more than ever before. But it didn’t seem to bother them.

“You should eat a little more. You’re still too thin.”

“I think I’m already feeling sluggish…….”

Lately, that feeling has been increasing. She felt like she was gaining weight. But Kenneth was relentless.

“You still have a long way to go!”

Christa’s mobility came from being skinny, so she was always wary of getting heavier.

“Don’t think you’ve gotten sluggish, and don’t you do that these days?”

“That?”

Kenneth nodded vigorously.

“Why, aren’t you work out in the morning on the range? I thought that was pretty good.”

“Oh……. Well, things came up.”

“Why don’t you get back to it, if you can?”

Kenneth said that good nutrition, proper exercise, and getting enough sleep is the only way to truly take care of your body.

“Let me think about it.”

“How’s your sleep, I thought you used to have a good night’s sleep. If you’d like, I can prescribe a tea to help you sleep in the evening.”

“Oh, that’s just that I’m constantly sleepy these days…….”

She was still feeling sleepy. She managed to stifle a yawn.

“That’s a good symptom. Since you’ve been so sleep deprived, you should try to get as much sleep as you can while you can.”

“Okay…….”

Kenneth scribbled something on a piece of paper, giving instructions to his assistant.

“It’s my job to keep an eye on your body, Madame. You’re not quite there yet, but you’ll get there.”

Christa closed her eyes again. For some reason, she felt so weak that she couldn’t move a muscle in her body.

* * *

Soon after the Alliance meeting, Ragnar was scheduled to make an inspection of the estate. His departure date was set for two days later.

Today, work on the portrait resumed, having been interrupted by the long banquet. Much progress had been made while Christa was away. Ragnar in particular had been painted quite a bit.

“You are amazing.”

It was Ragnar’s face, even if it wasn’t quite there yet in all its detail. He had this expression on his face, a stern, righteous look. She could tell it was him just by looking at his unfinished features.

It was then that Michel spoke up.

“I can sense that the Duke is truly in love with you.”

“What?”

She exclaimed out loud. As in conjugal love?

In fact, only a few noble couples married out of love. They were usually married through arranged marriages, so such tepid feelings were not supposed to exist.

Though they weren’t even in an arranged marriage, theirs was a contract marriage, so where’s the room for love?

But the artist seemed unwilling to change his opinion.

“You can tell by the look in the Duke’s eyes. He has the eyes of a man in love.”

“Well, where is such a thing…….”

She asked, and Michel’s eyes lit up.

“Trust me. A man with eyes like that can’t possibly see anything else. I know a thing or two about love.”

Christa hung her head. Surely he was lying to her, she thought, just trying to sound nice.

It couldn’t be true. Love, that was too much.

“And madam too.”

“What?”

“You love your husband, don’t you?”

At that moment, she felt as if she had been pierced through the head with an enemy spear. She woke up as if pierced by something sharp.

“Ah, that…….”

Her heart was beating fast. She could hear it pounding in her ears. Her cheeks felt hot. The corners of her mouth kept twitching, but she kept them shut for fear of making a strange sound.

“That…….”

A single teardrop escaped. She clenched her teeth and tried to hold it back, but she couldn’t stop the sobs from escaping.

“Heuk…….”

The suddenness of her tears caused Michel to panic and he fumbled for a handkerchief. But once the tears started, they didn’t stop easily.

Christa had already realized: how could she not love him?

He was more priceless and precious than anyone she had ever known. He always wrapped her in a warm, fuzzy embrace. So how could she not love him?

But there was a definite end to this relationship. She didn’t know if she would be able to survive the end of this contract marriage.

* * *

She doesn’t remember how she fell asleep that night. She drifted off into a light sleep, only to be awakened by a figure approaching the door. It was Ragnar.

It felt like she hadn’t seen him in quite some time.

“I didn’t mean to wake you up…….”

“I must have slept a lot during the day, so I can’t sleep.”

There was still a hint of sleep in her voice as she said it.

“Sleep more.”

Then a large palm came up over Christa’s eyes. She could smell the alcohol from his breath. He’s had too much to drink.

She opened her eyes again, startled by the embrace. Ragnar chuckled at her nervousness.

“I won’t do it.”

“W, what.”

“I’ll just stay like this.”

They lay still, cuddling for a while. Except Christa couldn’t sleep anymore. Her heart was pounding like it was going to explode, and it was driving her crazy. Her heart was beating so loudly it could have reached him.

“I know you’ve been feeling under the weather lately, but I hope you don’t think I’m some kind of beast who’d take advantage of my sick wife.”

Then he laughs. His laugh tickles.

His touch was so gentle. Holding on to him like this, she kept feeling delusional. That she’s become someone special. That she had become something precious. And maybe, just maybe, he was sharing his heart.

But it was only an illusion, so if she had to name this affection, it was definitely a sweet poison.

“I’m sorry…….”

“For what?”

His voice sounded genuinely puzzled. But Christa couldn’t answer him. Her tears threatened to fall, but she held them back.

She would have given anything for him, even her own body if he had lusted after it so wildly; if there was any benefit to that primal act, it was that she could rub her hurt body against his for warmth.

It was cold, like frost on her chest. She shivered uncontrollably. Then there was a warmth that wrapped around her back, a warmth that felt even better when she realized it was guidance from him.

Christa lay in the warmth for a long time before she drifted off to sleep.

When she opened her eyes, Ragnar was gone, gone as the dawn. She should have at least seen him off, but instead, she slept on. Christa was filled with remorse.

Her sensitivity to someone’s every move was almost the only thing she had going for her, and now her useless body was failing her when it really mattered.

She let out a deep sigh. She couldn’t get the negative thoughts out of her head. She washed her face with lukewarm water and ate a late breakfast.

“I wonder if it’s because I really don’t feel well…….”

She remembered that Kenneth had recommended that she try to get back to her morning training. So today, she thought she’d just visit the training center and see what it was like.

“Madame!”

Joachim and a number of other knights were in the training center. When Joachim spotted Christa, he came running up to her, a smile on his face like a lion cub in her dream.

“Oh, what’s that in your hand!”

Christa had brought a sword with her today, a rapier that had once been rewarded to her by the Emperor.

“So this is the sword the Emperor gave you!”

Joachim exclaimed, and Christa took the sword out of its sheath and showed it off. The other knights gathered around, interested in her sword.