Thirty minutes ago.

Tidwell climbed into the carriage after taking care of the funeral papers.

Resting on his face was an uncharitable quiet that contradicted the sound of carriage rattling.

A devilish expression that Ravia would surely find unfamiliar if she were to see it.

In fact, that was Tidwell’s bare face.

He could count the number of times he had shown it to Ravia using the fingers of one hand.

But no moment existed when he had removed his mask since Duke Leontine’s death.

He could never do that whenever he faced Ravia.

Even he found it hard to fathom how he could tolerate wearing such a suffocating mask and faking everything.

Maybe because Ravia had been lying to his face for too long.

The time he spent with Ravia was always imbued with tension. Ravia wasn’t the only one who put on a front.

At first, it was acting. But as time went by, the feelings turned into self-restraint.

Tidwell always had to pull himself together in front of Ravia.

But Duke Leontine’s death was the beginning that severed all the strings.

The moment Tidwell earned the hatred of the woman he desired so much, he no longer hid anything.

And he watched Ravia lying in her bed for a few days.

Tidwell’s dry eye traced the area around the woman who was dead asleep. A spacious room and bed that was too large for one person.

And the ghastly woman who laid on top of it.

Tidwell didn’t leave her side for five days straight until Ravia regained consciousness.

He didn’t know what to say even if he were asked the reason.

Why on earth did he do that?

Of course, he’d do that, right? He was afraid of losing Ravia. But no, it was nothing like a roller-coaster of emotions.

Ravia’s collapse left him feeling as though his glass showcase had shattered. But that didn’t last long.

The family doctor who rushed in insisted that Ravia was alright.

–My lady was just stunned due to extreme shock. It’s nothing life-threatening.

–Re-examine her. How can you say it’s a non-issue when someone who was fine suddenly collapsed?

–My answer will be the same no matter how many times I examine her, young master. Usually, the issue arises when people who are shocked fall and suffer a concussion, but fortunately it didn’t happen to her.

–Then, when will she regain consciousness?

–Well, that’s a bit hard to say. It depends on the person and the situation, but she should waken in half a day since she was healthy before.

The doctor continued.

–Normally, the recovery of people who have lost consciousness due to mental issues depends upon the person concerned. I can only prescribe medicines after she regains consciousness, so all I can say is for us to wait and watch her for now.

Tidwell waited at her bedside day and night following the doctor’s advice.

Except for a few occasions, he acted like he was chained to that place.

It felt even weirder that everything seemed normal except for the fact that he didn’t leave the bed for one second.

He did fare well while Ravia was unconscious.

There was a lot of work to do since it wasn’t simply a funeral of a small family, but a grand and distinguished noble family.

He barely rested because on top of concealing the murder, he had to handle the things regarding Cosmo and the Dark Flower.

He sat near the bed while dealing with everything.

He often slept while sitting and ate snacks that the servants brought.

He was faring so well. Maybe.

He wondered how he should explain the empty feeling he had at that time.

What should he answer if anyone asked why he didn’t leave the bed.

Sometimes, if Ravia hadn’t moved, he would put his finger under her nose to see if she was breathing.

He dozed off and jolted awake to confirm Ravia was still breathing, like a man beaten in the head.

Every time Ravia woke up for a moment, he would babble about what happened recently like a wind-up doll.

There was nothing normal about intense emotions like loss and possessiveness.

A feeling that was neither happy nor sad.

But there was one thing for sure.

Five days later, Ravia gazed at him and called his name.

–Tidwell.

Only then he felt true joy.

Maybe that was when his mask broke.

A mask that never allowed him to cry and laugh.

‘…I think it’s all good now.’

Ravia opened her eyes after five days. What’s there to hide in this relationship at this point?

He was perfectly satisfied with the present.

Especially now that Ravia regained consciousness and stayed by his side.

Of course, killing off Duke Leontine left quite an aftershock, but he didn’t regret it at all.

Especially when he realized how many problems could be resolved with ease once Duke Leontine was gone from the scene.

‘The conflict crumbled along with his death.’

The conflict between the high-ranking noble and the Blue.

The death of Duke Leontine, the biggest influential figure, tipped the scales in Blue’s favor.

‘That’s only natural when they lost the central figure who was in charge of keeping the status quo.’

A notable figure such as Marquis Callister could hold out just fine, but he was more well-known for his frequent outside activities.

The high society was losing its footing once their actual key figure disappeared.

The high-ranking nobles avoided going outside with the excuse of paying tribute to the late Duke Leontine, when in fact, they were hiding their confusion.

‘And the current emperor is unwilling to make a shift.’

The outcome was quite predictable even in the eyes of a non-noble.

Even though the conflict between the emerging power and the established power had deepened this much, it was obvious that he wouldn’t take any action.

He was waiting for the Crown Prince’s ascension so he could step back as soon as possible.

Would the Emperor be willing to reveal the evidence of Dark Flower to the public?

Throwing a third party into the lion’s mouth was only possible when two forces were balanced.

It was obvious that if he were to reveal the Dark Flower now, the thing that he tried to keep in balance would come crashing down.

‘And that’s exactly what the Emperor doesn’t want.’

So Tidwell was right. Duke Leontine’s death was the simplest and easiest solution.

Everything would be fine once Ravia succeeded the duchy.

For that, Tidwell headed to the Imperial Palace as soon as the funeral papers were completed.

‘I can’t be at ease even if my sister seems so compliant now.’

After all, Ravia was the one who poked at his weakness no matter how much he monitored her.

There was no telling whether she would try to fight back after recovering from the shock of her father’s death.

‘Maybe it will only end when one of us dies.’

So Tidwell wanted to finish the procedure as soon as possible.

The procedure to make Ravia the head of Leontine, and name himself as the representative.

‘If I become a representative, she won’t be able to expel me.’

It would be a different story if he was an unauthorized family representative.

As it would be very complicated to discharge someone who already became your family representative.

Unless there was another substitute, Leontine only had Tidwell and Ravia as it stood.

If she couldn’t remove Tidwell due to one restriction or another, she would eventually become accustomed to living with Tidwell.

No matter how twisted and broken their feelings were, everything would crumble in the face of loneliness.

That was how Ravia would accept him as her family.

And by then, voluntarily or not, she wouldn’t be able to let him go.

Be it as a sibling or partner. It didn’t matter as long as he could stay next to her.

As long as he could do that, he thought he could forever escape the emptiness that he felt for the five days he waited for Ravia to wake up. Escape from the thirst that surged whenever he thought of Ravia. Forever.

The moment Tidwell lost himself in such thoughts.

The ear-splitting knell of a bell thundered suddenly.

In an instant, a loud scream was heard everywhere throughout the square, and the carriage shook violently.

Neigh-!

The horse reared uncontrollably while the coachman lost his grip of the reins due to the suddenness.

The carriage tilted out of control as the horse ran at full-speed.

‘Something’s off.’

The moment he tried to jump from the shaking carriage and before he could even register the sinking feeling he had before.

Bang!

As the horse tried to cross over the underpass, the careening carriage ended up falling under it.