Chapter 22
The sight of her small body staggering as she ran was so absurd that he had only meant to scare her a little. Even while saying everything she wanted, she acted so boldly with that frightened face. It irritated him. That was all. He had never expected her to be this scared.
The moment he saw Nita lose her footing and fall down the stairs, Chase rushed forward and caught her in his arms. It was an instinctive action, done without time to think.
Crash!
With a loud noise, the two of them tumbled down the stairs.
“Kyaah! A-are you both alright?!”
“I’ll go call someone right away!”
The two maids nearby screamed and quickly ran out toward the lobby.
Slightly lifting his head, Chase looked around. He had ordered all the servants to search for Nita Grace, but just where on earth were they searching? Aside from those two maids just now, there wasn’t a single presence. Had they assumed she wasn’t in the main building and were searching the annex or outside?
“Haah, damn it.”
Pain spread through his entire body. But something else came first. Chase looked down at the woman in his arms. Nita Grace was clinging to him as if she had fainted.
Her body was so limp that it made him think, for a moment, that her heart had stopped from shock. Focusing a little more, he fortunately felt a faint breath. Only after confirming she was fine did Chase finally drop his head back onto the floor with a soft thud.
She said she had gotten healthier, but maybe it was only in appearance. She was absurdly light. He could barely even feel the weight of holding her.
Through the thin one-piece dress, the sensation from her back pressed against his arm felt like nothing but bone, as if only skin remained. It was a sensation he had been familiar with since childhood.
One he did not like.
Chase removed his arm from where he had been holding her tightly. Only then did the throbbing pain rising from various parts of his body become clear.
He closed his eyes for a moment. Nothing seemed broken. It had been a sudden incident, but as someone blessed by the wolf, he possessed a body far stronger than others. This kind of ache would disappear before long as if it had never existed. However, separate from his physical condition, he needed a bit of time.
Time to suppress the irritation surging up within him.
After a while, he felt Nita, who had been clinging to him like a corpse, press against his chest and lift her upper body. Assuming she would naturally get up and move away, Chase didn’t move at all. But then her hand tightly grabbed his shirt at the chest.
“I-if you die… you can’t… die…”
Her small, tearful voice and the faint trembling of her body were clearly conveyed.
Who’s dying?
Chase opened his eyes in disbelief.
Through the strands of long, flowing blonde hair, he could see Nita Grace’s face. There was one thing about her that hadn’t changed at all since the first time he saw her, despite how unrecognizable she had become in just ten days.
Her eyes.
Clear, vivid pink eyes. Those large eyes were filled to the brim with tears.
Did she really think I died?
“I’m not dead.”
Because Nita’s face had gone completely pale, Chase spoke as calmly as possible. It would be troublesome if, after saving her, she ended up dying of shock from something like cardiac arrest.
Yet even after confirming he was fine, Nita remained frozen. Thinking she might not have understood, he spoke again with emphasis.
“Did you hear me? I said I’m not dead.”
At that moment, Nita nodded her head, and tears fell from her eyes in drops.
“If you understand, move.”
Afraid that touching her might cause something to break again, he spoke while still pinned beneath her. Even so, she didn’t move, only letting tears fall one after another. He felt like he could grab her by the waist and lift her aside just like that, but just in case, Chase examined her body.
Did something really break again?
As his gaze moved down from the top of her head to her neck, shoulders, and arms, his eyes fell upon her pale legs. The white one-piece dress that had reached her ankles had ridden up precariously to the end of her thighs. It seemed slightly better than before, but she was still terribly thin. Suddenly, Logan’s words came to mind. that she looked like she could fly.
If you threw her from the top of the castle, it doesn’t seem entirely impossible that the wind would carry her away.
As he was thinking that, faint traces of abuse that had not yet fully healed came into Chase’s view. His mood soured. Seeing the injuries he had been trying to ignore irritated him.
Why do I have to feel this kind of unpleasantness?
At that moment, the belated commotion of servants rushing to the scene reached his ears.
“My goodness! Grand Duke!”
“Your Grace, Lady Nita! Are you alright?!”
Hearing Logan and the other subordinates rushing over from the front, Chase quickly pulled down Nita’s skirt, which had ridden up, back to her ankles.
After confirming that her skin was completely covered, he spoke bluntly.
“That’s enough. Move.”
“…It… hurts.”
She seemed to be mumbling something through her tears, but he couldn’t understand her.
Chase sharply furrowed his brows.
“Stop crying and speak.”
“M-my arm hurts…”
Sniffling, Nita finally forced the words out, then began to sob uncontrollably.
‘Haah.’
***
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