TPOTLPIM Chapter 6

The moment they opened the mansion door and stepped inside, a large dog that had been in the entrance hall came running toward the two of them, barking.

The dog, with its fluffy fur covering its entire face so much that one might wonder if it could see properly ahead, stood up on its front legs and was big enough that it came up to Cecilia's chest.

As the dog alternately jumped toward the soaked master and the woman, Teros calmed the animal down.

"Rox, stop. Nothing's wrong, so don't make a fuss."

When Teros spoke, Rox seemed to understand and no longer jumped toward the two people, instead just circling around them.

"Do you happen to be afraid of dogs? This fellow will follow anyone the master likes."

Seeing Teros's eyes that seemed to say not to worry, Cecilia gave an awkward smile. It was words that hinted that Rox would soon follow Cecilia as well, and that she would continue living with Rox from now on.

"Master, you've come home. My goodness!"

Upon seeing the two water-soaked people, the servants began bustling about.

The maids stripped off Cecilia's wet clothes and prepared warm bath water, and while she soaked in the bathtub shaking off the cold, they served her warm tea.

Since the mansion's master was an unmarried man, there were no nightgowns for noble ladies, leaving Cecilia with no choice but to wear Teros's oversized robe.

Thanks to the swift maids, Cecilia was able to comfortably dry her hair and lie down on the bed.

She rolled her body this way and that within the covers.

The touch of the bedding against her bare skin was soft. Though it was a guest room in another person's mansion, not her own home, her heart felt strangely at ease thanks to the maids' devoted service and care.

Until Teros entered that room.

At the sound of knocking, Cecilia thought it was one of the maids and told them to come in.

But when the door opened and the sound of someone walking into the room felt too heavy to be a maid's footsteps, she turned her head and was so startled that she even stumbled over her words.

"Te, Teros! What are you doing here!"

She pulled the blanket that she had already drawn up to her chin even higher for no reason. Though what was beneath the blanket wouldn't be visible, the fact that she was wearing his robe was embarrassing too.

Teros looked down at her with a stoic expression. It couldn't be, but his eyes seemed like they could see right through to under the blanket, making Cecilia unconsciously curl up her body.

"I was curious whether you were resting well, so I came to check."

He placed the soup he had brought on a tray on the bedside table, then pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down.

"Of, of course! Thanks to your thoughtfulness."

She turned her gaze aside to hide her cheeks that had turned red from embarrassment.

Teros reached out and gently touched her forehead.

Though it was a careful touch, Cecilia squeezed her eyes shut because the situation felt unfamiliar, and seeing her expression, Teros removed his hand from her forehead.

"You seem to have a slight fever."

"I'll be fine after I sleep!"

Cecilia deliberately answered more cheerfully. Though she did have a slight fever from fatigue, her body had also heated up more from Teros's actions just now.

"I've sent a carriage to Count Serin's to bring a maid to attend to you. The maid will bring the necessary clothes, so please bear with it for a little while. It would be best if you stayed here tonight, so I'll prepare a separate place for the maid to sleep as well."

At the words to stay the night, Cecilia's eyes grew as wide as lanterns. She tried to sit up abruptly but remembered she was wearing Teros's robe and waved her hands frantically from within the blanket.

"Stay here for the night? I couldn't commit such impropriety! I'll return to Count Serin's before the day ends."

At the word 'impropriety,' Teros's eyebrows twitched once, going up and down. He carefully enveloped her hands that were placed on top of the blanket with both of his hands as if praying. His quite warm, large hands gripped her small hands with strength.

"You are the person who will become the mistress of this mansion. I cannot let you ride in a carriage with your ailing body."

Teros's quiet voice contained the resolve that he would absolutely not send her back like this.

"Earlier, when I thought I was going to lose you, it felt like the world was crumbling. I came to realize how precious you are to me. From now on, I will speak respectfully to you with the meaning of reverence."

Teros was reciting the emotions brought on by the love potion quite earnestly. So much so that if Cecilia loosened her guard even a little, she could mistake it for his true feelings.

'No matter how genuine it looks, that's a false emotion! A delusion caused by the love potion! I must not be deceived by this.'

Cecilia pulled herself together, steadying her heart that had almost gone soft without her knowing. Earlier, because Teros had been so unyielding, she had chosen the strategy of pretending to deliberate, but with his current gentle and vulnerable demeanor, he might accept her refusal.

"Teros. How much time does it take for one person to become precious to another? We have never shared such time together. Your feelings toward me are by no means normal."

"Whatever the trigger may be, what's important is the fact that I have come to harbor such feelings."

"That's!"

Too one-sided.

As Cecilia pondered how to express the words that had risen to her throat, Teros brought up another topic as if not wanting to give her time to think.

"Cecilia, if you eat some warm food, the chill in your body will go away. Even if it's uncomfortable, please sit up for just a moment."

He brought the soup bowl he had placed on the bedside table and took a large spoonful.

Cecilia's eyes widened. Was he really going to feed her the soup?

But for her, even sitting up on the bed was a challenge. Teros's large robe was inadequate to properly cover her body. She was barely hiding under the blanket, so she couldn't sit facing him in disheveled clothing.

"Um... if you leave the soup there, I'll eat it myself."

"I need to see you eating to feel at ease."

Right, this man was stubborn. Even about marriage, he pushed forward without an inch of compromise, so of course. Cecilia also felt spiteful and wanted to test just how stubborn this man could be.

"If I say I don't want to eat, will you force me?"

"I don't want to use force, so I'd prefer if Cecilia would eat voluntarily."

He didn't say he absolutely wouldn't force her even if he died. Confirming his iron-hard stubbornness that wouldn't let a needle through, Cecilia decided to resort to honesty as a last measure.

"Well, my clothes got soaked, so I don't have proper clothes to change into. We're not intimate enough to face each other in this state."

"Ah."

Teros, who grasped her meaning, let out a dry exclamation that conveyed realization. Judging by his reaction, it was clearly something he hadn't considered. After the short exclamation, a terrifyingly quiet stillness settled over the room.

He must have gotten the message by now. Cecilia lifted her head slightly to look at his face and was shocked. Teros's face was dyed as red as it could possibly get. And what about that expression of his? Even a teenage boy wouldn't wear such an inexperienced look.

Seeing her counterpart's flustered reaction only made Cecilia herself feel more embarrassed. The air in the room seemed to instantly take on weight and press down on her. Cecilia clutched tightly at the blanket edge that was covering up to her chin and pulled it even further up defensively. Feeling the heat rising hotly from the nape of her neck, she deliberately spoke loudly to hide her shame.

"What... what kind of thoughts are you having to make your face so red!"

"No, I wasn't thinking of anything."

At Cecilia's outcry, Teros composed himself and hardened his expression coldly, but somehow his words sounded more foolish than usual.

Just then, there was a knock and the butler came to inform them that the maid from Count Serin's estate had arrived. As if the chance to escape from the awkward atmosphere was welcome, Teros shot up like lightning.

"She's already here. Then I'll step away so you can have time alone with just the maid. And eat the soup before it gets cold."

No, this won't do! Having squabbled over the eating issue, she had lost the chance to persuade him about marriage.

Cecilia stretched her hand toward Teros's retreating figure, but he was already talking with someone outside the door. Before long, Dalein came rushing in with tears welling in her eyes, tightly gripping a bag with Cecilia's belongings.

"Miss, what kind of state is this? When I heard you had fallen into the water, how startled I was. And at a time when the master is away, of all things!"

Seeing Cecilia's appearance in the large robe, Dalein immediately took out a negligee from the bag and helped her into it.

After changing into her usual clothes, Cecilia felt much more comfortable and was able to eat a few spoonfuls of the soup Teros had left.

"Miss, tell me. What exactly happened?"

At Dalein's question, Cecilia grabbed her shoulders and whispered quickly.

"Listen carefully, Dalein. The lord of this estate asked me to marry him."

Dalein covered her mouth with both hands in surprise and looked at Cecilia with round rabbit eyes.

"Oh my, goodness! Isn't that a good thing, Miss!"

"A good thing? I have to run away. He's not just ordinarily obsessed with me. And how high-handed his personality is!"

Dalein tilted her head to one side as if she couldn't understand. When she had briefly greeted the mansion's master at the door, the man who had asked her to please take good care of Cecilia had a face filled with concern for her.

Could someone who spoke courteously in a requesting manner even to a servant like herself really be called high-handed?

"Miss, is that person really high-handed? Couldn't you meet with him more and then think about it?"

"I can't. If I try to take my time meeting him, I feel like the moment I let my guard down, I'll end up married."

Dalein looked around the spacious room decorated with classical furniture once.

"Miss, this house's master is young and handsome. And he possesses such a splendid mansion and estate like this. There must be women lined up wanting to marry this person, right? Isn't it too wasteful to refuse without getting to know him properly!"

At Dalein's words, Cecilia became absorbed in thoughts she had never entertained before. If the love potion hadn't been used, would she have refused Teros's proposal with such determination?

Certainly, Teros was charming. As he had said, in terms of conditions, there was no reason for Cecilia to turn him down.

What's more,

Teros's face that she had seen when she had just come to her senses on the ferry drifted about in her mind. His long eyelashes casting shadows, his lips reddened and standing out from the water, created an odd sensation against his complexion that had paled from surprise. The diverse expressions and looks that had flickered across his face moment by moment as she awakened.

She hadn't realized it at the time because she was so flustered, but the more she pondered it, the more it was a face that could bewitch a person and then some. She had known he was handsome originally, but it was a completely different sensation from his usual rigid demeanor.

'An enchanting fairy was right here all along!'

Cecilia shook her head back and forth, trying to drive Teros's image out of her mind.

'Pointless speculation about things that have already happened is unnecessary. If it weren't for the love potion, this situation wouldn't have arisen in the first place. Besides, he's Dmitri's younger brother.'

Refusing is the right choice.

When Cecilia shut her mouth with a resolute face, Dalein also decided to give her time to rest rather than ask further.

"Goodness, what am I doing. Miss, go to sleep for now. I'll wake you when it's time for the evening meal after you've rested a little."

The moment Dalein went out, Cecilia succumbed to the drowsiness that poured over her and closed her eyes.

How much time had gone by? Cecilia, who had dozed off completely, snapped her eyes open at Dalein's knock.

"Miss, dinner is ready. Shall I bring it to your room?"

"No, Dalein. I'll go down."

Cecilia, who had changed into a comfortable style of dress, moved her steps toward the lower floor. She put force into her footsteps with resolute determination.

She had to give thanks to Teros for rescuing her when she nearly died in the lake, and she also needed to make her position on marriage clear.

She would settle this matter cleanly during the meal. With a grave face, she flung open the dining room door.

But the moment the door opened, Cecilia could do nothing but stand rooted to that spot.

At the large dining table sat not only Teros but also another familiar person. Startled by the appearance of someone she never expected, her voice cracked as it came out.

"Wh, what are you doing here!"

"Good evening, Lady. I cannot tell you how surprised I was by news of the sudden accident."

At the tip of Cecilia's trembling finger stood Hadel, the head of House Odik.