Yelena was forced to lie on the bed and grumbled, “It’s because you came late. Even if I asked you to come at night, did you have to come at this hour?”

Thanks to him, she had prepared everything and had waited a long time.

All she needed to do was to lie down and close her eyes.

“I almost fell asleep while waiting for you. Were you going to apply the medicine on me after I fell asleep? That’s too much.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

Her vision couldn’t adjust immediately due to the sudden darkness.

However, Yelena could feel the weak shaking of the mattress on the bed, indicating that Duke Mayhard had laid down.

“My work ended a lot later than I thought…”

“Are you genuinely sorry?”

“…”

“If you’re really sorry…”

“No way.”

He refused before she could even say anything.

Of course, she was planning to ask for the exact thing he was thinking of.

Yelena pursed her lips again.

“Okay, okay. I’ll give up for today.”

‘Today.’ It was a meaningful word.

“Oh, okay.”

“In regards to Incan, did he confess how he made the medicine?” Yelena asked while lying down.

A medicine that allowed a virgin maiden to have a baby by herself.

No matter how much Yelena thought about the ingredients and how he created it, she couldn’t figure it out.

‘Alchemy and magic… Was it something like that?’

Since it was a direct violation of the laws of nature, it was a high possibility.

In truth, if Incan wasn’t an aristocrat, he would have been regarded as a demon or an equivalent evil entity and would have been burned immediately.

In a way, his medicine dared to create life from nothing.

As Yelena thought about it, she received the answer.

“He said he mixed the blood of a beast.”

“Blood of a beast?”

Yelena, who turned to lie on her side, blinked.

“Are there any beasts that can become pregnant alone?”

It was strange.

No way.

Every animal in the world that Yelena knew about was either male or female.

Which beast was it?

As far as it was known, there were male and female monsters, and they gave birth to an offspring through mating.

Additionally, even if there were such beasts or monsters, the effect of their blood entering the human body was another problem.

Duke Mayhard added as if he understood Yelena’s confused reaction.

“He didn’t seem to know what kind of beast’s blood it was. First of all, I’m going to investigate the ingredients of the medicine I got during the interrogation.”

“I see…”

Beast blood.

It was an ingredient that never crossed her mind.

‘Was it a lie? It turned out that he used a nonsensical ingredient that couldn’t be ingested without vomiting…’

Yelena mulled over the reasonable suspicions.

Then she gave a small yawn.

Anyway, it was late, and she was getting drowsy because she had too many things to worry about during the day.

Yelena struggled to stop herself from falling asleep right away.

“You know…”

“Yes?”

“You… If you’ve held a sword since the age of six ,that means you have held a sword for almost 20 years, right?”

“That’s right.”

“These days… do you often train with a sword?”

Yelena’s voice slowed to a point where it was noticeable.

Duke Mayhard answered softly, “I do.”

“Really? But why don’t I see….”

In fact, it was natural that Yelena did not see it.

The places she faced Duke Mayhard were mainly in the dining room or the office.

Those were very inappropriate places to train with a sword.

Yelena, who was thinking about the fact, added, “I think… I’ll have to visit the training ground next time.”

“…”

“Tell me when you train in advance, so I’ll know and can go to the training ground on time.”

“…”

“… Okay?”

Duke Mayhard was about to open his mouth to answer.

But, at that moment, he heard a sharp breath.

He closed his mouth and stared at his sleeping partner.

Although not enough time had passed for a normal person’s eyes to adapt to the darkness, Duke Mayhard’s vision was still sharp.

He didn’t move as if he was afraid of waking his sleeping partner. Instead, he watched her until she fell into a deep sleep.

***

At dawn…

A faint light leaked from the study next to Yelena’s bedroom.

It was the light from a video sphere that played a recorded video.

Somehow, it was the video sphere that Yelena had ordered the butler to dispose of during the day.

“So… what is worrying the Duchess?”

Furthermore, the recorded conversation that Yelena had confirmed was erased had flowed out of the video sphere.