5. What Kind of Relationship Do We Have?

In an instant, the duke who had transformed from Duke Torpeo to Mel didn’t know he would naturally leave Adeline’s side.

Adeline recalled when the duke woke up.

“Is that my name?”

“……What?”

“Mel, I mean.”

Asking if Mel was his name.

‘It seems the duke has lost his memory……’

Adeline looked at the duke with suspicious eyes.

He was the person who had mercilessly held a knife to her neck.

Now that same man was demanding answers from Adeline with eyes full of confusion.

Just like this.

“Where exactly is this place? More importantly, who are you? Argh…… Is my name really Mel?”

Adeline’s suspicion that the duke had lost his memory gradually turned into certainty.

Not knowing his name and not even knowing where he was.

The initial plan was to appear like a savior before the dying duke and become his lifesaver.

But the duke who immediately put a knife to her neck was somewhat different from what Adeline had expected.

‘Perhaps losing his memory is actually better.’

She didn’t know when the duke’s memory would return, but if she took good care of the injured duke, couldn’t she someday demand compensation for saving and protecting him?

If his memory didn’t return even after time passed, she would have to watch the situation and find a way.

Seeing hope, Adeline pretended not to know and began her gamble.

“Uh…… Mel, what are you saying? Do you really not remember your name?”

Mel was actually a word Adeline had shouted in her sleep, but at some point, it became the duke’s name.

The duke, who had so naturally become Mel, looked confused.

After all, how could Mel be considered a person’s name? Even a dog wouldn’t be called honey.

But Adeline pretended not to know. No other name came to mind, and above all, this man had brought it up first. She thought that if his memory returned, she could make the excuse that she simply didn’t want to confuse him.

The duke, trapped in confusion, soon looked down at the sticky shirt clinging to his body.

“I don’t understand at all. My headache is severe, and why am I so damp……”

“……”

“Why do I have no memories at all, and why do I look like this? Explain immediately.”

Adeline’s gaze toward the duke narrowed sharply.

It seemed that even with memory loss, a duke was still a duke. Judging by the naturally flowing authoritative demeanor.

‘How do I explain his injuries? I don’t even know why you look like this……’

She had only been spoiled by the comment that the duke would come to the villa injured.

Not knowing exactly where he had been injured like that, it was equally frustrating for her with no way to explain.

While she was contemplating.

Adeline recalled that the log bridge connecting the sea and the villa was broken. In that moment, her wit was displayed.

“You went out for some fresh air in the middle of the night and didn’t return for quite a while. I also wonder why you came back like this.”

“I did?”

“Yes! Mel. Where on earth did you go? I was so shocked when I saw you return with a huge hole in your shoulder. Sob sob.”

Adeline wiped away tears that hadn’t even formed with a handkerchief she pulled from her pocket.

“You were unconscious for days, as if poisoned by something you were stabbed with. Really, don’t you remember anything?”

The duke wore an expression as if he couldn’t understand.

Of course, there was nothing comprehensible in what Adeline had said.

But for Adeline, she couldn’t make up things she didn’t know.

She had to prepare for when this man’s memory returned, so she had made up something appropriate.

“Sigh. The important thing, Mel, is that you’ve woken up. Del is really happy. That you’re safe like this. Helena goddess truly helped us.”

The duke, who had maintained silence for a while, nodded slightly.

“I see.”

Whew.

Adeline breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the duke who seemed to accept it as is.

“Aren’t there any clothes to change into? No, more than that, I’d like to wash up.”

From his imperious attitude as soon as he opened his eyes to naturally listing demands as if expecting service.

‘He’s truly a duke to the bone.’

She wanted to throw it all away and shout ‘I’m also a lady from a marquis family!’ but how could a guest express complaints?

By now, Adeline had become accustomed to changing the duke’s clothes and cleaning him, so she moved automatically.

You sweated a lot. Let me see.

She naturally approached and began unbuttoning his shirt one by one.

Even as the duke’s firm chest was revealed through the gradually opening front of the shirt, Adeline’s expression remained unwavering.

Look at this sweat. Are you okay? We need to change the bandages too, so wait. I’ll help you change clothes.

Adeline decided to turn on her kindness mode for now.

So that even if his memory returned later, the duke would be moved by her deep consideration.

“You’ll help me change? Directly? You?”

It was such a natural gesture.

The duke stared blankly at the unbuttoning as if entranced. Only when reaching the last button did he reach out toward Adeline.

“Ugh.”

But he had to stop due to the pain that soon overwhelmed him.

Questions arose in his mind at the woman’s actions, so naturally undressing him.

The woman who didn’t care at all about what the duke might be thinking.

Adeline, who had unbuttoned his shirt with quick hand movements, left to find new bandages.

As the bedroom door closed and Adeline went outside, she let out the breath she had been holding.

As if her legs had lost strength, Adeline leaned against the closed door and bit her lip gently.

‘Is this really okay?’

She asked herself but couldn’t find a satisfactory answer.

Yes, let’s pretend to be close for now.

As if she had made up her mind, Adeline hurriedly gathered bandages and returned to the bedroom where Mel, not the duke, was waiting.

“Mel, did you wait? I’ll change your bandages right away.”

“Before that, who are you first…… Ugh.”

As if refusing to hear the duke’s question, Adeline tightly pulled the bandage she was unwrapping.

“Not ‘you’ but Del. You might not remember because of your memory loss, but we were on respectful terms. Will you please stop speaking informally now?”

Adeline smiled gently and pulled the bandage with force once more.

Although Adeline spoke in a gentle voice, the duke felt that there was no option to refuse.

‘Right. What are you going to do after losing your memory? I’m also a lady from the Marquis Credion family.’

“Was… was that so?”

Just as he unconsciously spoke informally again, the duke immediately added one syllable after seeing Adeline’s raised expression.

“……please?”

At that moment, Adeline’s stiff lips gradually loosened.

“Well done. Why can’t you remember when it’s not your head that’s injured?”

She smiled brightly and subtly scolded him.

“More than that, I’d like to wash up before changing clothes…… please.”

“Can you get up?”

Mel, feeling an inexplicable sense of defeat, got out of bed without answering.

“Ugh.”

Perhaps due to lying down for so long.

Mel swallowed a groan as soon as he got up from the bed, his legs losing strength.

“I’ll support you. Here.”

“Whatever……”

The duke, who had habitually uttered half-finished words again, parted his lips with a brief sigh.

“……please.”

The duke who had lost his memory was cuter than expected. It was like seeing a haughty large cat.

Before they knew it, the two had reached the bathroom door.

“Mel. Look at me.”

As if coaxing a child, Adeline turned Mel around.

Then she quickly finished unbuttoning the lower buttons that hadn’t been fully undone.

Starting from the right side, which was already half-exposed from unwrapping the bandage, the shirt fell off with a thud.

The body she hadn’t properly looked at because she was focused on treating the injured shoulder caught her eye.

The fully revealed abs boasted clear grooves as if they had been carved.

Countless fresh cuts marked his upper body, which didn’t have a single thread covering it.

‘How did he end up like this…?’

“Ahem. I want to take a bath……”

Oh. She kept losing focus whenever she looked at this man.

Adeline spoke nonchalantly to hide her embarrassment.

“Shall I help you bathe?”

“I’ll pass on the bath help, please leave……”

The duke quickly pushed Adeline out of the bathroom.

The duke’s earlobes, as he turned his head away, were as red as ripe cherries.

Taking large strides, he slammed the door and instantly disappeared into the bathroom.

Even as he turned on the water in the bathtub, the woman kept coming to mind. The woman who fearlessly touched a man’s body.

Recalling the woman’s gaze that had traced down his upper body, he felt a flush of heat rising again.

He turned the faucet to cold water and submerged his body in the bathtub up to the top of his head.

And so, the bath time seemed to continue for quite a while.

Adeline, waiting outside the bathroom, began to feel anxious as time seemed to have passed considerably.

‘It seems like an hour has passed……’

Did something happen?

Or perhaps his memory returned?

Could he be dead?!

Adeline’s imagination stretched boundlessly.

Knock, knock, after knocking, Adeline couldn’t bear the frustration when the duke didn’t come out even after a long time, so she flung open the bathroom door.

The duke’s broad back in the bathtub came into Adeline’s view.

Perhaps because he had used all his energy to recover from his wounds. He was peacefully asleep, leaning against the bathtub.

“Mel! Mel?”

Adeline shook the duke to wake him up. As if deeply asleep, he showed no response.

“Mmm.”

Only his furrowed brow and long eyelashes trembled slightly, as if his position was uncomfortable.

The duke was sound asleep, his chest rising and falling only when he exhaled.

No matter how she looked at him, he seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

Adeline was worried that the duke, who had barely returned alive, might cross the Jordan River again if left like this.

Should she pull him out? She hesitated briefly, but she didn’t have the confidence to fully see the naked, robust adult male body submerged and hidden in soapy water.

Soon, as if a good idea had come to mind, she opened the bathtub plug to drain the water while simultaneously starting to wrap a large towel around him from the head.

Just as she was wrapping a large towel, leaving only his face exposed.

Perhaps feeling Adeline’s fidgeting, the duke’s body trembled.

The man’s thick breath felt right in front of her. And the deep red eyes visible through the gaps between his covered hair.

Not expecting him to wake up silently like this, Adeline felt her heart drop with a thud.

‘Close.’

Too close, at that.

“Ah, no. I was just. You weren’t coming out for so long. I was trying to help.”

Adeline rambled alone, making excuses, and then hurriedly concluded on her own.

“I’ve helped roughly, so rinse and come out.”

Adeline wasn’t even aware of what she was saying.

Her mind was only filled with the thought that she needed to leave the bathroom.

The moment she stood up after saying those words.

Adeline was drawn back to the duke by a hand pulling her.

“……”

As Adeline sat on the edge of the bathtub, the two’s eye levels seemed to match again.

Slipping from the bathtub, Adeline plopped down on the duke’s smooth thigh.

She had tried to avoid him because he was close.

Somehow, the distance between the two had become even closer than when they were facing each other.

So close that if Adeline moved even slightly, their noses would touch.

The red eyes visible through half-closed eyelids were more decadent than ever.

He looked at Adeline obliquely, slowly raised his hand, and then swept back Adeline’s disheveled hair.

Adeline flinched at the hot touch on her ear.

There was no time to avoid it. Soon after, a languid voice mixed with hot breath resonated in her ear.

“What kind of relationship do we have?”