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Chapter 19

"Then wouldn't it be right for you to return to my residence?"

Kayden walked toward her and asked, as if confirming.

Emilia looked bewildered but nodded.

"Th-that's right?"

But he suddenly stopped and asked in a displeased tone.

"Are you hurt?"

"Huh?"

Emilia followed his gaze and looked down.

Among the dirt-stained hem of her skirt, she spotted a small patch of dried blood.

"Huh? You're right..."

Emilia lifted her skirt slightly to check her leg.

There was a shallow but long vertical scrape on her knee.

She must have gotten it when she fell into the sinkhole earlier.

Just then, footsteps approached again, and Kayden was right in front of her in an instant.

Emilia looked up at him—and his face was suddenly close.

Startled, Emilia's eyes went wide.

"Excuse me."

With that brief word, Kayden supported her back and knees.

Before she could question what he meant, her body was lifted into the air.

Emilia blinked in disbelief.

"...What are you doing?"

"Returning to the residence. Is there a problem?"

Kayden answered with utter nonchalance.

True. He wasn't wrong.

As he walked, the scenery around them began to move.

But that wasn't what she meant.

"No... the way you're going about it is a huge problem!"

Emilia withdrew her hands from his shoulders and cried out.

She was pointing out the fact that she was suddenly being carried like a princess.

At her protesting voice, Kayden looked down.

Their eyes met directly, and Emilia flinched.

Too close.

She quickly turned her head away to avoid his gaze. Her nose brushed against his shirt.

"That's why I said 'excuse me,' didn't I?"

"...Just saying 'excuse me' makes it alright?"

With her head turned, his voice seemed even closer.

But she couldn't bring herself to look at him again—she could still feel his gaze on her.

Just then, a somewhat pointed voice fell from above.

"And you didn't say 'excuse me' either, did you?"

"...Pardon?"

Realizing what he meant, Emilia's face flushed and she snapped back.

"Th-that was an emergency!"

"This is also an emergency."

"Where exactly is it an emergency?"

"With that injured leg, by the time you walked back, it would be dawn and we wouldn't make it to the residence tonight. I wouldn't be able to write the contract either."

At that, Emilia voiced the question that had been nagging at her.

"Why are you so fixated on the contract anyway?"

Anyone would think he had a ghost haunting him because he couldn't sign it.

Come to think of it, the shop owner where she'd briefly worked in the capital had stubbornly refused to write a contract.

Kayden let out a dry laugh at Emilia's bewildered expression.

Who was it that made him so fixated in the first place?

"And besides, it's not that serious an injury..."

Emilia murmured in a small voice.

To prove she was fine, she wiggled her leg.

At her squirming movements, Kayden's brow furrowed again.

"Can't you stay still? If you keep flailing like that, I'll drop you."

"I'm not a fish, so why would I flail?"

While Emilia was taken aback by his choice of words, Kayden adjusted how he was holding her.

Their bodies pressed closer, and a strange feeling crept over her.

"I-I'll walk fast."

"I left a carriage nearby. Just hold on until then."

"Still..."

"Just think of it as riding a carriage right now. A small carriage, roughly."

He had the nerve to call himself "small" despite his build.

Emilia clenched her fist and muttered.

"The carriage is uncomfortable."

"In what way?"

At that, she had no choice but to fall silent.

To be honest, it was her heart that was uncomfortable—her body was perfectly comfortable.

Just as he said, it was no less comfortable than a carriage.

And I'm so tired...

Having wasted what little energy she had, she felt even more drained.

Sensing Kayden's gaze from above, Emilia squeezed her eyes shut.

---

Kayden, who had been walking at a steady pace, suddenly stopped.

He no longer felt the squirming movements in his arms.

In the quiet surroundings, all he could hear was her faint, soft breathing.

He looked down and saw the woman sleeping peacefully.

A white face smudged with dark dirt.

Her small hand was gripping the hem of his shirt.

And the breath escaping through her slightly parted lips felt terribly ticklish—

...What am I observing?

Snapping out of it, Kayden resumed walking.

He kept his gaze from drifting downward.

That aside—

How did this woman manage to disappear the moment he took his eyes off her?

Kayden frowned, thinking.

Does she have a wandering spirit or something?

Did she have any idea how ridiculous he felt?

He'd said it lightly at the time, but he'd nearly had to file a missing person report before even hiring her as a tutor.

If that had actually happened, what would he have even reported?

"Please keep watching her, because she vanishes the moment I look away."

No. That sounded deeply unpleasant.

Then perhaps: "Let me know immediately if you find her."

And if asked what their relationship was...

That also was an awkward question to answer.

He recalled the middle-aged women who had fussed over him earlier.

"Oh dear, did your wife run away again?"

"...Yes."

Kayden hadn't denied it.

If he said they had no relationship, they wouldn't have told him where she'd gone.

It was an unavoidable, necessary affirmation.

The women, who had been cautious at first, soon chattered excitedly.

Thanks to them, Kayden had to learn about the life philosophies and marital virtues of complete strangers.

"You really should treat her better. No matter how rich and high-ranking you are, in the end those things don't matter."

"If you just understand your wife's heart, you're already halfway there."

Understand her heart...

Given that this woman kept doing the unexpected, following their advice seemed extremely difficult.

No—before that, he didn't even know the first thing about her.

Why she'd learned Hyprian, or what had brought her to the capital.

But he couldn't just interrogate her one by one.

The moment he showed curiosity, she'd probably flee somewhere else—tutor position or not.

...Well, as long as she doesn't run away, that's enough.

Kayden swallowed a wry laugh.

How had he ended up in a position of hoping for something so modest from someone else?

Especially from a woman who didn't seem the least bit curious about him.

Regardless, his determination to sign the contract immediately remained unchanged.

If anything, it had only grown stronger.

In his mind, he considered clauses to include.

His rational mind gently set aside the desire to add inhumane provisions like "no going out"—

As soon as we get back—

Thump.

Just then, Emilia's head dropped fully against his chest.

Kayden paused for a moment.

Looks like I won't be writing that contract tonight.

He sighed and resumed walking.

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