"My lady!!!" cried Lily while hugging Ingrid's waist. "I was really worried! I shouldn't have left your side!"

Ingrid couldn't help but smile as she wiped the tears from Lily's eyes.

"And what exactly could you have done? Even my guard knights were sent flying," she spoke with a light chuckle.

"But still..."

"Sunshine!"

Ingrid's door was slammed open as the grand duke rushed inside with glee. Elias, who was behind him, glanced at the door with pity. Despite the door being made with the hardest wood, it still cracked against the grand duke's palm.

Elias waved his hand, and two soldiers swiftly dismantled the door and carried it with them. In a span of minutes, another pair of soldiers arrived, carrying a door identical to the one the grand duke destroyed, and attached it to the door frame.

"Ingrid, sunshine! How are you feeling? Are you alright? How about your leg? Alana, quick! Come and check on my daughter!"

Ingrid helplessly sighed at her fussy father. She looked at Alana, her personal physician, apologetically, to which the latter responded with an understanding smile.

Alana who is in her forties, has worked for the grand duke for over twenty years. She could confidently say that she's among the people that knew him like the back of her hand. To her, this side of the grand duke was an amusement, as it was a stark contrast to his usual strict and commanding self.

There are only two people in the world who could make the grand duke act in such a way. Unfortunately, the other one has long crossed to the other side.

Alana checked Ingrid's pulse and nodded approvingly. Next she removed the compression bandage on her ankle, revealing the slightly swollen skin.

Ingrid let out a satisfied sigh as Alana gently rubbed a greenish cream on the affected area. The cream let off a cool and soothing sensation on her skin, which instantly relieved her of the throbbing pain she'd been feeling since she woke up.

After applying the cream, Alana gently wrapped a new compression bandage around Ingrid's injury and said, "It's healing quite well! Thankfully, it's just a mild sprain. With proper care and rest, it'll heal within three weeks at most. I'll come by every morning to tend to your injury."

It isn't actually necessary for Alana to personally tend to Ingrid. She could have just given Lily the cream she used to reduce the swelling and taught her how to bandage Ingrid's ankle. But the fussy grand duke surely wouldn't have that. He doesn't even trust himself to do it, despite having been trained to administer first aid amidst the battlefield. How could he trust untrained servants to take care of his daughter's injury?

Soon the chaotic morning was replaced with silence as Ingrid's visitors left one by one. Obviously, the last one who left was the grand duke, who was reluctantly dragged by Elias back to his office.

"Lily, will you help me towards the window?" Ingrid requested.

Lily quickly left what she was doing and attended to Ingrid. Though the distance between her bed and the window was short, they were both sweating the moment they reached their destination.

Things would have been different if the other servants were there to help them. But Ingrid dismissed them right after the grand duke left, as she felt suffocated being surrounded by so many servants.

Ingrid was about to dismiss Lily as well when they heard a knock on the door.

"My lady, it's me, Carlton. I'm here to introduce you to your new lady-in-waiting."

A glint of surprise appeared on Ingrid's face. It's been three years since they began searching for another lady-in-waiting. With her status, it was expected of her to at least have a dozen ladies-in-waiting attending to her. But certain circumstances made them push the idea at bay. If not for Lily, who has been with her since young, she would have been lady-in-waitingless.

Three years ago, her father finally decided that it isn't right for her to only have one attendant. But she thought they would take a few more years to find one, given her father's strict requirement and the scarcity of the ladies that dared apply.

"Come in," said Ingrid.

There was a rumor going around that those who served under the young lady of Lennox as ladies-in-waiting became spinsters—which is rather ridiculous. She never had any ladies-in-waiting before, apart from Lily.

"Greetings my lady," said Carlton with a bow.

Ingrid was stunned when she saw the towering woman behind the butler. She blinked twice, trying to figure out if the person before her was but an illusion. In her entire life, she has never seen a woman quite... like her.

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Most of the young females in the capital look delicate and soft. But this woman looks rough and packed with bulging muscles. There is this air of danger and discipline around her that Ingrid only ever felt around the knights in their dukedom. If she hadn't heard Carlton say that the one he brought was her new lady-in-waiting, she would have thought that the woman was a new addition to her guards.

But Ingrid didn't question why her father chose this woman. She wholly trusts that her father has his reasons for choosing her.

"My lady, I would like you to meet Iris. From now on she will be waiting upon the lady alongside Lily."

Iris likewise was stunned when she saw Ingrid. People tend to exaggerate when talking about those they idolize. That's why she didn't readily believe the rumors about the so-called unsurpassed beauty in the empire of Learia. She thought those people were merely speaking out of blind devotion towards the young lady.

But now that she is seeing her in person, Iris realized how mistaken she was. Ingrid was indeed as beautiful as the rumors—no, her beauty was far beyond what those her ears had heard.

"It is my pleasure to be of service to the most precious young lady of the house of Lennox. I am Iris, a retired soldier of the wall," Iris said as she bowed like an awkward child unsure how to position her hands and feet. A faint blush tainted her copper-colored cheeks. Now she's regretting not listening to Vernon when he gave her a crash course on noble etiquette.

Ingrid simply gave a polite nod. Learning that she was a former soldier of the wall improved Ingrid's impression of her. Ingrid has high regard for soldiers that serve in the border wall of the empire—most especially those under her father's command.

"Pleased to meet you, Iris. I hope we can work well together. Oh, and this is Lily, my lady-in-waiting."

Lily bowed at Iris with an awkward smile.

"Lily, you will be in charge of teaching Iris the rules and etiquette. Iris, you will be learning from Lily."

Lily didn't seem keen to teach Iris. She wondered why the grand duke chose such a rugged-looking woman to be the young lady's second lady-in-waiting. From the way she greeted Ingrid earlier, it doesn't seem like she even knows basic etiquette. But because Ingrid requested it, she had no choice but to follow.

"My lady, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave," Carlton said. He bowed towards Ingrid for the last time before taking his exit.

"The two of you should also leave."

Knowing Ingrid's character, Lily obeyed her command without question. There are certain mornings where Ingrid is like that. She'll dismiss all the servants and spend her morning staring at the emptiness. No one dares to disturb her when she's in such a state, as it is one of the few instances that irate her when bothered.

Lily did not forget to drag the confused giant woman with her.

"If there's anything that my lady needs, we shall be outside," Lily reminded Ingrid as she closed the door.

Ingrid did not respond. Her mind had long wandered somewhere far. She stayed like that for a few hours, unmoving like a monument. If not for her eyelids that blinked from time to time, everyone who sees her would have mistaken her for a statue made by divine hands.

That night, Ingrid's sleep was once again invaded by terrible nightmares. But the warm and soothing hand was there again to save her, driving away her night terrors. But when she awoke, she was alone in her well-lit room once more, her hand cold and empty.

The same cycle went on for countless nights—she'd be trapped in a nightmare, be saved by a soothing hand, and wake up alone in her bedroom again and again and again. And she knew that tonight would be no different. So Ingrid delayed sleeping as much as she could. Though she knew that warm hand would be there to pull her out from the claw of her nightmarish dreams, it doesn't mean she likes to repeatedly experience it.

Ingrid stared at the moonlight from her window. Ever since she woke up after the incident, Ingrid had been spending her days with a vacant stare. She spoke even less than before. More often they would find her sitting by her window, staring at the empty space.

This worried the grand duke greatly. However, even after summoning the best healers and physicians in the empire, they were all helpless against her daughter's present condition. They all pointed at the same cause—stress and trauma—but none of them managed to provide an effective remedy.

"Ten days," Ingrid unmindfully muttered. It's been ten days since she's been having those nightmares.

Strangely, the massacre in the forest wasn't among those that plague her dreams. The setting of her nightmare was always the same—which, after three consecutive dreams, she realized took place in an unpleasantly familiar castle. However, no matter how much she racked her brains, she couldn't remember where she saw that castle.

Speaking of the prince, she has never caught even a shadow of him these past few days. That day was the last time she saw him.

Ingrid could still vividly remember the look in his eyes the moment he regained his sanity. They were filled with guilt, panic, and confusion—an emotion she never expected to see in the face of the man feared by most. Seeing him like that made Ingrid feel this urge to run to him and comfort him and tell him that nothing was his fault. But that urge was drowned by the overwhelming fear she felt that glued her to her spot,

Ingrid's eyes wandered towards her bed. She walked towards it, limping. Though her sprained ankle was mostly healed, it still hurt whenever she put some weight on it.

Ingrid lay on her bed and covered herself with her blanket up to her neck. She closed her eyes, but she didn't sleep. She was waiting.

An hour after she lay in her bed, her breathing turned laborious. Cold sweats formed at the corners of her temple, her pale hand gripping the sheets tightly.

The dire state of the young lady wasn't missed by someone. As Ingrid labored in her nightmare, a shadow suddenly appeared a little distance from her bed. From within the shadow a hand emerged, then a foot, followed by the entire body of a person.

The person that appeared from the shadow walked towards Ingrid's bed, his steps as silent as a stalking lion. He looked at the girl sleeping with a contorted expression for a while, his gaze complicated. His hand soon reached for Ingrid's hand, enveloping it with his warmth.

Slowly the fair hand, which was gripping the sheets tightly, loosened. But to the person's utter surprise, Ingrid's hand suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the bed. Having no time to brace himself, he ended up losing his balance. But before his entire weight could fall on the sleeping woman, he swiftly used his arms to support his fall.

Ingrid's eyes flew open. Before the person could think of escaping, she snaked her arm around his neck while the other grabbed him by his collar.

"Gotcha!" Ingrid exclaimed with a triumphant smile as her emerald orbs met his purple ones.