The infirmary door was slammed shut by the guards outside, instantly silencing the commotion that had filled the courtyard moments ago.

As soon as Olivia was laid on the bed, the palace physician hurriedly unwrapped the bandages on her left shoulder to assess the injury.

However, as the cloth fell away, the old doctor jolted back in sheer disbelief! His eyes widened in shock as he stared at Olivia’s shoulder.

"T-This... how is this possible?!" the doctor muttered, his voice trembling with disbelief.

Lady Ophilia and Celine, seeing the doctor’s reaction, immediately panicked and rushed over to look at Olivia’s shoulder.

To their utter amazement, the fatal stab wound that should have been deep and bleeding profusely from the night before was completely sealed! The skin around Olivia’s shoulder showed only a faint, thin reddish scar, as if the wound had been healing for months.

They had no idea that this was the impact of Javien’s demonic blood, which had merged with Olivia’s body the previous night.

Even Olivia herself was puzzled by the sight. The healing power of that blood was so extraordinary that it could auto-heal fatal wounds in just a few hours.

"Master? What is wrong with Olivia’s wound?" Lady Ophilia asked, blinking in confusion at the faint scar.

The physician wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still in a state of shock.

"It is... a miracle, My Lady. The girl’s wound is incredibly light. There is only a small scar that is almost completely healed. The speed of her body’s recovery defies all human logic."

Olivia, hearing the Physician’s assessment, could only offer a sheepish smile from the bed, completely unaware of what had truly happened.

Lady Ophilia, being the innocent soul she was, let out a sigh of relief and offered a prayer of thanks, assuming Olivia had simply been protected by a divine miracle.

"Thank goodness... in that case, Olivia, please get some rest. I don’t want to disturb you. Celine, let’s go outside and give Olivia some space to sleep."

"Lady Ophilia," Celine spoke up suddenly, her eyes still narrowed suspiciously at Olivia.

"Please, go ahead and rest, My Lady. I’ll stay here for a moment. I want to help apply some soothing ointment to Olivia’s scar."

"Ah, that’s a good idea. Thank you, Celine. Olivia, I’ll take my leave now," Lady Ophilia said before stepping out of the room.

The moment the door clicked shut and the physician moved to the corner of the room to tidy his supplies, Celine stepped closer to the edge of the bed.

She crossed her arms, looking down directly at Olivia with a smile that was full of meaning and mystery.

"Alright... start talking," Celine whispered, her voice demanding.

"T-Talk about what? There’s nothing to tell..." Olivia replied, playing dumb.

"Nothing, my foot! Don’t try to fool me, Olivia!" Celine narrowed her eyes intensely.

"First, your wound that should have been fatal suddenly heals like magic! Second, when Knight Javien stood at the door earlier, your face turned as red as a ripe tomato, and you tried to hide behind his black cloak! Plus, his masculine perfume is still clinging to you!"

Celine leaned in, whispering into Olivia’s ear with great excitement.

"And the biggest giveaway of all... what did Knight Javien mean by ’invisible biscuits’?

What secret did you share with the General of War in the Forbidden Forest last night, huh? Start talking before I call Lady Ophilia back in here!"

Olivia felt like she wanted to disappear into the mattress right then and there!

There was no way she could admit to Celine that she was busy fighting her own urges not to touch Javien’s handsome face while he slept, to the point where she had to memorize a bakery menu! Plus, her wound had healed because she had been forced to drink Javien’s blood!

"There’s nothing! I... I was just truly hungry last night in the cave, that’s why I ended up mentioning bakery biscuits! Knight Javien was just teasing me!" Olivia defended herself fiercely, her face burning hot again.

Celine laughed, not believing a word of Olivia’s excuse. But seeing her friend was safe and sound, she finally gave in and patted Olivia’s forehead gently.

"Yeah, sure... ’hungry.’ But I’m just so relieved you’re safe."

Olivia smiled genuinely, looking at the closed door. In her heart, her awe and melting feelings for Javien grew stronger.

Let that scar be the witness to their secret demonic blood pact; as long as her favorite knight was there to protect her, it was enough.

Olivia quickly shook her head, trying her best to shake off the fangirl mode and the lingering shyness in her mind.

Once she felt her brain had cooled down and stabilized, Olivia’s expression turned serious. She looked straight into Celine’s eyes, which were still twinkling with amusement.

"Celine... while I was missing last night, was there anything suspicious about the people in this residence?" Olivia asked in a low, serious tone, dropping the playful act.

Celine’s playful smile vanished instantly. She blinked a few times, thinking hard, before shaking her head honestly.

"Eh? I didn’t see anything strange..." Celine replied, her brow furrowed.

"When you suddenly vanished last night, the residence was in total chaos. Lady Ophilia was crying hysterically out of worry for you, and the guards were running everywhere conducting a search. There was really nothing suspicious; everyone was genuinely panicked because they were worried about you."

Olivia fell silent for a moment. She narrowed her eyes, trying to fish for any secret information that might have escaped everyone else’s notice.

"Delia?" Olivia asked briefly, the name hanging heavy in the quiet infirmary.

Hearing that name, Celine froze. She placed her index finger on her chin, thinking deeply as she replayed the memories of the previous night’s chaos one by one.

A second passed... two seconds... suddenly, Celine’s eyes widened as if she had realized something.

"Eh... you’re right!" Celine whispered, her tone turning anxious. She leaned closer to Olivia’s bed.

"Throughout all the chaos last night... I didn’t see Delia anywhere! I swear, she didn’t appear in the corridor or the courtyard even when all the maids and guards were busy searching for you!"

Celine frowned, finding their colleague’s behavior strange.

"It’s true that Delia is the type of maid who likes to lock herself in her room and do weird things, but in a state of emergency like last night... it’s extremely strange that as a fellow maid, she didn’t even come out to check on what was happening!"

Zap!

Celine’s answer fit the final piece of the puzzle into place in Olivia’s mind! Olivia’s eyes flashed with sharp, fiery anger.

Exactly! Her suspicion last night while she was fighting for her life in the Forbidden Forest was spot on!

Delia wasn’t just a mysterious, odd maid; she was the mastermind who had hired an assassin using black magic mind control just to eliminate Olivia from the Duke’s residence! Her locking herself in her room last night wasn’t because of her usual weird habits, but because she was waiting for news of Olivia’s death!

Delia... lock yourself in that room all you want. You have no idea that your dirty plan has failed completely tonight,

Olivia whispered to herself, filled with vengeance and rage.

Celine sighed and patted Olivia’s uninjured shoulder.

"Well, anyway... don’t think too much for now. The important thing is you’re back safe, and your wound has miraculously healed. Just sleep and rest. I’m going out to help the physician deliver your medicine to the kitchen."

"Right, thank you, Celine... you should go and rest too. Your eyes must be exhausted from not sleeping since last night," Olivia replied softly.

Celine smiled sweetly before turning away, taking the empty medical bowl from the physician. Both of them left the room quietly to give Olivia some much-needed space.

Zap.

The door clicked shut again. The room fell into deep silence. Olivia exhaled a long, heavy breath.

She lay back against the soft mattress, staring at the high, classic vaulted ceiling of the infirmary.

Her physical condition felt incredibly refreshed the lingering effects of Javien’s demonic blood coursing through her veins had completely washed away the exhaustion and weakness from the night before.

As she tried to adjust her pillow, Olivia’s right hand suddenly touched something hard inside her pocket. Olivia frowned.

Eh? What is this?

Carefully, she reached into her pocket. As soon as the object was pulled out and placed on her palm, Olivia’s eyes widened, and her face turned the color of a ripe tomato for the hundredth time that day!

It was a small bag of butter cookies, neatly wrapped in a black silk handkerchief belonging to Javien!

Olivia covered her mouth, fighting the urge to scream in hysteria!

My goodness!! Since when did this man slip cookies into my pocket?!

She remembered! It must have been while they were in the carriage, or when the female knight was busy helping her down Javien must have used his demonic speed to slip the cookies into her pocket without anyone noticing!

The black silk handkerchief carried Javien’s distinct, masculine scent. Olivia slowly opened the silk wrapping, revealing a few perfectly arranged butter cookies they weren’t invisible biscuits after all, but real, fragrant ones!

Tucked between the cookies was a small piece of paper with handwriting that was sharp and precise the signature style of a General of War. Olivia held the paper close to her eyes and read

Eat these. Do not mention that bakery’s name in front of me again if you don’t want me to cut out your tongue, Olivia

Gubraakk!!

The threat to "cut out her tongue" didn’t make Olivia afraid; instead, it made her fangirl heart melt into a puddle!

Even though the elite knight’s words sounded cold, cruel, and arrogant... his act of sneaking cookies to her because he knew she hadn’t eaten since dawn proved that Javien was a total tsundere who cared deeply about her!

Olivia hugged the black handkerchief and the cookies to her chest, rolling around on the bed while grinning like a girl deeply in love.

"Javien... you really are the best favorite character in this world! Your protective side is just so sexy!" Olivia whispered happily to herself, her face still burning hot.

As she munched on the butter cookies given by her beloved demon general, Olivia finally closed her eyes with the happiest smile, preparing to sleep soundly and gather her strength before the real political war against Delia began!