As he leaned against the window, he looked frailer than usual.
Even his eyelashes seemed different than usual whenever he blinked.
And apart from that, his voice sounded heavy.
“Amoide.”
I quickly put my hand over his forehead, at which his eyes opened wide in surprise from the sudden contact.
And yet he didn’t push my hand away.
“You’re warm…”
He stared at me silently, blue eyes unwavering.
Then, he lifted his hand to place it over my hand that was on his forehead. The touch his hand provided wasn’t the same as usual.
His hand was incredibly warm.
It wasn’t just a matter of body temperature. Even his eyes and breath seem to have heated up. And just looking at him made me think I’d be burnt beside him as well.
“You.”
His voice was hushed.
“…”
“You’re too loud.”
Then… he collapsed.
* * *
“It’s simply a common cold caught during spring.”
Raymond’s calm explanation allowed everyone to sigh in relief.
“Amoide, Amoide is…”
Camilla repeated his name with a blank face.
“It’s just a mild cold. A slight fever. His condition is stable and he’s only asleep. I’ve prescribed the necessary medicine so that he can recover quickly. He’ll be fine.”
Raymond kept repeating his words to appease Camilla.
“The medicine he’s been taking has weakened his immune system. He’s always had a cold around this time of the year. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Raymond looked at me and let out his reassuring words again, his eyes on Amoide’s hand that I was clasping so tightly, but I gradually loosened my grip.
“Really? Is that really true?”
“Of course. There are fewer complications this time. He was sick several times more around this time last year.”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, I heard that he collapsed a lot more often last year. Compared to that time, what Raymond said about the number of times Amoide collapsed was right.
“Perhaps it’s because of the Duchess taking good care of the Duke’s health.”
“I don’t deserve that praise, Raymond,” I said as I flushed in embarrassment.
“Even so, I look forward to working with you more in the future, Your Grace.”
Raymond smiled warmly as he helped Camilla out of the room.
Watching them leave, I could feel a twinge of guilt.
Sorry, Raymond.
Because I’m still doubting you. Honestly, I’m not completely sold on what you said just now.
“Ugh…”
Hearing the groan from the bed immediately made me rush towards Amoide’s side.
“Are you awake?”
He stared at me through bleary eyes, expressing his confusion. With a gentle tone, I explained what happened.
“You have a fever… but the doctor said you’ll be fine. I heard it’s just a cold that you usually get this time of the year.”
I said this lightly. I’m sure he’s tired of collapsing like this.
“Amoide, do you want some water? Are you thirsty?”
He nodded weakly.
As I beckoned Rona, who was standing at attention at one corner of the room, she came running with a glass of water and the medicine that was on the table.
But before Rona could give me the glass, someone stopped her midway.
“What is it, Emma?” Rona snapped back at the person who was holding her back by the collar.
“It’s my job.” With her eyebrows raised, Emma glared straight at me.
‘Are you really staring at me like that?’
Emma was an extremely loyal maid who had been serving as Amoide’s maid even before he fell sick.
But the problem was that there was something different about it.
“What’s so important about who brings the water to me?”
Emma stared into my eyes.
“Because it’s my job. I don’t want to be a maid who neglects her work.”
Emma answered me with her chin raised. No wonder it seemed like lasers were shooting out of her eyes.
“Fine. Then can anyone give me the medicine?”
Rona glanced back at me and handed the bottle back to Emma, but Rona didn’t forget to side-eye Emma. She didn’t look intimidating though, because of her round eyes and bangs that were cut above her eyebrows.
Emma approached the bed with the medicine bottle and stood next to where I was sitting. I looked up to see her face, which was slightly menacing, but only because she was towering over me.
“It’s my duty, Young Madam,” Emma said with a clear voice. In fact, it’s like she was insinuating something beyond the bottle of pills.
For some reason, an unexpected spirit in me bristled.
But behind me, I heard Amoide’s voice.
“Give me the bottle, Emma.”
At that moment, Emma’s expression obviously bloomed, and at the same time, I could hear something breaking in me.
“Young Madam, I’ll go ahead and give His Grace the medicine…”
I blocked her hand on the bottle while Amoide was reaching for it.
As I did this, at the corner of my eye I saw Amoide’s expression flicker.
“It’s fine, so just leave it to me.”
I tried to take the bottle from Emma’s hand, but…
‘Huh?’
The grip over the small glass bottle was tighter than I expected.
“Emma?”
As her hand was shaking to maintain her grip, her lips were trembling equally as much.
I couldn’t win with brute force anyway. How could I beat someone with that much determination? So I changed my method.
I shifted my grip and placed my hand over hers in a caress.
“Hiiek—”
Perhaps she found the touch creepy, but Emma relaxed her grip at once, and with that opening, I quickly took the bottle from her.
“Thank you for bringing the bottle, Emma.”
I smiled as I pulled away with the bottle in my hand.
“Now, drink your medicine.”
“…”
I was looking at his hand, but he didn’t readily accept the medicine.
“Come on.”
Would the medicine turn into poison if I’m the one giving it to you? Why are you staring at me like that?
“Do you want me to feed it to you again this time?”
Tak.
Before I even finished talking, he took the bottle from my hand.
“Happy?”
After bringing it to his lips, he shook the bottle upside down to show that it was all finished.
“Everyone, get out.”
“Alright. Go out now.”
I repeated what he said, which made him widen his eyes as if he were startled by my words.
“What? You told them to leave.”
I answered back as casually as I could, and under my chin, I brought up both hands to cup my face.
“I’m not leaving.”
Let’s add a bit of a nasal tone for a cutesy effect but, uh…
‘Why are you looking at me like that again?’
Of course, I didn’t give up.
“Amoide, I’ll stay right next to you,” I crooned, putting back his arm under the covers and patting it. “What are you all doing? Everyone, out.”
At my command, everyone but Rona and Emma left the room at once.
“What are you doing? His Grace said he wants to rest,” Rona said as she was practically yanking Emma out the room.
Emma looked back at Amoide with expectant eyes while she was being manhandled by Rona, but Amoide said nothing.
Click.
The door clicked shut, and after everyone left, there was only the two of us there, a blanket of silence falling over the room.
Amoide’s blue eyes were fixed on me, but I didn’t avert my gaze.
I brazenly made eye contact with him.
…But how long has this staring contest been going?
My eyes were a bit sore now.
“Um, Amoide…?”
I was blinking rapidly, but even so, I could see a very slight smile on his lips. The iciness that he exuded melted just because of that small smile.
As I rubbed the tears from my eyes, I said, “You’ll be sleepy soon because of the medicine you drank. Lean back now.”
Wordlessly, he closed his eyes just as I asked and after a while, the steady rhythm of his breathing echoed quietly through the room.
I changed the towel over his forehead and admired his face as much as I could.
Somehow, I didn’t want other people to see his sleeping face.
But though his beauty was otherworldly, it was of the poisonous kind. His illness made it impossible to openly praise him.
It was ironic, but his precarious physical well-being, which made him face the dangers of collapsing at any given time, enhanced his beauty.
I once heard a conversation between the maids in the garden.
[ That delicate beauty just makes it so that His Grace is not like any other man in this world! ]
One of the maids had burst into admiration then, and the others responded readily with ‘You’re right, you’re right.’
[ You have to enjoy it when you can. We don’t know when he’ll be gone for good, so we’ll really have to admire him now while there’s ti—OUCH! ]
The babbling maid immediately stopped talking when the maid next to her, whose face turned white the moment she saw me watching them, pinched her side.
And just like that, they fell into a hush, as if they weren’t talking about an ominous thing just then.
“…”
Everyone’s fated to die someday. Especially when they’ve been poisoned.
“No. Never.”
I shook my head.
“I’ll save it for sure.”
Your life and my life.
“Don’t die, Amoide. I’ll save you.”
I clasped his hand over the duvet.
Even though he was asleep, it felt like his hand had moved slightly.
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