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Chapter 16
“Ugh, I’m dying.”
I went all the way to the Northern Wall to look for Kahinel because I didn’t want to get sick, and then I came back with a full-blown flu.
My whole body ached as if I’d been beaten, and the world I saw spun in circles.
My stomach was upset, so I couldn’t eat, but they said I absolutely had to take my medicine.
It was torture.
“Ugh.”
As I swallowed the medicine with my face twisted into all sorts of expressions, Kahinel clicked his tongue.
“That’s what you get. Why did you have to follow me all the way to the Northern Wall and make things difficult for everyone?”
Seriously, that man’s nagging.
Husband, your wife is seriously sick right now, you know?
My head was hazy from the fever, and I didn’t even know what kind of nonsense might come out of my mouth, so could you please not pick a fight with me?
I clamped my mouth shut and scrunched my brows like a rebellious teenage girl.
Even so, Kahinel’s nagging was never-ending.
“Please don’t cause any trouble and stay quiet.”
“Then what about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you really have to go all the way to the Northern Wall just because you were leaving the house?”
I knew Kahinel went to the Northern Wall to subjugate monsters, but my words kept coming out curt anyway.
Because I was sick, I was sensitive. And because of that, I felt hurt that Kahinel kept nagging me.
Yesterday, even when all kinds of nagging attacked me in that cave, I was fine.
But maybe because I was sick, my heart had grown weaker. Today, my mood was strangely bad.
“If you’re planning to run away again, go somewhere closer to home next time.”
“Just don’t come looking for me.”
“I can’t do that. No matter where you go, I’ll follow you to the end.”
“Are you monitoring me?”
“Why do you always say things in a way that makes people feel hurt?”
Just where did all the sincerity I gathered up the courage to show you yesterday get thrown away?
Kahinel bristled at me.
I was tired of bickering.
I didn’t even have the strength to talk, let alone keep my eyes open.
‘Is it the medicine?’
An overwhelming wave of sleepiness crashed over me.
Thinking I’d sleep a little, I poked Kahinel’s arm.
“Do you have something else to say?”
“I think I’m really sleepy right now, so I need to sleep.”
“I was about to leave anyway.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
Listen to people until the end, will you?
I grabbed Kahinel, who was about to stand up, and pleaded earnestly.
“Can’t you stay next to me for just three hours?”
“No.”
“At least think about it before answering.”
“There’s no need to think, that’s why I said no.”
Kahinel drew a firm line, but as always, I couldn’t let him go.
‘What if the curse makes me feel worse while I’m asleep?’
My flu already hurt me to death, and if the curse joined in too…
Ugh. Just imagining it was horrific.
“Then just two hours.”
“I’m busy.”
“We all know you’re busy. But still, please just watch over me while I sleep for two hours.”
“I don’t have time for that.”
“If you’re really that busy, you can bring your work to my room.”
If I had any strength left, I would’ve chased him to his room, but my condition was so bad I couldn’t move at all.
“Two hours. Just two hours…”
Haah. I really can’t talk anymore.
Clutching the hem of Kahinel’s sleeve tightly, I closed my eyes.
And fell asleep.
My wife was asleep, but her complexion didn’t look peaceful.
Kahinel quietly looked down at the sleeve of his shirt she was holding.
Even while groaning in her sleep, she absolutely refused to let go of that hand.
What was even stranger was that he, too, couldn’t bring himself to shake off her small hand.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
He didn’t have time to leisurely watch his wife sleep.
There were so many documents he needed to review.
And yet, Kahinel couldn’t leave.
This was his own choice, but he couldn’t understand the reason behind it.
‘Why am I even doing this right now?’
What was it that made him unable to refuse her request to watch over her while she slept?
‘Because of yesterday?’
In the cave where darkness had fallen, when he was helplessly being eaten away by fear, his wife had approached him.
“Did you know? This is my first time sleeping out!”
“Is this what people call camping vibes…?”
“It’s winter, so there won’t be bugs, right?”
She kept chattering nonstop, not giving fear even a moment to take hold of her.
Was that why he was acting like this now, out of gratitude?
Realizing he’d come to that conclusion himself, Kahinel scoffed inwardly, denying his own thoughts.
‘Me, feeling grateful to my wife?’
Ridiculous.
He would never feel something like that toward his wife.
‘I just don’t like owing debts.’
Yes. That was it.
She had helped him once, so he was simply granting her request to repay that debt.
That was how Kahinel convinced himself.
In the end, he stayed far longer than the two hours she’d asked for, and only returned to his room late in the early morning.
The next day.
“Anna, does the flu usually get better in just one day?”
I’d been sick my whole life.
Even after becoming Rishua, I’d been suffering from a curse, so it felt strange—almost unfamiliar—that my body was completely better after just one day.
‘If only the curse could be cured like the flu, just by sleeping it off.’
I knew I couldn’t become healthy so easily, but I allowed myself to hope anyway.
“Madam, are you feeling better now?”
“Yeah. You must’ve had a hard time last night.”
“No, not at all. The Duke ordered us not to enter your room, so we couldn’t stay by your side through the night.”
“Then did Kahinel take care of me?”
“Well… probably not?”
“Right?”
I didn’t expect it anyway.
Even if I begged him to stay, that man obviously would’ve gone straight back to his room the moment I fell asleep.
“Let’s just say Sir Asran is an incredible physician.”
That hurt less.
Feeling light and refreshed, I went down to the first floor.
Now that Kahinel had returned to the castle after running away from home, my daily routine of serving him apple–carrot juice every morning resumed.
Let’s go pick apples and pull carrots!
“Good morning, Kahinel.”
“What is it?”
“What do you mean, what? It’s the apple–carrot juice you like.”
“That’s not what I meant. I’m asking why you’re wandering around.”
I’d heard all kinds of things from him before, but this kind of question was new.
I asked cautiously.
“Was I imprisoned without realizing it?”
I don’t remember anything like that…
I’d been kicked out of Kahinel’s room a few times, sure, but I’d never been told not to walk around.
He stepped closer.
A rough but warm hand rested on my forehead.
I was flustered by the sudden contact, happy because a healthy warmth flowed into me, and yet… my feelings were complicated.
“You don’t have a fever. Are you fully better?”
“I slept well, and when I woke up, I felt fine.”
Your personal physician must be incredible.
…Just as I was about to say that, my head snapped alert.
Before, Kahinel had checked my mental health through Asran because he thought I was crazy—but this time, something was different.
No, it was definitely different.
‘Is this finally a real green light?’
Perhaps noticing my gaze, Kahinel removed his hand from my forehead and stepped back.
So I took a step forward again.
“Kahinel, don’t tell me you—”
“No.”
“I haven’t even said anything yet.”
This time, Kahinel stepped back two steps.
“Madam, your eyes look strange.”
“What’s strange about my eyes?”
I stepped forward three steps, and Kahinel lightly dodged away.
But I didn’t stop clinging.
“Why did you ask if I was okay?”
Whenever Kahinel moved away, I moved that much closer.
At first, it was like we were playing tag from a few steps apart, but before we knew it, we’d circled the entire room.
“Were you worried about me?”
“As if.”
“Come on. That’s a lie.”
I’d learned romance through novels and dramas, but even so, I knew my theory pretty well.
Asking if someone’s okay while saying you weren’t worried—anyone could tell that was classic tsundere behavior!
After a month of clinging to him, was it finally paying off?!
Kahinel, who’d been running away, suddenly stopped.
Because of the abrupt halt, I braked a beat too late, and the distance between us shrank to barely half a step.
I’d looked into those eyes before, but only today did I realize how clear Kahinel’s red eyes were, like rubies.
“I’ll say this one last time. I wasn’t worried about you. I was assessing Asran Melbourne’s competence by asking about your condition.”
“…What?”
“If he can’t even cure a simple flu, he’s unqualified to be the Hyrant family’s physician. So please stop misunderstanding that I was worried about you.”
So, to summarize what he just said…
“You’re saying I misunderstood? It wasn’t tsundere behavior?”
What went wrong?
Was my love knowledge, built from countless romance novels and dramas, lacking?
Or was my clinging to Kahinel insufficient?
Whatever the case, the conclusion was this: on paper, Kahinel and I were the closest people there were—but in reality, we were the farthest apart.
“Kahinel, I think I’m getting a fever again.”
It felt like I’d just received a gift, gotten happy about it, and then had it snatched away.
“I’ll acknowledge that you’ve improved your acting skills, but I’m not falling for it anymore.”
Kahinel left the room, leaving me behind.
He did drink all the juice I made before leaving, though.
So… I thought this kind of thing was tsundere behavior, but it wasn’t?
