🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 58
Just then, the door opened again.
“Your Highness, you may come in now… Harold, you brought it,” Agnes said, looking at Harold’s tray.
On it were a basin filled with cold water and several clean towels.
Seeing the tray, Sylvia quickly stepped forward.
“I’ll do it!”
“I’ll help too, Miss Sylvia,” Agnes said as well.
Unfortunately, Lerazie and Harold were excluded from this task; it was not proper for them to touch a lady.
“I’ll wring the towels for you.”
“Oh, thank you, but I can manage, Seventh Prince,” Sylvia replied, dipping a towel into the cold water and wringing it out.
Her strength was impressive; just one firm wring was enough.
Handing the towel to Agnes, she wiped the sweat from Calliope’s forehead and nape, while Sylvia wrung out another towel.
At that moment, the personal physician arrived.
Warm-hearted and gentle in appearance, he carefully examined Calliope before speaking.
“Overwork. Your body couldn’t withstand the strain you’ve been under.”
Harold nodded in agreement.
“His Lordship must have been overburdened helping with the mistress’s work as well,” he said.
“Oh, my poor lady… you must have suffered so much…” Agnes patted Sylvia, who had buried her face in her hands, consoling her.
“You must rest well and eat properly for the time being. The best cure for overwork is rest above all else.”
The doctor also checked Calliope’s ankles, where splints were applied, and remarked appreciatively,
“Whoever administered first aid did an excellent job. The fact that you are a mage helps your mana flow, but even so, the inflammation is already subsiding gradually.”
Lerazie, who had been looking at Calliope until now, turned to the doctor.
“When will she regain consciousness?”
“Once her fever breaks, she should wake by tomorrow morning.”
The doctor rummaged through his large medical bag and pulled out a small medicine bottle.
“Antipyretic,” he said.
“I’ll give it to her,” Lerazie said, taking the medicine and opening the cap. He almost instinctively smelled it, a subconscious check for poison.
Dropping a single drop on the back of his hand, he checked its color and taste with his tongue.
“No poison,” he confirmed in an instant, then carefully administered the medicine between Calliope’s lips.
His movements were precise, careful, and gentle.
The sight left Sylvia, Agnes, and even Harold deeply impressed.
“I’ll stay in the mansion tonight. Call immediately if anything happens,” Harold said, guiding the doctor to the guest bedroom. Agnes nudged Sylvia in the side, pointing toward the door.
It was a signal to leave.
Sylvia glanced back and forth between the sleeping Calliope and Lerazie, who stared at her intently, then nodded.
Only Calliope and Lerazie remained in the bedroom.
“…So full of himself, huh,” Lerazie murmured quietly, filling the silent room with his low voice.
“Acting all proud… what a sight, Calliope Verdi.”
He sat beside Calliope’s bed and re-wetted the now lukewarm towel, placing it gently on her forehead.
The next day, Calliope woke as if nothing had been wrong.
Naturally, the household staff of the Verdi mansion, previously subdued by the grim news of last night, quickly regained their energy.
The Verdi family’s head chef prepared a special crab soup with all his skill for her.
While Harold and Agnes personally set the breakfast table, Calliope conversed with Sylvia.
“Really? I was sick?”
“Yes! You had a raging fever!”
Calliope looked incredulous.
“I just feel like I woke up after a deep sleep.”
Sylvia let out a dramatic sob, dabbing her tears with a handkerchief.
“Ah, why are you crying again…!”
Calliope hurriedly tried to stop her, remembering that Sylvia had already burst into tears earlier that morning.
“You were so ill you lost consciousness, yet you feel like you just woke up… How much overwork did you endure…!”
Seeing Sylvia sobbing and sniffling, Agnes intervened.
“I’ll calm her down.”
She practically dragged Sylvia away.
Harold, meanwhile, excused himself so Calliope could enjoy her breakfast, leaving only Lerazie in the bedroom.
Even now, he remained silent, making him seem unusually awkward to Calliope.
“You… didn’t leave?” she asked.
“No,” he replied.
Pushing the breakfast table closer to the bed, Lerazie answered.
“Why?”
Confused, Calliope asked again.
“What do you mean ‘why’?”
“Why didn’t you leave?”
“So? Got a problem with that?”
“Oh, come on… who said that?” Calliope muttered, annoyed that a simple question had escalated.
Lerazie didn’t reply, simply handed her a spoon, and said,
“The soup will get cold.”
Hungry, Calliope focused on the meal.
She scooped a spoonful of the soft crab soup but then suddenly remembered something.
“Lerazie, did you eat?”
“Huh?”
Lerazie’s usually guarded expression faltered. Calliope, perceptive as ever, understood without needing a reply.
“Not hungry?”
“Not really. I’ll eat later.”
“That’s ridiculous. Someone who eats T-bone steaks for breakfast says they’re not hungry?”
Calliope clicked her tongue at the table, clearly annoyed.
“Come sit,” she said.
“That’s your meal.”
“Who doesn’t know? I just don’t want to eat alone while you starve, so let’s eat together.”
Before Lerazie could respond, Calliope called for more tableware and pulled it closer.
Harold, the perceptive Verdi butler, brought a portion for Lerazie along with hers.
“All set? Come sit.”
Lerazie resignedly took a seat, and the meal began.
After a while, Calliope spoke.
“Thanks for seeing me to the mansion.”
Lerazie stopped his movements and looked at her.
“You were the one who saw me here,” he replied.
Or else you wouldn’t be here, Calliope added silently.
“Still, I’m grateful,” she said firmly.
“….”
Her sincerity was obvious.
“Thank you, Lerazie Dion Arenfriet.”
Calliope smiled awkwardly. Lerazie could only watch, strangely unsettled. Perhaps it was because of what had happened last night. He recalled the events of the previous night.
Several towels had been changed. Her fever hadn’t dropped easily, and another dose of medicine had been given.
Suddenly, Calliope twisted in her sleep.
“Mom… Dad…!”
A small, sharp cry escaped her trembling lips.
Lerazie flinched.
Her voice was weak, but the despair in it was palpable.
From her pitiful words, he immediately guessed the source of her nightmare: a deep wound from her childhood.
“No… please… don’t go… don’t leave me alone!”
Calliope shook her head violently, flailing her hands through the air.
“Calliope Verdi!”
Lerazie jumped up and leaned over her, trying to wake her, but Calliope clutched him tightly.
“Wait… just a moment…”
He tried shaking her awake, but her weakened body refused even that.
“Please… don’t leave me…”
Her desperate grip on his sleeve made it impossible to let go.
“I… will… definitely… become your support…”
Tears finally streamed from her tightly shut eyes. Lerazie stopped hesitating, realizing he couldn’t intervene further.
