VSBO 09

Chapter: 09

“Cough! Cough!”

It started again. I frantically covered my mouth and sank to the floor.

“Cough! Cough!”

This damn cough wouldn’t subside easily. It wouldn’t let me go until I coughed up blood.

“Milady! Milady!”

Ria patted my back in a panic. The other attendants and bodyguards, sensing something was wrong, rushed to me immediately.

“Are you alright, Milady?!”

“We’ll take Milady to the carriage at once!”

“Alert everyone immediately!”

Some panicked, some moved in perfect coordination. Before I knew it, I was being carried on the back of one of the bodyguards.

Even while being carried, my coughing didn’t stop.

The hotel had turned into chaos. Even the normally poised staff rushed over, startled by the situation.

“Shall we take her to a hotel room first? We can also call a nearby doctor!”

I lost count of how many people were swarming me. It was overwhelming—an unprecedented scene in my previous life.

If I could just hold on a little, it would settle down again.

“I… I’m fine…”

I spoke in a weak voice to the bodyguard carrying me. The guard paused mid-step toward a room inside the hotel and focused on my words.

“Pardon? Could you say that again, Milady?”

“Cough! In a little while… I’ll be fine.”

“What do you mean by that?! We cannot just watch our ill Milady like this!”

Who said I had a fatal disease?

The guard spoke as if I were about to collapse at any moment. But if I just held on a little, I would recover as if nothing had happened.

“Let’s take her to a hotel room and call a doctor!”

“No, there’s no need to call a doctor.”

A cold voice cut through the flustered staff.

“Even if you call a doctor here, I don’t expect their skills to be that impressive.”

That low, emotionless tone.

“Gah… Your Excellency!”

There’s only one person here addressed as “Your Excellency.”

“Take my wife to the room at once. I’ve already brought the doctor myself.”

“Yes, sir!”

Even hearing Kaeron’s voice, my coughing didn’t stop.

“Cough, cough…!”

Wait, he brought a doctor?

I had no idea why the person who had left came back, or how they even got to this hotel. And now there’s a doctor too.

Once we reached the room, the bodyguard carefully set me down on the bed.

Kaeron, who had followed all the way to the room, stood beside the guard.

“Cough, cough!”

Even while coughing, Kaeron’s sharp gaze made me tense.

“Do something. Stop this cough immediately.”

At his words, the man beside him stepped forward. I realized this was the doctor Kaeron had brought.

The doctor rolled up my sleeve, prepared a syringe, and administered it immediately. Within a minute of the injection, my coughing subsided.

“As expected from a doctor at the Royal Hospital,” Kaeron said, clearly satisfied as he watched my coughing quickly calm down.

“We’ve handled the urgent care for now. Next, we’ll conduct a detailed examination and prescribe medicine based on the results.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll prepare and bring the examination equipment.”

The doctor left to fetch the equipment. Once he departed, only Kaeron and I remained in the room.

Kaeron stared at me with his typically impassive gaze. An uncomfortable silence hung between us.

For some reason, he suddenly glared at the open window, then walked toward it.

I thought he was going to close it.

Crack.

Suddenly, a breaking sound rang out. The wooden frame of the window had splintered in his hands.

“…Damn.”

He muttered softly. He must have tried to close it in a hurry and caused this mess.

In the original story, it wasn’t uncommon for Kaeron to break things—not deliberately, but because of his large, strong physique.

Look at the muscles firmly attached to every part of his body.

For someone like him, breaking things by accident was an everyday occurrence.

I know he’s naturally like that… so why does it feel so terrifying when he approaches me?

“The wind will keep coming in like this.”

Kaeron perched on the empty side of the bed next to me, glaring at the window. His presence seemed to fill the spacious room.

“Pull the blanket up properly.”

“Yes, sir.”

It wasn’t particularly cold, but I pulled the blanket up to my neck as he instructed.

Better safe than sorry.

“Why… why did you come back?”

I had seen him leave earlier. Why did he return? I still couldn’t fully understand the situation.

“You usually stay gone at least a month at a time. And yet, only a few hours have passed.”

I pulled my arm from under the blanket and pointed to his wristwatch with my finger. Someone so meticulous about time shouldn’t be acting like this.

Kaeron’s gaze fixed on my pointing finger. His expression was far from cheerful—rather, it was slightly intimidating.

Was my finger being impertinent?

“You sound dissatisfied.”

He raised one hand and reached toward my still-pointing finger.

Wait, is he going to crush it like the window frame?

I flinched, but it seemed too late. He was about to grab my hand.

I couldn’t escape here.

But he didn’t grab me forcefully. Instead, he gently held my hand, with almost imperceptible pressure.

He awkwardly tucked my hand under the blanket. It was a strange, clumsy movement, as if mishandling it might break it.

“It’s cold.”

I was both relieved and surprised that he didn’t do anything drastic.

“Keep your arm covered properly too.”

His voice and gaze were colder than anyone else’s. If I felt cold, it was probably because of his icy tone.

Considering his life, a warm voice and gaze wouldn’t suit him anyway.

“The reason I went out this morning wasn’t that I left—it was to bring the doctor. I planned to depart in the afternoon after bringing the doctor.”

“Excuse me? The doctor?”

So he had intended this from the start?

“The doctor you saw earlier from the Royal Hospital. Since procedures are complicated there, it was better for me to fetch him myself. On my way back, I heard you were here, so I came.”

“What about the other doctor from before?”

I know there had been a doctor conducting various tests while I had collapsed.

“That one was incompetent, unable to determine the cause of your illness.”

“….”

It’s not necessarily incompetence. Even in my previous life, they couldn’t find the cause despite all advanced equipment.

But Kaeron believed the doctor lacked skill. He added, disgruntled, “Having a license doesn’t mean you’re trustworthy.”

“Then why couldn’t you wait a little while and had to come here in such a short time?”

He asked in an interrogating tone.

Why do I feel like a student caught sneaking out by a teacher? I just went out for lunch at a restaurant.

“You’re not fully recovered yet.”

“The chef is still traumatized by yesterday and can’t even enter the kitchen. How am I supposed to eat at home?”

“You’ll need to tell the chef to pull himself together.”

It was absurd—he only caused the trauma, yet he says this as if it’s my problem.

“We also need to correct the attendants’ discipline for letting a sick patient come here on their watch.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve been away from home too long. The attendants have grown too lax.”

What is he talking about?

“From now on, you’ll stay in the capital for a while.”

“What?!”

Wouldn’t the attendants just feel uncomfortable if you’re here?

Forgetting his previous instruction to pull up the blanket, I snatched his hand to persuade him.

“The Royal Hospital doctor came too! I’ll be fine now, so nothing like today will happen again. The doctor will prescribe medicine!”

I desperately held his hand with both of mine.

“The attendants may feel uncomfortable with you here. Everyone’s already scared after yesterday.”

But my persuasion didn’t work.

“Good. Fear makes them easier to handle.”

No, that’s not right, you idiot!

“And it’s not the attendants’ fault that I came here! They were trying to stop me!”

But my reasoning didn’t reach him.

“Oh, and soon there’s the banquet, isn’t there? It’s been a while since you attended.”

“Yes?”

“Showing your face after a long time will please His Majesty the Emperor.”

So he plans to attend the banquet as well?

“There are still several days until the banquet!”

“So? Is that a problem?”

I was left speechless.