Because I was Terminally Ill, I Married the Male Lead's Brother, and Now He's Obsessed with Me

Episode 80

Ian went to his room, while Lloydin and I entered the bedroom together.

“I’ll go wash up.”

In truth, I wasn’t tired at all anymore, but since I had already said it, it seemed better to just lie down for now.

Moreover, while soaking in the bathtub, I felt like I needed to sort out all the emotions I had felt today.

“Madam.”

My steps toward the bathroom were halted by Lloydin’s voice.

“Yes?”

When I turned around, he was staring at me intently.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“…No. I’ll go wash up too.”

“Yes.”

It seemed like there was something, but denying it, especially with my mind still tangled up in everything that happened at the banquet, seemed too complicated.

So, after quickly responding, I headed to the bathroom.

“Ah, I’m exhausted.”

“You pushed yourself too hard today.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. You seem tired.”

Lia responded with a worried tone, listening to my bath chatter.

“No matter how much you’re getting better, you still need to be careful.”

“Okay. I got it.”

“By the way, how was the banquet?”

“The banquet?”

“Yes. I couldn’t follow because of my sprained ankle. I’m sorry.”

Lia couldn’t attend the banquet because she sprained her ankle while going down the stairs today.

“It’s okay. But why did you come here if your leg hurts? Call someone else.”

Feeling sorry for Lia, who seemed to be in pain, I scolded her.

“I’ve been taking care of madam’s baths since I was young. And this involves using my arms, so it doesn’t matter if my leg hurts.”

“Still…”

“It’s okay. Done. Would you like to soak a little longer?”

“Yeah. I’ll do that.”

“I’ll wait here…”

“No, go ahead. I have things to think about, so I’ll be staying longer.”

“No, I’ll stay by your side.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry; call me if you need anything.”

“…Okay. Then, remember to call me when you come out.”

“Yeah, got it.”

With an anxious look, Lia confirmed with me again before leaving the bathroom.

As soon as Lia left, silence fell in the bathroom. With every slight movement of my body, only the sound of water flowing out of the bathtub and my breathing could be heard. Otherwise, there was complete silence.

*Sigh.*

I let out a deep sigh from the depths of my heart. A decision had to be made.

Either stop my heart from moving any further from here, or…

But the heart wasn’t something I could control.

It was my heart, but it resided in a place beyond my control.

‘What will Lloydin think of me?’

Would he still think of me the same as before?

Then, his voice interrupted my incessant thoughts.

“Madam?”

“Duke?”

“Yes, coming.”

Lloydin’s voice sounded clearer than before.

Even though the door was closed, I couldn’t see him, but he seemed to be near the bathroom door.

“What’s the matter?”

I asked him the purpose of his sudden appearance, feeling a bit flustered.

“I was worried because madam hadn’t come out. I thought something might have happened.”

Had so much time passed already?

Perhaps staying for a short while had turned into a longer soak than intended.

“Just a moment. I’ll come out right away. Oh…”

Thinking that he had been waiting, I hurriedly tried to get up from the bathtub, but I suddenly felt dizzy.

“Are you Dizzy? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yes, yes, I’m fine!”

Feeling embarrassed about the thought of stumbling inside, I hurriedly answered him.

Then, cautiously holding onto the edge of the bathtub, I tried to step out, but due to the water on the floor, I slipped.

“Ack!”

Thud! Crash!

Startled by the sudden slip, a loud scream escaped my lips as I fell flat on my buttocks.

“Madam!”

Ah, it hurts.

The momentary pain from falling caused my mind to focus entirely in that direction. Consequently, I couldn’t hear Lloydin calling me repeatedly.

“Madam, I’ll come in now.”

Suddenly, his words about coming in made my ears perk up.

“No, don’t come in there…!”

I’m naked right now…!

In an instant, I envisioned the impending situation vividly, feeling the need to stop him somehow. I tried to shout for him not to come in, but it was already too late.

The bathroom door swung wide open, and Lloydin, who had been waiting outside, locked eyes with me.

For a moment, everything went white in my mind, and it felt like someone had blocked my ears; I couldn’t hear anything.

I didn’t know what expression I was making now, but one thing was clear: Lloydin looked worried yet extremely flustered.

As I looked at his face, my foggy mind suddenly cleared.

“Oh! No! Don’t look!”

Quickly, I twisted my body and huddled close to the floor.

What do I do?

What should I do?

I couldn’t seem to make a proper judgment in this situation, and so I found myself doing nothing but trying to hide my body as much as possible on the cold floor.

Then, something covered me from above.

Soft fabric touched my skin, and as I lowered my head to check, I realized it was the robe Lloydin had been wearing just moments ago.

It was much too large for me, covering me entirely from neck to toe.

Wait, then what is Lloydin wearing now?

The question began to ignite wild thoughts in my mind, and I quickly shut my eyes tight, trying to stop the thoughts.

But unfortunately, closing my eyes only seemed to fuel my imagination further.

And what stopped that imagination was not something else but Lloydin’s body against mine.

Suddenly, along with the robe covering me, I felt his body rising over mine as he embraced me from the side.

“Du… Duke!”

In my startled state, my scream didn’t escape outside but instead was absorbed into Lloydin’s embrace.

Soon, a familiar yet comforting feeling enveloped me, and I slowly opened my tightly shut eyes.

What I saw was something I had never seen before: Lloydin’s bare shoulders and firm chest.

What I was seeing wasn’t a product of my imagination.

My heart began to pound fiercely, fearing that he might hear it beating too close.

I didn’t know where to look, so I ended up closing my eyelids again.

Once again, with my eyes shut, all sorts of thoughts roamed through my mind.

Especially, all the embarrassing events that had happened to me flashed through my mind like a panorama, flooding me with endless shame.

“Duke, please let go…”

Even so, being embraced like this felt even more embarrassing, so I quickly asked Lloydin to let go.

“No.”

Unexpectedly, a firm voice came from him.

“It’s dangerous. I’ll let you down in a safe place.”

“I’m not injured. I can walk on my own.”

“Still, it’s not allowed.”

Lloydin once again refused my demand firmly, holding me tighter as if he wouldn’t let go under any circumstances.

In the end, I gave up and sighed inwardly.

‘You saw it, didn’t you?’

Since our eyes met the moment the door opened, it was an unavoidable situation, even if I tried not to see it.

I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.

So, I buried myself even deeper into his embrace.

I could feel Lloydin’s gaze on me, either looking directly at me or from behind.

I absolutely didn’t raise my head.

I just couldn’t bring myself to face him.

After a while, Lloydin, who had been holding me, moved his feet.

As we moved away from the warmth of the bathroom, a chilly breeze swept over me, making me shiver.

But as Lloydin held me tighter, the trembling stopped as if by magic.

“Everyone, bow your heads.”

A low, dignified voice echoed through the corridor.

Glancing around with my peripheral vision, I saw the servants hastily bowing their heads.

Among them was Lya, and in that short moment of eye contact, I sent her a reassuring look.

The distance from the bathroom to the bedroom was very short.

With Lloydin’s long strides, we quickly arrived at the bedroom.

After the door closed, I gradually felt the warmth and coziness of the room.

I felt a slight sense of relief for safely making it from the bathroom to the bedroom, which had been the scene of the incident.

But there was still a bigger mountain ahead.

So… what now?

I had to think.

First and foremost, getting out of Lloydin’s embrace was the top priority.

“Could you please let me go now?”

He had said he would let me down in a safe place, so I thought he would release me immediately.

“I’ll take you to the bed.”

However, he continued to hold me tightly as he walked to the bed.

Then, he gently laid me down on the bed and covered me up to my chin with a blanket.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Uh, no. I’m fine. Completely fine.”

Lloydin asked me with a voice full of concern, but I couldn’t look at him properly.

As soon as I got away from him, the sight before me was Lloydin’s upper body completely exposed.

Fortunately, unlike the grotesque images in my imagination, the lower part of his body was covered with a towel.

Phew.

With that strange sense of relief, amid my confusion, I was trying to figure out where to put my eyes.