Yelena deliberately pretended not to hear my question and held out the pills.
“It’s a fever reducer and something to help with digestion. I know you’ll have a lot of medication to take, but hang in there. I’ll get you well in no time.”
Seeing my face beginning to crumple, Kivrin said urgently.
“Ha, there won’t be anything delicious food in heaven. So you shouldn’t go.”
It was pretty hard to ignore the glare attack from Kivrin’s big eyes.
His golden pupils sparkled like a spoonful of honey in the sun.
“……I’ll try.”
If I just ate well and slept well, I’d recover on my own, but somehow I felt like I was being treated as if I had only a few days to live.
Winter said a word, too.
“If you’re eating as much as birdseed as you are, don’t you think you’re on the brink of death?”
“Ha, ha…….”
I think I ate more than birdseed, though!
Even after the meal was over, Winter kept an eye on me.
When I asked to see the garden with Kivrin, she agreed.
He took a seat on the outdoor terrace overlooking the garden.
As a result, I felt his intense gaze on me as I walked, but I didn’t feel bad about it.
I knew she was genuinely concerned about me.
My biological parents were always busy taking care of their work during the day.
Of course, Winter was another member of the Duke’s household.
Surely their workload couldn’t compare to mine?
It would be as busy as the family owner now as the temple and the friction.
Still, he had time for me.
The garden was free of puddles from last night’s heavy rain.
The only thing that hadn’t dried up were the fresh flowers.
As I gazed at the feast of flowers in harmony with the fountain, I said to Kivrin.
“I think your mom is a surprisingly nice person.”
Winter wasn’t the only one paying attention to me, and one of the maids let out a small laugh.
Perhaps I should have left out the word surprisingly, but it was true.
-It’s your wife. It’s yours. Make fun of her until you get tired of her.
Winter’s first impression was the worst.
She’d assumed she was everything she’d been described as in The Wicked Witch of the West, nothing more, nothing less.
But the handmaidens behind her were from the Temple.
They weren’t just watching Kivrin, they were watching Winter.
Given that Winter’s demeanour had softened since arriving at the ducal residence, it was unlikely that being watched by the temple maids hadn’t had an effect.
Kivrin folded his eyes into a half-moon shape and smiled.
“I like my mother, too, Jo.”
“Really?”
“And Cheria, of course!”
“…….”
Well, I’m not jealous.
Still, I was mildly curious, so I asked.
“And the Duke?”
“Ugh.”
“…….”
Kivrin blatantly avoided my gaze.
He furrowed his brow, then opened it, then confessed.
“I, uh, I like ears.”
Suddenly?
I could tell he was trying to change the subject, but for now, I pretended not to notice.
“Really?”
“So, uh, I heard my mom and Yelena talking about it.”
The dreamy shawl Yelena had wrapped around me before we parted tickled my cheeks.
I turned to Kivrin, not wanting Winter to hear, and asked.
“Can you tell me what she said?”
“He said that Cheria is in bad shape…….”
I don’t know why everyone thinks I’m the only one who’s serious.
Kivrin was just as skinny as me.
“kivrin, aren’t you sick?”
“Me, I’m healthy, even if I look like this, but Cheria-sama, ah, no.”
“…….”
Kivrin said in a stern voice.
“Even now, you’ve been out too long, and you, uh, need to get back inside and, uh, warm up.”
Kivrin’s eyes narrowed, like a porcelain doll made of honey and sugar.
“It hasn’t even been ten minutes yet…….”
“Uh, come on.”
“…….”
In those few moments, Yelena’s influence had firmly taken hold.
Kivrin ignored my timid protests and held my hand.
By now, Kivrin was starting to not mind touching me, but I couldn’t afford to be impressed.
I was dragged by Kivrin into the ducal residence.
Kivrin led me to his bedroom and pulled the covers over me.
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he turned me around.
“……Ah, don’t be sick.”
“…….”
I wiggled my hands in the comforter,
Kivrin continued to say what he was going to say, whether I pried or not.
“I could have healed you, but now, ah, I can’t do anything.”
“…….”
“I…… want to be helpful to you, Cheria.”
Kivrin sulked.
It felt like someone had poked his conscience with a needle.
Eight, I don’t know. The strong and trustworthy Cheria is taking the day off today.
I curled up in a ball on the futon and pulled my strength out of my body.
“I’ll do what Confucius tells me to do, but can you see I’m staying put to rest?”
“I see.”
Kivrin lay down next to me.
I took up all the comforter, so Kivrin had nothing to cover.
“You can cuddle up with me.”
“Okay, ouch.”
“…….”
Kivrin added hastily, afraid I might misunderstand.
“I mean, it’s okay, yeah.”
“Okay.”
The first minute or so was bearable.
Even the fifth minute was somehow bearable, staring at the ceiling.
But by now the sun was still high in the sky.
I was a little groggy from the high, but I didn’t want to fall asleep.
After what seemed like another five minutes, I called out to Kivrin.
“Confucius.”
“…….”
“……?
I turned my head to see a groggy Kivrin.
His fern-like hands were clutching the hem of my dress, which was sticking out from under a pile of quilts.
I rolled onto my side and studied the kivrin.
Her long eyelashes held a bead of sunlight from the window.
The white skin was even, as if it had been carefully painted.
The scales at the corners of Kivrin’s eyes were crystal clear, not like something sinister, but like something sacred.
“Cheria, I don’t want you to be sick…….”
Kivrin mumbled in his sleep.
I couldn’t help but giggle at how cute it was.
If only Winter and Kivrin could mend their relationship sooner rather than later.
I watched Kivrin still and closed my eyes.
I hated the silence in the snake den, but the silence of this moment was so sweet.
* * *
My mind drifted in sleep.
I was about to burrow under the covers when Mera gently shook me awake.
“Miss Cheria, it’s time for lunch.”
“I’ve prepared a fish dish.”
“And tea.”
I could hear the other maids’ voices as well.
I struggled to lift my eyelids.
There was an array of food in front of me.
What is this…….
I rubbed my eyes, but reality didn’t return.
I was lying in bed, and Kivrin was nowhere to be found.
Instead, a feast as grand as breakfast had taken Kivrin’s place.
Merra had apparently decided that it was better to repurpose the bedroom slightly than to take me to the dining room.
Merra and her maids carried out trays of food and held them out to me.
“If you don’t have an appetite, perhaps you’d like some fruit drink, and here’s some soft bread and a poached egg.”
“I thought you might like some spicy stews or smoked dishes.”
“You might like to try this chicken dish.”
“And don’t forget the medicines that Yelena prescribed!”
……Nothing, I’m scared.
There was so much to eat that I felt rather sick.
I carefully pushed the plates away and slipped out of the futon.
“I’ll eat later.”
“You have to eat at least a little, here, just this.”
Merra held out a plate stacked with food like a three-tiered cake.
It was made by a duke’s chef, so it was delicious, but alas, I had no appetite right now.
“This is not a bit…….”
I just don’t know what you’ll like, so I’ve prepared everything for you, Jia.
As I slowly backtracked, Merra came up to me.
“Kids your age eat this much all the time? I’m sure you’ll change your mind once you take a bite. Here, go.”
She gave me a pleading look.
She must have realised my condition.
“What do you think, young lady? Is it good?”
“Mmm.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and shoved the food into my mouth.
But as one bite turned into two, then three, my stomach rebelled.
My stomach, which hadn’t been fed much, was already at its limit.
Ugh, what the hell. Merra would be disappointed if I gagged.
In the end, there was only one option.
“Sorry, Angel, no, Merra!”
“Ouch, sweetheart!”
Merra called after me as I scurried away.
I ran down the stairs in a panic.
Once I’d calmed down a bit, I turned to go to Merra to bump into someone coming the other way.
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