* * *
The next morning, Lizelle woke up later than usual.
Her body felt heavy and cold, like soaked cotton, and she felt like she might be sick.
Yesterday, Chaser was talking about Raphel getting a cold, and although he was fine, she caught one herself.
“Lizelle…”
Raphel, who had already woken up, washed up with Tia’s help and finished his breakfast, was crying with his chin resting on the bed where Lizelle was lying.
“Don’t hurt…”
Now, a chubby little hand stroked Lizelle’s red cheek.
Lizelle smiled innocently at that soft touch.
“Thank you. It’ll get better soon.”
“If you leave me… Wahhh!”
Raphel seemed to be suddenly overcome with emotion and began to cry.
‘What? It’s not like I’m dying… It’s just a simple cold.’
Raphel was crying so desperately that it seemed like she was suffering from a deadly disease.
“No way. I can’t leave Raphel.”
Wilhazelle comforted Raphel even though her head was pounding from the loud crying coming from beside her.
“Hmph, don’t leave Raphel behind. Huh!”
Did he remember something from the past? Raphel seemed very afraid that he would be left alone.
His small, plump lips were trembling pitifully.
Lizelle felt sad and wanted to hug Raphel, but she couldn’t do anything, fearing that he’d catch a cold as well.
“I brought some soup, eh? Raphelion, why are you crying?”
Tia, who was coming in with warm soup, came running over in surprise.
“Tia. I’m sorry, but can you help me with Raphel? I can’t hug him because I’m afraid he might catch a cold.”
“Yes. Raphelion, Miss Wilhazelle is fine. Come this way.”
Tia put down the tray she was carrying, pulled up Lizelle’s blanket, and picked up Raphel, who was crying.
“Huh. Lizelle!”
Raphel was held tightly in Tia’s arms. He was struggling like a person who was parting ways for the last time, trying to get back to Lizelle.
“Raphel, it’s okay. It’s really okay. Nothing bad will happened.”
“Uuuhhh!”
He was heartbroken that he couldn’t see Lizelle anymore.
Lizelle bit her lip and motioned for Tia to take Raphel out.
It would have been a big problem if Raphel caught a cold because of her.
For Raphel, who had just recovered his health, a simple cold could possibly be fatal.
“Raphelion. Miss Wilhazelle is really fine. After you play with me for a while, she will be better.”
As Tia tried to leave the room, Raphel struggled even harder to get out of her arms.
“Wahh! I want to stay here! Lizelle!”
Tia looked at Lizelle with an embarrassed face.
It was impossible to force Raphelion to do something he hated. She looked at Lizelle, uncertain.
“He shouldn’t stay here. Take him out.”
Lizelle shook her head resolutely. Tia eventually left the room holding Raphel.
Raphel’s voice echoed through the hallway causing her heart to clench.
She sighed in regret and stuffed the warm soup Tia had brought into her mouth.
If she ate well and rested well, she would feel much better.
There wasn’t much time left to spend with Raphel, so she had to get better quickly because it was a waste to spend time like this.
Last time, she was stuck in her room because of her ankle, and now she had to do that again today.
* * *
“Wahhhh! Lizelle!”
Raphel sobbed mournfully in Tia’s arms.
“Raphelion. Shall we play tag?”
Tia struggled to divert Raphel’s attention.
But it didn’t work.
Raphel puffed out his chubby cheeks and shook his head vigorously.
“No!”
“Then, shall we play hide and seek?”
“No! Uncle, uncle!”
“Do you want to see the Duke? Shall we go see the Duke?”
Nod.
Tia walked away, stroking the back of Raphel’s head, who nodded, swallowing his tears.
* * *
Chaser sat in a daze all day.
Since meeting Lizelle yesterday, he hadn’t been able to work or even eat.
He stayed up all night, eyes wide open, just looking outside the window.
And sometimes, whenever Lizelle’s face came to mind, his heart began to pound.
“Why…”
He had no idea why this was happening.
He’d never experienced feelings like this before and it was confusing him.
Did he really… Toward Wilhazelle…
“Haaa.”
There was someone watching Chaser since a while ago, who saw him sighing deeply.
It was Rohan, who stood quietly next to Chaser.
He was waiting for him to sign the tax documents, but Chaser had been just holding the pen for two hours.
While waiting silently, he watched as his master did all sorts of things.
He covered his face, sighed, laughed as if he’d been freed, and then suddenly became depressed.
It was quite new for Rohan to see his master showing various emotions as if he was performing a play all by himself.
He always had a frown or a cold, expressionless face, but now he realized that his master was also a human being with various facial expressions.
Rohan somehow felt like he knew who had made his master so human.
His master’s attitude has changed noticeably since a certain person came to the Duke’s residence.
“My Lord. You’ve been looking at the same documents for hours.”
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Rohan opened his mouth. Two hours seemed like a long enough wait.
“…When did you get here?”
Rohan raised his finger and pointed at the signature line. It seems like he’d forgotten Rohan had even come.
“Please sign.”
Only then did Chaser realize that he was holding a pen.
He cleared his throat in embarrassment and immediately signed and handed the document over to Rohan.
“Thank you.”
Rohan was finally able to receive the document after two hours.
Thinking that he could finally get out of this awful office, he nodded and quickly headed for the door.
“Rohan.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
But he had to turn back around when he heard his master’s voice calling him from behind.
“Why did you start to like Melony?”
Melony was the Duke’s servant in the past and is currently Rohan’s wife.
Chaser became curious.
How did two people, who had no connections whatsoever, suddenly fall in love with each other?
“Huh? What is this…”
Rohan was taken aback by the completely unexpected question and raised his lowered head.
Chaser’s eyes were shining resolutely, as if he needed to hear an answer.
“Uh…”
Rohan didn’t know what to say.
He knew that his master cared about Lady Wilhazelle, but never thought he would like her in that way.
“There must have been a reason for you to fall in love.”
Rohan, dazed by the question, tilted his head in thought.
Does a person need a reason to love another person? Falling in love at first sight can happen in a split second.
After thinking about it for a long time, there was only one answer that came to Rohan’s mind.
“I just realized that at some point, I liked her.”
“Just? At what moment?”
Chaser persisted, asking him to elaborate further.
Rohan nodded briefly and answered.
“Yes. At some point, all of a sudden.”
The answer confused Chaser even more.
Then, at some point, he could have just found himself liking Wilhazelle too…
“It doesn’t make sense, does it…”
Chaser muttered to himself again, lost in thought.
Until recently, he thought she was just as shameless as everyone else, blinded by greed and taking advantage of a child…
He’d accused her of being a fraud… How could he…
Did he fall for her as soon as he realized it was just a misunderstanding?
How could he change his mind as easily as flipping a coin in the palm of his hand?
“It seems like nothing in the world makes sense.”
Rohan thought more deeply and added. Chaser seemed to be hesitating.
“What…?”
“No matter what the beginning is like, aren’t people, emotions, and relationships always changing and evolving?”
At Rohan’s clear answer, Chaser felt dizzy, like he’d been hit over the head.
As he said, things went wrong with Wilhazelle from their first meeting.
It was because he saw her through a colored lens, not as who she really was.
But as he got to know her little by little, he realized the truth. There was no lie in her smile towards Raphel.
She always treated the child carefully and warmly, and even when she heard rumors about him, she trusted in what she had seen with her own eyes, not what others said.
Could that really all be an act?
Even if she was deceiving him for a reward, he didn’t think everything she’d said so far was a lie.
In his heart, he may already be hoping that she has never lied to him.
He hopes everything is just a misunderstanding and illusion.
Even if the antidote was used and Raphel was not his nephew and Wilhazelle had made up a lie, he might not have been able to do anything about it at this point.
Because his feelings were different from the beginning.
His thoughts have changed 180 degrees. His emotions as well.
In the end, Chaser had no choice but to admit it.
His feelings for her have changed.
He’d come to like Wilhazelle.
__________________________________________________________________
Enjoy my translations? Check out some of my other novels! The novels that have the most views get more reliable, consistent releases!
- Reasons to Protect the Witch’s Son
- I Found a Husband When I Picked up the Male Lead
- The Contract with the Lord was a Trap
- I Became The Mother Of the Male Lead Who Lives With An Adulterous Man
- By the Time You Came Around, It Was Already Too Late
- After the Ending, I Received the Second Male Lead as a Gift
- Unveil the Truth
