Chapter 41
The sailor’s mention of the “sick nobleman” could only mean one person—Luke.
A sense of foreboding prickled at me, and I frowned.
‘Something’s wrong with Luke?’
First, I drew back some of the spirit’s power I had been using to propel the ship.
Maintaining that level of focus made it hard to hold a conversation.
Besides, the ship had already gained enough speed that it didn’t need as much force as before.
Then, I pressed the sailor for details.
“The nobleman you mentioned…?”
“I saw him when I brought his meal earlier. The one who’s supposed to become the next Duke—he was burning up with fever.”
So Luke had fallen ill.
He had seemed fine yesterday, but leaving severe wounds untreated must have taken its toll.
“You should probably check on him.”
The sailor fidgeted anxiously, clearly worried about the trouble a death on board would cause.
His pleading gaze locked onto me—probably because he’d seen me treat the soldiers’ itching the other day and assumed I could heal Luke too.
‘What a useless relative he turned out to be…’
If I tended to him, I wouldn’t be able to focus fully on steering the ship, delaying our arrival.
But I couldn’t ignore a dying man either, so I went to check on Luke.
The moment I stepped into his cabin, the sickly-sweet stench of decay hit me.
Bloodied rags were strewn carelessly in the corner, and the bedding… well, it was best not to look too closely.
Honestly, it was no surprise his condition had worsened.
‘Was he only lively yesterday because of painkillers?’
He must have been numb enough to move around, but the damage to his body was clearly severe.
I checked his temperature first.
‘High fever…’
Thanks to my in-game experience with various professions, I knew a lot about herbs—but I wasn’t a real doctor.
So, relying on common sense from my past life, I started by disinfecting his wounds.
Luckily, most were bruises, so only a few needed proper cleaning—his forehead, lips, and the bridge of his nose.
Then, I mixed herbs to help with pain, inflammation, and fever and forced them down his throat.
“Ugh…”
After a while, his eyes fluttered open.
“Claudia…”
My name rasped from his cracked lips.
Even though Luke was usually insufferable, seeing him like this—barely alive, weakly calling my name—made me pity him a little.
“Why did you act so recklessly when you couldn’t even resist His Highness anyway?”
“……”
“I heard you lied and said I slipped off the cliff on my own, then got beaten for it. Did you really think he’d just laugh it off? He’s not as soft as I am.”
His breathing was labored.
Then, his lips moved as if trying to speak.
His voice was too faint to hear, but I could guess from the shape of his mouth.
‘Sorry?’
That’s what it looked like. But I couldn’t be sure.
I considered asking him to repeat himself but decided against it.
A sick man wouldn’t give me a coherent answer anyway.
“Just rest.”
Then, I started to rise from the chair.
I’d done all I could—now, I needed to get back to steering the ship.
“……?”
Before I could fully stand, his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.
I had no choice but to sit back down.
‘Does he not want me to leave?’
Shaking off his weak grip would’ve been easy.
But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
The thought of leaving him alone in this state made me hesitate.
“…I’ll stay five more minutes. But I have to get back to the ship after that. Or I can call Nayla for you instead.”
“No…”
I assumed he’d prefer Nayla’s company over mine.
But when he shook his head firmly, I knew something was off.
Had he misheard me? Or had I misheard him?
“You want me to call Nayla?”
“Don’t… call her.”
I hadn’t misheard.
This time, his refusal was clear.
“Why?”
“She doesn’t want to come. She hasn’t visited once since that day…”
After being exposed as a liar, she must have been too ashamed to face him.
I could understand that.
‘So he needs a substitute for Nayla, huh?’
Typical Luke.
When he grabbed me and told me not to call Nayla, I thought the fever had messed with his head.
But no—he was still the same selfish man.
Then, he said something that stunned me.
“And… right now, I’d rather have you here than Nayla.”
This time, I was certain.
Something was definitely wrong with Luke’s brain.
In his right mind, he’d never say he wanted me by his side.
I’d heard people act strangely when death loomed, but this was extreme.
“What’s wrong with you…? Be your usual self.”
His uncharacteristic behavior was more unsettling than scary.
But he didn’t snap back to normal.
“About those herbs… you were right. Nayla did use them wrong. I thought you were just making it up to humiliate her, but…”
“Yeah.”
“And you really did find the spirit… That wasn’t a lie either.”
“Right.”
“The painkillers… they really were from you, not Nayla.”
“…What’s your point?”
I cut straight to the chase as he listed his mistakes one by one.
His answer came quickly.
“I think… I’ve misunderstood you all this time.”
“……”
“I thought you were jealous of Nayla. Every move you made seemed like an attempt to frame her… But you kept proving me wrong.”
Seeing him regret it now didn’t soften me—it just made me angrier.
“You thought I was jealous of Nayla?”
A dry laugh escaped me before I continued.
“I have no idea why you’d delude yourself into believing something so ridiculous, but I have zero reason to envy anyone.”
Even if it was a contractual relationship, I had a handsome, devoted fiancé.
And my status wasn’t something to scoff at either—I was the true daughter of Duke Ruberlissis.
No, actually, it was more than that.
With the Empress and my mother gone, I was currently the highest-ranking noblewoman in the Belkinus Empire.
So why the hell would I be jealous of Nayla?
I had half a mind to grab him by the collar and demand an answer.
“Don’t ever make that disgusting assumption again. And my five minutes are up—I have to go.”
“…Alright. Sorry.”
Before I left, he lay back, covering his eyes with his arm—almost as if hiding tears.
It made leaving harder, but I had work to do.
With effort, I forced myself to walk away.
Thanks to my focus, the captain soon delivered good news: land was near.
If I pushed the speed, we’d arrive awkwardly in the middle of the night, so I stopped manipulating the currents.
That left me with free time.
And of course, I knew exactly how to spend it.
In bed with Nathan, rediscovering each other.
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this.”
Time apart had left him parched.
He made up for it by devouring me—starting from my toes, working his way to the deepest, most secret places, leaving no inch untouched.
By the dim moonlight, we relearned each other’s bodies, only parting as dawn approached.
Afterward, we lay in a pleasant haze of exhaustion.
“Haa…”
I exhaled deeply, burying my face in his chest.
The emptiness that followed always needed to be chased away with shared warmth.
He held me tightly in his arms, refusing to let go.
For a while, the only sound in the cabin was our steady breathing.
Then, I broke the silence.
“…By the way, I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor? Name it. Unless it’s pardoning your brother’s crimes—then no.”
“…You guessed? That was what I was going to ask.”
“I had a feeling.”
Was I really that predictable? A small pout formed on my lips.
Meanwhile, he asked,
“Do you pity him?”
“…He apologized to me while he was half-dead. Seeing someone so arrogant brought low just… got to me.”
He sighed.
Hearing that, I hesitated before asking,
“Does that… disappoint you?”
