Save Me

11. I feel like my body is burning.

 

My heart was pounding.

At that moment I felt my heart rate was soaring and all my senses were blocked.

Did you forget?

People die easier than you think.

Someone laughed in my ears.

Bump bum bump bum.

My mind went blank, and my heart rate sped up frighteningly.

No matter how hard he tried to listen, the only thing that pounded his eardrums was his own startled heartbeat, and Jillian couldn’t hear anything.

“Bianca.”

Jillian raised his head and hugged the slumped woman tightly.

His face was whiter than Bianca’s.

Without even blinking, Jillian looked at Bianca.

The woman in his arms was so light that if he didn’t do this, it wouldn’t even feel like she was in his arms.

“Why…….”

“Your Excellency the Duke?”

Jillian slowly turned his head when he heard a cautious voice calling him.

Creta, who was startled by Jillian’s shout and ran to him, got goosebumps the moment their eyes met.

Long slit golden eyes.

A beautiful face without expression.

A cold gaze without any warmth.

It was the image of his owner that everyone was familiar with in the Duky.

However…….

Creta exhaled softly.

What was this feeling, as if I were encountering a huge coiled beast?

It looks like he will stretch out his crouched body at any moment and tear himself to pieces.

Creta shook off the dark thoughts that were quickly filling her mind and called out to Jillian.

“Duke, duke.”

The sight of Jillian curled up like an animal holding a motionless body was dangerous.

However, if I leave it like this…

Creta’s gaze quickly passed over the princess hanging in Jillian’s arms.

“…Shall I call a doctor?”

“A doctor?”

Jillian, who had been motionless like a well-made stone statue, blinked.

Creta cautiously took another step.

“The sound of her breathing is very faint.”

“You can hear her breathing?”

Jillian frowned and muttered softly.

At most, that should have been a normal conversation.

But for a moment, the terrible pressure that felt like it was strangling my neck lifted all at once.

Feeling hot blood rushing through her throat all at once, Creta opened her mouth in disgust.

“Duke, It would be better to hurry up and call the doctor.”

Jillian’s eyes were still slit.

However, it was noticeably different from before.

His gaze was clearly focused now.

I didn’t know what the situation was a moment ago or how it happened, but Creta was sure.

If the princess died just like this, something terrible and incomparable would have happened.

Creta slowly knelt down and whispered to Hailey who followed behind her.

“Hailey, call the doctor.”

And even more slowly, she held out her arms to Jillian.

“Duke, may I move the princess? It would be best to put her on the bed.”

“No.”

Creta looked at Jillian’s arms, which were tense, without saying a word.

Despite his slim appearance, Jillian was very strong.

His grip strength, which easily surpassed that of a human, often accidentally crushed the armrests of chairs.

Can the princess’s slender frame withstand such strength?

“Then… should I ask Hailey to move her?”

“No.”

Creta quickly backed away when she saw Jillian hugging the princess so hard that it seemed as if he was going to crush her to his chest.

Jillian was in an unstable state.

She was trying to take over the princess for the fear that something bad might happen, but it seemed that this actually irritated Jillian.

If things continue like this, the princess might really break like a piece of corn.

“Please wait for me.”

“…….”

“I’ll bring her a blanket, so please wait for me patiently.”

Creta quickly stepped back, raising both hands as if in surrender.

“Be gentle.”

Don’t kill her.¹Why do I find this so funny 🤣

 

***

 

“I wish she had died.”

“Yes?”

“…Bianca.”

At the sound of Jeremy’s clear voice, Count Franz’s forehead instantly became damp with cold sweat.

He just heard something he shouldn’t have heard.

“I’m quite annoyed because everything I prepared went wrong.”

Jeremy, who was looking at Count Franz looking haggard, soon turned his attention to the documents in his hand.

Flip, flip.

He expected it, but confirming it was another matter.

His mood plummeted out of control.

“Ah… Really.”

Jeremy gritted his teeth.

The mine development and border area projects in the north, which were in full swing, were all canceled.

It was all because of Bianca.

She should have died.

Jeremy gently pressed his fingers to his headache-filled forehead to relieve the burning pain.

“When will that thing die?”

“Hak!”

The Count sitting across from him trembled, making a dying sound.

Jeremy twisted his mouth and smiled evilly at the count’s pale appearance.

“Why?”

The business being prepared with Count Franz was all started with the premise of Bianca’s ‘death’.

How could an accomplice who clearly knew this make such a harmless expression?

It was at that moment that Jeremy’s thin sense of reason suddenly disappeared.

Bianca with an innocent expression appeared on top of the Count’s very frightened face.

Even though all of this is going on, it’s as if they²i.e: Bianca and the count as he compares them. didn’t know anything.

Bianca had a blank expression on her face as if she didn’t understand it.

“Now that you are reconsider it, do you think it’s a big deal?”

Jeremy furrowed his brows fiercely as he waved the documents in his hand.

“Count, all the mines in the north have been blown away. This is the really big deal.”

As Bianca headed north without dying, he lost sight of the beast right in front of his eyes.

Thanks to this, everything that was meant to be scratched off by attaching the shackles of ‘royal assassination’ to his neck was blown away.

According to Count Franz’s report, there were dozens of mines built across the northern territories.

Most of them were gold and magic stones, and the reserves were so excellent that the mining period could be as short as 30 years or as long as you can guess.

If negotiations with Izar did not go well, Jeremy planned to make up for the compensation by mining gold in the north.

However, everything went wrong because Bianca did not die as a princess.

All of that was regrettable enough to make me feel sick to my stomach, but the most painful thing was that I had to make up for was the compensation I had to pay with my own savings.

She shouldn’t have been born, but she doesn’t die either.³You hateful animal, go away I want my sweet couple(⁠ノ⁠｀⁠⌒⁠´⁠)⁠ノ

Jeremy grieved sincerely.

“I was planning to issue a collection order to the mines in the Northern Territory as payment for her life. But since she is alive, this method has been lost and I need ten golden chests right away. Count, maybe this is what you want?”

“No, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“I was only relying on the research data the Count sent me, so I’m in trouble.”

“Ahh…”

“You’re putting me in trouble. I think this might be treason.”

Count Franz despaired at the sight of the Crown Prince threatening him with a cold expression.

It seemed that the scapegoat to replace Princess Bianca, who did not die, was himself.

“Please, please save me.”

Count Franz put his hands together and begged.

This was the exact posture Bianca used when she was a child, begging for mercy from Jeremy.

 

***

 

Jillian muttered non-stop like a spell.⁴My sweet couple, here you are.

“Bianca.”

People die easily.

The lifespan given was only a little, but people were unable to live even that long.

Jillian knew well how easily life can be lost.

The doctor diagnosed Bianca with hypothermia because she was so cold that her physical activity had almost stopped.

There was no need to ask ‘why’.

This place was frozen all year round.

The formidable cold emanating from the ice wall froze anything.

The dangerous hurdle had passed.

The doctor said that Bianca was fast asleep, but Jillian did not calm down.

A light body that trembled at the fingertips.

Icy cold skin.

Jillian knew of a person who had died long ago, leaving him behind.

‘I’m going to die soon.’

‘I’ll never see you again.’

You may not even know that the faint smile from the moment you calmly said goodbye had been imprinted on me.

You’ll never know that I had become a coward fearing being left alone.

Jillian took a deep breath and held her head.

I shouldn’t have left you alone.

What comforted him as he fell into an indescribable sense of self-destruction was the faint but regular sound of breathing ringing in his ears.

“Bianca.”

Jillian muttered out loud once again.

It was then.

“……Yes?”

At the sound of a voice so fragile that it seemed as if it would go off at any moment, Jillian got up and approached Bianca.

“Bianca.”

Bianca just slowly moved her eyes as if she had not come to her senses yet.

The wide-open black pupils made Jillian feel dizzy, but he remained calm.

“Madam, are you out of your mind?”

“I guess I was fast asleep.”

I didn’t see that coming.

Bianca blinked and muttered in a slightly hoarse voice.

“Sorry……”

Jillian felt bitter from her carefree words, but he soon whispered sweetly.

“Sleep more. It’s still far from morning.”

He seemed relaxed as he smiled, erasing all the impatient behavior he had been holding inside for when Bianca opened her eyes.

However, Jillian’s hand, removing the hair from Bianca’s cheek, was trembling slightly.

“Sleep more. Why are you up?”

“Because it’s a bit hot.”

At Bianca’s words, Jillian recalled the water bag filled with hot water.

It was prescribed to raise body temperature.

“Today is a particularly cold day.”

“But it’s really hot.”

She felt like she couldn’t breathe.

Bianca cried at the gently soothing words and stretched out her hand to gently squeeze his.

The white, thin fingers that touched the back of my hand were hot.

“I feel like my body is burning.”

The sound of crackling breathing was very pitiful.

It felt like she wanted to remove the water bag right away, but Jillian wasn’t sure if that would be possible.

The surest thing to do would be to call a doctor, but then…

‘She’ll notice.’

For sure.

Jillian knew very well what Bianca thought of him.

From the moment he realized that she was abandoned by the imperial palace, he couldn’t help but feel like she had given up on herself.

‘Sacrifice’

In this situation, I knew I shouldn’t do this.

“Please.”

But I couldn’t stand that voice.

It had an absolute power on me.

Jillian let out a small sigh at the sound of Bianca’s pleading voice and quickly put away the water bag.

One was in the armpit.

The other one was at the nape of the neck.

Tuk–tuk.

Soon eavy water bags were piled up at his feet.

With each removed bag, Bianca looked like she was coming to life.

However, when the suffocating hot water bag was removed and Jillian layed down next to her, Bianca looked as if she had been strangled.

“Would a water bag be better?”

Jillian put his arm behind Bianca’s neck and swept her into his arms very naturally.

Pretending not to notice her stiff body, he held her tightly.

“Just sleep now. It’s still early morning.”

Jillian whispered in a kind voice and gently rubbed Bianca’s back.

The delicate body heated by the water bag was hot.

Maybe that was why he felt warmed up as well.

Jillian, who was taking a moment to catch his breath due to the burning sensation, suddenly remembered what Bianca had said.

‘I feel like my body is burning.’

“Haa……..”

Fine.

I felt like my chest was on fire.

 

***

TL:

Sorry for the late update for a lot of reasons I didn’t translate anything the last 3 days. To be honest some things got resolved and others not so much, but now I am free enough to catch up with the delayed translation.

Wish me luck, the other chapter will be released immediately after I finish it.