Chapter 21
Just leave the body as it is and accept the situation, like a floating glass bottle.
He took Sophia and moved his steps.
No one in the House of Frauss could stop Killian.
He walked on the path he had come.
He stepped on the lawn that had been more carefully maintained than Sophia, and passed through curved and broken gates.
Knox, the black horse he was riding on, was quietly waiting.
Killian continued to hold Sophia into one of his arms, as if embracing a light child.
His fiance was too light. The sandbags that military and police soldiers use for training seemed to be heavier than this.
He grabbed Knox’s reins with his remaining arm and jumped onto his saddle.
And he sat Sophia leaning in front of him.
Sophia looked up at him, neither surprised, nor angry, nor crying.
“Why… Did you bring me out?”
It was a vague question, as if it had not been thought through.
It didn’t seem like any of his answers mattered to her.
So he roughly glossed over it.
“Just because.”
As expected, Sophia didn’t pay much attention to his answer.
Without further questioning, she leaned her droopy body against him.
He could feel the body temperature.
It was fortunate that her fever had not risen again.
“We will go to Rivelon.”
Unable to tell her to hold her tight, he wrapped one of his arms around her and hugged her.
And he rode the horse slowly, as if moving too fast would put a strain on her aching body.
~*~
“Master! Are you coming back already?”
It wasn’t even noon yet.
Garfield, the butler of Rivelon, rushed out to meet his master.
“More than that…”
“Prepare the guest room.”
“Oh, yes!”
Seeing the woman in Killian’s arms, the servants looked at each other with their eyes widened.
Has the Lord ever brought a woman into the house?
Unless she was visiting by appointment for public affairs, he has never had a woman set foot in this house.
Whether or not he knew the curiosity of the people of the Rivelon servants, Killian laid Sophia on the bed in the guest room without any explanation.
He had the maids wash her body, which had been dragged on the floor, and change into new clothes.
Because he lived alone, he had no clothes for her to wear, so she had to wear the cleanest and best dress among the clothes worn by maids.
Sophia cooperated quietly without complaining to him.
While the maids looked after Sophia, Killian spoke with Garfield.
“Is Sophia Frauss going to be staying here?”
“Yes, by the way, I need you to go to the Frauss mansion for a bit.”
“What?”
“I want you to bring Sophia’s luggage. Oh, and then go to Andrei’s dressing room and ask to bring the finished dresses here, not to Frauss.”
“Then she’ll stay here? And…get married?”
“You went too far, Garfield.”
They were engaged, but he never thought of getting married right away.
He didn’t know what would happen if he left her in her house, so he brought her into his temporary shelter.
“There are no items for women in the house, so check what she needs and purchase them today. Tell Dr. Leopeld that he can visit here as well.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Oh, and.”
Killian, who seemed to have finished his business, grabbed Garfield again as he turned around.
“Take this.”
Killian took a heavy bag from the drawer and handed it to Garfield.
When he opened it, there was a considerable amount of gold coins inside.
“Why is this…”
The money to buy things for Sophia could be handled under Garfield’s control. Besides, he didn’t need this much money right now.
“…Give it to Frauss. I’m sorry I broke the gate.”
“What?! You broke the gate? What’s going on?!”
Garfield opened his mouth in amazement.
Then, Killian averted his gaze.
“Well, that’s all…”
As Sophia was slapped in the face and Rubisella, blood rushed out of his consciousness and he kicked the pole.
‘I didn’t know the Count’s gate could break so easily…’
It was true that he tried to enter because he wanted to block her, but he did not expect that the gate would crumple completely.
‘I wish the count would fix it on his own.’
He didn’t want to make amends because he didn’t have good feelings for them. But anyway, Count Frauss was also Sophia’s family, and it was his fault that he broke the gate.
“Well, that’s what happened… That doesn’t explain the gold coins, my lord.”
Garfield’s intuition was that it was not unusual for the owner’s attitude not to tell him the reason.
“…You will know when you go.”
Killian didn’t tell him what was wrong until the end.
For some reason, it seems that going to Frauss was not going to be easy.
“Then go.”
“Yes…”
Garfield left with a very embarrassed expression.
Just in time, a maid looking after Sophia filled Garfield’s place.
“The lady has been washed, and her wounds were treated simply.”
After hearing the brief report, Killian headed to the guest room.
The door was open for the maids to come and go, but he knocked anyway.
Sophia, who was sitting far away, looked at him.
“Are you okay?”
At the careful question, Sophia nodded her head slightly.
Killian didn’t know what to say after that.
She was sorry, pitiful, sick, and she couldn’t even pour a bowl of curses at the Countess.
What can he say in front of her?
“It seems you haven’t even eaten breakfast yet…”
In the end, he turned to talk about a meal.
He told the maids to prepare hot food for Sophia.
A menu for someone who was not feeling well.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long to get enough hands in the kitchen, so the maid brought a meal.
It was a warm onion soup, chamomile tea with lemon, and souffle cake with honey-soaked cherries.
The maids put the meal on a small table for Sophia to eat in bed.
When the maid picked up a spoon to feed her, Sophia said she was fine and took the spoon herself.
The maids glanced back and left the room quietly at Killian’s notice.
Fortunately, Sophia did not refuse to eat.
However, it took a while for her to eat a spoonful of the soup because of her swollen cheeks and tonsils that became thick and swollen.
Killian watched, standing at the door far away from her, so as not to bother her.
Sophia, who had been drinking a few sips of onion soup, stopped.
The spoon floating in the air trembled.
Is there any problem?
Tears welled up from the corners of Sophia’s eyes as he was about to ask her because he was worried.
“Ugh…”
Tears streamed down her cheeks, red and swollen, along with sobs that eventually burst. Read only at pm tl.
She put down the spoon she was holding and buried her face in her hands.
“Sophia.”
Killian walked up to her and reached out his hand. But he couldn’t even reach her.
He didn’t know how to comfort her.
He hesitated to even pat her on the back because she looked too fragile to touch.
Even having her to cry coolly doesn’t seem like what he meant.
He bit his mouth shut, only to quell the feeling that was pounding in his chest.
Sophia cried and tried to stop, then repeated again.
“Sophia…”
When Killian called her again, she, who had been weeping, lifted her head, swallowing her breath once again.
“Come to think of it, I’m so angry… That’s why…!”
Her tearful face rested and her voice cracked open.
“I can’t even eat properly because I’m sick…! I really like delicious food…!”
Sophia got angry and looked at the table in front of her.
Pretty caramel-colored onion soup, sweet and rich cherry honey pickles and soft and plump soufflé cake, fragrant tea with a single white chamomile floating on it.
But every time she swallowed a sip of the soup, she couldn’t even taste it. It stung in her mouth from being hit on the cheek, and her throat felt heavy and bitter. The smell of chamomile tea was difficult to savor because of a stuffy nose.
Above all, she couldn’t really enjoy that pretty souffle cake.
The realization that she couldn’t enjoy delicious food even when it’s in front of her, exploded the sorrows she has accumulated over the years.
‘How important is food in our country…!’
But now it tastes like medicine…
With that, a simple but sincere table setting was enough to make her heart flutter.
Killian looked at Sophia, who grabbed the table and became angry with tears in her eyes.
And he was relieved.
She seems to have regained her strength to be angry.
He thought she was depressed.
At that relief, a smile crept over his lips.
“And… My head hurts more when I cry.”
Sophia sniffed and wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand.
The moment she was slapped by Rubisella, she was stunned and lost her mind. At the same time, her body lost strength and she had no energy to resist.
She ran away like this, while she was just being dumbfounded like an idiot.
She can’t even sprinkle her power as a heroine.
The more she chewed on it, the more she cried.
But she had to admit it. Sophia Frauss’s body was as weak and helpless as a piece of paper.
‘When I get strong… I would never be treated like this.’
After her firm resolve, she raised the spoon again.
Eat even if it hurts. Eat even if she doesn’t feel the taste. Eat even with a sore throat!
People live on food!
She couldn’t do anything with this weak body!
