Chapter 114
The sudden pain in her heart, which had been so painful that she couldn’t breathe, was not a problem.
‘Well, it did get better quickly.’
Maybe it was the wizard who helped her during the seizure? He didn’t seem like an ordinary wizard after all…
She glanced at the back of her now unmarked hand. She realized how much she’d been wearing it, and she felt a little hollow.
“You mean there’s nothing wrong with it?”
Mehen was openly suspicious when he heard this diagnosis.
The attending physician, the healers at the tower, and the priests at the temple all agreed, but Mehen still had doubts.
“How does it make sense that she was sick and there are no abnormal findings?”
“Yes. Heart pain is something she complained of periodically, and since she was eating right and exercising moderately, she gained strength, so it’s actually better than before…”
“Better? This?”
“What? Yes…”
Mehen glared at the doctor with a frown.
She could see Doctor Warren tense up, with a look on his face that said, “Why?”
He was probably more concerned about her father, who was smiling softly next to Mehen.
Her father looked at her and was silent for a moment, as if in thought.
“If her heart was hurting, was it because you fed him dragon hearts?”
“Dragon…? Are you kidding?”
‘What did he feed me?’
Her father smirked, but it couldn’t be a joke since he was the one speaking.
“Valar.”
“Why?”
“Do you want to die? Who told you to feed her without her doctor’s permission?”
“I did.”
“You really.”
Oh, no, here we go again!
“Mom-!”
She rushed in and clung to Mehen. Mehen, who seemed unusually cranky and sensitive, perhaps due to the fact that she was sick, immediately stopped.
“I’m fine, Mehen.”
She tugged at his collar, and he let out a short huff.
“Ha. I must have gotten very sensitive.”
Mehen admitted meekly.
“To think that I might lose Arel if I do this…”
She just laughed as she met his eyes, seeing guilt, impatience, affection, and anxiety all mixed together.
It was clear that Mehen was more worried about his past than her health.
The look of regret in his eyes pierced her heart, as if he regretted all the times he hadn’t taken care of me.
“Eight.”
“…?”
<Well done!>
A sticker that became a must-have item for her due to the pecking order battle in her childcare group.
She picked out the prettiest one and stuck it on Mehen’s cheek.
Mehen watches her with a dumbfounded expression and shakes his head. When she showed him the hand mirror, he laughed.
“Mehen doesn’t have a compliment sticker board.”
“Haha.”
She couldn’t tell if Mehen was amused or embarrassed.
Her father, who had been watching them, interrupted as usual.
“What about me, daughter?”
The mischievous look in his eyes made it seem like he didn’t need to answer, but…
‘You keep staring at Mehen’s cheeks.’
She swallowed the sigh that escaped her in the childish way he was trying to decide whether to take it away or not.
Is this guy really…
“Me too.”
Her father demanded.
“Are you jealous of Mehen?”
“Yes.”
She glared at her father at his demand, then pulled another sticker out of her bosom.
<Try harder!>
There was no way she was going to give him a “Good job!” sticker.
Mehen giggled when he saw the sticker on her father’s cheek. Her father’s expression became more subtle as he took the hand mirror from Mehen.
“Not yet, Dad?”
“Needs more work.”
Father’s handsome face contorted at her stern assessment, and then he burst out laughing.
Where is the laughing point here?
“Okay, I’ll try harder.”
He rubbed his cheek against her small hand and his eyes softened.
“Yes, try harder!”
She didn’t realize it at the time.
The repercussions of those two stickers on his cheeks.
***
Mehen continued on with the regular meeting, unperturbed by the stares directed at her.
The parenting group looked at her, each with something to say.
“Hey, Mehen.”
“That sticker on your cheek…”
“Did the lady put that on you?”
The shaky gazes came together, and the corners of Mehen’s mouth softened.
In this moment, the only one who was relaxed was Mehen, who was smiling without even saying so.
The entire nursery cringed at his demeanor, as if to say, “This is the difference between you and me.”
Eventually, after the regular meeting was over, the nurturing group rushed over to Arellin.
“Miss, next time I’d like it on the cheeks, please, big time!”
“I like the forehead too!”
“I want lips, unconditionally!”
“I want eyes!”
Arellin blinked in bewilderment at the out-of-the-blue requests.
“No, you guys have a sticker board…”
***
Duke Sperom rubbed his eyes, thinking for a moment that he was seeing things.
He had an urgent report to make, so he stopped by the sacred Imperial Palace to see what…?
“Simon.”
“No, Quian.”
The Duke of Sperom grabbed Mubisk urgently at the appearance of a familiar face.
“Look there.”
“Hmm? What’s there…?”
Duke Mubisk turned his head in the direction Sperom was pointing, speechless.
There, wandering around with a strange sticker on his cheek, was Valar, Archduke of Halbern.
“What kind of madness is that? What do you know?”
Duke Sperom asked Duke Mubisk. The Duke of Mubisk was at a loss for words, even more terrified because he had no idea what this man was doing.
“What does he have on his cheeks…?”
“What do I know!”
Duke Sperom snapped. The Duke of Mubisk thought for a moment, then turned to Valar.
“Valar, what the hell are you carrying?”
Valar chuckled lowly at the blunt question, which didn’t even include a greeting.
“A compliment sticker from my daughter.”
“Uh…?”
“Tell me to try harder.”
Valar touched his cheek and smiled again.
“Cute, huh?”
That alone painted a picture. That face would mesmerize anyone, even with a weird thing on his cheek.
Is it because it’s… him, or does he seem to like it?
The Duke of Mubisk nodded bluntly. Duke Sperom watched them from a distance, unable to come closer for fear of some unknown curse.
“Is that what you’ve been doing all day?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To show off?”
Valar chuckled softly, not really thinking much of it, just wanting to show off as much of himself as possible.
“By any chance, did you show it to the Emperor?”
“Yes. He said he was jealous.”
“…”
His Majesty? Of course not.
Surely Valar must have coerced the answer out of him, the Duke of Mubisk wasn’t sure.
No, really?
“You should show off more.”
The Duke of Mubisk was at a loss for words as he watched Valar get to his feet.
Valar continued to wander around the hot spots with a “Try harder” sticker on his cheek.
***
And the next day.
“New trendsetter!”
Valar’s face with the sticker was on the front page of the Albrecht Times.
Mehen woke up peacefully, opened the morning paper, and spit out his morning coffee.
“The Archduke of Halbern, arrived at Gienhaus this summer with a sticker decoration that is likely to be the new socialite fad. Already, those who have seen the new decorating fad have been posting pictures on…”
What did he see?
Mehen read the article with a trembling gaze and closed it. She didn’t want to know more.
“Ha, the world has gone crazy.”
He calmly opened another newspaper, repeating his usual thought.
“Pfftt-!”
Mehen spewed out another coffee.
“Archduke Halbern’s true love is ‘this guy’?!”
The article showed a blurry picture of Mehen and Valar attending the first day of the Imperial Ball.
