Episode 28

They say even dogs don’t catch a cold in the summer. I didn’t even get wet in the rain. Yet, after visiting the boutique, my frail body eventually fell ill.

Perhaps, confirming the knot on the umbrella was quite a shock to me. So much so that it made my continuous investigation pointing him as the culprit seem irrelevant.

“I didn’t personally witness the Duke tying the umbrella string with my own eyes…” 

I muttered in an exhausted voice. But soon, I was startled by my own words.

Why am I making excuses for him? Perhaps, deep down, I hoped he was not the culprit. I don’t even know why.

However, realistically, Duke Adler was undeniably the most likely suspect. There were far more circumstances suggesting he was the culprit than not.

The fact that the Duke sometimes showed his humane side to me didn’t change that. Due to these complex thoughts, I groaned under my blanket. Despite a burning fever, my body shivered uncontrollably.

“What to do, the princess’s fever is too high.”

Martha wore a gloomy expression as she changed the wet towel on my forehead. She had been by my bed all day, tending to me.

“Did you send the letter canceling the tea time with Lady Blair?” 

I asked Martha in a hoarse voice.

In this condition, I couldn’t step out of bed, so all scheduled plans had to be canceled.

“Of course, don’t worry.” 

I nodded slightly, coughing dryly.

Just then, a maid entered the bedroom. 

“Um, Your Highness, a visitor has arrived for you.”

“All of Your Highness’s appointments were canceled. Who might it be? I’ll send them away.” 

Martha said, tilting her head and rising from her seat.

“It’s… Duke Adler who has come.”

“What? Cough, cough…!” 

I coughed out at the unexpected name. Martha became even more excited and made a fuss.

“Goodness! It seems the Duke has come to visit you in your illness!” 

I held my throbbing head and calmed the excited Martha.

“I didn’t say anything, how could the Duke know I am sick and come here.”

“Ah, that’s true. Anyway, I’ll bring him to the room right away!”

Disappointment crossed her face momentarily, but Martha quickly left with a lively step to greet the Duke. The mere fact that he had come to visit me at the princess’s palace seemed to have excited her.

Soon, the Duke, neatly dressed, entered my room with a slight hesitation.

He greeted me respectfully as always. 

“Your Highness,” he said.

“I apologize for greeting you in such a disheveled state.” 

I slightly raised myself in bed, making a gesture of politeness.

Even so, I must have looked like a mess. My hair was damp with sweat, my face swollen and sallow, and I was dressed in informal indoor clothing.

The Duke cleared his throat and then began to speak, his face slightly flushed.

“There’s no need for Your Highness to apologize. Rather, please forgive my impertinence for coming uninvited, even to a lady’s bedroom.”

“Impertinence? I am the one who couldn’t entertain you properly due to my condition.”

“Let me clarify, to avoid any misunderstanding, I am not one to frequent a woman’s bedroom.”

The Duke excessively justified his presence in my bedroom.

“Yes, I don’t misunderstand. I’m not particularly concerned about who enters my bedroom, so don’t worry.”

“Surely not someone else…!”

At my casual response, the Duke, somewhat agitated, started to say something but then closed his mouth. His brows furrowed intensely.

“By the way, it’s not even date day. What brings you to the princess’s palace? Cough, cough.”

My raspy voice made the Duke furrow his brow.

“Are you very sick?”

“Cough, it’s just a cold. I’ll be fine soon. Did you come here to say something to me?”

The Duke avoided revealing his purpose for coming and kept changing the subject. At my question, his blue eyes darted around the room in confusion, then suddenly stopped.

“So… I came to get back the umbrella I lent you before.”

“You came all this way just to get back an umbrella?'”

I frowned, feeling a dull throb in my head. That umbrella was already causing me enough headaches.

“It’s an umbrella I cherish,” he said, coughing awkwardly and turning away from me.

I gave a hollow laugh. That was certainly an excuse. The ‘Duke Adler’ coming all the way to the princess’s palace just for an umbrella?

There had to be some other reason. Maybe he came to inspect the inside of the princess’s palace. 

He had been looking around my room a while ago.

Criminals often scout the location of their crimes in advance. The princess’s palace might be one of those places, especially the bedroom.

Suddenly, chills ran down my spine. 

“The umbrella is over there. I should have returned it myself… Please take it later.” 

I said stiffly.

However, the Duke swallowed hard and, instead of going to get the umbrella, he dawdled in front of me.

“Why haven’t you sent any letters recently?”

“Ah, you let me know the days we’ll meet anyway. I thought receiving my letters every time might be bothersome for you.”

I replied, still on guard. 

“It’s not… bothersome.”

“What?” 

“Actually, I waited for them.”

“My… letters?” 

Surprised by his unexpected response, I felt dizzy and widened my eyes.

“If the princess had informed me of her illness through a letter first, I wouldn’t have committed such an impoliteness today.” 

“Ah… yes… I’ll let you know next time.”

He subtly blamed me for today’s incident. Feeling slightly annoyed, I brushed back my hair, damp with cold sweat.

Soon, my throat tickled. 

“Cough, cough.”

At the sound of my cough, his sculpted face slightly darkened, and he strode towards my bedside.

Startled, I furrowed my brows and waved my arm outside the blanket.

“Stay there. You might catch a cold if you come closer.”

“Just standing beside you won’t transmit it.”

Ignoring my words, he stepped even closer. I looked up at him with eyes moistened by the fever’s heat.

“Still, it’s risky…”

“It would require more intimate contact to transmit. Like, to the extent that me, entering your bedroom would bother you.”

Before I could finish my sentence, the Duke approached the bedside and bent down.

In a blink, his shimmering golden hair appeared before my eyes.

As his prominent nose came close, a sweetly enticing musk scent wafted to my nose.

Unwittingly, I held my breath.

“There’s a piece of debris in your hair.”

It must have clung when I brushed back my hair earlier.

With a cool expression, he removed the debris. His cold fingertips grazed my forehead, heated by fever.

The sensation sent shivers down my spine. I swallowed hard, my throat painfully swollen.

“Th-thank you.”

Intense emotions flickered behind his blue eyes as he gazed at me quietly. My heart felt like it dropped.

Hoping that emotion wasn’t ‘malice’, I unconsciously glanced towards the door.

This is the princess’s palace, and there are many witnesses. He wouldn’t try to kill me here.

“You seem quite frail. Your wrist looks like it would break with just a touch.”

He grasped my wrist, which was outside the blanket, with one hand.

My wrist, completely enveloped in the Duke’s palm, was so slender that it seemed it would snap instantly if he applied any pressure.

His expression was relaxed, almost leisurely, while my heart was pounding as if it would burst.

“Your pulse seems to be racing.”

He slowly moved his fingers over my wrist, still held in his hand. The contact with his cool body temperature was terribly thrilling, given my fever.

“It’s, it’s because of the cold…” 

I stammered without realizing.

“Someone said that a cold gets better if you pass it on to someone else.”

“What… What?”

“As your fiancé, I think I could do at least that.”

“Wh-what are you…”

The Duke’s gaze pierced me. My pupils shook violently.

Was it my imagination that his face was getting closer? My vision spun with the fever rising to the top of my head.

I couldn’t move, like a herbivore frozen in front of a predator.

Just as his hot breath neared, “Your Highness, Duke. I’ve prepared some tea,” Martha said.

Martha broke the taut tension that had been swirling around the room. She had brought a tray full of refreshments.

The Duke twitched his shoulder, then soon straightened up and moved away from me.

Feeling a bit relieved, I hurriedly greeted Martha. 

“Oh, oh! Martha! You’re here?”

What was that just now? My hands trembled with an inexplicable nervousness.

The Duke maintained his usual cold expression, but there was a slight frown on his forehead.

“Your Highness, the Duke brought such a beautiful bouquet of flowers.”

Martha proudly showed off the vase filled to the brim with brightly colored, beautiful flowers, smiling brightly. 

I quickly turned my eyes towards the Duke.

“The Duke, brought me flowers?”

“Ah. On the way… I picked them up.”

“What?”

“The gardeners at the Duke’s estate had cut them, and I picked them up.”

Is this a joke, or serious?

Doubtful about his ambiguous answer, I looked at him with suspicion. The Duke quickly averted my gaze.

Then, he politely declined the refreshments Martha had brought.

“My business here is done, so I shall take my leave. Take care of yourself.”

It was ironic to hear ‘take care’ from a man who might kill me.

Remembering something as he mentioned ‘business’, I stopped the Duke who was about to leave. 

“Your Grace, you forgot your umbrella.”

“Ah… Thank you. Then, goodbye.”

With slightly faltering steps, he returned to pick up the umbrella from the desk and then disappeared.

Indeed, his claim of coming for the umbrella was clearly a lie.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at the flowers the Duke had brought.

“Martha, it would be better to place those flowers in the drawing room.”

“Why?”

Some flowers are highly poisonous, especially the ones with such deep and vibrant colors.

There was something unsettling about keeping the flowers the Duke brought in my bedroom.

Who knows if those could be poisonous plants to kill me.

“Just, beautiful things should be enjoyed by everyone.”

I smiled nonchalantly.

“Oh my! To think the princess considers us in this way. Truly, you live and learn.”

Martha nodded and left with the vase, and I heaved my heavy body back into bed.

Just when I thought I could finally rest, the door opened again.

Damn, what now?

I squinted my eyes and stared at the door, when a familiar figure appeared.

“So, you are ill after all. What did I tell you?”

John smirked at me.