Winter Wolf - Chapter 4. Part 2

Chapter 4. Part 2

***

“Cough… “Cough!”

Contrary to what they hoped for, Lysithea became very ill that night. Her fever went up, and she couldn’t stop coughing.

‘It’s all my fault.’

Lysithea took a deep breath and put the back of her hand on her hot forehead. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, and even the sensation of her skin touching hers became numb.

-“Don’t escape just because you’re scared.”

‘I should have just silently gone to Terrence’s room.’

‘If I could turn back time, I would choose Terrence’s room instead of the frozen snow field.’

Lysithea expressed regret and pulled the blanket up to her forehead. Despite the fever raging, the chills persisted.

At that moment, there was a soft knock on the door. Lysithea tried to control her cough. His voice echoed from the hallway, breaking the sudden silence in the room.

“Lysithea, I’m coming in.”

Lysithea could not answer and remained still, wrapped in the blanket. Soon she heard the door open, and he entered, accompanied by the sound of splashing water.

Terrence quickly walked over and moved the table beside the bed. The sound of a copper basin filled with water being placed on the table filled the room, followed by a brief silence.

Sitting on the bed’s edge, Terrence watched as Lysithea slowly lowered the blanket, revealing her face. The old bed squeaked loudly.

A critical look filled his brass eyes. Lysithea hesitated but eventually explained, “It’s not like I didn’t mention it on purpose… I couldn’t wake up because it hurt… *cough*.”

“Since when has it been like this?” Terrence inquired.

“I don’t know; I woke up with a fever while I was sleeping…” Her voice was painfully muffled. Terrence reached out his hand and touched her forehead.

His hands, holding the cold basin, felt refreshingly cool. Unconsciously closing her eyes, Lysithea heard him click his tongue briefly.

“You almost ran into a big problem. I came here just in case. If I hadn’t checked, you might have been in serious trouble tomorrow morning.”

“People are resilient. I won’t die easily,” Lysithea muttered with closed eyes, sounding like a sleepwalker. Terrence expressed bewilderment.

“You don’t understand how dangerous a fever can be. Even if you survive, you might end up blind or deaf if it’s this intense.”

“Have you seen someone like that?”

“A lot,” he replied shortly, and he wrung the wet towel in the basin. The sound of rushing water made Lysithea feel thirsty.

“I’m thirsty. I want some water.”

A cold, damp towel landed gently on her forehead. As Lysithea reacted to the sensation in her body, Terrence stood up. He left the room for a moment and returned with a large bottle of water and a basin of ice.

“Where’s the ice…?”

“It was left out on purpose. I didn’t want you to end up like this.”

“You’re thorough,” Lysithea said, impressed again by his thoughtfulness.

“Open your mouth.”

“Huh…”

Terrence took some crushed ice and placed it in her mouth. As the ice melted on her hot tongue and trickled down her throat, Lysithea turned and lay down on her side.

He quickly grabbed the wet towel from her forehead as it was about to fall onto her pillow and pressed it down.

“It takes a lot of work,” Terrence grumbled as Lysithea gently opened her eyes. His figure sitting beside her filled her vision, and she felt relief from the warmth.

Contrary to his words, Terrence examined her condition with serious eyes. He focused entirely on assessing her complexion and body temperature.

Has receiving care ever felt this comforting?

Lysithea suppressed her laughter with a cough. Even though she was not feeling well, she felt so content that she seemed a bit delirious. Mixed emotions of embarrassment, pity, and a desire to both worry and make him more nervous overwhelmed her.

“Terrence.”

“Why?”

“If I die, you can have all my money, my body—give it to the wolves to eat. Because they wanted to eat me.”

He laughed softly at her, muttering with her eyes closed.

“I heard you won’t die easily.”

“I see you’re concerned.” *Cough!* “It seems dangerous…”

“Don’t worry. I’m not worried.”

While Terrence said that, he changed the wet towel again, pressing an icy, wet cloth against her forehead. He didn’t seem to have any intention of sleeping anytime soon.

“Lie…”

Lysithea finally smiled, dimples appearing on her fevered cheeks. The hand that held the towel to her forehead lost strength for a moment but returned as if it had suddenly remembered something. She opened her eyes and looked up at him with a clearer look.

His eyes were fixed on her slightly parted lips as she caught her breath, her red, dimpled cheeks. The moment Lysithea noticed this, she couldn’t even move her lips.

‘Could it be that you want to kiss me? If that’s the case, I wanted to tell you that it’s okay. It may sound crazy, but it is.’

“Terrence.”

Finding her courage, Lysithea began to speak, and his steady stare shifted to her eyes. He waited patiently for her to continue.

“If…”

She opened her mouth but hesitated to proceed, finding it challenging to express exactly what she was thinking.

“What’s wrong, Lysithea?”

He asked calmly, causing her to quickly lose her courage. Lysithea decided to drop the unconventional topic and raise another one.

“I was your customer—a person who died of a fever.”

She asked if he had been sick to death and had a situation similar to hers.

“That’s from when I was young. It has nothing to do with now.”

“When I was a kid…”

Lysithea’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer. Seeing her expression wanting a more detailed explanation, Terrence hesitated briefly before speaking.

“It’s something that happened in my hometown. Was I around ten? The fever had come back.”

“Are you sick too?”

“No, I managed to avoid it. My mother passed away.”

“Ah…”

Lysithea felt so apologetic that she didn’t know what to do. However, Terrence remained silent as he changed the wet towel.

“Don’t make that face. It’s not your fault. It’s not a memory worth dwelling on now.”

“Can that happen over time?” she asked indifferently.

Terrence glanced at her face. She had lost her parents and siblings two months ago. He looked away.

“I guess so. Unless someone died because of you.”

This was because she was caught up in the revolution. Although she understood it, Lysithea felt a sense of discomfort in his words.

“Has anyone died because of you?”

Only after asking did she realize that it was a rude question. The fever was clouding her judgment.

Meanwhile, Terrence’s expression while pressing the wet towel became subtle. Should he answer or not? A contemplative look appeared for a moment and then vanished. He spoke as if it were a passing story.

“When I was fourteen, I followed the villagers out hunting and accidentally shot an innocent person to death.”

“A person without sin… why?”

“By mistake. Purely by mistake.”

His voice remained calm, but Lysithea seemed not to fully understand. He reluctantly added more details.

“Someone set a trap incorrectly, and the bear cub got caught, making us the target of the mother bear. No human can beat a determined bear. We all got scared, ran, and opened fire. We chased the bear away, but only one of us died. Because he was hit by a gun.”

“Well, that’s… It’s not your fault. You just wanted to live.”

“I know. It wasn’t wrong, but it was a mistake. An unforgivable mistake.”

Lysithea frowned at his calm attitude. For some reason, her heart pounded.

“No way. So you ended up alone? Because of that?”

“It was more of an opportunity. When I was expelled from my hometown at the age of fourteen, I had to do anything to survive, and it became increasingly difficult not to be alone. This mistake is like the starting point of dominoes, to use an analogy.

“Why couldn’t you stop in the middle?”

“If I could have stopped, this whole thing wouldn’t have started in the first place.”

Lysithea bit her lip. Her mouth felt very dry, and her throat was hot. It seemed as if she had given up questioning or arguing with him.

Was there no one? Just as they’d told her, no one could reassure her that it was all right.

“You have a high fever, Lysithea.”

He placed the back of his hand on her cheek, looking out of Lysithea’s window and ignoring her talkative gaze.

“I’ll go get some medicine when the sun rises. It’s only for a day, but I can do it alone.”

“I don’t want to be alone here.”

Terrence looked at her in surprise at her firm tone. Lysithea gazed straight into his eyes and said,.

“So come back quickly. Otherwise…” “Because I’ll run away again if you don’t.”

It was an odd threat, but it had its effect. Terrence laughed, seemingly with nothing else to do.

He whispered, covering her eyelids with his hands, cold from handling the ice. “Sleep. Don’t have nightmares.”

Lysithea held his hand with both hands, enjoying the coolness that soothed her heated face. When he first covered her eyes, his hands were warm from the fire and alcohol.

“Well now, I haven’t had any nightmares. I don’t dream.”

Lysithea fell asleep, holding his hand tightly. She wished to meet him in her dreams and have more conversations. She longed to meet him as a child, someone she had never met before.

***

“Terrence.”

The next morning, Lysithea woke up, calling his name. She must have had a dream, but she couldn’t recall it. She slightly raised her still-sore body and looked at the spot where he was.

She was alone. On the table, there was an empty bowl covered with a plate next to a basin containing wet towels. The room smelled like chicken soup.

“Terrence Cadas.”

Lysithea lay back on the bed, pondering his name. Her mind felt so empty that she couldn’t determine the current condition of her body.

It was just a lingering fever.