Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Ambush (2)
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Even in that moment, my heart was helplessly swayed toward him. I resented my heart, which I couldn't control at will.
Don't forget. That man is Dane Schmichael.
'I'm not going to love him.'
Rose repeated it to herself again and again. Thanks to that, she managed to stem the tears that had been flowing nonstop.
Even until Dane lay down right beside her on the bed, Rose kept making the vow.
'Don't forget—this is a contract.'
A contract without any love, just to achieve each other's goals. She had to stay true to it. Emotions were a luxury if she wanted to survive in this castle.
Even as she drifted into a deep sleep, Rose repeated that one sentence over and over.
"Rose!"
She woke to a low voice calling her name.
"Are you alright?"
Dane's face was right there in front of her nose. His hair was slightly tousled, as if he'd just woken up, and his voice was even lower than usual.
And below that, through the gap in his open gown...
"Hah!"
Rose startled violently and tried to bolt upright,
thud.
only to be blocked by something thick and heavy.
"Madam."
Dane had placed his large hand on her forehead. Hot body heat seeped into her skin where they touched.
"I asked if you're okay."
"Y-Yes? Me?"
"Yes. You seemed to be having nightmares earlier."
Dane tilted his head slightly, looking puzzled.
"You were thrashing around quite a bit. Are you alright?"
"Well, I... I'm fine..."
Rose struggled to keep her gaze from drifting downward.
Thump.
But when she looked at Dane's face right in front of her, that wasn't good for her heart either.
Thump, thump.
That face she'd liked since the first moment she saw it was so close. She couldn't stop her cheeks from burning hot.
"Uh..."
"You seem to have a fever."
Dane's expression grew serious as he said it. He rose from his spot, tugged the bell cord to summon the servants, and waited until Chief Physician Joel arrived.
Thump, thump, thump.
Rose's heart showed no signs of calming down.
'What ever should I do.'
Rose squeezed her eyes shut tight. The first day of their contract marriage already felt like it was going to be rough from the start.
The room was quiet.
The servants had changed the bedsheets and scurried off. Only Bill and Selma remained, standing a good distance from the bed.
Rose's face was still flushed as she sat on the bed. Joel held her wrist, focused on taking her pulse.
I swallowed a sigh as I watched them.
'Really irritating.'
The whole situation was. Something being wrong with Rose's body. Joel examining her like that.
Before her regression, it was Joel who'd taken Rose's life. In other words, Rose was letting the man who'd killed her examine her.
Before Joel arrived, I'd asked Rose several times.
'Madam, are you absolutely sure there's nothing wrong with your body?'
'Your Excellency, I'm really fine. This isn't pain or anything...'
Rose had hurriedly waved her hands, trying to refuse,
but
'Madam, I think it would be best to get examined. What do you say?'
at Selma's urging, we'd ended up calling Joel.
Selma suddenly stepping in felt a bit odd, but I let it slide for now. What mattered more was that Joel was examining Rose right this moment.
I really didn't like it, but there was no other doctor in the castle.
"......"
Rose couldn't lift her beet-red face. It was so flushed she must have had a pretty bad fever.
'She must have overdone it yesterday.'
It wasn't something from the original story, so I was caught off guard, but a little thought made it obvious enough. Yesterday must have been an incredibly busy, hectic, overwhelming day for Rose.
For the person who had big things ahead of her to fall ill right from the start—it felt like my own mistake, and it bothered me.
"Madam, may I ask you a few questions?"
As I stared at the back of Joel's head while he questioned Rose, I was caught between conflicting urges. Leave him be, as the only chief physician to examine her... or not.
'Should I just kill him.'
Snap his neck.
It was an impulse that kept surging up ever since I'd learned of my future and realized he was a traitor.
'How dare he.'
His betrayal cut deep, after serving the Schmichaels since my father's time.
Learning it so late. Having one of my few trustworthy people dwindle. Knowing I'd have to constantly suspect and test him from here on out.
It was all fucked.
'Damn it.'
What angered me even more was myself. For not realizing I had such a stealthy, lethal enemy right at my side.
I felt so pathetic it hurt fiercely.
Twitch.
My fingers twitched—I wanted to twist Joel's neck right then and there. I barely suppressed the thick killing intent rising within me.
The reason I wasn't killing Joel right away was that it was more advantageous to keep him alive a bit longer. Confronting him now wouldn't yield anything anyway.
'Not yet.'
I needed preparations. To corner Joel completely—and the 'one' pulling the strings behind him.
So I put off grilling him for later. My plan was to keep pretending to trust him and lure him into dropping his guard.
"Yes."
Rose answered steadily.
She'd hesitated for a moment when she first saw Joel, but then calmly submitted to the examination. It was commendable how she wasn't letting past experiences sway her actions.
And on top of that, she'd started acting like a proper 'Duchess' ever since yesterday. A change I approved of.
"Any dizziness, Madam?"
"No."
"What about nausea or queasiness?"
"No."
"Hmm."
Joel's expression grew even more grave. Seeing it only made me more annoyed.
"How is it?"
"Your Excellency."
Joel bowed politely to me before hesitating.
"This is..."
"This is?"
In the meantime, Joel's gaze lingered briefly on Selma. She nodded in response.
"This is, well."
Joel cleared his throat with a cough, then spoke.
"Forgive my impertinence, but... it seems Your Excellency may have overexerted yourself a bit."
"Me?"
Joel's words didn't register for a moment. Me? Overexerted? Not Rose?
"What do you mean by that?"
"Hmm."
Joel looked deeply troubled, as if he couldn't bring himself to say it.
And it wasn't just him.
"......Ugh."
Rose turned her face away, avoiding my gaze.
"Ahem."
Even Bill cleared his throat awkwardly,
and
"Oh my."
Selma covered her mouth.
Now I couldn't understand the situation at all. Everyone but me sharing the same awkward, troubled feeling.
"What on earth does that mean? Speak plainly."
"Your Excellency, it's..."
"Is it some serious illness that's hard to mention?"
I should have realized it from her slender wrist and waist. It had to be from not getting proper meals in the Vicander family.
My anger toward the Vicander family was growing day by day.
"No matter the cost, make sure to treat the Madam. Understood?"
"It's not a matter of cost, Your Excellency."
"Then?"
Joel just smiled, looking extremely troubled. As my impatience grew and I was about to press him,
"Y-Your Excellency!"
Rose called out to me hurriedly. Her voice sounded strained, like it had been squeezed out.
"Your Excellency. Please..."
"Speak."
"P-Please..."
Rose squeezed her eyes shut, then spat out the words she'd been holding back.
"Can't you just leave me alone?"
"?"
Ridiculously enough, the next moment, Bill, Joel, and I were chased out of the room.
"Your Excellency, Madam needs her rest."
By the beaming Selma.
Click.
The door to Rose's bedroom shut right in front of my nose. Leaving only Rose and Selma inside.
'What the hell?'
Why did the women need to talk alone? And why chase out the chief physician who needed to treat her?
As I stood there frowning, unwilling to leave,
"Your Excellency."
Joel approached cautiously.
"I couldn't speak freely with Madam there earlier."
"Then you can say it now."
"Yes. As you know, Madam is small and delicate. But Your Excellency is quite robust."
Joel blinked at me as if to say, you get it now, right? But I just stared blankly at him for stating the obvious.
Seeing my expression, Joel let out an awkward chuckle.
"It's embarrassing to put it so bluntly. Ahem, isn't this Madam's... first time?"
"......Ah."
"I suspect the night with Your Excellency was a bit too much for her. She seems to be feeling intense fatigue."
Only then did I understand why Joel had been so reluctant to speak and why everyone had been tiptoeing around. But it only puzzled me more.
'We didn't even do it.'
We'd just slept side by side? And that alone made her body feel fatigued? What a frail little thing.
There were some suspicious bits, but the outcome didn't seem bad. Rumors that she was being loved by me would spread quite noisily.
'Well, all's well that ends well.'
Seeing that I'd more or less accepted it, Joel smiled gently.
"Even Your Excellency has a day like this. I'm glad."
His soft voice and kind smile reminded me of my mother's gentleness.
Just up until yesterday.
"You're saying all sorts of things."
Now Joel's smile only repulsed me.
"Go now. Prescribe some medicine that'll be good for the Madam's body."
I ordered him with an impassive face.
'I thought I was good at hiding my emotions.'
It wasn't easy when it came to one of my close aides. Still, my well-trained facial muscles succeeded in feigning a blank expression.
"Yes, Your Excellency."
As Joel retreated with his usual smile,
"Your Excellency."
Bill drew closer.
"Knight Captain Mathias is waiting."
"He didn't head back to the mine yesterday?"
"No. He insists on going with Your Excellency."
"I see."
With Bill's assistance, I finished armoring up completely.
"Your Excellency, might we need a new chief physician?"
Bill asked as he fastened the last clasp on my armor.