<strong><em>Chapter 2</em></strong>


    Upon arriving at the duke’s room, I saw that the Duke of Efret was breathing heavily while lying on his bed. The situation was worse than expected. Against the white bedsheet, the pale skin of the duke flushed red due to the high fever as if he could die at any moment.


    “Amoide!”


    Cami ran to where heid, calling her son’s name. Terrified, she sat beside her son’s bed with a pale face, and felt at a loss, not knowing what to do.


    “Why, why all of a sudden…Amoide, can you see me? Pull yourself together…”


    He could not hear Cami’s words. He twisted his body in pain. Clutching the sheet, he groaned continuously as the joints of his bones were revealed.


    “Ug……Ugh.”


    It was a voice filled with pain that was about to break at any moment.


    “Ahhh………”


    Standing among the many people surrounding the bed a few steps away, I listened to his groans.


    Tuk. Someone came and bumped onto me, and cold water sshed over, drenching the hem of my dress.


    “Ah,” the maid who had brushed past me turned towards me. It was Emma, the maid in charge of Amoide. She held a basin of water in her hands.


    “If you keep standing here, it will be inconvenient for us to move around and wait on the master. You’ll get in the way, so please stay outside.”


    Emma told me annoyedly and then immediately approached Amoide.


    I hesitated for a moment and walked to where heid. As I stood near the bed, I could see Amoide’s face clearly.


    “Ugh…ugh…”


    The mere sight of his distorted face seemed to convey the pain. I’d rather be the one who suffered the pain. Every time he had a seizure like this, I wished I could bear the pain for him instead, because his agony seemed so intense, even though our marriage was not one of love.


    Amoide’s hand stretched out randomly in the air.


    Tuk.


    “….”


    I sped that randomly stretched out hand. It was an act that I did unconsciously. It was me who was the most surprised at that act. I looked around in embarrassment.


    Cami was praying with her face buried in the bedsheet, Raymond, the duke’s doctor, was busy providing medical treatment, and the maids were upied by taking care of him, changing wet towels.


    I was not sure whether I should release his hand or hold it tightly. It was an awkward situation. Because we, no, he and I, didn’t have this kind of rtionship. Rather, I was surprised by the strength of his hand. It was too strong to be the grasp of a sick person. ‘Why are you so strong?’


    Well, the Efret dukedom was founded by a family consisting of outstanding knights in the Empire. In other words, all of them were the best swordsmen of the Empire, from the ancestors of the family until this generation. Naturally, his blood would also inherit the power of his ancestors.


    Again, I looked down at the hand I was sping. At first nce, the blue bloodline could be clearly seen on his clean and wless skin, as if it was not a human hand. It was very pale, but it was a masculine hand with a thick and firm frame. And, it was terribly cold. To the point where I got little goosebumps on the skin that touched his hand.


    I shifted my attention again and watched Amoide’s face. His face and body, which seemed to have been carefully carved by a sculptor from white marble, was soaked in sweat. How could such a beautiful man suffer from this terrible pain every time? A moment of sorrow soared deep in my heart.


    …But my hand hurt a little.


    “Aa…Ah…”


    Actually, it hurt a lot. Tears started forming in my eyes.


    “Oh no, mdy, don’t cry.”


    “Hmm?”


    Rona approached me and carefully wiped away my tears with a clean towel. “Master will be fine,” Rona looked at me and said with a worried face. As a child who usually cries a lot, her eyes were also filled with tears.


    “Rona, he will be fine…right?”


    I replied in a tearful voice.


    Ah, it hurts so much.


    “Yes, of course,” Rona said while crying like me.


    In the meantime, my hand that he was squeezing looked as if it was broken. I kept crying, and Rona kept wiping my tears by my side.


    “Umm….”


    The deeper the groan, the stronger the force on my hand became. Thus, the number of tears flowing down also increased.


    “Please…” I looked at him and said with desperation. “Amoide, hang in there,”


    Crack.


    No, not there.


    “….”


    Maybe my bones had broken. The tingling sensation that consumed my hand entirely clouded my view. “Please…” Tears flowed down heavily from my eyes.


    Rona diligently wiped the tears away from my eyes again.


    “Mdy, don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”


    “…Right.”


    I struggled to speak and smiled. At that moment, another cracking sound was heard again.


    ***


    “The critical moment has passed.” After themotion, Raymond put down his stethoscope and gave a long sigh.


    “…Ahh.”


    Cami staggered and flopped down.


    “Are you alright?”


    The former duchess rose with the doctor’s help. Seeing herpletely different from when we were drinking tea a while ago, I thought, ‘She’s a mother, too.’


    “Madame will be fine after some rest. I’ve prescribed a tranquilizer, so please rest.”


    Raymond approached and helped Cami, who was leaning weakly against the bed.


    “I’ll bring Madame to her room.” Raymond held Cami’s arm, and Cami leaned against his body and left the room.


    “Please take care of her.”


    I tried to stand up to see Cami off, but I was pulled down again by a certain force.


    “…”


    I lowered my gaze to the source of the force. Amoide was sping my hand so tightly that I thought he was a sucker. It didn’t hurt as much as before. His sp was not as strong as before.


    But, even after using all my strength, I still couldn’t free my hand. Due to the tight squeeze, parts of my hand where blood umted had turned dark red, while the other parts where blood had not flowed through became pale.


    ‘I can’t draw my hand back.’ I moved my hand around for a while, but it was held so tightly it didn’t budge at all. In the end, I gave up and sat down beside him again.


    “….”


    I watched Amoide’s sleeping face carefully. As his breathing stabilized and his fever subsided, hisplexion returned to normal. He looked like an angeling down to the earth for a moment and taking a nap. On top of that, those few drops of tears of pain that formed…Oh, that’s not it.


    “Huh?”


    The previously tightly closed eyelids were half open, showing the deep blue irises inside. Suddenly gaining consciousness, the man looked at me with a look that seemed to embody all the hatred in the world.


    ‘Oh my God!’


    I thought, as my heart dropped.


    ‘How long have you been awake?’


    I breathed heavily with my hands on my chest. My throbbing heart was beating faster than before.


    While looking at me like that, Amoide’s lips were moving slightly as if he had something to say. I immediately lowered my head and brought my ears close to his chiseled lips.


    “What’s the matter? Are you still in pain? Where do you want to go? Should I call Raymond again?” I said urgently as I waited for his words. When I brought my face closer, I could see his eyshes fluttered like the wings of a dragonfly.


    “Yes, tell me. I’m listening.”


    His lips began to move slightly again. His face was pale and his body slumped weakly. Even at that moment, he was so handsome.


    “Get lost.”


    Ah…his personality is a bit terrible though. I blinked my eyes several times. It took a while for his words to flow through my eardrums and hurt me emotionally. As I looked at him nkly, he repeated again.


    “Get out of here.”


    “……”


    As soon as he came to his senses, the angelshed out at me with harsh words. I took back my words that he was like an angel. I regretted that statement.


    Almost losing my temper, I held myself back.


    ‘I’m the duke’s wife. This man is my husband. And he is sick. I shouldn’t be angry at a sick person.’


    Inwardly, I diligently repeated these sentences as if I had memorized them like the Lord’s Prayer.


    “…….”


    Only silence remained as we stayed at a distance that was close enough to feel each other’s breath.


    “What are you looking at?”


    He frowned, and I answered inwardly. ‘You, you.’


    Staring at me, the deep blue eyes were shining like a blue fish.


    (T/N: not sure whether it means literally since I can’t find any simr idiom. I guess it’s just a Korean way of describing the shining blue eyes.)


    “Why don’t you let go of this?” he shook his sped hand while looking at me.


    At that moment, I really lost my temper at his disgusted expression. You sped my hand so tightly, how could I let it go?


    “….”


    Of course, I didn’t say it this time either. Still, it was really unfair. I felt like crushing the bones of that sped hand.


    “What are you doing?”


    He shook his hand again. His gesture was as if he was dealing with trifles, like dusting off clothes or chasing a pesky fly away.


    “…yes.” I slowly untangled my sped hand.