Chapter 11

Episode 11: Why Now?

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[02/05 Done]

“Yes, the fever…… I think it decreased.”

The back of his cold hand touched my forehead. I blinked and glanced at his face with a now clear view,

“But you still don’t have a good complexion.”

He let out a small sigh and muttered.

“I hope it’s not wrong……”

(T/N: readers will understand the meaning behind this sentence, in future chapters)

Kailos blurred the end of his speech and bit his lower lip.

It’s weird, I’m sure the doctor has finished treatment. Hasn’t it been announced that I’m pregnant yet?

It can’t be, the doctor was his man who had been working for Grand Duke Ludwig for a long time. A doctor, who must know what he is looking for the most, should have informed him of my pregnancy,

“Chloe…”

Kailos, who was hesitating to see me, reached out carefully. The back of his cold hand touched my forehead.

I blinked and glanced at his face, which was visible clearly.

“Yes, the fever…… I think it got better.”

He let out a small sigh and mumbled, then he glanced at me with an anxious expression.

“Why are you not saying anything? If you are still in pain, tell me.”

His cautious voice and eyes, that showed he didn’t know what to do, looked like he was worried about me. Are you worried that I might get sick? It was a very sweet behavior, but it couldn’t have been

He was always worried that my precious body would be scratched for his ‘brother.’ However, it was a kind of calculation similar to the arithmetic of the wealthy worrying about a decline in the value of a commodity. My pain had no effect on him.

It seems that this happened a long time ago. At that time, I was sick, it hurt so much. It hurt so much that I couldn’t sleep properly because I had a high fever that I couldn’t see anything all night and it was hard to swallow even the watery soup because I had a sore throat.

As soon as I barely finished eating I had to take the medicine, my voice was locked, so I couldn’t even call his name, whom I loved so much.

The saddest thing about suffering so badly was not meeting him.

Kailos came to me, who was lying on the bed whenever he had time, but the number of times gradually decreased. This is because the woman, Marquis Rosaline, hated it.

“Can’t you hear my voice? Chloe, say something…….”

His palm gently covered the back of my hand. With the uncomfortable sensation I felt at the moment, slap, I shook off his hand. Kailos’ hand, which was holding my hand, fell off.

“Chloe….?”

“Ah…”

It was the same for me, I was embarrassed by the behavior that came out without realising it. I looked at him, rubbing the back of my hand that his skin had touched with my other hand.

“This…..”

After not talking for a moment, I took a deep breath.

Subtly…… No, the more my mind became clearer, the stranger it was. This was definitely something I didn’t remember.

I thought maybe my memory was distorted because I wanted it so much. But was this the ‘only’ thing that I wanted in exchange for death?

To see this man nervous about my pregnancy?

I blinked foolishly, and a belated shock hit me. Isn’t it too vivid to be in the post-death stage?

“Get out…”

My voice, which trembled finely, cracked at the end of the words. It was like a person who hadn’t spoken for a long time.

“Please leave…….”

“Chloe!”

When I wrapped my head with both hands, Kailos took a step closer, shouting my name.

“Please leave right now!”

I must admit, I’ve never yelled at him this way. So, this is by no means a ‘flashback’ that appears just before death.

The moment I recognized it, my whole body trembled like a tree. Sudden chills swept over my body like waves. The sensation that bloomed to my fingertips became more and more vivid.

When I raised my head, there was Kailos looking at me restlessly. When I saw him flinching after making eye contact with me, I felt endless emptiness.

Drip, drip, drip.

My falling tears wet the blanket that was half covered.

“Why…Why are you crying, Chloe? Does it hurt a lot? Is that why?”

I was really curious, why do you keep asking me this? told you to get out, I want you to get out.

“Chloe?”

“……I’m sorry, uncle.”

Having barely calmed down my emotions, I spoke in a calm voice.

“For a moment, I want to be alone.”

Kailos stared at me instead of answering, then he replied calmly and nodded, “Okay.”

Kailos, who was about to let the doctor out first and followed him, stopped in front of the door and turned to look at me.

“T’ll come back a little later. If there’s anything uncomfortable, ring the bell.”

“Yes.”

I smiled and nodded trying my best to not be awkward.

It was only after a full day had passed that I was able to look at the current situation calmly.

At first, I thought that Kailos saved me, who should have died from the Empress’ poison.

That’s because my last memory was the appearance of the Empress who came with poison after he locked me up in his bedroom and left me unattended. That’s why I thought the doctor was next to me.

However, there were a lot of things that were somewhat absurd. First, Kailos, who was supposed to be in the Imperial Palace, was staying in the Duchy.

Of course, since the Empress hates me, I understood, to some extent, that I would stay in the Duchy if he saved me from the eyes of the Empress.

But he is an Emperor, an Emperor who is in the busiest stage, he has just ascended the throne. It didn’t make sense for him to leave the Imperial Palace only because of me.

Second, the doctor of the Duchy kept calling Kailos “Your Highness’; it was a title that was called when he was the Grand Duke in the past.

Although I was asked to use the former title ‘uncle’ for unknown reasons, the fact that he, who was so obsessed with the position of Emperor, was still called “Your Highness’ was like a scratch on his authority.

Unlike his soft and friendly impression, Kailos valued his honor very much and could not tolerate any flaws in it.

After becoming the Emperor did he become generous again?

“Even if you don’t want to eat it, you have to take medicine, that’s how you get better soon.”

Kailos, who pulled a chair in front of the bed and sat down, smiled softly as he handed me the medicine.

Contrary to the way he looked at me with eyes full of annoyance and contempt-at least that was what it seemed to me–after I nearly died from poisoning, he had returned to the old, gentle kailos.

What’s wrong with him? Does he need me again?

I held the cup he handed over with both hands because I had no strength in my hands. The tip of my nose twitched automatically due to the bitter smell.

(T/N: For readers who might be confused-first Chloe thought she was having the flashback of the past memories but after sometime she thought she was saved from the poison, she hasn’t yet realised that she came back to the past)

“Chloe, you don’t know, but you suffered from a very severe fever. Please understand my concern that you will be sick again.”

It was a friendly way of speaking as if he was taking care of a child. I put my lips on the cup, trying to figure out what he might need me for.

He said the only thing useful about me was a pretty face. If so, is there another man who likes pretty things? Is that why you’re trying to send me to another man again this time?

Again, seducing someone….. mix my body…… The child…

“Ugh!”

I spit out all the medicine I had just had because of the sudden vomiting. Even that was not the end, but the nausea continued on an empty stomach, so only the gastric juice came out repeatedly.

“Chloe, are you okay? Chloe!”

Kailos hurriedly patted my back and rubbed my mouth with his sleeves. Dirty things poured out of my mouth and got on his sleeve, but I couldn’t see.

It wasn’t me who was dirty, it was this man. With my dizzy eyes wide open, I stared at kailos. However, Kailos looked for the doctor without knowing that was staring at him.

‘Son of a bitch

A silent swear word lingered in my mouth.

That man pretending to care for me, pretending to be kind and gentle, was the man who deceived me and trampled on me. He was a man who used my love and made me seduce his brother to lead him to hell.

In the end he even took my child.

”That’s a relief, my brother won’t kill you alone.’

I remembered his younger brother, who smiled reassuringly at me with a dying look. The moment remembered the man who was the father of my child.

“Hurry up and go. Your child is waiting.’

Estelle, the moment I remembered my poor Estelle, who had to leave the world without even taking a step.

Thud.

Something inside me collapsed.

“It’s okay, Chloe. It’s okay. Don’t cry and take a deep breath.”

A friendly touch caressed my back. The moment heard his voice pretending to be worried and caring for me, I felt nauseous again.

Clink

The cup that fell on the blanket rolled over and fell to the floor. I could feel the busy movement of the servants cleaning up the shattered cup pieces.

I saw him, he still has that seductive face.

Son of a bitch, a disgustingly beautiful dog pretending to be friendly.

The foolish me realized it too late.

“There is nothing wrong with her body,” the doctor looked at my condition and said.

“She couldn’t swallow the medicine properly and emptied everything inside her stomach, but there’s nothing wrong?”

“Her body temperature and pulse has returned to normal. It seems that something else is wrong, rather than the body.”

(T/N: the doctor is indirectly pointing out that her mental health is having problems here)

At the doctor’s next words, Kailos’ expression subsided subtly.

When the doctor left and all the servants in the room were sent out, there was a quiet silence in the room where only Kailos and I were left. Every time I looked at Kailos’ face, my stomach churned and I looked away from him.

“Did you have a hard time?” Kailos had an emaciated, face and slowly asked me.

“You’ve worked so hard that your body and mind hurt…”

When I begged that I was having a hard time and wanted to see Estelle, he didn’t even pretend to listen. Now, I couldn’t understand him saying this to me.

“It’s all my fault, I was wrong.”

His eyes looking at me were full of affection. His habit of reaching out as if to stroke my hair made me cringe without realizing it.

His stretched out hand hardened, but after a moment he withdrew his hand.