𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐
When he changed his attitude and asked, I pretended to be surprised and widened my eyes.
“Or are you telling me to go alone?”
Ren pinched my cheek as if I was cute.
“Our Lou, why have you become so brazen lately? I like this too, but…… it’s suspicious that you’ve changed so suddenly.”
Should I perhaps speak less?
The original Louise, that is, she seems to have been a girl who was more shy and kind than me, and who feared her brother……
‘I absolutely must not let them find out I’ve been possessed.’
I could instinctively tell that much.
As much as they love Louise, they will find it difficult to accept me, who has taken on Louise’s appearance, in any way.
I deliberately leaned my head slightly on Ren’s shoulder and pretended to be in pain.
“It’s because I’m having a hard time with the baby.”
When I glanced up, his violet gaze was very close.
His warm eyes were filled with tender affection.
“Is it very difficult?”
It was the moment he gently wrapped his arms around my shoulders.
Suddenly, a white light flashed before my eyes and my head throbbed.
“Lou?”
Thankfully, my legs giving way and Ren hugging me happened simultaneously.
“Lou! Lou, are you alright?”
“Suddenly, I feel so…… dizzy……”
That was it.
I lost consciousness right there.
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
When I opened my eyes, I saw Ren’s worried face.
“Lou.”
The ceiling was unfamiliar, and the room was filled with the scent of ash and embers from Ren.
Seeing my gaze scan the surroundings, he explained.
“It’s my room. I don’t know where your room is from here.”
“Yes……”
As I nodded and tried to get up, Ren pressed down on my shoulder again.
“You can’t get up. I’ll call Phoebe.”
Only then did I ask Ren.
“Did I…… collapse? Is it because of the pregnancy? Then we can’t call Phoebe……”
Ren sighed.
“Erni was right this time. Lou, you need to get married now. You look much more dangerous than His Highness the Crown Prince!”
Seeing his cheeks flush, I timidly replied.
“Don’t be angry, Ren……”
“I’m not angry……!”
Ren was clearly angry, but upon hearing my words, he softened his tone.
“You probably collapsed because of the pregnancy. I’m not a doctor, but I’ve studied a lot about pregnancy. It can happen sometimes. You don’t have a fever and you haven’t thrown up, so it’s not a big deal. But we can’t leave it like this. You need to see a doctor. This trip is too much for you.”
He added with moist eyes.
“What if I hadn’t run into you there? What were you going to do if you collapsed alone in the dark?”
Ren’s chest heaved as if he was frustrated.
Then, he grabbed my hand with his sweat-soaked hand.
“What if you fell…… What if the baby was startled, Lou? You have to be careful……”
His face grew paler and paler, as if he couldn’t bear the thought.
I prayed sincerely.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Ren……”
The corners of the eyes of the strongest mage in the Empire were reddish.
Ren rubbed his cheek against the back of my hand with a face that looked like he was about to burst into tears.
A very small voice whispered.
“You know I love you…… I’m worried about you.”
I closed my eyes, unable to bear hearing it.
Ren barely managed to compose himself and got up.
His broad, turned back looked lonely.
I thought he was leaving for somewhere, but Ren just came back with a glass of water.
“Are you still anxious, Lou?”
As I received the glass of water from him, I realized.
“The date you mentioned has passed. I’ve done everything you wanted. Even at this moment…… I’m by your side.”
Ren was talking about something I didn’t know, but definitely needed to know.
His deep violet eyes were moist with sadness.
“Are you still anxious? Still enough to not choose anyone?”
I couldn’t take my eyes off his distant gaze.
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
“Louise!”
Someone shouted from outside, so I didn’t have to answer Ren’s difficult question.
“Louise! Has anyone seen the Princess?!”
The owner of the voice was Lurik, without a doubt.
Even though it was a situation where trouble was sure to follow, Ren immediately got up and opened the window.
“Your Highness the Prince.”
It wasn’t a loud voice, but Lurik’s shouting stopped immediately.
Before I could even figure out what kind of magic Ren had used, the door burst open with a bang.
“How dare you lay the Princess on your bed?!”
At the same time, Lurik lunged at Ren.
Even though he could have defended himself sufficiently, Ren allowed himself to be caught.
“……She wasn’t feeling well, and I didn’t know where her lodgings were, so I did that.”
“Is that true?”
Lurik asked fiercely without even looking back at me.
I mumbled, exhausted just from looking at the two of them.
“……It’s true, Brother.”
He let go of Ren and approached the bed with heavy footsteps.
“You said you wanted to take a walk together earlier! The maid said you were going to accompany me! What in the world is going on?!”
I turned pale at his words and asked.
“What about the maid? I must have been confused because I wasn’t feeling well today. I sent the maid, what did you do with her?”
Lurik frowned.
His blood-red eyes were shaken with anger.
“Is the maid the problem right now? You called me all the way to the waterfall, and you were lying in the Tower Master’s room?”
“Your Highness!”
At that moment, Phoebe appeared and dared to block the Prince’s path.
“P-Please kill me! It’s my fault. I was confused and relayed the message incorrectly.”
“……Ha!”
However, I couldn’t see the male protagonist who was furious and rampaging, nor the maid who rushed in to save me, risking her only life.
‘I can’t see Helena.’
I was so anxious that the enraged Lurik might have harmed her, might have treated her harshly.
Because more than anything else, Lurik and I needed her right now.
“Brother, what did you do with her? Helena, what did you do with that maid?”
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
At that moment, Helena appeared, breathing heavily.
“Your Highness! Your Highness, are you alright?”
Suddenly, Phoebe slapped Helena across the cheek in front of all these people.
The sharp sound of the slap cut through the precarious room.
“You should have served His Highness properly!”
I was so startled that my heart almost stopped.
Of course, Phoebe knows that I had promised to meet Helena.
‘But slapping her out of the blue is too much.’
While thinking that, I made eye contact with Phoebe.
The faithful maid was trembling with her fingertips, her face troubled.
Seeing that, I understood why Phoebe had stepped forward.
‘She did it preemptively because she was afraid Lurik would get angry.’
My brother had a temperament that could behead a servant if he wanted to, so Phoebe must have gathered her courage to prevent a bigger controversy at the monastery.
‘Because if she stepped forward, at least she wouldn’t be killed.’
Helena didn’t offer any excuses.
She just knelt down and begged.
“……I apologize.”
Her neat attire was disheveled.
The camellia I had put in her hair was gone, perhaps lost in her hasty rush.
In the small room where everyone was angry and fuming, I had to realize that this trip had been completely ruined.
🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹
Naturally, the first one to try to leave the room in the harsh atmosphere was Lurik.
‘It’s ruined. Now it’s impossible for him to become close to Helena.’
Then I couldn’t let my extremely agitated brother go like this.
So I said, still lying in bed.
“Don’t go, Brother.”
“……What?”
Lurik turned to me with a belligerent look, as if daring me to try something, but I couldn’t back down.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise. I must have been confused because I wasn’t feeling well this evening.”
Phoebe urgently sent me a look.
It was a clear signal to let Lurik go and wait for his anger to subside, but I ignored it.
“But it’s true that I collapsed from dizziness. Ren, Phoebe, and Helena did nothing wrong. So why are you leaving, Brother, after getting angry at everyone without even caring that I’m sick?”
It was turning the tables, but there was no other way.
‘I have to hold onto Lurik for now.’
Phoebe gasped as if she was about to faint, but I only looked straight at Lurik.
“Aren’t you worried that I’m sick?”
“How……”
Finally, Lurik took a step towards me.
With each step he took closer, a primal fear welled up inside me.
This man in front of me was too dangerous right now.
“How can you…… say such a thing?”
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