Chapter 15
The next morning, Phoebe said,
“Her Highness, Princess Chilila, sent word through a maid that she will be visiting after breakfast.”
Perhaps it was because Ren and Callisteon had been growling at each other until just before they left the Imperial Palace the day before, but my body felt heavy and my limbs felt even heavier this morning.
I forced myself out of bed at the incredibly shocking news and got ready.
As my mind became clearer, worry surged in like a tidal wave.
‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘭𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦?’
I can’t stand the thought of anything interfering with my trip to Babenberg.
I had to meet Helena right now to leave the Imperial Palace before my pregnancy started to show.
“Um, Phoebe.”
So I said to Phoebe,
“Could you please tell my brother to join me for breakfast?”
“Oh my, really?”
Phoebe jumped for joy and went to deliver the message.
‘𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥.’
Of course, I was an insignificant supporting character too, but that didn’t mean I had to sit back and let obvious things happen to me.
‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?’
However, when I went to the small annex dining hall, Lurick, who was sitting alone, looked extremely unwell.
‘𝘠𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?’
He had been fine the day before, but now a swirling black vortex almost completely covered one of his eyes.
“B, Brother?”
I called out cautiously, but Lurick just stared at his bowl of soup as if he hadn’t heard me.
Hoping not to startle him too much, I carefully reached out and touched his shoulder.
“Brother.”
Only then did Lurick look up at me.
The black swirl in his eye seemed to disappear for a moment, then settled there, looking like it was weighing him down.
I gritted my teeth and placed my palm on Lurick’s forehead.
“Brother.”
This time, he flinched and grabbed my wrist.
Perhaps due to the large movement, the black energy in his eyes slowly dissipated.
Lurick finally seemed to recognize me and asked,
“What is it?”
I quickly made an excuse at his cold question.
“I’m sorry. You were sitting there looking dazed, and your cheeks were flushed…… I thought you might have a fever.”
“Fever?”
He repeated my words as if they were absurd.
I used my free hand to touch Lurick’s forehead again.
“Well……”
Then, frowning, I smiled at the (soon-to-be-redeemed) dark male lead who was staring back at me.
“You don’t seem to have a fever after all. That’s a relief, brother.”
Meanwhile, Lurick seemed to have calmed down a bit.
He softened his sharp demeanor and asked, but his tone was still frigid.
“Why the sudden invitation to breakfast? Do you have something you want to say?”
It had been four days since Lurick returned.
He had been affectionate towards his little sister, as befitting his reputation as a dark male lead, but this morning he was giving me the cold shoulder.
Hiding my embarrassment, I sat down.
“It’s not that I have something specific to say…… I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to go to the monastery.”
“……Ha.”
He scoffed.
Just as I was internally shocked by his rude behavior, Lurick replied,
“I saw yesterday that going to pray was just an excuse. You actually want to stop by Babenberg Castle, don’t you?”
“What?”
I asked back, dumbfounded, then realized that he had completely misunderstood something.
‘𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐, 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥!’
For a moment, I felt so wronged, or maybe it was the hormones, that tears welled up in my eyes and words tumbled out.
How could you, with those thick arms, understand the fragility of a pregnant woman?!
“That’s too much, brother!”
Lurick stared at me with surprised eyes.
“I was afraid His Majesty wouldn’t allow me to go to such a distant monastery, so I asked the Grand Duke separately for help! I thought it would be better to stop by Babenberg briefly than not be able to go to the monastery at all!”
The more I talked, the angrier I got.
I put down the spoon I had been holding and stood up, pushing my chair back.
“It hurts my feelings that you always misunderstand me like this, brother! I swear I was going for your sake!”