𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓
“Huuuuh!”
As Mabel carried the much taller Eugene on her back, an immense weight pressed against her shoulders and back.
She tried to take a step forward, but no matter what, his knees and legs remained on the floor, dragging along.
In that unreasonable position, Mabel desperately carried Eugene’s body out of the room.
‘He is about as heavy as Fergie-neesama’s piano!’
In the past, there was a time when they had to move the piano to fulfill her fourth sister’s sudden wish to rearrange the room, as it had received poor feedback.
Remembering the difficulty of that time, Mabel exerted all her strength in her legs and waist.
She dragged him down the hallway, all the way to the room Mabel was borrowing.
She managed to open the door and rolled Eugene onto her bed. With a heavy thud, the dark-haired man sank into the sheets. Mabel huffed and puffed heavily, raising and lowering her shoulders multiple times.
Afterward, she flipped Eugene’s body over and made him lie on his back on the bed. The uncovered skin on his face had turned slightly red. Mable worried that his fever was worsening.
‘First, let’s wipe off the sweat. I hope I can find some medicine later’
She hurriedly went downstairs to the kitchen, grabbed a basin and a towel, and rushed back up.
Apologizing with a single word, she removed his coat and then his shirt underneath. Underneath his clothes, there was a surprisingly well-toned chest, and although Mabel felt embarrassed seeing the body of the opposite sex for the first time, she gently applied the towel.
She soaked the towel in lukewarm water, wrung it out, and carefully wiped away the sweat, making sure it wasn’t too cold.
It would be better for him to change clothes, but it seemed difficult to strip him in this state.
She wiped his upper body, his neck, and chin. After doing that, Mabel stopped.
‘Can I remove the mask?’
‘I want to wipe the sweat off his forehead, it’s hard to do so with this mask in the way…’
Mabel didn’t feel repulsed by the idea of touching the mage, who doesn’t want to take off his mask.
But there was also anxiety. It’s said that anyone who sees his true face will fall down.
In this case, there is no certainty whether it’s okay or not because Eugene is unconscious.
‘I can’t be saying such things now! It’s an emergency. Saving a life comes first!’
Mabel swallowed her breath and hesitantly reached for the mask.
It seemed to be secured by fixing the ends on both sides of his ears, so she removed the metal fittings and gently lifted it up. Seeing the face that appeared from underneath, Mabel quietly held her breath.
‘Such a beautiful face…’
The same white skin as his chin, the eyelashes that were hard to see through the mask were long and curved.
His nose was high, and it drew an elegant hill towards his pale pink lips. Although his eyes were closed now, if they were open, she would be able to see his even more well-defined features.
While looking at it, Mabel felt an inexplicable tightness and pain in her chest.
There were rumors that he was a very old man or that he had an incredibly ugly face, but judging from this true face, she couldn’t believe any of that. For now, Mabel didn’t feel like collapsing. She also wondered how much of the story about collapsing after seeing his true face was true.
Mabel was captivated by his appearance for a while, but suddenly remembered what she had to do and wiped his forehead with the towel.
He had sweated a lot here too, and perhaps feeling a bit relieved, Eugene let out a faint breath.
Is this enough? Mabel thought as she held the basin and went back downstairs.
She went outside and drew cold water from the well, replacing the water in the basin. Before returning to the second floor, she entered the storage room to see if there was any medicine, but she couldn’t find anything suitable.
‘There’s no medicine…I’ll ask Cero next time he comes.’
She returned to the second floor and entered Mabel’s room. Eugene, who was wrapped in a blanket, still seemed to be struggling to breathe, and Mabel brought a chair close to the bed and sat down.
‘It would have been nice to have some ice.’
She soaked the towel in cold water, wrung it tightly, spread it out once, and gently placed it on Eugene’s forehead. As she looked at his face, which had turned bright red, Mabel sighed in distress.
“What should I do? Is he going to be okay?”
If someone fell ill in the castle where Mabel resided, the attending physician would have immediately rushed over and prescribed medicine. The maids would then take care of everything, from changing clothes to cooking, so Mabel herself had never done such tasks.
‘Wiping sweat, keeping the body warm, cooling the head…What else did they do for the sick?’
Recalling her own experience of catching a cold, Mabel desperately thought about what to do.
She suddenly realized that her hands were trembling, and Mabel shook her head vigorously.
There was no doctor here. No medicine either.
She had no choice but to figure things out on her own. There was no time to be afraid.
Telling herself that, Mabel took a deep breath once again.
She steeled her resolve and took the towel that had been placed on Eugene’s forehead and soaked it in the basin. The towel, which had absorbed the heat from his forehead, quickly turned cool to the touch when she squeezed it tightly. She placed it on his forehead again.
‘For now, let’s bring down the fever…What kind of food would be suitable to eat?’
Mabel noticed that Eugene’s arm was sticking out from under the blanket, so she gently took his hand and carefully tucked it back inside.
His hand felt warm, and Mabel gazed at his face with prayer.
