Chapter 49

“The worst has passed, but you have to be very careful. Stay in bed for at least three days. You have to treat your body like it’s something extremely fragile, Your Grace.”
“I will. Don’t worry.”

She reassured the doctor and thanked him, but Adeline’s gaze and mind were turned towards Kael.
Melissa immediately called the doctor, so Kael and Adeline didn’t have time to talk.
The doctor arrived before she could even respond to his plea to never stay away from him again, and ran to Adeline with a serious face and immediately examined her.

“You should never skip meals or medication. It can be hard to eat for a while, but you have to.”

The doctor repeatedly begged her, and Adeline smiled gently and nodded.
Then, she turned his gaze and looked at Kael, who was standing a little distance away.
She wanted to talk to him.

“Your Grace. Reverend Tien is here.”

When it seemed that the doctor was done and she was about to tell everyone to leave so that they could talk, the butler approached Kael and informed him of Simeon’s arrival.
Kael made eye contact with Adeline for a moment, then looked at the butler.

“Bring him here.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”

In fact, it seemed he was conceding the order of conversation.
Adeline was a little upset, but she also wanted to see Simeon. Besides, the fact that he came here today meant that he had stopped his asceticism halfway through and ran to the capital, so it was obvious how worried he must have been.

“Sister!”

Unsurprisingly, Simeon quickly approached her, calling out to Adeline as soon as he opened the door.
He was breathing heavily and had tears in his eyes, as if he had run up the stairs.

“How… Just how…”

Seeing how hurt Adeline was, Simeon could not speak.
Watching from behind, Kael glanced at the servants to leave the room. He also retreated quietly, making time for the siblings.
Whether he didn’t know that Adeline’s gaze was following him or was pretending not to know, he avoided Adeline’s eyes until the moment he closed the door.

“What is this, Sister? This…”

Whether Adeline was looking for Kael or not, Simeon, who was just focusing on his sister in front of him, continued to lament, speechless.
There was a bruise everywhere the vines had touched, and her wrists in particular were so severe that every slight move showed a red wound through the sleeve.

“I’m fine. I’ve gotten a lot better. I heard you had left for your asceticism, is it alright to come back halfway through?”
“Is asceticism important right now? If it hadn’t been for that in the first place, I would have stopped what happened in the temple with my own hands. But, of all things…”
“It’s not your fault. Someone was deliberately aiming for an occasion when you were away. Don’t blame yourself, Simeon.”

Adeline grabbed Simeon’s hand tightly and soothed him.

Simeon had heard of the incident from Enoch and the temple.
He also knew that Adeline was trapped in a magic box and that the necklace he had given her protected her.

“I heard that the black magic avoided me because of the necklace you gave me. You saved me. So don’t be sorry.”

Simeon sighed deeply, then asked Adeline to give him the necklace for a moment.
As Adeline handed over the necklace, Simeon held the necklace in his hand and recited something in an ancient language she could not understand.
Then, a white light emanated and curled around the necklace for a long time before disappearing in an instant.

“The divine power was greatly weakened because of the black magic. I’ve reinforced it more clearly, so it will help.”
“Thank you, Simeon.”

Adeline looked at Simeon with admiration. She had known for a long time that she was a priest with high divine power, but after seeing it with her own eyes, she was as amazed as ever.

“But why was His Grace…”
“It was inevitable, Simeon. Don’t get angry at the wrong person. And if it weren’t for His Grace, I would probably still be trapped.”

When Simeon frowned and brought up the conversation about Kael, Adeline hurriedly defended him.
She didn’t want this incident to harm him in any way. There was nothing Kael could have done, and he was the one who rescued Adeline after that, so he had no fault.

“Do it for me, Simeon. I hope you won’t hate the Grand Duke.”

Simeon sighed heavily at Adeline’s request. Unlike the other brothers, Simeon had not yet lowered his guard against Kael.
He was still feeling the energy of the curse coming from Kael, and he couldn’t help but suspect that it had played a role in this nonsensical situation that happened to Adeline.

“Sister. Just promise me one thing.”
“Yeah. Tell me.”
“No matter what happens, do not take off the necklace. No matter what. Keep it with you at all times.”

He couldn’t tell Adeline because he wasn’t sure.
However, Simeon sincerely hoped that his necklace could protect Adeline again like this time, and that it could save her from the darkness.

***

“Ah, is he in a meeting?”
“Yes, Your Grace. It seems that there is a lot of work to do.”

Melissa said, looking at Adeline’s bed.

Contrary to expectations, even after Simeon left, Kael did not visit Adeline.
She waited, hoping that something would happen, but he didn’t stop by until the sun went down, and then the day passed.
The next day was the same. No matter how long she waited, Kael did not come.

Then, deep into the night, when Adeline was half asleep, Kael came to her.
She couldn’t open her eyes because she was too sleepy, but the sensation of his large hand holding hers was very clear.
He held her hand and spoke in a low voice, then kissed the back of her hand.

[I’m sorry. I let you get hurt like this.]

An unusually low, hoarse voice apologized, and that was the end of the night that Adeline remembered.
It wasn’t a dream. Kael had clearly visited her last night.

So, when the day dawned, Adeline was sure that he would come to see her. But even now, when the moon and stars rose, she had not met Kael.

“He’s probably very busy, Your Grace. He has to deal with this incident, and deal with the North affairs at the same time.”

Melissa approached the bedside and soothed Adeline.

In fact, Adeline thought so at first. That he was so busy that he couldn’t come see her. But she was disappointed that he had only stopped by at night.
But the more she thought about it, the stranger it felt. She thought that he had only come at night on purpose.
It was as if he had only come when Adeline was asleep and couldn’t look at him.

“While you were asleep, His Grace came here whenever he could to check on you. He sat by your side and watched incessantly. He must just be busy, so don’t worry.”

She smiled lightly, but the more she listened to Melissa, the less she understood.
The man who had been watching over Adeline like that was avoiding her when she had her eyes open. It was hard to understand.

‘Why is that? I really don’t know.’

As Melissa left the room and she was left alone, a bigger sigh leaked out. Adeline pondered for a long time before closing her eyes tightly.
Grabbing her throbbing head and searching for a reason, she couldn’t come to a conclusion. It seemed better to just go to sleep quickly.

‘… Huh?’

But as she closed her eyes, she could hear the sound of someone opening the door carefully.

‘Kael. It’s Kael.’

As he drew closer, Kael’s characteristic refreshing scent reached her. It was definitely Kael.

It wasn’t until late in the night, like yesterday, that he came to Adeline cautiously.
Repeating the same thing as yesterday gave conviction to Adeline’s reasoning.
Kael had been avoiding Adeline all along, and had been coming only while she was asleep.

He carefully sat down on the bed. He reached out and gently touched Adeline’s cheek, and he also tidied up her slightly disheveled hair.
The hand that touched her was extremely gentle. She could feel him worrying about whether she was going to wake up, or if she would be uncomfortable.

“I’m glad you seem to have gotten much better. You must be taking the medication.”

Kael spoke to Adeline, whom he believed was asleep.

“I’m sorry. This happened to you because of me.”

A voice buried in deep regret whispered an apology again and again. Then, he closed his mouth again and watched Adeline quietly.
After a while he got up from the bed. Finally, he kissed Adeline’s forehead, and then tried to leave the room.

It was the same as yesterday.
Gently caressing Adeline, whispering that he was sorry, engraving her in his eyes for a long time, and disappearing.

“Are you avoiding me because you’re sorry?”

But as Kael was about to move away, Adeline, who suddenly raised her body, grabbed his arm tightly.

“… Adeline?”

The blue-grey eyes and the light green eyes faced each other.

——