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“Did a doctor examine me?”
“The doctor named Baikal who was with us just checked your pulse. He couldn’t do more than that because you strongly refused, Your Imperial Highness.”
“I did?”
“Yes. When anyone tried to touch your body, you struggled. Even when you came to your senses in the middle, you refused to be examined as well. You don’t seem to remember this.”
When he heard Khalid’s words, some scattered memories came to his mind. Renato inadvertently touched his waist. Perhaps he did so because he thought he shouldn’t show his scar.
“Anyway, since you’re awake now, it would be good to be examined by a doctor. A palace doctor from the Imperial Palace is waiting……”
“No, I don’t need a doctor.”
“Pardon?”
“It wasn’t something worth examining. I was just a little surprised.”
“You were not just surprised, you fainted. Right now you may be fine, but there can be problems later. You should see a doctor.”
“I’m not hurt or feeling pain at all. Please don’t call the palace doctor, and please let only Louis and Luna come inside.”
“I don’t think it’s a very good idea, but……”
“Thank you for your concern, but I know my body best. I’m okay.”
Renato took a defensive stance and interrupted Khalid’s words when he kept advising Renato to get a check-up. He didn’t want to argue with the man about this.
“Thank you very much for your care today. I have caused you a lot of trouble…… I will definitely compensate you for today’s matter.”
“Ha.”
Looking at Renato’s attempt to end the conversation, Khalid burst into laughter, feeling dumbfounded. His eyes narrowed as if to guess something. Renato’s refusal of medical treatment deepened the suspicion he had been having for a while.
What should I do?
Khalid briefly debated whether to pretend not to know or to push Renato now, then made a decision and moved. At first, Khalid tried to pass it on as something that had nothing to do with him, but if the other person behaved like this, it would be different. He had to clearly point out what bothered him to avoid further problems.
“Your Imperial Highness.”
With one hand on the bed, Khalid called out to Renato in a low voice. Then he slowly leaned his upper body. His hand’s weight made the bedsheet sag down.
“Your, highness?”
As a shadow fell over his face, Renato widened his eyes. He felt suffocated because the distance between them suddenly narrowed.
“There’s something that has been bothering me for a while.”
Khalid pressed his upper body closer to Renato before he had a chance to move back. When they were so close that the tips of their noses almost touched, Renato’s pale purple eyes shook.
“Something that, has been bothering you?”
Renato managed to ask back. The distance between them was too close. Because of that, he wanted to pull his head back or avoid the man’s gaze, but he couldn’t. He could only look at the gleaming red eyes like a bewitched person.
“Since you refuse to get a medical check-up……”
Khalid firmly held Renato with his gaze, then moved his right hand without taking his eyes off him. His long, hard fingers rested on Renato’s shirt. In an instant, Renato’s waist became stiff.
“Is it because of this scar?”
Khalid gently pressed his thumb down without giving Renato a chance to dodge. Renato’s body trembled, startled by the hand that pressed the exact spot where his scar was.
“How, ugh.”
“You wanted to ask how I knew? Who do you think was the person to take off your outer garments when you struggled to avoid the check-up, Your Imperial Highness?”
“T, then……”
When Khalid asked back, Renato’s face was filled with astonishment. It was a felony to forcefully touch an imperial family member’s body who could express their opinions even in an unconscious state.
Baikal, not knowing what to do with Renato’s continued refusal, turned to Khalid for help. Because before Louis and Luna arrived, the only person who could touch Renato’s body was Khalid, who had equal status to Renato.
“You were terrified when anyone touched you, so I was the only one to attend to you, Your Imperial Highness. I had to wipe your body with a towel because your fever did not drop and you were constantly sweating. And then I found it.”
Tap, tap. His long index finger touched the scar protruding over the soft skin. Renato trembled because of the touch that stimulated his skin as if gliding on a piano key. Khalid slowly continued to speak, tenaciously watching Renato’s reaction.
“I am the only one who knows about your scar, so please don’t worry. I noticed that even your guard knight and the chief attendant didn’t seem to know about this yet.”
“Ugh.”
His hard finger gently glided along the newly generated skin. Renato’s thin cloth rustled along with the man’s movement, stimulating his sensitive skin. Renato tightly closed his eyes because of the unfamiliar ticklish sensation. A groan escaped from his closed lips.
“S, stop. Please don’t do that.”
Unable to endure the strange sensation, Renato grabbed Khalid’s hand that was touching his scar. Only then did Khalid stop moving.
“Haa……”
Renato let out a breath he had been holding back and panted. He couldn’t stop shaking. With a flushed face, Renato looked at Khalid who tormented him with resentment. He couldn’t understand why he had to suffer from this.
“I don’t know why you are doing this, your highness. What does a scar on my body have anything to do with you? As if it was a big mistake for me to refuse a check-up……”
“It has nothing to do with me?”
Khalid tilted his head and asked back. His forehead wrinkled, and his neat eyebrows furrowed.
“Didn’t you propose to me?”
“This matter and that matter……”
Renato was about to refute that the two matters were different, but then froze and stopped his words. It was because the bright pupils similar to blazing flames had come close enough to fill his vision. Khalid growled in a voice as ferocious as his blazing eyes.
“I am the type of person who believes that people who will become each other’s companions should not have any secrets from each other. Even if it’s a mutually beneficial political scheme, or a three-year contract.”
“……You are saying as if you plan to accept my proposal.”
Renato was momentarily overwhelmed by Khalid’s momentum, but then calmly responded. He was confused when the man looked so angry, but if the man had made up his mind to accept his proposal, it wouldn’t be hard to understand.
It was a big flaw for imperial family members or nobles to have scars on their bodies if they were not knights. Perhaps it would be different if they married out of love, but in the marriage market where thorough calculations and political schemes were made, they would be considered defective items like cracked porcelain.
Even if it was a contract, marriage was still marriage.
As Renato, who belonged to the Empire’s imperial family that was famous for their extraordinary bodies and healing powers, fainted in front of his eyes and even had a scar, it was understandable if Khalid felt bad about his proposal. The man might have felt that he was tricked.
“Honestly, it’s half and half for me.”
Khalid frankly answered. In fact, he couldn’t figure out the exact reason why he was feeling so bad.
However, the way Renato kept hiding something and trying to handle things alone was particularly unpleasant to him. Perhaps because while taking care of Renato for several hours, Renato’s condition that he had seen was unusual.
‘I’m sorry, I’m really sorry……’
‘Don’t. I don’t want that. It was my fault.’
‘No, hic, please, don’t leave me alone.’
Renato didn’t seem to remember anything at all, but he didn’t just quietly pass out.
Having some kind of terrible nightmare, Renato miserably sobbed the entire time he was unconscious, and then repeatedly apologized, saying he was at fault.
When Khalid wiped off his sweats, he struggled as if convulsing, or curled up and trembled. And after that, Renato cried and held onto him, so Khalid had no choice but to stay by his side.
After a few hours of exhaustion, Khalid came to a conclusion. Renato was not in a normal condition right now.
“If I only think about the benefits I will get, it is right to accept Your Imperial Highness’ proposal. But there are a lot of things that bother me.”
“What is bothering you?”
“It’s difficult to answer everything because my thoughts aren’t organized, but…… First of all, the conditions are just too good. To the extent that I even wonder if it’s a trap.”
“Is good condition a problem?”
“Because I’m the type to think that there is no such thing as goodwill without reason in this world.”
Khalid said aloud what had been bothering him this whole time. What Renato offered in return for the marriage seemed like an extravagant banquet to him. It was a strange thought, but Khalid felt as if Renato wanted to help him.