/
After talking with Rowena, Hamilton returned to the bedroom.
In that brief moment, all sorts of thoughts came to my mind. Is he going to scold me for waking up Caesar? Will he ask me to leave now?
‘No! There’s no way Caesar would kick me out!’
He’d rather tell Hamilton to get out!
With such anticipation, I looked back at Caesar, but-
‘… Did he just fall asleep again?!’
As if he had never looked at me, Caesar breathed deeply again and went back to sleep.
What?! Didn’t you just wake up?! Were you sleepwalking?!
“Miss Evergreen says she’ll bring His Majesty’s meal later in the evening.”
Ugh.
Meanwhile, Hamilton returned to the front of the bed and stood.
“Miss Evergreen says she’ll stand by His Majesty’s side tonight. So let’s go back, Princess.”
“What? Ah, yes. That’s good. Then I will soon-”
Embarrassed, I got up from the bed, rambling— no, I was gonna get up. But suddenly I felt a pull from behind and fell down again. Flop.
“Ugh!”
“Princess?!”
What’s this?
I was genuinely perplexed.
Looking back, Caesar was still holding my hand tightly.
‘Why aren’t you letting go?!’
I felt like screaming inside. Perhaps reading my feelings, I could feel Caesar holding on to me even more.
You’re still awake, aren’t you?!
Wake up and make an excuse for me! Let’s get Hamilton out!
“Princess? What’s wrong?”
“T-That… His Majesty is not letting go of my hand.”
“Pardon?” Hamilton frowned.
“When did you hold hands? Let it go and get out immediately. Else he’ll wake up.”
“Well, I guess he caught my hand in his sleep and is now holding it too tightly. I’ll break it while letting it go.”
“Then-!”
“There’s nothing we can do. I’ll be here, so you can go and do your business.”
“Oh, that can’t happen! It is my responsibility to bring you here, but I can’t leave you by his side-!”
“Caaaaan’t youuuu juuuust gooooo, pleeeasee?!”
Was Hamilton such a tactless person? I gritted my teeth in anger and said threateningly.
Hamilton shuddered as if my anger had reached him.
“That’s- Then can you promise not to do anything strange?”
“Oh, come on-!”
“If that’s the case… You must come out once His Majesty let go of your hand, you know?” Hamilton left the room with a very anxious expression even after making a new, desperate request.
Tak. I heard the sound of the door closing, and then let out a long sigh of relief.
At the same time, a hateful voice was heard from behind.
“Finally, he’s gone. What a tactless man.”
Looking back, Caesar looked towards the door and clicked his tongue.
“Your Majesty, you can order him to leave, can’t you? Why were you pretending to be asleep?”
“… Promise me you won’t get angry if I tell you the truth.”
“I won’t get angry.”
“It’s fun to watch you struggling.”
“Oh, really…!” I wanted to yell out of anger but managed to hold it in.
Let’s put up with it. Put up with it, Helena. This person in front of you is now a patient. Yes, he may be the emperor, but he’s now also a patient.
Caesar chuckled, perhaps because it was funny to see me holding back.
He hugged me from behind and put his chin on my shoulder and whispered, “Did you come to visit me?”
“Absolutely. I’m worried.”
“Yes. It’s worth trying to get sick since Helena will come to my bedroom on her own.”
“That’s useless.”
“In a maid outfit, even. It’s so cute that it brings me to tears.”
What tears.
“Stop laughing. My shoulders hurt when you laugh so loudly.”
“Keheheheh.”
I said sternly, but Caesar smiled as he hugged me and put his chin on my shoulder.
I feel like I’m going to have a hole in my shoulder. Why is my maid outfit so funny?
I turned to face Caesar. “Your Majesty.”
“Yes, I’m listening.” Caesar looked at me with anticipation. But I ignored his expectations and pressed Caesar on the shoulder, putting him back on the bed.
Caesar’s expression turned bewildered. He looked like a puppy whose toy was taken away suddenly even though he’d been looking forward to it being thrown.
“A patient needs a total rest, Your Majesty.”
“… Can’t you call me by my name when there are only two of us?” Caesar, lying on the bed, said with a disappointed look.
I can’t believe you made that face while lying down. He seemed infinitely vulnerable, so I almost listened to him.
“Not for the time being,” I barely kept my reason and flatly refused.
“Why?”
“Actually, I haven’t been able to use honorifics against you yet. So I won’t call your name until I get used to it.”
“Pu ha ha!” Perhaps the reason was unexpected, Caesar burst into laughter.
“Hey, you need to rest. Don’t laugh, just sleep.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Oh, you were sleeping well.”
“I pretended to be asleep. I could hear the door.”
I knew it.
He still couldn’t sleep deeply. Like me in my previous life. I felt kind of depressed.
“I will protect you. So, sleep in peace.”
“That’s not enough.” Caesar wiggled his body and made a space on the bed, then tapped his hand on the space.
“Come here.”
“I am not a patient, Your Majesty.”
“I think I’ll sleep better if I sleep with you.”
“I’m not a pillow, either, Your Majesty.”
“This is a disciple’s appeal and the monarch’s command.”
‘I didn’t sign up for this.’
I let out a long sigh.
Seeing Caesar’s pale face, my heart weakened.
‘Yes, you’re a patient. I’ll give you just one day, huh?’
After taking off my headdress, I got on the bed and lay down next to Caesar.
As soon as I lay down, Caesar hugged me. I’m seriously being treated like a pillow.
Although the posture was uncomfortable, I decided to let it slide just today.
“I smell you.”
“What kind of scent is that?”
“Mm. An incredibly sweet scent that makes you hungry?”
Didn’t you hate sweets?
Gently, I lifted his head and looked at Caesar’s face. He closed his eyes with a relaxed face.
This man. Are you treating me like a scented candle that helps sleep?
“… Don’t be sick, Your Majesty.” I stretched out my arms and gently embraced Caesar.
Soon after, I felt his heart beating slowly.
‘He’s really sleeping… now.’
I didn’t even move until Caesar fell asleep. Only after I confirmed that he was completely asleep did I relax.
‘Don’t be sick.’
I quietly closed my eyes.
His heart was pounding. Thump, thump. I listened to Caesar’s regular heartbeat.
My heartbeat was like his, and soon I fell asleep.
***
Click.
It was the very slight sound of the doorknob turning that woke me up.
I didn’t move and just opened my eyes. I focused my entire body on the sound.
‘How many minutes have passed?’
I quickly checked Caesar. This time, it seemed that he had really fallen asleep.
‘I can’t wake him up.’
I cautiously got out of his arms. Fortunately, Caesar did not wake up. I frowned slightly and straightened my brow.
I took a few steps back from the bed and then turned back… and found Rowena standing in front of the door holding a tray of meals.
“Ah, Prin-”
Shh! I quickly put my index finger to my lips and frowned. Fortunately, Rowena was a smarter person than Hamilton, so she quickly shut her mouth at my words.
I gestured to the table next door. Rowena nodded and moved the meal to the table.
“His Majesty is in a deep sleep. You’d better not wake him up,” I sneaked closer and whispered to Rowena. Rowena checked Caesar behind my back, and she nodded in agreement.
“Because he hasn’t been able to sleep lately.”
“Did you call the doctor?”
“Yes. They said it’s because of overwork. I’m ashamed. You’ve even personally asked me to look for him.” Rowena bowed in front of me and apologized.
To be honest, I wanted to get angry as well. But what could my anger do? I only sighed deeply.
“What time is it now?”
“The sun has already set.”
Ah…
I’ll have to go back soon.
I glanced at Caesar and then turned my head back to Rowena. “I see. I’ll be out soon. Can you wait outside?”
“All right.”
Fortunately, Rowena left the room without being as persistent as Hamilton did.
I went back to Caesar, re-adjusted the duvet, and neaten his sweaty hair.
His shirt was ruffled and open, so I reached out to tidy up his clothes.
And, I finally saw it.
‘… What?’
There was a blue bruise on the back of his neck, an area that would not normally be seen by his shirt.
‘What is this?’
I opened the shirt a little more to see the marks in detail.
And I had to swallow my breath in order not to make a sound.
There were sparse bruises spread across the back.
No, this is not a bruise.
‘This…!’
I quickly checked the back of Caesar’s hand. I could only identify it after looking carefully, but there were obviously blue bruises coming up under the nails.
I was sure.
This is a symptom of addiction.
‘Did the doctor not notice this?’
Fear came over me, with hair standing all over my body.
Caesar is not tired now. He wasn’t overworked.
Caesar is now eating poison. Little by little, little by little, it went unnoticed.
***
When I left the room, Rowena and Leonard were talking in the hallway.
The two looked at my face and their expressions hardened. Maybe it was because my facial expression had turned so badly.
“What’s going on, Princess?” Rowena asked me.
After I confirmed that there were only the three of us around, I asked Rowena straight-forward, “Who is checking all the food he eats?”
“I check the set meals, but I don’t check anything else.”
“What do you mean by anything else?”
“Things like refreshments eaten at other places, what he eats outside, and tea from nobles who came as guests…” Rowena’s expression darkened noticeably. She must have sensed something.
“It’s not good enough. From now on, check everything. Everything from one to ten.”
“What… is going on?”
“Who is the doctor that diagnosed His Majesty as overworked?”
“Someone from the doctor’s office.”
“Bring a doctor from outside the imperial palace and examine him again so that no one other than him can find out.”
“Why is that, Helena? What the hell is going on?” Leonard intervened and asked in frustration.
I wanted to spit out in anger again, but somehow suppressed my anger and said to the two of them, “It’s poison.”
The two’s faces hardened visibly. Rowena was getting even paler.
“P-Poison?” Rowena’s, who hardly showed her emotions, lower lip was trembling as she asked.
“It would be better to get a diagnosis from a doctor for sure. But I think he’s addicted.”
Blue bruises that spread all over the body.
I’ve seen it in my previous life.
When I was in the mercenary group, there was a man who had been across the continent. He used to smoke a cigarette he’d gotten from across the continent.
However, he died a few months later with blue bruises all over his body.
It was found out later that it was due to poison, but nobody knew how to detoxify it because the poison was not available on this continent.
‘Then the man died a few months after the bruises first appeared. It’s probably the kind that slowly gnaws at the body.’
In the meantime, Caesar had been overworked due to the sudden death of the emperor. Probably including the intended war of nerves with Valer.
Even if he had lost weight or showed signs of fatigue, he probably wouldn’t have been deeply suspicious because it was ‘such a time’.
It wasn’t that he didn’t check the food, much less the doctor had confirmed that he was just overworked.
‘We only strengthened the vigilance towards intruders from the outside, but there were many blind spots to deal with the enemies inside.’
They could’ve infiltrated the inner doctor’s office.
Crunch. Without realizing it, my teeth were broken.
“For now, be careful not to spread this,” I asked Leonard and Rowena. “Until the culprits are caught and slaughtered.”
I will definitely kill them.
Whoever it is, even if Caesar forgives them, I will not forgive them.
With that determination, I clenched my fists as hard as I could.