Chapter 6

Translated by XyeHeart Edited by XyeHeart

The soiled bed and soiled hems of his clothes naturally led her to the bathroom.

“Hmm…”

There was a brief pause. Meriel came to a decision about going to the bathroom after a brief deliberation.

“Kiyan?”

As she boldly walked to his bathroom, Meriel was taken aback. Kiyan, who was lying in the bathroom, could hear him moaning in pain and breaking out in cold sweat.

“Kiyan, wake up. What’s wrong with you?”

“Ugh…”

Meriel, who yanked him up quickly.

She felt the heat from him, who was only wearing silver pants.

“I’ve got a terrible fever,” he said shiveringly.

Meriel quickly recognized the situation and dragged Kiyan, who stared at me with blurred eyes, into bed.

Wet a towel in the bathroom, placed it on Kiyan’s brow, and wrapped a blanket around his neck.

The reddening skin and hot breath appeared to be symptoms of the disease Meriel was familiar with.

‘Is it a cold……?’

With uncertainty, she couldn’t help him.

Meriel dashed down to the inn’s lobby and requested a physician. The physician, who arrived on time, examined Kiyan’s condition and diagnosed him with a “cold,” just as Meriel had predicted.

It’s also a severe cold.

“There’s a lot of fatigue, so take your medication and rest. However, your fever is high……

I’ll leave you a fever reducer if you’re having trouble.”

Meriel took the medicine prescribed by the physician, drew a chair, and sat by the bedside.

“You said you weren’t going to freeze to death. You did not die, but you did catch a cold.”

He was the one who handed her the robe while she had been sleeping for more than a month.

He didn’t cough once, despite the fact that it was cold outside. If he collapsed like this, it meant he was trying to hide the fact that he was sick. As she cleaned up Kiyan’s messy room, Meriel noticed Kiyan’s sword by the door.

He wore it around his waist all the time, but she never saw it pulled out.

It was a common sword used by mercenaries, but it appeared unusual at first glance. While she was organizing, she hung his clothes properly and checked the rough sword.

‘Is this dirt? But it also looks like a dried blood.’

“How come I hadn’t thought of that before?” she mumbled.

She must be lucky that she hasn’t been attacked by the pursuing assassins. She assumed it was because Kiyan had guided her well. Certainly, the path he takes is sparsely populated and poorly paved. But the truth was quite different.

[ It’s getting late. Why haven’t you fallen asleep yet? ]

[ Why do you keep attempting to lull me to sleep so early? ]

[ I’m concerned that tomorrow’s plans will be thrown off. ]

[ Surprisingly, I’m physically fit. ]

[ When traveling for the first time, avoid being conceited. ]

[ I t’s starting to get cold, so if you come here and sleep beside me, you’ll keep me warm….. ]

[ Can’t you just sleep quietly? ]

Meriel remembered a long-ago conversation she’d had with him. She realized that while she was sleeping, exhausted, he had fought a battle with those who were chasing her nearby. Kiyan’s guarding was splattered with blood and evidence of rough fighting.

Why would you do something like this for me?

Kiyan, who she thought was a little closer, seemed far away to her. Those who had learned to use swords couldn’t understand why they needed to defend themselves, even with the cold that they didn’t catch easily.

She re-sheathed the sword.

She wishes she hadn’t discovered it until the very end. She wished she hadn’t found out until she had the opportunity to meet the Grand Duke.

His generosity and kindness were too much for her to ignore. Encountering and separation from Kiyan solely for the purpose of meeting the Grand Duke. She was, however, terrified of his kindness for reasons she couldn’t fathom.

Meriel murmured as she furrowed her long orange eyelashes and looked at him, who was radiating heat from the bed.

“Do you know who I am?”

Kiyan was not even present in the princess’s memories. He was a common man with plain brown hair and eyes. When asked to find something unique in his ordinary appearance, he only had a ring studded with blue gems. Except for the first time when he had a decorated smile, he didn’t show much of his expression.

Meriel reached out to him, shaking her head to shake her thoughts, to change his cold towel.

Suddenly, he grabbed her outstretched hand. He looked at Meriel with ferocious eyes. Kiyan’s eyes were too rough, but the focus was blurred, and his eyes appeared to be looking at someone else even when they were looking at her. Her hand in his grip hurt, but she didn’t move.

She didn’t even ask to be let go, and he didn’t even wake up. She couldn’t say anything because the emotion she saw in his eyes as he grabbed my wrist was also transmitted through her hands.

“… Why…”

“……”

“Why..so… ”

‘Why do you look so sad?’

She mustered the courage to swallow the question she couldn’t spit out. Meriel was overcome with sadness. She was curious as to who he was looking at with such sadness. He was holding her wrist, which was excruciatingly painful.

“…Meriel…Princess?” His low, hoarse voice growled.

Meriel remained silent. He then closed his eyes and relaxed his grip.

“…Did you have a dream? It’s as if you’re in a nightmare.”

“You can’t just walk into a man’s room.”

He gave an order in a voice that lacked all authority.

“You’re sick because of me,” she said quietly, but he didn’t respond.

Meriel complied with his order. She looked at him, who was lying still with his arms covering his eyes, before closing the door. In contrast to his room, which was heated by the hot breath he exhaled, his room was only cool.

As she sat on her bed in her room, tears streamed down her cheeks.

She felt a strange sadness that made her heart tingle. It was absolute agony. So much so that tears streamed down her cheeks.

“……it appears you have feelings for someone.”

It’s no surprise she assumed Kiyan’s expression of intense sadness a few moments ago was directed at someone else. He appeared to be looking at someone else through Meriel.

“Do I resemble the woman you like?”

She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. It had nothing to do with her in the first place. There is nothing she can do simply because she feels the other person’s emotions.Despite the fact that he became quite friendly over the course of the month.

“I’m tired.”

Meriel closed her eyes and lay quietly on her bed. She wanted him to get over his cold as quickly as possible. That way, they can get to Grand Duke as soon as possible.

Kiyan awoke the next day as if Meriel’s wind had turned into a spell, as if he had never been sick. It was in no time since he already found a carriage for them.

At last, as she wished, the two arrived in Grant, where the Grand Duke lived.

Kiyan reserved a room at the inn as soon as he arrived in Grant.

“The inn is the most secure in Grant.”

“Thank you, Kiyan.”

Anyway, she had to go to the Grand Duke’s house tomorrow.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d stay at the inn, but Meriel was relieved to hear that it was the safest place.

‘Because if the Grand Duke throws me out, I’ll need somewhere to stay for a while.’

She went down to the lobby after unloading her luggage and taking a quick look around the room. But Kiyan was still standing. Meriel, who had assumed he would have returned, tilted her head.

“Have you left yet?”

“I haven’t yet heard the story.”

“Story?”

“I didn’t understand why you came here. It has something to do with marriage, I recall you saying.”

It had only been a month and a week. She assumed he would have forgotten because it was a conversation they had at the start of the trip. Meriel nodded easily, slightly discomfited by his extraordinary memory and must-hear patience and tenacity. A promise was a promise.

“Then here?”

Meriel was about to take a seat at the lobby table.

“There’s a restaurant I know well,” Kiyan said as he exited the inn.

The restaurant is close to the inn. Despite the fact that the inn was close to downtown, the restaurant was quiet. The atmosphere of the restaurant was cozy even though she came in the middle of the day. Candles and decorations lit everywhere that adds luxury.

“I’ve come to meet the Grand Duke.”

“What’s the point of meeting you?”

After finishing his meal, he drank his water to quench his thirst, while Meriel responded with a bright smile and twinkling eyes.

“To get married.”

Kiyan spit out the water that had been clogging his throat. Despite being splashed with the water he threw, Meriel wiped her face with a napkin calmly.

“I also brought a formal marriage proposal,” she added.

“His Majesty said you’d marry the Grand Duke if you didn’t come to your senses, so you obeyed his command…Doesn’t that make sense?”

“Is there anything that can’t be done?”

“Suddenly? Unexpectedly? Why the Grand Duke, of all people?”

Kiyan quickly asked questions, forgetting about his rudeness to Meriel.

He averted his gaze after asking questions, unable to hide his perplexed expression.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t like it at all?…..You said you’d give it a shot…..Does there have to be a reason why you have to marry Grand Duke?”

Meriel nodded as he ate dessert, looking at Kiyan, who appeared to be dissatisfied.

“The Grand Duke of the Empire is the only one who can protect me from the Emperor.”

“……is His Majesty going to kill you?”

“Yes.”

“His Majesty dispatched the assassination squad that you took care of.”

Meriel spoke casually, as if her neighbor’s dog had wandered away. Meriel was unconcerned about her own business, despite the fact that it was her own issues. Instead, she frowned, and Kiyan clenched his fist.

“What is the point of telling you this story? It’s only because you’re close to the Grand Duke. Please tell me where I can meet you. Maybe he’ll be the bug you have to eliminate, but……I require the assistance of the Grand Duke.”

Kiyan looked at Meriel with a puzzled expression on his face.

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