Episode 102. That Sordid Thing
The man, stretched out languidly, slowly composed himself, smoothing back his hair. The deep weariness etched on his handsome features weighed heavily on Olivia's shoulders.
Olivia, a sinner for no crime, panted, her lips barely moving.
Noah watched his wife's face, pale and on the verge of tears.
Rage surged within him.
Specifically, rage at the vulgar people sitting in the café, but also, amidst it all, rage at Olivia, who was trying so hard to endure.
If he hadn't come after receiving Betty's call, how much longer would Olivia have tried to withstand it there?
Despite his insistence that she didn't need to try so hard, why did she act so foolishly, exhausting him?
She could have walked out immediately, or even screamed on the spot. If Olivia had done it, he felt he could have happily dealt with the aftermath, even if blood had been shed.
He had told her that if she felt bad, it meant the other person had acted like a dog, so what more was she agonizing over with that small head of hers?
Noah strangely hated the way she endured and persevered.
"Were you going to try to endure it again today?"
"...I was just about to get up."
The area under her wide eyes was sunken and hollow. Seeing this, Noah roughly ran a hand over his face and spat out, as if chewing the words,
"Do you know what's important?"
"......"
"That you've done nothing wrong."
Yes. Olivia had done nothing wrong.
"What could you have possibly done wrong..."
Noah trailed off for a moment, then quickly blurted out,
"To try to endure, to persevere, to withstand, even to improve. But you've done nothing wrong, Liv."
If she had any fault, it was only that she was born a commoner.
"You've felt that your whole life, and you still don't understand?"
Noah's words became thorns, stabbing Olivia's heart. A pain she had momentarily forgotten rushed back intensely, shaking her.
Heat surged to her eyes, blurring her vision.
"Bearing, enduring, withstanding. Aren't you sick of it?"
Noah knew that his sharp words were tearing at Olivia's heart, but he forced himself to utter the final words.
"I'm asking if you insist on doing that sordid thing even by my side, Olivia."
Clear tears spilled over the low dam of her eyes before she could even blink. Olivia reflexively lowered her head and raised her hand to wipe away the tears.
She desperately tried to raise her hand, not wanting to show anyone her crying face, but her body wouldn't obey.
Her ears went numb, and her head felt like it was being crushed. The breath escaping her felt so hot that she wondered if her throat had been charred black.
No, this can't be happening. I can't be sick now.
Olivia's mind gradually became hazy. The sharp pain tearing at her chest made her waist buckle. She tried to alleviate the pain by taking shallow, panting breaths, but her body slowly tilted to the side.
No. I'm going to sit...
Her consciousness flowed slowly.
"Olivia!!"
Through her blurring consciousness, she heard Noah's voice. Her senses slowly faded, and through her slowly opening eyes, she saw his urgent face.
I don't want to show him I'm crying.
Tears kept falling, dripping from the corners of her eyes.
As tears finally fell from Olivia's eyes, Noah cursed inwardly. Seeing several more drops fall from those large eyes before they could even well up, Noah let out a deep, heavy sigh.
He roughly wiped his dry eyes, then looked back at Olivia and realized something was wrong.
Her shoulders slumped, and her posture collapsed as if she had lost all strength. Her body was slowly tilting to the side!
"Olivia!!"
Startled, Noah jumped up and caught Olivia as she fell. Her body, collapsing limply, was like a doll with its strings cut. Her hat rolled off, completely revealing Olivia's face, and a wave of heat washed over him.
Stunned by the unexpected heat, Noah quickly examined her face. He saw that her eyes were red, and her lips were parched.
Noah hurriedly bit off his glove and placed his hand on Olivia's forehead.
"......!!"
He gasped in surprise, widened his eyes, and cupped her cheeks with his hands. She was shockingly hot. She was so hot that it was frightening, as if she were boiling.
"Olivia, wake up! Olivia!!"
"......"
He shook her cheeks and called her urgently, but her unfocused eyes were hazy. Even then, tears kept streaming down her face.
Noah instinctively pulled her into his arms and roughly opened the window.
"Methone!!!"
He shielded his face from the rushing wind and called Methone, who quickly spurred his horse to the carriage.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"Go to the Royal Palace and bring a physician immediately. Immediately!! Tell them she has a fever!"
Methone glanced at the Princess consort drooping in the Prince's arms and hardened his expression.
"Yes, I will go at once!"
As Methone rode away, Noah called a guard and ordered,
"Ride to the residence and tell them the Princess consort is ill, and to raise the temperature in the bedroom!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"Increase the speed of the carriage!"
After giving the orders, Noah quickly closed the window to block the wind.
He turned his head urgently and looked down at Olivia, his eyes shaking violently. While he was giving orders to the knights, her eyes, which had been hazily open, closed.
Noah was unusually flustered.
He didn't even realize that his fingers were trembling as he unbuttoned Olivia's coat. When one gloved hand kept slipping, he irritably tore off the gloves and quickly removed the coat. Then, the hot air trapped inside the coat rushed out.
"Damn it!"
Her whole body was a furnace.
How long had she been in this state, and why had she come here in this condition!
"Hngh......"
Olivia moaned, curling up, and Noah pulled her into his arms.
There was nothing he could do, so he could only hold her tightly in his arms.
Tears kept seeping into his fingers as he cupped Olivia's cheeks. Even as he wiped her face, tears kept slipping through his fingers.
Noah clenched his fist tightly, then pulled Olivia closer and leaned down.
"Don't cry."
"......"
"Don't cry, Olivia."
Noah Astrid, who had always been indifferent to anyone's pain or tears, lost his composure in front of Olivia, who was delirious with fever and crying.
He had brought her here to find peace, but he never imagined that his peace would rest in the palm of her hand.
His heart was pounding painfully, as if it were being crushed.
The Prince's residence was turned upside down.
The Princess consort, who had shown no signs of illness until the morning, had returned in a state of collapse in just half a day.
The Prince personally carried the Princess consort to the bedroom and laid her down, then stood beside her, unmoving.
His expression was so cold and ruthless that, at first glance, it seemed he was more annoyed and bothered than worried about his sick wife.
However,
"Change the water again. Adjust the temperature to be similar to her body temperature."
"Lower the temperature in the room a little."
With a face as cold and blue as lead, he checked the Princess consort's condition and gave detailed orders.
Noah was so sensitive that even Betty, who was used to him, felt nervous. Like people walking on thin ice that could break at any moment, the maids carefully removed the Princess consort's clothes, even holding their breath.
"Goodness..."
Olivia's body was so hot that someone couldn't help but exclaim even in this tense atmosphere. As one of the maids removed her dress, Noah's brow furrowed fiercely as he stared at Olivia.
The shallow, panting breaths she was taking in agony were being constricted by that damned thing.
"Take that off immediately."
If someone told him to wear such clothes for the rest of his life, he would rather die. The corset, which tightly bound her abdomen and chest, was suffocating just to look at.
The maids' hands moved faster at Noah's impatient voice. As the corset, which had been strongly compressing her chest, disappeared, her chest, which had been rising and falling rapidly, relaxed and sank.
Betty wondered if it was inappropriate, even for a married couple, and glanced at the Prince. But Noah didn't seem to have any intention of leaving this place tonight.
It was frightening to even guess what was seething in his eyes, which were darkened by the lamplight.
But then, something unexpected happened.
"What?"
Methone, who had gone to the Royal Palace to summon a physician, returned empty-handed.
"Of the four female physicians in the Royal Palace, three are out for the Grand Consort's treatment, and Ms. Holland is absent due to family matters. They have sent someone urgently and ask that you wait a little longer."
"Aren't those the only physicians there? Bring someone else."
"...Your Highness, Royal women are only treated by female physicians..."
The calm that Noah had barely maintained shattered at Methone's difficult words.
"What does it matter if they're male or female when she's sick! Bring someone else immediately!!!"
The Prince's roar echoed through the hallway, making the servants' shoulders flinch. Methone bit his lip and tried to calm him down.
"I have received a fever reducer for now. Either way, physicians use medicine first, don't they? Let's bring down the fever first. The time it would take to convince a male physician to treat Her Highness or the time it would take to wait for a physician will be similar."
"......"
Noah stood silently in the darkness. It would have been better if he had vented his anger and shouted, but the silence was even more frightening.
Methone didn't dare to look up at him and just kept wetting his dry lips.
After a while, Noah called Betty and handed her the medicine.
"Give it to her."
And as she went into the room, he asked quietly,
"Exactly how long will it take for a physician to arrive?"
"They said they went to the Osolo region, so it will take three to four hours at the shortest."
Noah took out his watch and checked the time.
Methone carefully raised his eyes and looked at him. There was no humanity in any of his features, as if he were looking at a sculpture. Even Methone, who had assisted him for quite a long time, felt unfamiliar with his face.
Noah closed the watch and said quickly,
"The Princess consort will not attend tomorrow's event. I will travel by horse instead of carriage, so we will depart one hour later than the originally scheduled departure time. I will stop by the Royal Palace for a moment, so tell my mother that I will visit her at 8 a.m. tomorrow."
"Understood, Your Highness."
After speaking, Noah turned and went into the bedroom.
Methone unknowingly let out the breath he had been holding. Cold sweat ran down his back, soaking his shirt.
Methone glanced at his watch and desperately hoped that the physician would arrive on time as he headed back to the Royal Palace.
