31 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
The Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior from Hell 31
The aftermath of the rejection was significant.
Alisha's mood swung wildly between resentment and annoyance.
Denying thoughts kept popping into her head.
She didn't know what she was denying, but she kept shaking her head.
Eventually, fragmented words burst out.
What the heck.
Then why did you betroth me?
When did I say I'd marry you?
Yesterday, you looked like you were about to cry, asking me to hold your hand.
Jerk.
Guess I'm going to visit the sick.
Who cares if you're sick or not.
Should I take a castle from you every time you hold my hand!?
If I'm a human painkiller, shouldn't you kneel before me and confess, even falsely, that you love me so much?
You said all pain disappears just by holding my hand.
This is so annoying.
So irritating.
Alisha whispered in a deeply lowered voice.
"Son of a bitch."
The shock of being rejected, even without confessing, was immense.
So, Alisha got dumped.
And quite spectacularly at that.
She suddenly woke up from sleep and even held the hand of someone who trespassed, only to be rejected in return.
Ungrateful bastard...
Looking back, this wasn't the first rejection.
She had proposed when she offered him a deal, and the man had dumped Alisha then too.
Alisha had been dumped again.
She felt miserable.
Alisha decided to take a long nap and slowly leave the room.
But she was too angry to fall asleep.
Diligent Daisy woke Alisha as soon as morning broke.
Strictly disciplined, she was a woman who valued promises like gold.
Daisy neatly urged the sluggish Alisha.
Annie, who had come with them, smiled brightly and said, oblivious,
Grand Duke Tessen doesn't allow anyone near him when he's sick, but seeing how he received help from you yesterday, he might not show it, but he seems to like you, she chattered cheerfully.
Liz chimed in enthusiastically, agreeing with her.
No.
Alisha thought to herself as the three of them styled her hair.
"How about you go and stay by His Highness's side for a long time today?"
"If His Highness accepts your help again today without complaint, everyone will know for sure. Maybe they'll even say Grand Duke Tessen can't bear it without you, Miss Alisha, when he's sick."
Annie and Liz giggled, enjoying themselves.
That's not it.
Alisha chose a bonnet to match her dress.
"That rumor about the Grand Duke not being able to live without you, Miss Alisha?"
Daisy said to the two with an uncomfortable expression.
"……."
Alisha, who had been looking uninterested, glanced over.
That statement was already true.
Reikart Tessen couldn't do without Alisha when he was sick.
"We're sorry, Miss."
"We were just saying that the two of you seem to be getting along well, and we hoped you'd get even closer," Annie and Liz excused themselves, clasping their hands respectfully.
It's not wrong.
Alisha silently held out her hand.
Daisy quickly took her hand and assisted her.
Annie and Liz, receiving her cue, brought over a raincoat and an umbrella.
It was raining again today.
The rain, which had briefly stopped at dawn, started again with thunder as morning broke.
Annie helped Alisha put on the raincoat, pouting her lips.
"I spoke lightly, but honestly... Seeing His Highness, who chases everyone else away when he's sick, being cared for by you yesterday, Miss, made me a little happy. The most important thing is that the two of you get along well, but seeing the people of Tessen Castle acknowledge that you visit the Grand Duke with proper decorum and show him respect... They were whispering among themselves that you like His Highness much more," Annie said with a face that suggested there was no more unfair situation in the world.
"Really……?"
Alisha opened her mouth for the first time since waking up.
"Don't pay attention to what those who don't know are saying," Daisy said softly, carefully checking the fastenings of the raincoat.
"Yesterday, Baron Langs and his wife looked at you like you were an angel descended from heaven. If you go today and stay for about an hour, won't they look at you like you're an archangel?" Liz whispered as she opened the front door, as if she was also dissatisfied.
"We'll see."
Alisha replied curtly.
If she had her way, she wouldn't want to go visit the sick or anything.
And on the other hand, she wanted the rumor that Grand Duke Tessen couldn't do without her when he was sick to spread far and wide.
That was reality expressed in words.
However, those who heard the rumor would think Reikart was desperately in love with her.
Just you wait.
Alisha walked very slowly from Tech House to Breguet House.
The Grand Duke's room was silent.
Henrik led Alisha in without making a sound, as always.
Alisha crossed the large room and went inside.
Her light, leisurely steps became hurried near the curtains in front of the bed.
From inside the curtains, she could hear gasping sounds suppressing ragged breaths.
"Your Highness……?"
Alisha roughly pushed aside the curtains and rushed into the bedroom.
Reikart's face, lying on the bed, was completely soaked with sweat.
His amber eyes, barely open, looked at Alisha, but seemed unfocused.
Alisha unknowingly grabbed his hand, which was flailing in pain.
"Alisha."
His lips, dry and chapped in a short time, moved slightly.
Reikart's hand was as cold as ice.
On the other hand, his feverish face was as hot as fire.
Seeing someone overwhelmed by an unknown source of pain, Alisha forgot the composure she had been deliberately putting on due to her displeasure.
She took a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped the sweat from his face and neck.
His body, which had been twitching as if in convulsions, quickly stabilized, but the heat in his head, in contrast to his cold body, remained the same.
Alisha sighed, covering his hot forehead with her hand and pressing down.
"I'm late, I'm sorry."
She apologized and reflected to someone who might not even hear her.
I shouldn't be mean to the patient again.
Reikart, whom she thought was asleep, opened his eyes and looked at Alisha.
"Have you come?"
His face was disheveled with pain and sweat.
His gaze, unable to focus properly, wandered around, searching for Alisha, looking precarious.
Alisha waited for the words that the pitiful prince-like man would utter.
Why are you so late.
Are you a snail?
Reikart's appearance, suppressed by pain, was exactly like a pathetic and sickly prince.
In fact, he was an imperial prince.
But there were no blaming words or complaints that should have followed.
He just breathed out painful breaths and desperately held Alisha's hand.
"You said it would be okay for a while."
"It is okay for a while," a much-improved voice replied, as if the pain had subsided a little.
"How does Your Highness's pain start?"
Alisha soaked the handkerchief with water from the kettle.
Her hand, wiping his feverish face, was unhesitating.
Reikart obediently offered his face.
He seemed to have a characteristic of becoming affable when he was in pain.
There was a hint of laughter in his low-pitched reply.
"Suddenly. It feels similar to being ambushed or falling from a horse."
"How does it get better when I touch you? I think I have enough right to ask this. Please answer honestly."
"When your hand touches me, the greatest pain in the area where your hand touches disappears first."
Alisha placed her hand on Reikart's face again, which she had wiped once with the wet handkerchief.
"The greatest pain? Does this make the pain in your head go away?"
"Yes."
"Other……."
Alisha stopped, about to ask where else it hurt.
His faintly smiling face sank solemnly, and he whispered.
"Holding hands is enough."
"Shall I remove my hand from your forehead?"
Alisha said, trying to take her hand off his forehead.
A large hand overlapped Alisha's hand, which was about to move.
"Please don't."
The low voice, devoid of rough breaths, spoke quickly.
Golden eyes looked up at Alisha quietly.
Reikart seemed to have improved a lot in a short time.
Alisha gazed steadily at Reikart, who was desperately holding her hand with one hand and firmly pressing down on her hand covering his forehead with the other.
Her resolve not to take advantage of the patient was short-lived.
Seeing Reikart clinging to her so desperately made her feel like she was getting revenge for the frustration she had felt in the morning.
She felt a little better.
She knew she was being very childish right now, but feelings were unpredictable.
"How long does the effect last after holding hands and the pain subsides?"
"It's okay as long as we're holding hands."
"What about when we let go?"
Alisha couldn't help but keep her eyes on the man who was unintentionally clinging to her.
"When we let go, the pain gradually returns, and if the time since we let go gets longer, it returns suddenly, like when the pain started."
"The pain returns from the moment we let go?"
Alisha unknowingly blurted out a questioning remark.
"It's much better than the original pain, though."
Reikart answered meekly, as if his head had gone wrong from the long pain.
Alisha almost said, "Are you crazy?"
"How long after we let go does the original pain return?"
"It seems to vary depending on the time. 10 minutes or 15 minutes?"
It was almost at the level where the pain started as soon as they let go.
She understood why Reikart had quickly stopped her when she tried to take her hand off his forehead.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because I feel sorry for you."
Reikart didn't get angry or serious at Alisha's disrespectful words.
He clearly had a personality that became affable when he was in pain.
The man showed a hearty laugh to the person who pitied him, a royal and a grand duke.
"Would you stay here for my sake, the pitiful me?"
Reikart, smiling with a face that had relieved much of the pain, whispered in a playful voice.
Perhaps this was his true personality.
The cold, emotionless face he usually showed might have been the attitude he had to maintain as a royal and a grand duke.
"I'm already staying here."
"Tech House isn't far from here, is it?"
Alisha wasn't so ruthless as to leave someone who was in so much pain that they would collapse within 10 minutes of letting go.
Moreover, the other person was Alisha's publicly betrothed and an important ally.
"What do I say to Baron Langs?"
Alisha answered, feeling a little sulky inside.
She felt twisted inside, thinking that the Grand Duke's people would think she liked the Grand Duke very much again.
"Here."
Reikart took out an antique key from his pocket and handed it over.
It was a key that looked special at first glance.
"What is this, Your Highness?"
Alisha received the key and sat on the plush chair next to the bed.
"It's the key to the Duchess's room. If you show it to Henrik, he will guide you. It's at the opposite end of the hallway, but it's closer than Tech House."
Tessen Castle had a Duke's room and a Duchess's room.
The Duke's room was currently the Grand Duke's room.
The Duchess's room should also become the Grand Duchess's room, but for some reason, it maintained the name Duchess's room.
According to Alisha's memories and information, Grand Duke Tessen had never given up the Duchess's room during his six wives.
So the Duchess's room at Tessen Castle became even more famous.
Some rumors said that the Grand Duke had someone he liked separately, so he didn't give the Duchess's room to the Grand Duchess.
Looking at the key to the Duchess's room, which she had only heard rumors about, Alisha swallowed her complicated feelings.
The antique key spread a heavy weight in her hand.
"Rest."
Alisha lowered her hand, which had been covering Reikart's forehead, and covered his flickering eyes.
"Thank you."
Reikart whispered as he fell asleep.
Soon, regular breathing sounds echoed.
