OLOTV 15

Chapter 15

Even as my head boiled with fever, a jolt of clarity shot through me. Through my blurred vision, I saw Keris’s expensive clothes becoming thoroughly soaked. Struggling to push myself up, I cried out.

“Ah, your clothes…!”

Or perhaps I only thought I cried out. In my pained, weakened state, it was unlikely I could actually raise my voice. I saw Keris make an expression in response to my words, but my blurry vision prevented me from seeing it clearly. I only faintly heard him say.

“It’s fine.”

But those clothes… They look incredibly expensive, and they’re the ones you always wear to the imperial palace. It can’t be fine…

Instead of voicing those thoughts, I just thought them and fell asleep. After taking the medicine, an overwhelming drowsiness came over me. Unlike before, when I lost consciousness while trembling in agony, this felt like a comfortable, natural sleep. I had no strength to resist the sleep enveloping my whole body, so I closed my eyes.

***

A considerable amount of time passed.

While my body felt more comfortable, I wasn’t fully recovered. I was still sweating cold sweat. The damp, uncomfortable feeling from the droplets of sweat trickling down my body woke me intermittently. Each time, I couldn’t tell if I was truly awake or not.

Whenever I strained my hazy vision to look around, Keris was there, watching me by my side. He must have been tired from working all day at the imperial palace. Even in my dazed state, I could feel him tending to me with utmost care, as if I had a terminal illness.

I didn’t understand why he was taking such care of me. Sure, I was the doll he cherished, now turned human, but still, I was essentially a stranger. Why was he nursing me so devotedly?

When I saw Keris as a doll, my impression was that, unlike his portrayal in the novel, he had quite a few vulnerabilities and this softer side. In fact, the original work suggested his attacks on the main characters stemmed from his twisted family circumstances, not because he was inherently evil.

‘And… how could someone who cares for me like this be a bad person? I can’t believe it.’

With that final thought, I fell asleep again. This time, I slept deeply without waking. When I awoke again, a long time had passed. Having slept soundly without any dreams, I opened my eyes sharply, feeling lighter.

‘How much time has passed?’

Thinking this, I quickly looked around and saw light streaming through the wide-open window. That much light pouring in meant the sun was high in the sky. So it wasn’t early morning; it was closer to noon.

‘Did I really sleep that long?… Was it because I was sick?’

I hurriedly tried to sit up. That’s when I noticed Keris beside me.

‘Why is Keris here?’

Grabbing my head, I struggled to recall yesterday’s events. Seeing that Keris was still in his outdoor clothes, the memories of the previous day slowly came back to me. From him giving me medicine to him nursing me by my side the entire time. I had thought it might be a dream I saw in my sleep. But seeing Keris like this now, it must have all been real.

‘Wait, then what time is it? Shouldn’t Keris be heading to the imperial palace by now?’

My thoughts about the previous night were momentarily pushed aside as I began to worry about Keris’s duties at the imperial palace, which were essentially his job. Did he read my mind? Keris, who had fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position, slumped over the bed I was lying in, stirred a few times.

Soon after, he woke up and saw me looking at him.

“…Keris, did you sleep well?”

“Sarina? Are you alright?”

So it was true. Everything that happened yesterday wasn’t a dream. Keris had diligently nursed me throughout the night. I nodded to Keris in response.

“Yes, I’m fine now. I feel so light… Thanks to you taking such good care of me…”

Trailing off, I felt unexpectedly embarrassed, remembering how I had been moaning and groaning in front of him. But Keris didn’t seem to mind at all… He even smiled as he replied.

“That’s a relief.”

It was the first time I had seen him smile. I found myself staring at him blankly without realizing it. Of course, I hadn’t known Keris for that long. But even when he talked about himself while I was a doll, he showed almost no change in expression. After I became human, it became even more pronounced. His face remained stiff throughout, to the point where I felt even the slight expressiveness he showed when I was a doll had vanished. I had wondered if this person even knew how to smile.

But to think he could smile so beautifully.

‘…He has a really pretty face when he smiles.’

Feeling my embarrassment inexplicably intensify, I turned my face away from Keris, then remembered what I had been thinking just moments before and urgently asked him,

“Wait, this is no time for this!”

“Is there a problem?”

“The problem isn’t with me, it’s with you! Shouldn’t you be at the imperial palace by now? What if something happens to you because you’re here?”

At my words, Keris finally shifted his gaze to the window where the sunlight was streaming in. He got up and slowly walked over to the window to check the sky. Watching him, I spoke again.

“You are late, right? You should go to the imperial palace, even now…”

“It’s true I woke up late, but I don’t need to go to the imperial palace.”

“Why not?”

Keris answered somewhat awkwardly.

“Because today is my scheduled day off. I’m not the Emperor, so there’s no reason I have to go to the palace every day.”

A day off?

He had days off from going to the imperial palace?

I don’t think that was ever mentioned in the novel I read. Or maybe it was mentioned, but I just don’t remember. But I never saw Keris staying at the mansion to rest instead of going to the palace when I was a doll. Had he just not come into the bedroom and was simply resting elsewhere in the mansion?

“But when I was a doll, it seemed like you never missed a day going to the imperial palace…”

Keris seemed to think for a moment before answering.

“I did go more often than not, but as the lord, I also have to manage the territory. There were quite a few times I just rested at the mansion.”

Even on his day off, he used to go? Keris really seemed like a workaholic. Or was it because he didn’t feel comfortable staying at the mansion? Just my thought, but I suspect he might have chosen to rest at the palace rather than here. Keris spoke to me again, as if reading my mind.

“Anyway, I’m not going to the palace today, so don’t worry.”

“But if someone who always comes suddenly doesn’t, won’t people talk about why you’re absent? Especially someone of your stature.”

“Rumors have already spread, so there’s no need to worry about that.”

My mouth fell open at Keris’s words. Now that I thought about it, on the day I first became human, Keris had been late to the imperial palace. For that to have already become such widespread gossip… The imperial palace is a frightening place. I felt worried for Keris at the same time.

“More importantly, it’s late, so we should have lunch. I’ll have a meal prepared, so wait a moment. I need to change clothes anyway.”

Saying that, Keris headed for the door to call the steward. I glanced at the mirror in the corner of the room. I looked a mess after being sick all night. It seemed I really needed to change my clothes, just as Keris said.

As if reading our minds, the steward was right outside the door. When Keris saw him, the expression he had while talking to me vanished in an instant, his face turning stiff.

“Have a meal prepared and call a maid to help Sarina change her clothes.”

“Understood. I will give the instructions.”

The steward maintained an almost excessively rigid attitude as he replied. Then, his gaze shifted to me. Fixing his eyes on me, the steward spoke.