Villain, Let Me Touch You! - Chapter 22
My body felt as heavy as soaked cotton, yet my lips were as parched as a drought-ridden field, cracking and dry.
“Water…” I managed to weakly gesture with my hand. Immediately, a large and firm hand grabbed mine.
“Are you awake?”
A calm voice said, followed by a familiar scent. It was the scent of Helios’s body, reminiscent of the forest at dawn.
Turning towards the sound, I saw Helios sitting on a chair beside the bed.
“When… did you… get here?” I murmured.
“I never left.”
A dry, strange sound emerged as my throat was parched.
“Drink some water first.”
Helios helped me sit up and brought a glass of water to my lips. I drank because I needed to, for the sake of staying alive. The water woke me up. I leaned against the headboard with Helios’s help.
“Your Highness, what are you doing here? Have you taken your medicine? Have you eaten? How long have I been asleep?”
I blurted out the questions despite the lump in my throat.
Helios stared at me, wide-eyed, and then smirked. “Just a while ago, you were rambling about your fever, and now you’re already interrogating me?”
“What do you mean by rambling?”
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Helios’s lips—a mischievous expression he wore when teasing me. I must have said something weird, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me if I asked.
“Never mind. I won’t ask.”
“Okay, but are you sure it doesn’t hurt? Tell me the truth, because I’m calling Ebony right now.”
Isn’t it common courtesy to ask again if someone says they don’t want to hear it? Honestly, he could be so callous sometimes.
“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.”
Helios narrowed his eyes, not fully believing me. Frankly, even I couldn’t believe it. How could the pain go away so suddenly? Maybe Ebony misdiagnosed me.
With a glimmer of hope, I asked Helios, “Your Highness, what’s my diagnosis?”
Helios’s face hardened instantly.
***
An incurable disease of unknown cause. That was my diagnosis. In simpler terms, undiagnosable, hence untreatable. It felt like the sky was collapsing.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll cure you. Get some more sleep.’
How is that even possible?
I almost blurted out the question but forced it down. His expression was as troubled as mine.
Helios tried to console my shocked state and stayed by my side a little longer.
Then a day passed. Considering I had been in pain for two whole days, my condition had vastly improved. Physically, I was the same as before, yet everything felt different.
“You can use this room from now on,” said Emma, an elderly maid who had served Helios for ten years.
She and I both served Helios, but considering her career, Emma, a senior servant, had no reason to bow to me. However, she used extremely polite language and bowed her head.
“This room… is the room the Crown Princess used, isn’t it?”
The room that was being filled with my luggage was exactly three times the size of my old room, with furniture thirty times as expensive. It was a room used by generations of Crown Princesses.
“Yes, it is, but it’s empty now,” Emma replied nonchalantly.
Am I the only one who found it awkward for the Crown Prince’s physician to use the Crown Princess’s room?
“I thought you might need a workbench, so I placed an order. Is there anything else you need?”
“No, Emma. I have enough.” I quickly waved my hand. Something felt off about the situation.
“If there’s anything else you need, just ask.”
Emma nodded politely and stepped away. She was stoic to the end. Just two days ago, she used to call me ‘Rienna’ without any hesitation.
“This is so uncomfortable. What’s all this?”
“His Highness ordered it.”
In the Crown Prince’s palace, those words were like a magical command. They made the impossible possible and brought forth what was absent. Still, I shouldn’t be using the Crown Princess’s bedroom.
“Where is His Highness?”
Jamie shrugged.
I raised a brow at the people bustling around carrying my belongings. It seemed it would take quite a while to get the room sorted.
Frustrated, I called for Jamie. “Jamie, I need to get cleaned up.”
“The bathroom is ready. I’ll fill the tub for you.”
Jamie quickly filled the bathtub with hot water and called me over. I maneuvered my belongings scattered on the floor and headed towards the bathroom. But as I stood in front of it, ready to enter…
“This… the bathroom is…”
It was too much.
