Villain, Let Me Touch You! - Chapter 32
An emergency meeting was called three days after I collapsed.
“It’s a task force,” Helios said, looking around at the people gathered in my room.
Helios picked me up and carried me away, as I had sprained my ankle while getting out of bed. My imprint pain was worse than I could have imagined. It was more than just pain—my body felt constantly weak.
I can see why they call it a curse.
I clutched Helios’s hand like it was a lifeline. My body craved his warmth. He sat down beside me and squeezed my hand as if it were a matter of course. Only then did strength return to my spine.
I straightened my back and looked back at the people in the ‘One-sided Imprinting Recovery Task Force.’ It consisted of Ebony, my mentor; Vincenzo, Helios’s aide; Jamie; and Emma, who was in charge of general housekeeping at the Crown Prince’s palace.
“These are the only people who know you’re imprinted,” Helios explained very carefully. “I had to tell Ebony and Emma because Ebony has done research on imprinting, and Emma needs to know if she’s going to take care of your life.”
One-sided imprintees often completely hid the fact that they had been imprinted on. They also wanted to hide the person who was the target of one-sided imprinting. Because it becomes a weakness for both of them.
“Of course, Your Highness.”
I smiled as lightly as I could at Ebony, who was looking at me like I was going to die. She let out a heavy sigh.
“Thank you for coming.” Helios opened the conversation with a very formal sentence. “We know each other, so I’ll skip the introductions. Tell me what you can do for Rienna.”
“First, I need to know exactly how Rienna is doing. May I speak to her?”
Ebony addressed Helios, not me. In my poor health, Helios became my protector.
Helios nodded, and Ebony turned her attention to me. “Rienna, are you sure you’ve imprinted His Majesty’s name?”
Ebony’s words were filled with pity. Her question seemed to imply that out of all names, it was the worst one I could have chosen.
Helios’s spirits grew fierce in a split second. Unconsciously, I squeezed his thigh and replied, “Yes, that’s correct. It is His Highness’s name.”
Helios let out a low groan, ‘Hmph.’ His once sharp demeanor became softer.
“What are the symptoms?”
“I often feel dizzy and drained of energy. As you know, I’ve also suffered from hemoptysis.”
Ebony recorded my symptoms with a serious expression.
“How often?”
“I don’t know, it just happens.”
“And the symptoms disappear when you come into contact with Your Highness?”
It was an innocent question, but I felt a little embarrassed trying to respond. Rubbing the back of my neck, I answered, “Yes, definitely.”
Ebony tapped the nib of her pen against the record sheet, then returned to her seat.
“Now that the imprinting symptoms are clear, there’s something we need to do immediately. We need to see how long the effect of the contact lasts, so that we can prevent Rienna from collapsing again even without prolonged contact.”
“How?”
“By timing how long the contact lasts and how long it works, as well as the method of physical contact itself. This varies from person to person.”
“What?” I said out loud. All eyes turned to me. “You’re asking me to conduct an experiment with His Highness?”
Ebony nodded, her eyes perfectly rational.
Of course. I realized that my life with Helios will only be stable if I do what Ebony suggests. He can’t always come running to me whenever he hears that I’m sick. If he did, his daily life and the well-being of the empire are threatened. Okay, maybe mentioning the empire’s stability went too far…
“…Very well.”
With no reason to object and no other plan of action, I gave in.
“What are the methods of contact?”
“There’s the simple hand-holding. There are different types of touch, and the imprinting literature indicates that the wider the area touched and the more intimate it is, the better the effect.That’s why it recommends hugs and kisses.”
Intimate hugs and kisses…These words rolled off Ebony’s tongue as if she was saying medicine, injections, and surgery. No wonder. Those were the methods of treatment.
Having a fever, I had to fan myself with my hands.
“Fever, Rienna?”
Helios leaned in with his handsome face. I shook my head nervously, tapping the desk urging us to get this meeting over with.
Let’s do what Ebony said. Vincenzo, organize the schedule. I’m going to stay in Rienna’’s room for a couple of days starting today and experiment.”
Starting today? I haven’t even mentally prepared myself for that yet…
“All right,” said Vincenzo. “By the way, there is a dinner tomorrow with His Majesty the Emperor and the Queen Mother. We’ll need a reason to cancel. What should I tell them?”
He couldn’t make the excuse that he was sick. Helios had already been very ill once, so a simple ache would cause a big scandal for him.
“Tell them I’m busy.”
The Emperor and Queen Mother would ask what was going on, but that was a matter for Vincenzo to sort out on his own.
“Is the meeting over?” Vincenzo asked with a darkened face due to the increase in work.
“We still haven’t resolved the underlying issue,” said Helios, glaring at them. They swallowed hard and straightened their postures.
