Chapter 27

Most of Annette’s hobbies and specialties were all done by her right hand. ‘I would be in trouble if I really fracture my hand. I just bumped into the wall.’

Looking down at her swollen fingers, Annette somehow felt unfair. Suddenly, she remembered the words of a practitioner who had been watching over her illness in her previous life. She said Annette was born with a “pygostyle*” constitution and advised her to be careful because she was prone to bone damage. ‘I guess that was true.’

[T/N: Pygostyle is actually a skeletal condition in which the final few caudal vertebrae are fused into a single ossification, supporting the tail feathers and musculature. It is found in birds… so i have no idea why the author has used this for Annette. ]

Anyway, she could only call a practitioner the next morning. Annette looked away from her swollen hands and turned her gaze to Rafael. He was crouching on her bed with his eyes closed and was sweating profusely. Looking at his painful expression , Annette felt sorry for him as he still couldn’t escape from the trauma of the past wars.

“It’s all right now, Rafael. You’re not bad. Nothing’s wrong.”

Annette reached out her other hand and stroked his black hair gently. Her small, warm hand stroked his handsome face and swept his disheveled hair behind his ears. Then she gently touched his wrinkled forehead. Rafael’s unstable breathing began to subside slowly.

Rafael, with a sharp face, was a very manly handsome man. It would be great if he smiled a little with that face, but sadly, Rafael only frowned whenever he saw her. Annette whispered sweetly, looking down at him with sad eyes.

“Deltium is safe because you fought bravely in the war. Nothing can hurt you now. I’ll protect you from now on, so don’t worry and sleep well now.”

Annette’s gentle whispers were already like a song in itself. Rafael who had been clenching his teeth because of the nightmare, relaxed and his jaw slackened a little. Annette reached out and patted his cold bare shoulders. Then she opened her mouth and began to sing a lullaby.

Good night, lovely girl

When evening primroses with dew are in full bloom

When the silver ring by the window shines warmly in the sun

You will have a good sleep….

It seemed like she was now getting used to using her abilities. Rafael fell asleep with a relaxed expression. Annette pulled the quilt over his rigid, muscular torso and covered it gently. When he was awake, he only spoke hateful words, and when he was asleep, he looked like an angel. Looking at the shadows of the long lashes falling on his handsome face, she almost let out a sigh.

‘Will the day come when this face would fade away from my memory and I won’t be even able to remember it?’

Annette thought and shook her head. No, maybe not. There’s no way she could forget a face like this. With a bitter smile on her face, Annette reached out and touched Rafael’s sharp nose. He was sleeping so deeply that he allowed Annette to touch him defenselessly. It was very different from the usual sensitive Rafael.

Somehow, Annette’s ability seemed to work better for tired people. Otherwise, it would work for less than 5 minutes if she used it on someone who was not sleepy or was in good spirits. Just like when she forced Gerard to sleep in the middle of the day.

“Good night, Rafael.”

Annette crouched, lying quietly beside him and then closed her eyes. She could hear Rafael’s calm breathing as he slept deeply. In her previous life, she had never slept together with Rafael, but looking back like this, it didn’t seem bad. Thanks to this, she now had more memories to take with her before leaving Deltium.

Annette closed her eyes quietly. Her injured hand was throbbing a little, but she thought it would be fine if she called the practitioner as soon as she woke up next morning. For the first time in her life, she felt that she was not alone.

The next morning, Rafael opened his eyes languidly. Before he even got up, he could feel that he was in his best condition. ‘I must have slept well last night.’

It was good to practice on a day like this, as he could further strengthen his swordsmanship skills. Maybe this time he could break through to become the Sword Master. Rafael, who opened his eyes in anticipation, suddenly became stiff and made a surprised face.

‘Annette Bavaria?’

Annette was sleeping, in a position facing him. The delicate features of the palm-sized white face were just like a doll. Only the radiant blush on her closed eyes and cheeks proved that she was alive.

Rafael slowly glanced over at her sleeping face. Annette’s long blond hair, and her white shoulders which were slightly exposed through her chemise, all sparkled in sunlight. Seeing this, Rafael somehow felt uncomfortable and he turned his eyes away. Whenever he looked at Annette these days, he felt unpleasant as if a corner of his chest was tightening strangely.

Rafael raised his upper body and looked around the room, clutching his slightly throbbing forehead. The room smelled of fragrant herbs and was decorated with pure white furniture. Looking at the cozy carpets on the floor and the cherry blossom curtains fluttering over the window, it was clear that it was Annette’s bedroom.

‘Why did I sleep here?’

Rafael’s eyebrows wrinkled badly. He seemed to have walked all the way to Annette’s bedroom because of his damn sleepwalking. Until now, no matter how severe his illness was, he had never come out of the bedroom. Seeing this, he was completely caught off guard. So he decided to lock his bedroom in the future.

‘You didn’t see it, did you?’

Rafael had no idea what he did while he was asleep. He could only make a guess. Sometimes when he woke up in the morning, he would find his eyes sore, his hands broken, and his throat hurt and sore. Considering this, it could be quite ugly.

The prideful Rafael was horrified by the idea of him begging and dragging his body around outside. If Annette ever saw that……! It was humiliating to just think about it. So he clenched his teeth and looked at Annette fiercely.

“Wake up, Annette.”

Rafael gritted his teeth and reached out to wake up Annette. He was going to ask her whether she had witnessed the mortifying moment last night. But Annette was sleeping so deeply that she didn’t wake up even when he shook her body.

“Hmm…Rafael.”

Annette reacted unconsciously, but her long, curled eyelashes showed no sign of opening her eyes. The short-tempered Rafael growled, grasping her small face in one hand and shaking it from side to side.

“Wake up, Annette, right now!”

At that moment, Annette’s slender body slumped under his grasp. Feeling something was unusual, Rafael was stunned and stopped trying to wake her up.

“What is this? Come on!”

Annette couldn’t open her eyes and was very weak and helpless in his hands. The delicate texture of the neck as it drooped unusually made Rafael’s chest sink. It was only then that Rafael realized that Annette’s condition was not good.

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

Instantly his anger turned into embarrassment. Rafael was flustered as he looked at Annette’s condition. He thought her body temperature was high because she was asleep, but now he could see her temperature was unusually high. He realised Annette’s cheeks, which were a bright red, were flushed because of the fever.

The embarrassed Rafael didn’t know what to do and woke Annette very carefully. Once he woke her up, he could ask where she was sick. The moment his hand touched her arm, Annette suddenly recoiled and groaned in pain.

“Ah!”

Annette, who reflexively wrapped her hand around the injured area, sniffed in pain. Rafael’s gaze turned to her right hand. Annette’s hand was so swollen that he wondered why he had just noticed it now. Rafael, who was well informed about injuries, knew what was wrong with her hands.

‘It’s a fracture.’

Fever was also one of the side effects of fractures. RafaeI frowned and carefully grabbed her hand to examine it. Her small hand was so fragile that it seemed it would crumble even with a little force. Her hand was a little warm. Fortunately, it wasn’t a very severe fracture, but Annette’s body was so weak and frail, that even such a small injury was enough to make her suffer greatly.

“Open your eyes, Annette, are you very sick?”

Rafael grabbed her cheek and shook it anxiously. Then Annette managed to open her eyes and looked up at him. Tears rolled down her pink eyes and she looked very pained. Seeing this, Rafael’s heart was strangely hot. Just in time, Annette whispered softly.

“Rafael…. I don’t think I’m feeling well.”

Rafael clenched his teeth instead of answering her. When the tears running down her cheek fell on his hand, he felt hot and painful as if he had been burned. He found it ridiculous that someone’s tears could hurt. Rafael got up in a hurry, not knowing why he was doing this.

“Stay here for a moment, Annette.”

Rapelle hurried out of the bedroom and went downstairs. He jumped over several steps and sprinted down the stairs. In a flash, he arrived downstairs and grabbed the servants around him, screaming violently.

“Practitioner, call a practitioner now!”