Chapter 24

Seidrick entered the room through the gap Sasha had made.

He could see a person on the bed.

Seidrick frowned upon discovering Alyssa’s pale face.

The figure that was normally was now buried under a blanket and couldn’t be seen. He felt like if she lost more weight on her slim face it would break. Her lips, barely exhaling, were dry.

He pulled a chair next to Alyssa’s bed and sat down.

He touched her forehead with the back of his hesitant hand.

Her fever is too high to be like this. He suddenly turned his head toward Sasha standing behind her.

“…What did the physician say?”

“She is stressed out.”

“Is she eating well?”

“…Yes. She can manage.”

Sasha replied, hiding the truth far away. It was because Alyssa would not want her to speak the truth to Seidrick.

Seidrick was a little relieved.

He was glad to know that she was eating. It’s a relief.

He was implicitly thinking that he didn’t want to reveal his identity to her. For some reason, he wanted to have more conversations with Alyssa like before. If he was identified, it seemed that she would not be able to share even the smallest chats as they did then.

Is that why treating Alyssa was so comfortable as a gardener? Kendrick, who was overshadowed by Alyssa, was also slightly lighter and was comfortable with knowing that she wouldn’t expect anything from her relationship with the gardener.

‘Not yet…’

As husband and wife, he was not confident that he would not think of Kendrick when he saw Alyssa. He didn’t have the confidence to make Alyssa, who seemed infinitely lonely, not lonely. For Seidrick, she was still a burden, and the price of Kendrick’s life was sent by the royal family.

As a result, the barrier between the two was never smooth.

Seidrick’s eyes darkened in a complex emotion.

“…I want you to take care of the princess so she can take the medicine well.”

“Yes, Duke.”

“And my mother said she was sorry.”

Sasha frowned unknowingly. This was because she hadn’t heard of what had happened to Alyssa yet. In such a situation, she couldn’t decide whether it would be right to convey this apology that she had heard to Alyssa or to ignore it.

So she just repeated the same words like a parrot.

“Yes, Duke.”

“Oh… and Ophelia seemed to be very sorry too. I apologize once again for the rudeness of my sister and my mother. I won’t tell her to forgive them. I just hope this will make the princess a little bit comfortable.”

“Yes, Duke.”

Sasha gave an artificial smile.

The people of this mansion are not bad. All of this was the fault of the royal family. It was just a bad situation and Alyssa’s background was bad.

That plain apology that doesn’t force forgiveness, Seidrick’s hesitation, Ophelia’s anger, Mrs. Juliana’s sorrow. Sasha could understand everything. However, her arms are bent inward. It seemed to her that Alyssa’s grief and her pain were greater.

It was all more because Alyssa didn’t do anything wrong enough to be treated unfairly. Sasha tried hard to press down the soaring resentment that was rising without even realizing it.

Please, I hope there is a place somewhere in the world where Alyssa can relax. I wish she had someone who could make her laugh.

“Well then… I will tell the doctor to take good care of the princess.”

Seidrick raised himself. Sasha stepped back. The title ‘princess’ draws a clear cold line, instead of the warm word ‘wife’, which struck Sasha’s heart.

Alyssa was still a stranger to the people of this mansion.

‘My princess…’

What happened to you, that you come back like this?

***

“…It seems like the princess cannot get up…”

Ophelia snooped and listened to the doctor. The doctor who knew the stubbornness of the youngest stopped and answered her.

“Yes, she can’t get up. However, this is not a matter of the body, but a matter of the heart, so please wait.”

“A matter of the heart…”

Ophelia’s shoulders drooped.

‘As expected…’

She shouldn’t have let her cry so sadly in the carriage. Just one word, but at that time, she or her mother could not afford to say anything. The rudeness committed by Prince Norfe overlapped with the brutality that Avery had committed to Cambridge so far, and made her eyes black.