CH 16

Chapter 16: How on Earth are You Being Treated Here?

Why did Izekiel’s expression harden?

Was it because Linzel was looking at him too closely? If not, was he upset because she was sitting down while greeting him?

Izekiel halted in front of the bed. He didn’t say anything, he just watched her.

There was an icy coldness in his pale silver eyes. As he continued to stare, Linzel’s shoulders began to tremble.

She wasn’t sure why, but she knew he was angry.

She tried to push herself to her feet.

He was a prince, after all, and she shouldn’t have been sitting down and greeting him.

This man had come to visit her when she was sick, so why was he giving her a…… hard time?

“Good grief……. ugh…….” 

(T/N: In the original she used: 아이고 (aigo). That is used when you are in shock, pain, suffering, or when you cannot believe something. This word is used towards a more negative oriented situation, though it is sometimes used with a comedic tone.)

Out of habit, Linzel began to twist and turn as she struggled to get out of bed, emitting a muffled sound from her mouth.

After several such squirms, Izekiel’s white hand reached out.

“Whoa!”

He gripped her shoulders tightly, stopping her in her tracks. His hand on her shoulder was warm.

She looked up at Izekiel. Their gazes were locked together, inches apart.

His silver eyes held all of her at once, and then she remembered Letty. Letty, who liked Izekiel.

Wouldn’t Letty be hoping that his eyes would reflect nothing but her?

‘It would have been better if Izekiel had come looking for Letty, not me…….’

Linzel was about to ask the reason for Izekiel’s unannounced visit.

“Your Highness Izekiel, why…….”

But her words were cut off.

Izekiel’s tightly closed lips finally opened.

” You…… how on earth are you being treated here?”

“Treated?” Linzel questioned him back.

What was he talking about?

Izekiel’s expression contorted horribly. It was as if he had a premonition that she was being treated badly at the ducal residence.

Linzel couldn’t figure out why he was so misled.

Had he heard something strange somewhere?

She tried to defuse the situation.

“Your Highness, Izekiel. I think you’re mistaken; I am very happy and well here.”

‘I meant it when I said I was happy.’

In fact, she hadn’t been unhappy since becoming a Linzel. She had warm food and a comfortable bed every day.

And there were many people here who loved her. Whether it was her father, Letty, Mini, or any other servant, she was treated with the utmost care and consideration.

She liked being loved by them, even if it was affection for the “real Linzel”.

To be loved. What a warm life.

If she could just get rid of her weak body, she would be the happiest person in the world.

And if Letty was healthy too, it would be a perfect life.

She briefly dreamed of a dreamlike future where everyone was healthy. She felt overcome with emotion just thinking about it.

When would that day come?

As she thought about it, she couldn’t help but think about Hernan.

Linzel knew she had to marry Hernan, because only then would she be able to get access to the imperial records, which contained the cure for her and Letty’s illness.

Now that she had greeted Hernan’s family and made a decent impression on them, all that remained was to set a date for the wedding.

Linzel wondered what Hernan was doing without her.

“……really?”

Izekiel said, as if he didn’t believe in her words about being happy.

“Yes. I don’t want you to doubt my happiness.”

“But…….”

“More than that, Your Highness Izekiel. I think you’re holding my shoulders a little too tightly,” Linzel added with a wince.

“…….”

“It seems as though this girl’s fragile shoulders are about to break. It hurts – it hurts.”

Izekiel immediately pulled his hand away from her shoulder.

“Ah, sorry.”

His hand dropped helplessly.

She didn’t offer him a seat, but he sat on the corner of the bed and looked at her.

“The duke’s servant said you were too sick to come to the parlor. How ill are you?”

“I should say my whole-body aches from overexertion, and my legs are very sore from my fall yesterday.”

“Did you cry again?” Izekiel asked sympathetically.

Linzel shook her head and answered, “It doesn’t hurt enough to cry.”

After a short pause, his hand reached out to her again. This time his hand was on the top of her head, and he gently ruffled her hair.

“Good.”

The touch was not one of male affection. Rather, it was a touch that made Linzel feel like his younger sister.

When his head-patting ended, she spoke up.

“Your Highness. I haven’t washed my hair…….”

Izekiel’s forehead wrinkled slightly.

“Hey……. you should have told me that.”

With that, he wiped the palm of his hand that had been stroking her hair on the bed sheet.

“Somehow it smelled kind of sour,” he teased.

“That’s not a good thing, is it?”

Izekiel smirked and responded, “Yeah, I guess we can call it that. And your curls are a little messy. Eh?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Linzel liked that he was so considerate. In fact, Letty liked this about him.

To the naked eye, Izekiel gave off the impression of a cold person.

But once you talk to him, you realize. He was thoughtful and had the ability to tell a good joke.

And most of all, Izekiel’s dimples.

Izekiel’s dimples have been described in the novel from time to time. However, the difference between reading about them and seeing them in real life was quite different.

His dimples recessed into the skin as if they had become a well. 

‘If I ever got the chance, I would love to touch them,’ Linzel couldn’t help but think. 

“Why did you come to visit me, anyway?” She asked, clearing her mind of her inane thoughts.

“‘Hmm. I don’t know where to begin.”

Izekiel crossed his long legs. He crossed his legs in front of him and seemed to be thinking. He looked like he was remembering something from the past.

Soon his red lips parted.

“There’s a favorite shop I often go to.”

“Yes.”

“But for the past few days, someone’s been following me there and buying all my clothes.”

Linzel nodded.

Izekiel was the best fashionista in the Empire, so it wasn’t surprising that he had followers.

“Hey, can you guess who it is?”

She didn’t frequent fancy shops, and she’d never really cared much for clothes and accessories. But at that moment, like a bolt of lightning, a face flashed into her mind.

She blurted out the name of the man they had in common.

“You mean…… His Highness Hernan?”

“Correct.”

She recalled the clothes Hernan had been wearing lately.

A nice reddish cloak, a stylish shirt with a V-neck……. Were they Izekiel’s favorite things to wear?

Come to think of it, the Izekiel she met yesterday was wearing the same top as Hernan’s.

At the time, I thought they were simply good brothers.

“You don’t share the same clothes with your brother?”

Izekiel was horrified.

“Don’t say something so creepy.”

“…….”

“We’re not that close.”

So, Hernan was copying Izekiel on his own accord.

Linzel hoped that she could ask Hernan why when she met him later.

‘No, but did Izekiel come to me to rat out Hernan for copying him?’

“Anyway, I went to that shop again today, and I found out that Hernan had bought a pair of my trousers.”

“Pfft. You two must be good brothers.”

Izekiel stared at her in silence. Linzel quickly defended herself.

“Just kidding.”

Izekiel shook his head and then continued, “But then I heard some interesting news from the madam of the shop.”

“What news?”

“That Hernan’s arranged marriage wasn’t actually to you. It was your twin sister, Lady Letty, who was supposed to be his bride.”

“……cough!”

Startled by the unexpected words, Linzel gasped.

“Are you okay?”

She motioned with her hand in response. It was a gesture that meant she was going to be okay, that he had nothing to worry about.

The problem was, once she started to cough, the coughing wouldn’t subside.

“Cough, cough.”

With her upper body tilted downward, Linzel continued to cough in rapid succession. Her lungs ached like they were being torn apart with each expulsion.

At this point, she was no longer able to resist. When she couldn’t stop coughing, Izekiel climbed all the way onto the bed and patted her on the back.

He even shouted to Mini, who was standing behind us.

“Hey, fetch her something to drink, hurry.”

“Yes, yes! Your Highness.”

Mini quickly left the room.

Linzel gasped for air, as if she were about to lose her breath entirely.

“Cough!”

Seated across from her, Izekiel patted her on the back.

“Breathe out slowly.”

Shakily, Linzel breathed in and out slowly. Listening to Izekiel’s soothing voice made her feel calmer.

It was then that she heard the door open.

Linzel thought it was Mini returning from getting something to drink, but…….

“Your Highness, Izekiel……?”

The voice didn’t belong to Mini.

Linzel barely managed to turn her face to look in the direction of the visitor. She struggled to make her out through the blurred vision caused by the repeated coughs.

Letty froze at the sight of them.

She was unable to take a single step forward.

Like a sheep in shock. Like she saw something she shouldn’t have. Her face was pale and distressed.

It wasn’t long before the sisters’ eyes met. One set of the two pairs of green eyes were trembling.

It was the first time Linzel ever had seen her like this. Letty had always appeared so lovely to her…….

” Linzel…… how could you…….”

Letty’s voice was shaking.

Linzel instinctively knew right then and there.

‘Damn it. Letty must have misunderstood.’