CH 19

Sob.

Abel’s weeping didn’t subside even when they arrived at their room in the archduchy. The room was full of weeping sounds because he couldn’t control his crying.

“Shh. My dear son, look at me.”

Chloe said while patting her son on the back, his head buried in her shoulder.

“Abel, show your face to me.”

“Huuu…”

“Can I see your face, Abel?”

Abel slowly pulled his head away at Chloe’s plea. His swollen eyes and nose looked so pitiful that it made her tear up. Chloe swallowed, her throat dry.

“…Abel. Mother is alright.”

Chloe smiled while maintaining eye contact with Abel, as if telling him she was alright. But it only made Abel even more sad.

“Huuu, Mother.”

“Stop crying, okay? I’m worried that you might faint after crying so much.”

“Huu, sob, huhu.”

Abel tried to stop his weeping upon hearing his mother’s words. The sight of him trying to hold back tears was a sorrowful one. Chloe comforted her poor son by kissing him all over his face.

“Oh, my son must’ve been very surprised.”

Abel gradually regained control of himself in the arms of his mother who kept comforting him. The sound of his breathing was still quite uneven, but his weeping almost came to a stop.

Chloe sighed softly while she rubbed Abel’s back. After they came to the North, there were endless incidents and accidents that followed.

Chills ran down her spine upon thinking that maybe she was supposed to die a while ago. However, she couldn’t be emotional. It was obvious that Abel would become more anxious if she was emotional.

She had to appear strong to be an emotional support for her son. She thought so while clasping her trembling hands.

Abel spoke into his mother’s arms.

“I couldn’t keep my promise, huuu.”

Abel, who had calmed down, began to pout his lips sorrowfully again. The corners of the child’s mouth went down, seemingly unable to control his sadness.

“Huh? What promise?”

“I promised to protect you, Mother… I made a promise to Father…”

Abel became worse the more he talked, tears welling up in his blue eyes again.

“Oh…”

Chloe’s effort to control her emotions had been rendered useless. Tears welled up in her eyes as well.

This little child was blaming himself for not being able to protect her. The child she was supposed to protect was saying he would protect her. When did he grow up?

“Abel, you’ve kept your promise.”

“…?”

Chloe gently grabbed Abel’s face and initiated eye contact with him. She saw her reflection in the most beautiful eyes in the world.

“Abel, you already protected me.”

“That’s a lie! I couldn’t keep my promise.”

Abel shook his head. He thought his mother was intentionally lying to him.

“Abel, listen to me. The most important thing to me is you, and you know that, right? If you get hurt, Mother will be very sad. Much more than if Mother gets hurt. That’s how you protected me by not getting hurt, got it?”

“Huuu…”

Chloe could no longer hold back her tears and pulled Abel into her arms again.

“Mother… I miss Father…”

Tears fell from Chloe’s eyes.

“…Yes, me too.”

‘I miss him too.’

***

At dawn, the morning sun rose and bathed the whole world in light. There was someone staring at the Blanchett family, after they got tired from crying all night and fell asleep. He was supposed to arrive in the afternoon, but the head of the Blanchett family ran all night after receiving the report.

“Phew…”

He lost control and there were scratches all over his body, but that wasn’t important. He didn’t care about his own wounds, and instead was busy checking every part of his wife’s body. Thankfully, he didn’t spot any.

‘They don’t seem to be hurt anywhere.’

Gerard was relieved to see the face of the mother and child sleeping peacefully. He sat on the floor beside the bed and stared at his family, whom he’d missed so much.

He watched his sleeping son with swollen eyes. He thought his son had grown up a lot, but he was still a baby. His little heart must have been very taken aback. Gerard muttered a prayer while patting his son’s shoulder.

‘Please let him stay strong until the moment I can’t be with them. Please comfort his shocked heart.’

After praying, Gerard’s eyes landed on the face of his wife, holding their son tightly. Her eyes were also swollen and red from crying. He gritted his teeth at the burning feeling inside. He should’ve been there! He should’ve protected her! She must have been so shocked.

He carefully brushed his wife’s hair out of her face. He uttered a prayer while kissing her soft brown hair. At first glance, she appeared angelic.

‘I wish to be there when you’re in danger. Please allow me to stand by your side at all times.’

The prayer was completely different from the one he muttered for his son.

It was at the very moment Gerard opened his eyes after praying. Chloe blinked several times, and blue eyes resembling the light of dawn stared at Gerard.

“Hm?”

Her unfocused eyes, having just woken up, gradually captured the face before her eyes. It was Gerard Blanchett. The one she called so desperately. The one she missed so much.

“….”

Gerard froze in place just in case he woke his wife up. He even held his breath.

“…Huuu.”

Chloe began to shed tears. When she saw her husband’s face, tears that she held back in front of Abel finally came out.

“My Lady.”

Gerard called his wife in surprise.

“Hmf! I miss you… It’s scary…”

Chloe was staring at her husband and crying because she missed him. The sight was so devastating for Gerard that he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t even approach his wife and stiffened in place.

“Gerard…”

It was none other than Chloe’s call that snapped Gerard back to reality. It was the first time his wife had called his name.

“I’m here, my Lady.”

Gerard said in a tender voice while staring into his wife’s blue eyes.

Gerard’s heart ached seeing her trembling fingertips and pulled her into a hug without wasting time.

He had never seen her like this before!

However, in actuality, he was glad to see his wife like that. No, frankly, it was a good thing. It allowed them to hug each other like this.

“Haah.”

It was his wife’s scent. Gerard sighed in satisfaction. He hugged his wife to comfort her, but somehow he felt more comforted. 

“My Lady, it’s alright now.”

“…”

Gerard patted Chloe on her back as she sobbed without saying anything.

“How surprised must you have been? I’m here now…”

“…”

“It’s alright, my Lady.”

“I hate you so much…”

“What?”

However, the words that reached Gerard’s ears were completely different from his expectations. He couldn’t help but to stop patting his wife’s back.

It was when Gerard lifted his head from Chloe’s shoulder and stared at her face.

“Nonetheless…”

‘I love you.’ 

Chloe hid the important remark in her heart and closed her blue eyes again.

Gerard finally realized that his wife was in a strange state. Upon closer inspection, he heard her breathing raggedly.

He brought his hand to her forehead. Hot. Her face was strangely flushed, not from crying, but because she was sick.

Gerard carefully laid his wife on the bed again. Then, he immediately left the room and gave a command to a Blanchett knight escort.

“Bring a doctor, now! The Marchioness is sick.”

***

The diagnosis showed that Chloe was suffering from a cold. She was extremely exhausted even before the day of the circus. Perhaps that’s why when she was greatly shocked, it led her body to become sick.

However, Leila was the only one in the castle who knew the exact cause of Chloe’s situation.

“I will prescribe medicine, and if the Marchioness takes it regularly, she will be better in a day or two.”

The Anata family’s doctor, who was summoned by the Blanchett Knights at dawn, said. The doctor had just woken up and his appearance was all over the place.

However, Gerard was so concerned about his wife that none of those trivial things caught his attention.

“She has a terrible fever, when will it go down?”

“I already gave the Marchioness a fever reducer when I examined her. The fever will probably subside within an hour.”

Gerard was relieved by the doctor’s replies. After that, he began to ask about Abel.

“Then, is the child okay? He was beside the Marchioness all night. I hope he doesn’t catch the fever as well.”

“Yes, well, a cold is not an infectious disease, so he will be alright. The young master is just quite shocked by the accident, so he has to be comforted well.”

“I understand. Thank you for coming so early.”

Gerard finally expressed his gratitude to the doctor who was still dressed in sleepwear after confirming that they both were fine.

“It’s for the best. Then, I would like to take my leave.”

The attending doctor withdrew without revealing his true feelings at all, typical of an Anata citizen. Gerard saw him off and went back to where his family was lying down.