Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

It was none other than Hestia Kainer, the daughter of the Kainer family, the only ducal house in the Roimann Empire.

‘So that means…’

It had been ten months since then. Which meant that there were only about two months left until Hestia made her appearance in the original story.

‘That’s coming up fast…!’

It probably wouldn’t take much longer until the male lead abandoned me.

Of course, after Hestia became Empress, it would still take some time before Calix began to show interest in her. But that ‘some time’ wasn’t exactly an eternity. It was a wait she could endure.

‘Alright, focus.’

I was just starting to think more deeply about what her next steps should be based on the plot of the original novel.

“What are you thinking about so hard?”

Calix, who had been sitting next to me and occasionally touching me, finally spoke up again.

“It’s nothing, really.”

I quickly answered with a light smile, as if I truly hadn’t been thinking about anything at all.

“…Is that so? If you say so. The palace physician mentioned that your health has declined.”

He was the one to bring up my physical condition first.

“Oh… really?”

I already knew, having overheard everything while pretending to be unconscious, but I responded as if this was the first time hearing it.

“I heard you collapsed after looking in the mirror. What happened?”

“That…”

I had no idea how to respond to that. But I couldn’t exactly say nothing, so I wracked her brain for the most plausible explanation I could come up with.

“I didn’t faint from seeing my reflection. It’s just that I was getting ready, looking in the mirror, when I suddenly got a terrible headache I couldn’t bear.”

Not a bad excuse for something thought up on the spot.

“Make sure you take your medicine on time from now on.”

He nodded, seemingly convinced, and looked at me with concern as he emphasized the importance of it.

“Yes. I’ll make sure to.”

After that, silence briefly settled between us. We simply gazed at each other, eye to eye, until suddenly, his face began to draw closer.

“Wait!”

Sensing exactly what he was trying to do, I instinctively pulled her head back, quickly stopping him.

“Well, you see…”

I scrambled to come up with an excuse.

I hadn’t planned on pushing him away. Just earlier, I had resolved how I would act going forward.

Still, no matter how carefree I normally was, I wasn’t emotionally prepared to face this situation so suddenly. And more importantly, officially, I was still supposed to be ill.

Even if I had only pretended to faint, the fact remained. Who tries something with a sick person? Even an animal wouldn’t.

So I put on the most delicate, fragile expression I could muster and spoke softly.

“Today… I’m still feeling a bit unwell… My head kind of still hurts.”

I made sure not to forget to lightly press my fingers to my forehead. Anyone with a bit of sense would’ve taken the hint.

But this man wasn’t just anyone.

I braced herself, thinking he’d surely scowl at being rejected. But to my surprise, he smiled gently and replied while looking at me. 

“I understand.”

“…What?”

I blinked at the unexpected reaction, completely caught off guard.

“Do I really seem like the kind of guy who’d make a move on someone who’s sick?”

Yes. You do.

“That’s not what I meant…”

Of course, I couldn’t say what she really thought, so I barely managed to deny it aloud.

“Ariel.”

“Yes?”

“If you’re feeling unwell, just say so. Don’t always try to endure it alone.”

“…Sorry?”

“I know we don’t have much time left together, but everything will be fine. So don’t let it worry you.”

His face moved closer again. He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and, locking eyes with me, whispered sweetly.

“You’re the only one for me.”

But to someone who knew the future, his words didn’t sound sweet at all.

That was probably why.

The heartfelt emotion Ariel might’ve felt didn’t touch me at all, and without meaning to, I gave a rather flat nod.

‘Ah… crap.’

I realized it instantly.

‘I shouldn’t have let that show on my face…’

But by the time she sensed my mistake, Calix was already staring intently at me with that sharp, perceptive gaze of his.

‘What now? He didn’t realize I’ve changed, did he?’

He couldn’t possibly know a different soul had entered Ariel’s body. He wasn’t a god.

Even so, his penetrating gaze made a subtle anxiety creep over me.

Feeling a growing unease, I decided to hide her expression and avoid his eyes for now. Quickly, I rose halfway and threw my arms around his neck. That way, he couldn’t see my face anymore.

I felt his body tense slightly at the sudden movement. But it was only for a moment. He soon wrapped his large arms around my back and gently stroked it.

“…Thank you, Calix.”

When they were alone, he’d always told Ariel to call him by name. So I mimicked Ariel and buried myself deeper into his embrace.

“I feel the same…”

My words seemed to satisfy him, as he hugged me even more tightly.

‘Whew. That was close.’

I let out a sigh of relief inwardly, vowing to be more careful with my expressions and behavior in front of him from now on.

* * *

Fortunately, Calix had kept his word about not laying a hand on someone who was sick. We simply slept in each other’s arms.

Though it still felt unfamiliar to sleep while holding someone, perhaps because our bodies had already been intimate, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as I had expected. In fact, being held by someone felt so warm and comforting that I ended up sleeping too well again just like last time.

When I opened my eyes in the morning, Calix was, as expected, already gone.

‘Didn’t he come in pretty late yesterday too?’

Judging by the moonlight through the window, he’d probably arrived close to midnight. 

His stamina’s no joke…

In contrast, this body had nothing to do with stamina. Even after a whole day of sleep, I still felt completely exhausted.

‘Don’t tell me she lived like this all the time?’

Well, at least I wasn’t feeling sick anywhere, which was something to be thankful for. For a brief moment, I missed her original body terribly.

I had always stayed fairly healthy because I enjoyed being active, and this constant fatigue was something I wasn’t used to.

‘This won’t do.’

When people are tired, they don’t want to do anything.

Of course, in a life like Ariel’s, where she had a nanny, Calix, and others to do everything for her, taking care of things herself might have seemed completely unnecessary.

But that was only possible while Ariel still held her position as Imperial Consort.

Ariel, or rather, I was about to be cast out. Which meant that with a body like this, surviving the world was going to be no easy task.

So if I wanted a healthy, comfortable life in the future, building up my stamina wasn’t optional – it was essential.

“Your Imperial Highness, if you’re awake, may we come in?”

“Yes, come in.”

With that resolve, I began my day determined to act naturally and avoid raising suspicion that I wasn’t really Ariel.

The nanny and a few maids helped me get dressed and prepared, and breakfast was brought to the table.

But then…

‘This is it?’

A chunk of bread, some vegetable soup made of finely chopped unidentifiable greens, and a fruit-scented drink. That was all.

And the soup didn’t even fill a quarter of the bowl.

‘How is anyone supposed to live on this?’

I couldn’t, that was for sure. But apparently, Ariel had somehow managed to get by on this.

‘This isn’t right…’

I glanced down at my hand holding the spoon. It was skin and bones, every knuckle clearly defined.

No wonder she looked so thin. If Ariel ate like this every meal, it made sense.

Sure, being worn down by Calix didn’t help either, but still. Maybe Ariel had survived on this diet, but I couldn’t. Yet, I also couldn’t suddenly eat more and raise suspicion among the nanny or others.

‘Haa…’

Letting out a deep sigh as tears pricked my eyes, I resigned herself to making do with this breakfast for today.

But I couldn’t let this go on forever.

‘I’ll have to gradually increase my portions… naturally.’

Thinking through how to do that without drawing attention, I forced herself to eat the tiny meal in front of me as slowly as possible.

And to my surprise, the food, though simple, was incredibly delicious.

…… 

T/N: When you badly wanted to eat but there’s just nothing to eat hahaha