Chapter 5: Red Eyes

His black, silk-like hair was disheveled and his cheeks were red. When I saw him breathing shallowly with considerable pain, I placed my hand on his forehead in worry.

‘It’s hot!’

I quickly folded my hands and looked around. I wondered if I should ask one of the servants for help, but I don’t think I’m in a position to make a fuss with them.

‘But he’s sick.’

Is he 14? 15?

‘When you have a fever… you need a cold towel!’

I hurried out of the corridor and came back with a cloth and a bowl of water. Although I was running around like a chipmunk, the servants didn’t seem to mind.

‘It’s such a luxurious cloth for a towel… anyways, excuse me!’

I gently placed the towel on his forehead and continued to change the cloth. Even if it would work or not, I stayed by his side until lunchtime. I then walked to my room for lunch.

“Did you have fun?” Annie said as I entered the room.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Come here then.” Annie put me in the table chair. She had been teaching table manners during every meal. Several times have I been asked to point out the order of tableware use and how to handle it.

If I was just Pink Eyes, it would have been very difficult to master, but fortunately, Seo-yeong, who’s a part of me, was there to help me out.

“You’re good!” Annie exclaimed.

Smiling at Annie’s praise, I quickly ate up the pancakes with my fork. I then asked a question while eating syrupy pancakes and salty sausages with lots of boiled peaches.

“Do you have any medicine you take for when you have a fever?”

“Are you feeling bad?” Annie asked with a worried look. She then quickly touched my forehead, but I shook my head.

“No, I’m just curious.”

At those words, Annie stood up as she stared at me. She then took a medicine bottle out of the drawer.

“It’s a fever reducer. You can either dissolve it in water, or you can just swallow it. It’s for kids. However, if you are a girl, you must take a half a pill. But if you’re a boy, you can take one whole pill.”

“I see.”

As I nodded while looking at the brown pill, Annie placed the medicine bottle back in the drawer, but not at its original position. She placed it on a lower shelf this time.

When Annie left after lunchtime ended, I groaned as I reached my hand all the way out to reach the medicine bottle in the drawer. Unlike before, I was able to reach it, using my fingertips to draw it closer to my hands.

I took the lid off and placed a pill onto the palm of my hand. I then placed the lid back on, shook the medicine bottle a few times, and then placed it back on the drawer.

Fearing that the pills would dissolve onto my palm, I quickly put them inside my pocket and headed back to the black-haired boy’s room.

There was still no one present in the room, but only the boy laying down on the bed. I soaked the cloth in the water again, placed it on his forehead, and then took out the poll. 

‘How am I supposed to feed this to him?’

1. Swallow the whole pill.
2. Dissolve the pill in water.

‘It would be easy to dissolve it into water, right? But what if it goes down the wrong hole? Then what would we do?’

After thinking about it for a while, I decided to just mix the pill with a small amount of water and then give it to him slowly. So, I went out and came back again with a cup of water that has already been mixed with the pill.

‘It looks like it’s going to be very bitter.’

Looking at the subtle brown water, I went up to the bed with a smile and carefully spilled it into the boy’s mouth. Thinking that I was pouring it slowly and carefully, the boy coughed violently and opened his eyes.

“Huh?”

I was startled and so I quickly jumped off the bed and laid flat. He coughed and gasped for a long time before he calmed down again.

‘His eyes are red.’

Ruby red, to be exact, and they were beautiful and unforgettable. The Duke has exactly the same eyes.

‘Are they related?’

I stood up from the carpet as I continued to contemplate. I then carefully picked up the cloth that had fallen beside the pillow, put it inside the bowl of cold water, and placed it back on his forehead. I was super nervous that he would get up like before, but fortunately, he didn’t.

‘Is there a sleeping effect in the pill?’

Before I went to eat dinner, his breathing had become more relaxed. I lightly laughed in content before returning to my room.

After dinner, I had milk and cookies and went off to bed, but then I woke up in the middle of the night. As I lightly jumped off of the bed, I sneakily walked to my door and cautiously opened it. I walked out of the corridor and headed back to the boy’s room.

“Why am I so concerned?” I quietly said to myself.

I tilted my head as I ran silently through the dark corridor. Why does he bother me so much?

‘Maybe it’s because I finally feel useful.’

After coming to that conclusion, I carefully opened the door. Everyone here is either insensitive or friendly to me, but it must be because of the Duke’s orders. Their treatment towards me could completely change the next day, and there would be nothing that I could do about it.

‘But this is different because I’m voluntarily helping someone.’

As I approached the bed quietly, I noticed that the bowl and cloth were put aside. 

‘Did anyone enter the room?’

As I wondered, I reached out my hand and placed it on his forehead, but my wrist was immediately grabbed in a flash.

“I said to not let anyone i-”

His roar was put to a halt. Tears started to swell up in my eyes as I felt pain coming from my wrist.

“Ouch, it hurts!”

“A child?” The boy questioned. He slowly loosed his grip, but he still did not let go of it. “Who are you? Why did you disobey my orders?”

“I-I, uh…” I didn’t know if I should reveal my identity or not, but my hesitation made him strengthen his grasp.

“Ouch!”