Chapter 24 – Treating the Wound (1)

When I sat up in surprise, the blanket that had been covering my body slowly slipped off me.

“…!”

I silently screamed when I noticed that my upper body was completely exposed, and then I hurriedly scrambled to pull up the quilt. For some reason, my nightgown was nowhere to be seen. Now that I was aware of it, I realized that I was completely naked under the blanket. My face burned in embarrassment, and my eyes darted to Kyle, demanding an explanation.

“Your clothes were removed to soothe your fever.”

Fortunately, he answered me readily.

So, I caught a fever while I was asleep? Alright, but besides that…

“Who took off my gown?”

“…”

As soon as I asked my question, Kyle immediately shut his mouth.

Wait, why did he react like that? I just wanted to ask which one of the maids undressed me. No way, don’t tell me…

“Archduke, are you the one who took it off?”

“…”

“Did you take it off?”

“…”

“… You took it off.”

“You focus on unnecessary details.”

But this isn’t a useless detail at all? Fine, I’ll just confirm with one of the maids later. They’ll answer me.

I stared at him and shook my head. After mentally consoling myself, I put that matter aside. But there was something else that bothered me besides my lack of clothing. For some reason, I didn’t feel cold at all. Rather, I felt warm, as if a pleasant, summer breeze had enveloped my body. What was causing this sensation? Was it magic?

“…?”

I suddenly sensed something was not right about my body, as if there was an imbalance. No, it wasn’t just a hunch—I really felt like my limbs were uneven. More precisely, I realized that my right hand was completely devoid of all sensation.

“…”

I was speechless when I stared down at my hand.

What is this? What is wrong with my hand?

The skin had turned black and withered like that of a rotten corpse. Something terrible must have happened while I was asleep. I paused and struggled to make sense of this incomprehensible situation. Kyle’s voice interrupted my mind’s attempts to rationalize what was going on.

“It’s a wound from frostbite.”

What? I just blinked my eyes in confusion because I didn’t know what to say.

“Your right cheek is also in a similar condition,” he continued. “Does it hurt?”

I nodded my head without thinking as I went to touch my cheek, but I stopped myself. It was honestly fine now, but I feared it would start to hurt if I touched it. When I sorted out my thoughts alongside the information Kyle had given me, I came to a conclusion that caused the pit of my stomach to drop.

I touched him.

From experience, I knew that I would have been fine if I just touched Kyle for a very brief period of time. If done correctly, I would only feel a bit cold or there would simply be a thin sheet of ice that could be melted quickly.

However, severe frostbite to the point where my nerves are completely paralyzed means that I must have been in contact with him for a long time. But, why were we touching for so long?

… Had he tried to kill me?

I nervously glanced at Kyle. When I looked more closely at his face, I observed that his complexion was paler than usual. His lips were dry and chapped as well, and he sported a gloomy expression with dark circles under the eyes.

As I took in the details of my periphery, the items surrounding Kyle gradually caught my eye. Empty bottles that once contained various medicines and herbs were lying in a mess on the bedside table as well as the floor. Numerous pieces of cotton scattered the floor which had been stained with hardened blood. Beside him were a washbasin and a pile of dirty towels that were stained even more deeply than the floor.

When I looked down at my damaged hand, I saw traces of an ointment applied around the edges of the wound. I recognized the cream as the kind that would have caused pain or swelling if applied directly to the injury, so it was typically only applied to the surrounding area. Someone must have treated me.

By any chance…

“Archduke, did you take care of me?”

“I would never do such a thing.”

Yeah, I also thought it to be impossible. There was no reason for Kyle to care about me, especially not enough to treat my injuries after touching him. Although I still didn’t know the full details surrounding my condition or what had caused us to come in contact for so long, at least I was reasonably certain that, whatever he was doing, he hadn’t meant to kill me.

“Can you fix it?” he asked suddenly.

“Huh?” I blinked in confusion.

“I asked if you could heal your wound by yourself.”

Oh, that’s what he meant.

“If you can’t heal it, then I’ll call the doctor to come right away.  I’ll also send for all the high-ranking priests and healers.”

“Ah, no,” I blushed. “You don’t have to do that.”

Overwhelmed by his forceful energy, I felt compelled to reply immediately and calm him down. Maybe it was because I could feel a sense of nervousness in his voice. I was certain I could heal my injuries, but I realized another problem would arise if I were to heal myself completely.

If I cleanly restore my condition to the way I was before the injury, the doctor will start to question how that happened.

No matter how strong a person’s constitution is, it is simply impossible to heal an injury inflicted by a curse, because it is not something that a person’s body can overcome in the first place. Even with the best medicine, natural means were insufficient to treat such wounds. Knowing this, I was going to only partly heal my injuries, but then I stopped.

It will definitely be suspicious if I heal myself, especially since these are considered incurable wounds.

I couldn’t take the risk. Trouble would certainly arise for me if rumors were to spread about my ability. The reason I knew that exposing my abilities to the public would only end badly for me was because that is exactly what had happened to Riddel in the original novel.