TWFLLYM Ch 20

The Person to Forget (2)

The sensation was unmistakable. A resolute, impenetrable wall stood between them, leaving no room for negotiation.

[Kalart] "That felt worse than a simple rejection."

He closed his eyes as the water lapped against his skin.

Anger simmered within Eaton. His fury stemmed from a different source—undiluted loyalty.

[Eaton] "Who would dare reject you? Punish her, Your Highness."

[Kalart] "What......?"

Kalart opened his eyes and stared at Eaton. His gaze, sharpened by the frigid water, held an unfamiliar edge. The moisture clinging to his face looked like shimmering, unresolved emotions.

[Kalart] "Never speak those words again."

[Eaton] "......Yes, Your Highness."

He retreated, biting his tongue. He didn't understand the reason, but the Prince's flash of genuine rage was impossible to miss.

[Eaton] "Still, you must come out now......"

Even in the face of anger, he didn't abandon his duty.

Kalart, despite his foul mood, decided he had reached his limit as well.

Splash.

As she stepped out of the bath, water cascaded down his body. The towel wrapped around his waist clung precariously to his skin. Eaton quickly unfurled a fresh towel.

Creak.

The sound of a door opening cautiously echoed through the room.

[Eaton] "Who goes......"

He instinctively reached for the sword at his hip to identify the intruder, but Kalart moved faster.

[Kalart] "Stop."

[Eaton] "Your Highness?"

The reason became clear an instant later. A soft meow drifted through the gap in the door.

[Kalart] "Come here, Clobell."

His voice softened with a tenderness that bordered on the surreal.

Clobellina trotted forward, skillfully navigating the puddles on the floor. However, as he reached down to scoop her up, she twisted her body away.

[Clobell] "Ugh, you're soaking wet. Don't touch me with those hands."

[Kalart] "I suppose she hates my cold hands."

[Eaton] "It appears so, Your Highness."

[Clobell] "At least you have some intuition. You need to see Roserikta. Why do you think I traveled all this way?"

She circled him, her meows constant. She was the only creature in existence who could ignore the Prince's commands and enter his presence uninvited without facing execution.

This was their plan: Clobellina would barge into the bath to annoy the Prince, and Roserikta would appear at the perfect moment, claiming to be looking for her cat.

[Clobell] "Meowwwwww."

You can come in now.

At her long signal, Roserikta peeked through the door as rehearsed.

[Roserikta] "Clobell? Are you in here? Oh, there you are."

[Kalart] "......"

[Eaton] "......"

Eaton and the cat watched as Kalart and Roserikta froze in unison.

Kalart, still reeling from the rejected kiss, stared at the woman responsible for his turmoil.

Roserikta, meanwhile, found herself face-to-face with a man she already considered dangerously handsome—except now, he stood before her nearly naked.

Embarrassment was inevitable.

[Roserikta] "Your...... Your Highness. I apologize."

She finally managed to speak, her voice trembling as she clutched the fabric of her skirt and bowed.

[Roserikta] "Clobell ran off so suddenly that I...... I came to find her. I didn't mean to......"

The excuse she had prepared stumbled out of her mouth.

[Clobell] "If you tremble that much, everyone will know. Try to act natural."

She offered her tactless critique, but Roserikta couldn't bring herself to look up.

She had seen him in a towel once before and found it awkward. Now, the sensation was the opposite. If she didn't grit her teeth and resist, she feared she would gape at him.

This man is dangerous.

He was a hazard to her eyes and a threat to her heart. Even back at the lake, if he had unbuttoned just one more button on his shirt, she wouldn't have been able to reject him. She would have been bewitched.

She swallowed hard, staring intently at the floor.

[Roserikta] "With your permission, I will take her and leave, Your Highness......"

[Clobell] "What? Already? Didn't you say you were going to check on him? Have you even looked at him yet?"

He swept his damp hair back as water dripped from the strands.

[Kalart] "This is absurd."

His voice sounded heavy, as if the water had seeped into his vocal cords. The damp tone made everyone tense. It carried a sharp, undeniable edge of displeasure.

With his hair slicked back, his striking forehead was fully exposed. The towel was distracting enough; his face made it worse. His emotions poured out of him without any filter.

[Clobell] "Oh boy. Is he angry? Is he going to punish her for coming here uninvited?"

She arched her back and began to retreat slowly.

[Clobell] "Has he always had such a bad temper? What now? Is the potion actually wearing off? Should we run for it?"

Roserikta wondered the same thing. His dark eyes looked unusually cold today—nothing like the intense, dark gaze he had when he asked to kiss her.

[Eaton] "Your Highness. If you command it, I will......"

Eaton finally stepped in. He sensed that the Prince's reaction to the cat's owner had shifted.

[Kalart] "Every time I have thought about that day, my mood has turned foul."

It was different. The problem was that it was different in a way no one expected.

Ignoring Eaton entirely, he strode forward until he stood directly in front of her. Wet footprints bloomed across the bathroom floor.

Her heart hammered against her ribs. The sight of his powerful, bare torso triggered a barrage of intrusive thoughts. For a woman who had been asked for a kiss only days ago, the proximity was unbearable.

[Kalart] "I thought my feelings had changed. I thought I would no longer want you."

A droplet of water fell from his hair, tracing a path down his forehead, over his cheek, and off his chin. Roserikta, unable to meet his eyes, tracked the path of the droplet.

This man should not be allowed to get wet.

Even the water looked scandalous on him.

No, stop. What am I thinking? Get a grip.

[Kalart] "But I was wrong."

He let out a distorted, self-deprecating laugh. The displeasure he radiated wasn't directed at Roserikta or Clobellina; it was aimed at himself—at the emotions and sensations he couldn't control.

[Kalart] "My mood is foul because I want you, yet you do not want me. Seeing you makes that clear."

[Roserikta] "......"

The strength left her legs. She nearly collapsed onto the wet tiles.

[Roserikta] "Your Highness......"

The Love Potion hadn't worn off. It had intensified.

[Kalart] "I want to touch you. I want to hold you. I want to grip you in my hands and hear every sound you make. The fact that this emotion is mine alone is disgusting. No, not disgusting......"

He frowned and tapped his chest, as if he felt a sharp pain there.

[Kalart] "......You may take Clobell. And for the time being, stay out of my sight. Right now, as the Crown Prince, I am weighing exactly how much harm I am capable of doing to you."

His words carried a heavy weight.

He was suffering from the amplified lust of the potion, caught in a dangerous conflict between his power and his conscience. He was trying to manage these volatile feelings by not looking at her.

The realization struck her with a strange force. It felt as if someone had reached into her chest and squeezed her heart.

Why am I like this? Why does it hurt me when he seems to be in pain?

She couldn't let this happen. She was a pharmacist. She had to cure him. But what use was she if she fell ill herself?

She placed a hand over her heart.

To Eaton, standing ten paces away, it looked as if the two of them were sharing the same pain in the same spot.

[Roserikta] "Thank you...... for your permission, Your Highness."

She forced the words out. She forced herself to think of something else.

Once she made the antidote, he wouldn't suffer anymore. Then her own pain would vanish.

She was a professional. She had a job to do. He was a patient. He would get better soon. She would make sure of it.

[Roserikta] "As you commanded, I will stay out of your sight. Come here, Clobell."

Just bear it a little longer. Just a little more.

[Roserikta] "I shall take my leave."

She picked up Clobellina and hurried out. The sound of her retreating footsteps struck his ears like cold droplets of water.

[Kalart] "......Damn it."

He turned on his heel, brushed past Eaton, and stepped back into the bath.

[Eaton] "Your Highness!"

[Kalart] "Don't speak."

Submerged in the frigid water, he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the tub.

He wished the water were even colder. Only then would his boiling blood begin to cool.

But just as Eaton feared, the water was far too cold. After staying submerged for so long, the Crown Prince fell victim to a severe illness.

---

[Roserikta] "......Pardon?"

She turned pale as she faced Eaton.

[Roserikta] "His Highness is sick?"

[Eaton] "He is."

The sickness of the mind had manifested in the body. The lovesickness caused by the potion had entered its next stage.

Roserikta, unaware that Kalart had brought this on himself with cold baths, took the news with absolute gravity.

[Roserikta] "How...... I mean, is his fever high?"

[Eaton] "Yes. His fever is raging, and he can barely eat."

His coughing was so severe that he couldn't even keep water down. The court physician had shaken his head in despair, unable to administer medicine.

[Eaton] "I came to ask if you could create a remedy."

In truth, that was an excuse. Even with the severe cough, it was still a cold. He was a robust man; he would recover after a few days of suffering.

But he had seen that the Prince's illness wasn't just a physical ailment. Having witnessed the tension between them, he couldn't just stand by.

[Roserikta] "If it's that serious......"

The antidote was nowhere near finished. She hadn't even secured the sapphire yet.

She bit her lip, cursing her own incompetence.

[Eaton] "If there is no medicine, then please, at least come and nurse him."

His voice was desperate. The Captain of the Imperial Guard looked ready to kneel before a commoner maid.

[Eaton] "His Highness is in agony. Even the court physician has given up...... please."

[Roserikta] "Yes."

She nodded so quickly that he was momentarily stunned.

[Eaton] "Really?"

He had reason to be surprised.

Based on what he had seen yesterday, the Prince was the only one suffering, while the cat-maid had offered a cold rejection.

Yet now, the way she clutched her chest and the way the color drained from her face didn't look like someone who felt nothing.

[Roserikta] "Please wait a moment. I'll pack some medicine...... well, things that might help."

[Eaton] "I will wait as long as necessary."

[Roserikta] "Yes. Just a moment......"

She sprinted back into her bedroom.

Clobellina, who had been listening from the window, approached her.

[Clobell] "What's going on? You look like you've seen a ghost. Is he actually sick? Did the potion do something horrible?"

[Roserikta] "I don't know. I have to see for myself."

She threw open her trunk and stuffed whatever she could find into her apron pockets—painkillers, fever reducers, anything that might offer immediate relief. Among them was the bottle of Axaca powder.

[Clobell] "Wait! Why are you taking that? Are you planning to use the Axaca powder on him?"

[Roserikta] "I'm sorry, Clobell, but we'll have to talk later. I'm in a hurry."

[Clobell] "You can't use it. You'll get caught immediately."

[Roserikta] "I know."

She wasn't doing this out of ignorance. Her mind was simply racing at the news of his illness. If lovesickness progressed without treatment, it could be fatal. His symptoms were progressing rapidly; his condition would be dire.

I have to do something.

What have I been doing all this time? I should have finished the antidote already.

Regret and self-reproach pricked at her like thorns under her fingernails. She grabbed the recipe book and stood up.

[Roserikta] "I'm leaving."

[Clobell] "Aren't you taking me?"

[Roserikta] "I'll call you if I need you."

With her apron bulging, she ran toward Eaton, who was waiting anxiously outside.

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