Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 5.7: Eva

It won't be good to sleep in damp clothes. With that thought, he went to the room that used to be his parents to get one of his mother's old dresses. It would still be in a good condition since he ordered for the room and everything in it to be kept in good condition despite him never taking a step in it. 

He stopped right before the door and hesitated going in. A maid happened to pass by and saw him hovering in front of the door deep in thought. She decided to grab onto the rare chance to talk to him. 

"Is there something I can help you with?" She asked in the nicest voice she could manage.

Austin looked at her and walked away without a word. How stupid of me, if others saw her in different clothes, they'd still know that I'm treating her differently. Defeats the purpose of me not asking the maids for a change of clothes.

He returned back to the room and stared at Eva with a frown. He felt like he could not leave her like that either. I'll just wipe her perspiration off then.

He quickly untied the ribbon that was around her collar. As his fingers touched the first button on her collar, Eva decided to end this farce.

Doctor's here~ BaoBao reported in a sing song voice at the same time a knock sounded on the door.

Ugh, BaoBao! You! No wonder you could stay so quiet!

BaoBao giggled mischievously. He intentionally did not tell her that the doctor was already on the way up so that he could watch her fret like she did.

Austin's shoulders jumped at the knocking. While he was on the way to the door, he suddenly hurried back to the bedside drawer and hastily hid the basin and towels under the bed.

"Come in." In contrary to how he has been acting, his voice sounded completely cool and calm.

The butler opened the door for the doctor to enter the guest room and saw Austin calmly sitting at the small table near the window. Having been briefed on the way to the guest room, the doctor immediately knew what to do and went to Eva to assess her symptoms.

It did not take long for him to conclude that Eva was not sick.

"Are you sure? When I touched her forehead earlier, she felt hot. She also looked flushed." Austin persisted.

The doctor slightly frowned in puzzlement. "This lady here does have a weaker body so I'll prescribe something to boost her immunity. Don't worry, there's really nothing wrong with her. She likely passed out due to overwork."

Austin looked at Eva with a worried gaze that he could not hide. The doctor took this chance to whisper to the butler, "Excuse me, but has Duke Walker been lacking sleep?"

"Indeed he has. He sleeps only the minimum amount of hours and is constantly plagued by nightmares of the night his parents died." The butler replied honestly.

"I'll prescribe something to help him sleep as well then, it won't be good for it to keep up. He may start hallucinating."

"Thank you." Just before the butler left the room to see the doctor out, he caught Austin still staring at Eva.

"Sir, is there something wrong?"

"No?"

His butler stared at him for awhile before speaking again. "You're a young man. It's understandable if you want to fool around a little. But please, I'd advise you to retain some self control and do it at least with someone more befitting of your status."

For some reason, such talk seemed to anger and irritate Austin badly. A dangerous glint entered in eyes and he slowly walked towards the door where the butler was, as if he was a predator stalking a prey.