When Cale opened his eyes,it was past noon and he was greeted with the concerned faces of the three children.
"Cale nya! You are awake!"
"Human it's good that you are awake now!" And with that Cale could easily hear the unsaid "or else I would have-" He really couldn't stop himself from sighing at the child's viciousness.
"Yes. Were you waiting for me to wake up? Do you need something?" Usually when Cale would wake up really late the children would be either playing outside or doing something fun with the adults. So to see them there with him on the bed when he slept in even more than usual was a little bit unusual.
"We were looking after you human!"
"Looking after me?..."
'I'm okay though? Why is he saying that suddenly?'
But he did have a headache.
Cale's head was throbbing in intense pain,it hurt so much that he was feeling a little lightheaded and his sensitive eyes teared up from the light coming into the room through the window. Even the children's voices felt like too much to handle. He was so distracted by the pain that he didn't notice the children looking at him in worry and even Ron who entered the room. (Yeah you're so okay Cale -_-)
"Are you feeling better now?"
And On being the sweet sensible child she was, finally asked the most important question. She was quieter than usual as if she realised that he couldn't handle the noise. Feeling fond, Cale smiled softly before answering.
"I'm fine. Why did you ask?"
"Fine?..."
The children and the butler couldn't help but stare at Cale in disbelief who was even paler than usual and looking really weak.
"Young master you don't need to lie to us"
Ron was looking at his sickly young master who flinched at what he said as if caught red handed in his lie and quickly hid away his momentarily startled expression.
'He is pretending again'
But unlike what Ron thought, Cale didn't flinch because he was caught in his lie but because...
'I didn't realise he was here too! when did he even come inside?? And what's with his cold murderous expression??'
"What do you mean Ron? I'm not lying about anything, I'm perfectly fine"
Unable to handle the assassin's cold gaze he quickly looked away but to others who were present in the room it looked more like he was lying and trying to avoid looking at them in the eyes than him being scared.
The children once again gasped in disbelief and quickly came even closer to him.
"What do you mean you are perfectly fine human?! How can you say that when you were having trouble even breathing earlier?!"
"Youngest is right nya! You were really sick all night! We had to take care of you so you don't get worse nya!"
Even On looked at him with a disappointed expression.
'Trouble breathing?...I was sick?... But I feel fine now?'
"Young master you should rest, Eruhaben-nim will come soon to check on you. But before please do drink this lemon tea, it's good when you have a fever"
Not wanting to upset the now benignly smiling butler, Cale quickly prepared himself to face his archenemy lemon tea and quickly drank it to be just done with it as soon as possible. But instead of what he expected, the tea was slightly sweetened.
'Honey?...Did he really not sleep all night taking care of me?'
Cale quickly glanced at Ron's face before quickly looking away again.
'If what they said is true,why did I get sick anyway when I'm completely fine?'
After not being able to understand anything Cale decided it would be better to just ask the ancient powers about it.
'Crybaby?'
-Yes Cale?
-Cale are you feeling better now? Aren't you hungry? You should eat something delicious to feel better as soon as possible!
Cale wisely decided to ignore the glutton priestess for a while and instead focused on asking the vitality of the heart.
'Crybaby is something wrong with my body or plate?'
-Nothing is wrong with either of them,I have healed everything
*sob*
-It might be because of one of your other abilities Cale
It was the shield this time who answered Cale instead of the other ancient power.
'Record? Why did it happen? But then again, it might be because-'
Lost in his thoughts Cale once again did not notice someone entering the room,this time it was the golden haired ancient dragon who came to check on him. Cale's behaviour did not go unnoticed by the people who were looking at him with sharp gazes in search of any sign of discomfort that he might be feeling.
His empty stare worried them even more. To them it seemed like he was worsening again and Cale who didn't even know what they were thinking, could not deny anything.
Cale was pulled out his thoughts when he felt a palm gently touching his forehead, only then did he notice Eruhaben looking at him with a frown.
"Eruhaben-nim? When did you get here?"
"I just got here you unlucky bastard, you really didn't notice?"
The ancient dragon said that even though it had been more than fifteen minutes since he first got there. All of them had been looking at Cale who was zoning out since Eruhaben first came inside.
"Tsk You are still feverish so you better rest properly today. But first have something light to eat and take your medicine"
Knowing he couldn't argue with the ancient dragon Cale just nodded in acceptance. It's not like he was planning on doing anything anyway so he was more than happy to comply.
"Goldie Gramps you went to talk with cookie prince right? What did he say?"
"Eruhaben-nim talked with hyung- nim?"
"Yes he had something to discuss,he will be here in a bit"
"..."
'Isn't he too busy to be visiting us like that so suddenly?...'
"He had called last night human! But you were resting so we didn't want to wake you up"
"Hm...You could have just woken me up instead"
The people present couldn't believe what they were hearing, does he not care about himself at all? They really were starting to feel bit frustrated.
"Ha! Could have just woken you up you say?Are you hearing yourself? Did you know how worried we were and how bad your condition was? You looked moments away from death!"
"..."
Cale was a bit taken aback by the ancient dragon's outburst,he didn't think Eruhaben would get angry with him like that. Cale then looked at everyone present carefully. All of them looked tired and upset.
'Is it because they couldn't sleep properly because of me?'
Eruhaben looked really frustrated and done with everything and Ron's face lacked his usual benign smile, leaving only a cold expression behind. Even the children were teary eyed so he patted each one's head in comfort,not wanting them to be upset any longer.
"And it was really late at night young master"
"Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened"
"Alright"
"I'll bring your food young master"
While Ron went to bring him food, Eruhaben checked his pulse once again, only when he was sure that it was normal he pulled away.
"You are not having any difficulty breathing again,are you? Do you feel dizzy?"
While Cale was not having any difficulty breathing,he did feel a little dizzy from the headache. But decided against telling them because saying that would only worry the others even more.
"No, everything is fine Eruhaben-nim"
"Don't even try to lie to me, be honest"
"..."
Not wanting him to be angry with him again he decided to just tell them and be done with it. Obviously they wouldn't worry too much? He was fine,it was just the headache making him dizzy.
"...I do feel a bit dizzy"
Barely suppressing a sigh from escaping, Eruhaben looked at him with a serious but gentle expression. He wanted Cale to understand not to hide anything regarding his health.
"Tell us if you feel unwell again okay? Especially if you feel any kind of difficulty breathing then let us know immediately"
"Okay I will do that"
Not believing him just yet, Eruhaben wanted to say something again before he was interrupted by Ron opening the door. He had finally brought food for Cale to eat.
"It's just a light soup so it shouldn't upset your stomach. So don't be afraid to eat well young master"
"Okay" Cale was really hungry so he wasn't going to hold himself back from eating anyway.
"Let me feed you young master"
"There's no need,I can do it myself"
"Didn't you just say you're dizzy? Let him do it"
"..."
And so Cale was carefully being fed by the assassin under the watchful gazes of the ancient dragon and the children.
'This isn't that bad'
It was nice actually,he was being fed and he didn't even need to lift a finger. Not to mention,the soup was really delicious.
When he was done eating, Ron helped him wash himself up and dressed him up in comfortable clothes. After taking the medicines he was finally tucked back into the bed to rest.
When Cale woke up again he could hear people talking near him. He finally willed himself to open his eyes and saw Alberu, Eruhaben and saint Jack sitting on the sofas a bit further away from his bed, seemingly deep in their conversation. The three children were not in the room with him this time.
Cale who was too concentrated on trying to listen to what the people near him were talking about, didn't even realise that Ron was sitting on the chair beside his bed and looking at him in concern.
"Young master, you're awake?"
Only then did Cale notice Ron was beside him and that there was a wet washcloth on his forehead again.
Ron's voice also alerted the other 3 people in the room that he was awake. They all quickly came closer to the bed.
"Cale how are you feeling now?"
"Your majesty-"
"Stop that. At least don't do it when you are sick like this"
"..."
"Okay. When did you get here?"
"Just half an hour ago. I was just talking to Eruhaben-nim and Jack nim about something and waiting for you to wake up"
All of them had been talking about Cale, specifically his deteriorating health but Cale didn't need to know that. While Cale was asleep his fever had worsened again. Eruhaben had also informed Alberu and saint Jack about his condition and the things that happened in detail.
"You should have woken me up hyung,you shouldn't have wasted your time waiting"
Cale knew that Alberu had been more busier than anyone lately because of all the preparation of the upcoming aniversary celebration that was going to take place in just two more weeks. He didn't understand why the emperor of their empire should be wasting his time because of something meaningless as waiting for him to wake up.
'This again...' was what everyone was thinking at Cale's nonchalant response.
"You...did you know you were burning up again in your sleep?"
"Oh..."
'Ah record must have gone out of control again when I was asleep'
Cale tried to sit up by himself but it was hard to do so because of the pounding headache he had. Noticing this Ron gently helped him sit up and put up pillows behind him so he would feel less discomfort.
"Thank you Ron"
"It's my duty young master, Just don't strain yourself"
"Cale is it hard?"
Cale looked at Alberu who had asked him the question with a frown while feeling a bit confused about what the emperor could be talking about.
"What is?"
"Being the centre of public's attention?"
"Shouldn't you know more than anyone if it's hard or not?"
"Ha... it's not the same Cale. I have prepared myself since I was a child but you have not. Now answer me"
To be honest it was hard for Cale,it was very hard. He was someone who didn't enjoy the attention of others even when he was Kim Roksoo so it's not suddenly going to change just because he was in a different world now.
Thinking about how the more he would want to slack off,the more trouble would keep finding him, he really felt annoyed and exhausted.
Cale did not realise that while he was thinking like that some of the exhaustion and annoyance he felt had seeped into his usually stoic face.
"It is, it is very hard"
Just when will he get to be a slacker and live peacefully?
Cale was only saying that while thinking about not getting to slack off but others didn't know that. They thought he had been feeling mentally exhausted and felt their hearts become heavier with worry about the redhead. But unfortunately they were not the only one who misunderstood the other.
'Why are their expressions so cold? I shouldn't have said that?'
"Dongsaeng"
"Yeah?..." Cale was bit uneasy hearing Alberu calling him dongsaeng with a uncharacteristic gentle voice.
"You do remember the second anniversary celebration is soon right? We will make sure you get a break from everything this time. No one will be able to force you to do anything troublesome after that if you don't want to"
"What does hyung-nim want me to do?"
"What about you fainting Cale?" Everyone else other than the sworn brothers were quite confused looking at the emperor say something so eccentric with a smirk. But Cale who was quite similar to him quickly understood what he meant and he couldn't stop a mirroring smirk from forming on his face too.
If Raon was here to see it he would have most probably said something along the lines of "human are you going to scam someone?" And it would have been quite accurate actually.
"What are you two planning to do?"
"Ah Eruhaben-nim, Jack-nim we are going to need your help too."
"Shouldn't you first be telling us what you are going to do?"
"Of course of course. I'll tell you, that is why I'm here today"
Not wanting to waste any more time,he decided to just go straight to the point.
" I want Cale to pretend to faint in front of everyone at the celebration. Preferably after receiving the medal and giving a heart touching speech to make the most impact"
"..."
The three people were... yeah... Saying they were more than speechless would be a understatement.
"...do I really have to give a speech and receive the medal?..."
"Yes you have to. The public was getting quite frustrated seeing you not accepting any medal or reward"
The people of the empire had quite literally forced a medal on Cale because they thought he had not been given proper recognition as their no.1 hero and amazing ex commander. And to appease the people he had to accept it unfortunately,no matter how much he hated the thought.
"Ha...you two..." The ancient dragon had never felt so old before that moment. Ron and saint Jack just decided to stay silent.
"...haaa,haa"
Ron snapped out of his thoughts in alarm when he heard Cale gasping for breathe again.
"Young master are you okay?"
Ron questioned Cale in concern seeing that he looked bit out of it and his breathing was irregular again. But Cale couldn't reply because he didn't even hear anything to begin with. Countless records had been playing in his mind simultaneously at that moment,it was overwhelming both his mind and body.
Ron gently made him lie back down on his back and kept his head elevated by pillows with another pillow under his knees so he could breathe easier.
When others finally looked at the frail noble they couldn't help the widening of their eyes in concern.
Eruhaben quickly rushed over and checked his condition.
Eruhaben was lightly tapping his cheeks and talking to him in an attempt to make him focus but Cale was still unresponsive.
"Cale! Try to focus, focus on breathing. I know you can do it,snap out of it!"
'Why is he still like this! Am I missing something? Is something wrong with his heart?'
The other two wisely kept few feet distance from the bed to avoid crowding around Cale.
"Eruhaben-nim does he need my healing?..." Saint Jack asked bit unsurely.
"No... there isn't anything for you to heal. There's nothing wrong with his body...at least nothing that I can tell"
Alberu who was silently looking at his dongsaeng could feel his heart twisting painfully in worry.
"Does he need more medical assistance? Should I send for the imperial physicians? They can bring the equipment here to help him"
"I don't think that is going to help him"
Eruhaben was thinking hard about countless things trying to come up with a solution to help his suffering child but there was nothing he could do,he was helpless at such a critical moment.
"You should head back now your majesty. I'm sure young master will be alright soon"
"But..."
Alberu wanted to refuse but decided against it, they didn't need more things to worry about when Cale was in this condition.
"...Yes I should go back now. Please take of Cale. And keep me updated, I'll send the imperial physicians if he doesn't improve"
"We will make sure to do that. Take care your majesty"
-------
Even after returning to the palace the young emperor's mind was still a mess. He couldn't focus on doing any work,how could he when his mind kept going back to Cale's condition. He was worried out of his mind. How could he not when Cale looked like he won't even be needing to pretend to really faint at the celebration.
He really can't let his frail dongsaeng force himself to face troublesome things for others any longer.
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Wow I can't believe I wrote so much lol
I'll have to correct the mistakes later.
Does anyone have anything they want me to add or a suggestion on how I should take the story? ^^