Chapter Eighty Four: Something He Should Express More As She Could Not See It (2)
It hadn't been long since his fever went down, but he already went out without proper clothes. Firstly, Chloe put the shawl she was wearing around her husband's shoulders.
And she took her weeping husband into the mansion.
"His fever has gone down, and his consciousness has... returned, so no need to worry."
The doctor said after examining Gerard. He hesitated for a moment in the middle of his words but skillfully swallowed his bewilderment.
It's not that he was going to say bad things, but the Marquis of Blanchett's condition was a bit weird.
"No, honey. Let go of me."
"...I don't wanna. Where are you going?"
The doctor didn't know where to look due to the Marquis' hug.
"We're fine, so you all can go now."
Then, the Marquis lifted his gaze and spoke to the doctor and the old butler. Although his tone was polite, it was clearly coated with a hint of satisfaction.
"As you can see, my current condition is not fit, so let the butler see you off this time."
"Oh... Sure."
The doctor and the old butler turned around after exchanging goodbyes while stuttering a few times. Chloe felt her face warm.
Thunk!
Chloe scolded Gerard after everyone went out and they were left alone.
"What's with you, honestly?"
Gerard hugged Chloe tightly despite her exasperated burst. He was very content with just having her gaze on him as if he was a fool.
"I had..."
"?"
"I had such a vivid dream."
Holding his wife in his arms gradually brought a sense of reality to him. Things he had gone through were merely a dream. Regardless of how vivid that dream was, it was still a dream that would vanish after he woke up.
"A dream? What did you dream about?"
Chloe asked while patting his arms around her waist. She noticed his hands were shaking faintly.
"I dreamed about how foolish I was and lost you."
Yes, it wasn't the dream about how heartless Chloe had abandoned him, but how his foolish self lost her.
And he would never act like Gerard in the book. Never.
"It was awful and scary."
He rubbed his cheeks against her shoulders as if telling her about what he was thinking.
"That you and Abel left me. I didn't know what to do..."
Chloe looked up at him at the feeling of his hot breath on her shoulder. Her husband was crying again.
"It's fine, it was a dream."
Chloe turned to face Gerard and wiped his tears away. She was a bit bewildered and distressed because she had never seen her husband cry like this before.
Gerard Blanchett, who was cunning, didn't miss the opportunity provided by his wife. He rubbed his face against her hand.
"Yes, I just realized it was... a dream now."
Gerard shuddered slightly as he said that. The terribly vivid emotion of sorrow and despair he felt before came to his mind again.
"It felt so real back then. I couldn't resist not reading the strange book, and I had to keep reading it..."
"What?"
Chloe cut off Gerard and asked.
"What did you just say?"
"You had to read a book that you couldn't resist not reading it?"
"..."
Chloe felt goosebumps form all over her body.
'No way...'
She wondered why he overreacted to a mere dream. If her husband had the same dream as her, it wasn't unreasonable for him to act like this.
"Please explain it in more detail."
She demanded, becoming more serious.
"In the dream, you... left me and ran away, then I found you six years later."
"..."
"But Herace Moore was beside you, Abel in his arms."
Gerard described the last scene he witnessed.
"Why? Why did I leave you?"
"About that..."
Gerard frowned at Chloe's question.
"So, you went back to the past... um."
Gerard's mind went blank for a moment. The feelings and thoughts that he had were crystal clear, but he couldn't remember the contents of the book in his dream properly.
The last scene was the only one wandering in his mind. Gerard felt like he was trying to recall fading memories.
Knock, knock.
A soft knock rang through the room.
"Father! Mother!"
Abel came when he heard his father had woken up. He had just woken up so his appearance was quite disheveled, but he still looked lovely.
"Father!"
Abel ran to Gerard and hugged him.
"Abel!"
Gerard pulled Abel, who was running towards him, into his arms.
"Are you not sick anymore, Father?"
The child asked while touching his father's face with his small hand.
Abel seemed to be concerned because it was the first time he saw his father get sick. The child was doing what he used to do to his mother.
"Yes, I'm not sick anymore."
"I missed you, Father,"
Abel said while circling his arms around Gerard's neck. The adults didn't let him come near his father, who suffered from a fever.
"...Me, too. I also missed you so much, my son."
Gerard finally felt like he could breathe. In the book, Abel looked at him with eyes filled with fear and terror. He ended up sobbing hard.
However, his son was now looking at him with eyes full of affection.
He was finally back where he was supposed to be.
He kissed his son's cheek. He couldn't get over this emotion without expressing his excitement.
Unlike the delightful father and son, Chloe had a frown on her face.
'Did he really have the same dream as me?'
The dream that her husband explained was very similar to the dream she had eight years ago.
'That day when I read all the books in my dream... I think I was also sick.'
Chloe clasped her hands together while getting lost in her thoughts.
Then, Gerard and Abel looked at her.
"Chloe, what's wrong?"
"Mother?"
The two men that Chloe loved were staring into her face. She hastily controlled her expression.
"No, it's nothing... Are you hungry, by the way?"
Chloe decided to conceal her fear for now.
That he had the same dream as her.
That the future would proceed as written in the book inside their dreams.
'I'm not sure. Perhaps it won't.'
She hoped her husband's dream was not about that, and realized she couldn't do anything other than suppress her feelings.
***
After the Marquis of Blanchett suffered a severe fever, the Marquis and his wife acted strange.
Anyone who knew the Blanchett couple would probably agree with that statement.
Firstly, they never left Blanchett's mansion.
The Marquis of Blanchett didn't go to work at the Imperial Palace, receiving reports at home about the Imperial Knights. And the Marchioness of Blanchett wasn't like her usual self at all.
Even though it was the social season, she didn't show up to social gatherings.
And things they did every night. The Blanchett couple would sleep until the sun rose high in the sky.
According to one of the staff at the Blanchett mansion, the Blanchett couple had been spending a lot of time together recently. No, to be exact, the Lord was chasing the Lady.
And it was exactly as they said.
During the day, Gerard wouldn't leave Chloe's side. When she was enjoying her tea, he would sit beside her and feed her cookies, and he would also flip the page for her when she read a book.
And at night.
The light in the bedroom where the Blanchett couple rested didn't go out, and whoever passed by the room would hear their unending conversations.
They have been having a lot of fun sharing personal stories recently. Childhood, preferences, dislikes, disappointments, and future plans.
It was amazing that they found something to talk about the more they talked.
"I hated green eyes when I was young to the point that I cut out all the green eyed characters in books."
Gerard told his story naturally. It was difficult to bring up at first, but it flowed smoothly once he started.
He eventually brought up the story his wife was curious about.
"...Honey."
Chloe looked at Gerard, who was lying beside her with her eyes wide open. She knew they were at odds, but she never thought it was that bad.
She wondered if she just made the wound worse by asking him to tell her this. She understood his actions and felt a bit resentful towards her mother-in-law.
"Why on earth did you think like that? Your eyes are the prettiest in the world."
Chloe lifted her hand while tracing the corners of her husband's eyes. Gerard smiled fondly at her touch. Her wife's lower lip, which was pouting in misery, made him laugh despite his gloomy story.
"Really? Do you really think so?"
"Of course."
"I don't think so."
Gerard mischievously objected.
"What?"
"I suddenly recall a young Lady bragging that her eyes are the prettiest in the world."
"Which young Lady?"
Chloe didn't get her husband's words and tilted her head.
"Oh, you must have not remembered. That young Lady of Roem?"
"What? have I ever said that?"
"If not, would I lie to you, my Lady?"
Gerard continued with eyes closed.
"What did you say? They're the most beautiful blue color in the world that even Karina was jealous of you..."
"!"
Chloe raised her hand to cover Gerard's mouth.
"S-stop talking. I get it."
When the h*ll did she say that? Was it on the night she got drunk?
It was when Chloe tried to recall the memories in the back of her mind.
Gerard kissed the palm of Chloe's hand. The tickling gesture brought Chloe back to her senses and she pulled her palm away.
"I didn't realize it back then... but I think I do now."
"What..."
"You were right. They are really the most beautiful blue color in the world."
Gerard made eye contact with Chloe while saying so. He whispered in a very low voice to her, who was motionless.
"I love you, Chloe."
He confessed his love at every opportunity lately. As if it was now or never.
Due to that, Chloe experienced that love could be soft and warm.
It was amazing to be able to feel it even though she couldn't see it.
The night was long anyway, and they still had a lot of stories to share with each other.
***