I Married a Sick Husband

“But what is this promise thing?”

 

Meredith then asked what she was curious about.

 

“You never promised to paint me a portrait.”

 

“That’s right. I made it up.”

 

“No way… in order for you to come to the parlour today, you…?”

 

Meredith was taken aback.

 

“You’re taking it too seriously. Besides, I wasn’t alone with Prince Fabian today.”

 

“Indeed, that is a very good attitude. I noticed it and I was very happy about it.”

 

“I didn’t know you were thinking about that.”

 

Meredith shook her head.

 

“Even if the prince has evil intentions towards me, what could he possibly do in that situation?”

 

‘He can play a lot of tricks.’

 

That was what he really wanted to say, but Theodore just swallowed the words down his throat and said something else instead.

 

“Anyway, there’s no harm in being more careful.”

 

“Don’t worry. As the Empress, I will never do anything that would lead to gossip.”

 

“……”

 

“Is that what you’re worried about?”

 

“… what.”

 

Theodore answered vaguely.

 

“I believe you will handle such a problem well.”

 

“Of course. Still, I’m glad that you trust me.”

 

Meredith smiled and changed the topic.

 

“Well, then… May I know why you haven’t painted anything all these years?”

 

Meredith had been very curious about it and she had been wanting to ask him about it for a while now.

 

“When I heard about it earlier, it felt as if… as if there was some sort of a special reason behind it.”

 

“Indeed, there’s…s a reason behind it.”

 

Unconsciously, Theodore’s expression sank.

 

“If it’s a story, is it a story?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“My mother.”

 

Theodore confessed calmly.

 

“She died because of a painting that I had painted.”

 

When Meredith heard his words, she was quite shocked, although she didn’t show it on her face.

 

‘… I never imagined that there would be such a reason behind it.’

 

At that moment, Meredith felt embarrassed but only her lips twitched.

 

“So, I haven’t attempted painting since then.”

 

His confession continued.

 

“And then, painting, I felt terrible about it.”

 

Watching Theodore speak that casually, Meredith felt a sense of déjà vu.

 

‘…Somehow, I am no different from him.’

 

While talking about her experience of bearing the abuse from the Duchess of Schwartz and narrating the story of her mother’s death— every single time, she guessed that she had done that.

 

So, this must have been how he felt when he looked at her.

 

‘Was that why he treated me more kindly?’

 

She felt sorry for him because he resembled her a lot.

 

She kept looking at him.

 

And as she did that, her heart kept wandering off.

 

What was it? Sympathy? Compassion? Or a sense of kinship?

 

Perhaps, somewhere in between.

 

Meredith swallowed hard.

 

‘What really happened to you?’

 

The painting he had painted led to the death of his mother.

 

That one sentence was too vague to allow her to guess anything.

 

Meredith couldn’t fathom anything from it.

 

She was also wary of even guessing things.

 

However, she did know a few things. Some things he had once told her echoed in her mind—

 

‘I can’t do things like love.’

 

‘I have never received it nor given it.’

 

His childhood may not have been as happy as she had previously thought.

 

He had become so numb and worn down by his wounds that he could calmly speak of his terrible experiences.

 

And…

 

‘If you were going to tell me about it, you already would have.’

 

From what it looked like, he didn’t have any intention of sharing it yet.

 

So, this time, Meredith didn’t try to dig too deep.

 

Until he took the initiative of telling her on his own, it would be cruel and violent to ask about it.

 

‘… It is important to keep my distance well.’

 

Especially in business relationships like the one with Theodore.

 

If they got too close, something would definitely happen.

 

But didn’t she want something too intimate with him, like now?

 

So, Meredith changed the topic faster than ever.

 

“So, do you want to paint in the parlour every day?”

 

“…..”

 

Theodore could not answer right away, perhaps because he was surprised by Meredith’s attitude.

 

Was he expecting her to ask for more details?

 

Did that mean that he was ready to answer?

 

“… yes.”

 

Before the silence stayed for too long, he finally opened his mouth and answered.

 

“Exactly like what I told Fabian. That way there won’t be anything to worry about back-and-forth.”

 

“It will definitely have an effect.”

 

“Are you uncomfortable?”

 

“What?”

 

“I’ll be visiting you every day.”

 

“What’s uncomfortable about it? I am the one who sleeps in the same bed with Your Majesty every night.”

 

Meredith smiled as if it was nothing new.

 

“But you probably have a lot of work to do and little time…”

 

Meredith asked with concern on her face.

 

“I don’t know if you can manage.”

 

“You don’t have to worry about that. Because I have enough time.”

 

After saying that, Theodore smiled refreshingly.

 

“For the time being, you will meet me both at night and during the day.”

 

And Meredith, who unexpectedly saw his smile, couldn’t help but pause without realising it.

 

‘… My heart is more uncomfortable than anything else right now.’

 

As she felt her heart beat rapidly, Meredith realised the seriousness of the situation.

 

‘My heart beats strangely fast these days.’

 

At first, she thought it was just a temporary phenomenon.

 

When one is under stress, the heart may beat faster.

 

It could also happen if one didn’t sleep well.

 

‘But it’s too frequent these days.’

 

If she thought about it carefully, the same phenomenon had repeated earlier in the parlour too.

 

It was never desirable to let such symptoms prolong.

 

‘I need to visit the doctor sometime soon.’

 

Now that she had thought about it, it had been quite a while since she had been examined by a doctor.

 

Sorcerors rarely treated minor illnesses due to their basic vitality.

 

So, it was very rare for Meredith to go to the doctor.

 

‘But one shouldn’t be too careless and only trust in your vitality.’

 

In fact, there were many therapists who found out too late that they had developed a serious illness.

 

She had heard that in the end, they met death without any help.

 

‘But I’m still young, so it won’t be a problem.’

 

Meredith told herself not to worry too much about it.

 

“Thanks to you, I think a complete recovery is not far away.”

 

And she smiled the same way at Theodore.

 

‘Yes, this relationship isn’t so bad right now.’

 

Their current relationship was that of a helper who maintained the appropriate line.

 

But Meredith was too focused on not hurting him further that she had overlooked the most important fact.

 

‘So I stopped drawing after that day. Painting has become a terrible thing.’

 

But, why did he pick up painting once again if he felt that terrible about it?

 

Who made him pick up that terrible brush again?

 

***

 

After that, time passed calmly.

 

Every afternoon, Fabian and Theodore gathered in Meredith’s drawing room.

 

And although the portrait drawing session was quite tense, there were no major incidents like assassins barging in or almost poisoning.

 

Everything felt quite peaceful to Meredith.

 

“… I can’t do this anymore.”

 

Of course, this was only the case with Meredith.

 

“I feel like my eyes are falling out.”

 

It had been exactly one month since Catarina had arrived at the monastery.

 

“I think my wrist will fall off too. How long do I have to do this?”

 

Catarina was, in a word, experiencing a living hell.

 

“Transcription is a part of practising asceticism, Sister Catarina.”

 

The nun in charge admonished Catarina in a stern voice.

 

“Write as if you have mastered each and every detail in your head.”

 

“How do I learn everything from this thick Bible?”

 

“If you accept it with your heart, you will be able to fully learn it.”

 

“Ha, so I guess you’ve mastered this?”

 

“Of course. I have memorised it all.”

 

Aaaah!

Catarina’s eyes grew so big that it almost seemed like they would pop out soon.

 

“This… you have memorised everything?”

 

The Bible that Catarina was currently copying was about the width of an adult woman’s hand.

 

Catarina was convinced that the nun in charge was lying to her.

 

If she could memorise the whole book, then she had to be a genius.

 

“How did you memorise everything? Are you kidding me?”

 

“I’m not. I memorised every page.”

 

“Ha, you’re lying!”

 

“If you don’t believe me, ask me anything.”

 

“Good!”

 

As if Catarina wanted to take a look, she looked randomly from the previous page and asked a question.

 

“What is the fifth verse on page 125?”

 

“May all life born on this earth be blessed under the grace of our merciful and benevolent Lord Valtejain.”

 

… It was right.

 

Catarina was momentarily embarrassed.

 

“… It’s from the previous page, and it’s a famous phrase.”

 

“Then ask from the later pages.”

 

Catarina opened the relatively latter part and asked a question.

 

“Page 1129, verse 48.”

 

“Only obey our Lord Valtejain. His words are the light that reveals destiny, and His will is the truth that moves the universe.”

 

“… Oh my God, this is ridiculous!”

 

“It makes sense.”

 

The nun retorted calmly.

 

“I copied this Bible every day for thirty years. So, if Sister Catarina does the same…”

 

“Thirty years? That’s nonsense!”

 

Catarina screamed as if she was horrified to even think about it.

 

“I don’t plan on rotting here for even three months, let alone thirty years! If you’re going to say such foolish things…!”

 

“Sister Catarina.”

 

At that time, someone approached Catarina, who was yelling.

 

Catarina, who couldn’t hide her temper as she snorted, flinched out of habit, fearing that someone had come to lecture her.

 

Because if she couldn’t control her anger and made a fuss, she was scolded more than once.

 

‘I need to apologise briefly before things become more troublesome.’