Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father

Chapter 42

The hand Aedis placed over my head was gentle.

He seemed worried that I might break at the gentlest of touches, but I wasn’t in bed because I was a patient. I was in bed because it was cold.

My body was relaxed, and as my eyelashes fluttered, I seemed to hear a soft laugh.

“It’s nice.”

He seemed to know that I had a mild fever yesterday.

Although he looked like a devil, his words were affectionate.

I must have dozed off because when I opened my eyes, Aedis was sitting, looking at me when I opened my eyes. He was in the same position as before.

“Are you awake?” he asked.

‘Wait, What? When did I fall asleep?’

“What time is it?”

“Almost noon.”

Noon?!

I could hardly believe it, so I checked for myself.

There were five minutes left before noon.

Oh, gosh. I had wanted to sleep for about 30 seconds at most, but I ended up sleeping for nearly five hours.

“Did you cast a sleeping spell on me?”

“Nobody I’ve ever put to sleep has ever opened their eyes again, so no.”

‘That’s murder.’

I curiously looked at Aedis, and as I rose from the bed, I glanced out the window.

The quiet scenery, just after the blizzard had ended, seemed to be straight out of a painting.

“Did the snow stop?”

“Would you like to go out?”

I checked how I felt first. I didn’t have a headache, and the ache had disappeared. Actually, I was a little hungry.

“I don’t know when it’ll start snowing again, so I’ll eat something light.”

Aedis called in the butler.

As directed, he brought simple foods before he told Aedis his report for the day.

There was one peculiar comment amongst his report.

“There is a large number of employees who have claimed to hear a strange sound when passing by the bell tower, so I’ll go check it myself.”

I stopped eating the soup and asked, “What sound are they hearing?”

“Supposedly the sound of a small dog.”

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

I never had a pet before, so I couldn’t quite understand.

Aedis’s expression remained stoic as he put a small piece of torn bread in my mouth.

“I will report back after investigating the matter.”

Aedis kept pushing food into my mouth, oblivious to the butler.

“Eve, the spirit you chose.”

‘Wait! Let me swallow!’

Aedis waited patiently.

“Gargoyles?”

“I have to tell you something about him.”

After I swallowed a piece of soft bread, Aedis served me a piece of salmon.

Although the meal appeared to be simple, it certainly felt like I was eating a whole meal.

When I was full and refused to eat anything else, someone knocked on the door.

Based on the sound, it wasn’t the butler.

“Her-Her Highness? Are you there?”

Regen?!

“Lord?”

My eyes widened. This was the first time Regen had come to visit me on his own.

My shock was almost tangible.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course! Come in.”

I anxiously watched the door open.

Regen stuck his head in.

“Hello, Father.”

Regen swallowed his saliva before shutting the door behind him. He looked at me in worry.

“Your Highness, are you in a lot of pain?”

It seemed that Regen had misunderstood as well.

“I’m okay.”

“But you skipped breakfast…”

“I’m sorry. I overslept. Have you been waiting?” I explained.

“Oh, no! The butler told me in advance. I was just…worried about Your Highness,” Regen said, sweating profusely.

Perhaps he didn’t want to run away yet because I was sick.

That would be good.

“The nanny said that if someone stays with a patient when they’re sick, they’ll recover much faster. So…I…If I stand by Your…Your Highness…”

“Today?”

“Yes. Today.”

I suppressed my laughter and declined gently, Do not worry about me and have fun. Sir Procyon promised to give you a sled ride.”

Regen was startled. “I can ride the sled next time. Your Highness is more precious to me than sledding.”

Regen lied with a face that showed regret.

If Sarah saw this, she would have fallen because it was cute.

“But Mrs. Theresa says you have one break once a month. Can you wait until next month?

“…Of course!”

His answer was delayed.

Regen didn’t seem to be good at lying.

“If the Lord is okay, then I understand. Please stay close to me.”

“Oh, yes! I will never fall!”

After a quick answer, Regen soon sat down on the chair.

‘Oops. You’ll have to get up again anyway.’

As I placed my outerwear over my body, Regen looked at me in confusion.

“Your Highness?”

“Actually, the snow stopped, so I was thinking of going out to get some air. The Lord will come with me, right?”

“Oh uh, but…”

“I’m really fine. It would be difficult to ride a sled, but I’ll do my best to cheer you from behind.”

If he didn’t believe this again, I thought of running in front of Aedis and Regen.

I couldn’t even guess how cold it would be outside of here, so I put on my fur hat and gloves.

Unlike me, who was thoroughly armed, Aedis, wearing only one coat, protruded a smaller sphere than the one given in the bell tower. Inside, there was an ember that sparked like a fish.

When I put it in my arms, it became very warm.

Okay, this could last 10 minutes.

When I stood in front of the castle gate, I was nervous for a while, but it was not enough to want to run away like the night I went to the bell tower.

Even without a handful of sunlight, it was better than night.

With most of the snow already removed, my feet didn’t sink completely into the snow.

The employees who wandered around the castle were familiar with the bipolar weather.

The attendants who cleared the snow at high speed insisted on bare feet, saying that they hated getting wet when the snow got inside their shoes.

Looking at this scene, Mrs. Terissa, who had a cold, felt weak.

And me too.

I stared at Regen running to the back of the castle in search of Procyon with my envious eyes.

Even Regen said it was hot and had loosened his outerwear.

“If I take root in this place, will I be able to conquer the cold one day? I don’t want much. It would be nice if I could just roll around thirty laps in the snow with a naked body and laugh.”

“The wife feels a spirit of challenge in such a strange place.”

Procyon was seen as I wandered around while chatting with my husband.

“Your Highness! My Lord!”

He happily stopped. Only his eyes were shining because Aedis hated his prolonged greetings.

I had thought about it many times, but was Procyon’s previous life a retriever?

Anyway, with that innocent personality, it would be difficult to be hated anywhere.

He had ten male brothers, but no one condemned Procyon. Enough said.

“Did you see my sleigh? Yes?”

Procyon pointed to the sled he had placed next to him. A sled with the name Pegasus was shown off gracefully against a snowy field.

Secondly, I didn’t like the name, and the sleigh was big enough for Santa Claus to carry gifts. It was like a roofless carriage.

He called his elder brother, who worked at the tower, and said that he applied the magic to him, so it would be much more precious than a normal carriage.

It was worthy of knowing why Regen waited for Mrs.Teresa’s day off. If the temperature had been a little higher, I would have tried…

Regen entered the Pegasus and took a seat. Procyon skillfully drove the sled.

“Then we are going!”

‘Have fun, little ones.’