An Ode to Divorce - Chapter 34
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#34
Anyway, I couldn’t go to a crowded gathering with Gert in this condition. I needed to make him rest before the situation got worse.
“Let’s just not go to the gathering today.”
“Why? Are you feeling sick or something?”
‘You’re the one who’s sick…’
It was absurd to see Gert looking at me with a worried expression instead.
It seemed he didn’t even realize he had a fever right now.
‘If I can feel it just sitting next to him, he must be feeling quite dizzy.’
But if I told Gert now that he had a fever and needed to rest, I could already see him jumping up and down, asking what I took him for and saying it was ridiculous to rest over something like this.
‘He’d probably claim he never rested even when a dragon bit him and he was bleeding profusely.’
Though I hadn’t shared a bed with Gert, we’d been living face to face for nearly three years now. I knew his reactions like the back of my hand.
Since convincing Gert would take quite a while, I decided to take drastic measures.
Namely, to just lie along with Gert’s misunderstanding. I sighed and tilted my head to the side.
“I’m not sick, I just don’t feel motivated today for some reason.”
“That can happen. Then just rest at home.”
“What about you?”
The way he said to rest was ambiguous. I immediately pressed Gert for clarification.
Sure enough, Gert said something ridiculous.
“I already said I’d attend, so I’m planning to go. If I listen to what topics come up today, I can tell you about them, can’t I?”
What was he talking about when he’d fall asleep as soon as the presentation started and wouldn’t hear anything?
I let out a deep sigh looking at Gert’s handsome face as he stared at me with a clueless expression, not knowing what the problem was.
This wouldn’t work.
Since Gert himself didn’t seem to know what condition he was in, if I sent him away like this and he wandered off somewhere strange, it would be a disaster.
Even if I earnestly begged Hilias, it would be the same. Hilias couldn’t control Gert after all.
If his condition worsened while wandering around with a fever, that would be the worst case scenario, and if he even ran into Lairinne on top of that, it would be even worse.
It would be better for me to just stubbornly hold onto him.
Anyway, as long as we reached the capital somehow, it didn’t matter how.
Whether I made him rest at Gert’s estate or at our house, as long as I could make Gert rest, that’s all that mattered.
I quickly grabbed Gert’s arm.
“Don’t go either, just stay with me. Anyway, someone of your status wouldn’t have any big problems skipping a banquet without notice.”
I was worried about what to do if Gert insisted on going alone even after I said this, but fortunately Gert obediently followed my lead into the manor.
I quickly gestured to Berta to send someone away and dragged Gert toward the stairs.
Normally he would have asked where we were going and stridden purposefully toward the destination.
Seeing him slowly being led by my hand, it seemed his reactions were definitely dulled from the rising fever.
‘Ah, he’s really heavy.’
Though Gert obediently followed along as I directed, that didn’t mean I wasn’t exerting any effort to pull him along.
His arm was so heavy that just grabbing and pulling it was exhausting.
‘How dare he make me lift something heavier than Lira!’
***
Having barely reached the second floor, I was panting like someone who had carried a log upstairs.
Gert still blinked his eyes blankly, not understanding what was happening. While Gert was standing there dazed, I pushed him into my bedroom.
“Lie down.”
“What?”
“Lie down on the bed. Take off your shoes. Take off your coat.”
When I spoke in a firm tone, Gert obediently followed my words without understanding why.
I stared blankly at one boot that had lost to gravity and collapsed on the floor. Though they were boots that came up to Gert’s calves, if I wore them, they would probably come up to my knees and still have room for both feet.
Gert soon lay down on the bed awkwardly in a stiff position.
Seeing Gert obey my words like this gave me the strange feeling of a monster or beast I’d encountered in the wild suddenly showing me the top of its head instead of its teeth.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I covered Gert with a blanket and patted him.
‘The situation is opposite from before.’
Last time when Gert came to my bedroom, he had tried to force me to lie down on the bed. Looking at Gert lying quietly on the bed now felt strange.
After resting a bit like that, perhaps he regained his senses momentarily, as Gert’s blank eyes suddenly came into focus. Of course, it wasn’t a good situation for me. As soon as he came to his senses, he started objecting.
“Wait, you were the one who said you were tired.”
“That was a lie.”
I pushed against Gert’s chest as he tried to sit up and replied calmly. As soon as my hand touched him, his body was pushed back down onto the bed.
I clicked my tongue and brushed aside the disheveled bangs on Gert’s forehead, then pressed my hand to his forehead. As expected, my palm felt hot.
“Do you know you have a fever right now?”
“…This is a fever? I did think it was a bit warm.”
“How can you not know that? Have you never had a fever in your life? From the aftermath of madness, or while detoxifying poison?”
“I’ve only ever experienced headaches so far.”
“Demigods are really infuriating.”
I grumbled and flicked Gert’s forehead with my finger. But I immediately regretted it. My finger hurt too much!
Meanwhile, Gert had a calm expression as if nothing had happened.
What was the point of being jealous of a demigod’s body? I sighed and got up from my seat.
“Normally when you have a fever, you need to rest a bit. I’ll go tell Hilias that you’re resting here today, so you just rest here.”
“…Isn’t this your bedroom? If I rest here, what about you?”
Earlier he had followed me like a baby duck without knowing where I was taking him, but it seemed he had belatedly grasped the situation.
It wasn’t like I was happy to have my bedroom taken over by Gert either. But there was no choice.
“Now that I think about it, this manor only has a bed big enough for your body in my room.”
The guest room bed wasn’t small either, but it wasn’t as big as my bedroom’s.
Since this was originally Gert’s manor, the bedroom furniture seemed to have been fitted assuming Gert would stay here. Since I also liked big beds, I didn’t bother changing the furniture and just used it as is, but I never knew it would come in handy like this.
“The other bedrooms are sufficient too. It’s not like I can’t lie down in them.”
“That’s funny. You might not know since you’re a demigod, but humans have reached a social consensus that having your calves dangling out of the bed is generally considered unable to lie down properly.”
“…I could sleep curled up a bit.”
“No matter what, I wouldn’t tell a sick person to sleep all scrunched up. It’s not like I can’t give up my bedroom to a sick person.”
Not wanting to continue listening to this fever-drunk rambling, I was about to leave. I planned to inform Hilias of Gert’s situation while asking Berta for a wet towel.
As I turned my back, something with strong force wrapped around my wrist. When I looked back, Gert was holding onto my arm.
“Why? Do you have some other request? If you need anything, just say so.”
Uncharacteristically for him, Gert couldn’t readily speak and just moved his mouth a few times.
Though I had a short patience span, I was prepared to be somewhat generous with Gert, who had provided quite a lot for me.
After all, an artist’s career is long when they stay in good favor with their patron.
How much time passed like that?
Gert slowly began to speak.
“…A song.”
“A song?”
“Could you sing me a song?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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