I Woke Up from Hibernation and Found a Husband - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16
‘Is my body feeling unwell?’
The moment Claire opened her eyes that morning, she felt her entire body dragging with an unfamiliar heaviness.
‘Am I getting sick?’
Her expression clouded with bewilderment. In the past five years, Claire had never caught a cold even once. And now, of all times—when three meals a day were being provided and the weather was beginning to warm—to suddenly feel this malaise?
‘That can’t be right.’
Claire chose denial.
‘It’s just fatigue. I heard such shocking things after meeting Angela, after all.’
It was true that since learning those rumors about the Young Master’s father being a scoundrel, Claire had lost sleep for quite some time, consumed by unease.
She’d even asked Angela to conduct further investigations. Now she dragged her sluggish feet toward the Kitchen.
“I’ve come to collect the meal.”
“Oh, here you go—wait?”
The Cook, who had been presenting the food, froze and furrowed his brow.
“You look half-dead. Don’t come into the Kitchen while you’re sick with a cold.”
At his words, Claire blinked slowly before responding, a beat too late.
“I’ve never caught a cold.”
“That’s ridiculous. Your face right now—”
Crack.
In that instant, a fissure spiderwebbed across the wall where Claire had been gripping it. The Cook recalled what had happened when he’d been dragged into the Food Storage and hiccupped.
“H-hic. I must have been mistaken. Hic. You look perfectly fine.”
Claire regarded him coldly, then gathered the meal and turned to leave the Kitchen.
‘Making such a fuss over a little fatigue.’
The trolley felt unusually heavy today, but she ignored it. The rising heat she attributed to the warming weather, and instead quickened her pace.
‘I’m not sick.’
As she walked through the Corridor with a foggy mind, memories of five years ago—the last time she’d been ill—surfaced.
Not long after Angela had left to work, a terrible fever had come. Delirious from the heat, Claire had been unable to move, lying dead-still in bed for four days without even eating.
‘Compared to that, this is nothing.’
What had tormented her most then wasn’t the raging fever or the burning thirst, but the emptiness.
In the Cabin where only the sound of wind from outside could be heard, alone in that desolate silence, sorrow would well up inside her in waves. It had been so terrible that Claire had resolved never to be sick again.
“I’ve brought your meal.”
The moment she opened the door, a fist came flying. With her dulled reflexes, Claire took the punch to her shoulder for the first time.
‘Ah, right.’
It didn’t hurt much, but she resented herself for momentarily forgetting Theodore’s madness. She grabbed both his wrists with a weary expression.
“Let go of this!”
He shouted with wide eyes, but her ears had already begun to feel muffled, as if the sound were reaching her from underwater.
“Yes, I’ll tidy up and release you shortly.”
Claire began wrapping Theodore, subdued by the blanket as usual. With each layer of the fluffy quilt wrapped around him, his movements diminished.
‘Ah, so comfortable.’
Half-perched on the bed to restrain him, Claire suddenly noticed how remarkably plush Theodore’s mattress was. Compared to the cheap beds in the Cabin or the Lodging, it felt as cozy as touching a cloud.
‘The blanket is incredibly soft too.’
Even the blanket touching my fingertips felt different. When I’d used it merely as a tool, I’d given it no thought, but today it felt impossibly soft.
‘I just want to sleep here.’
My head, heavy as if submerged in water, demanded rest. I found myself caught in deliberation.
‘Should I lie down for just a moment? Only until the Young Master regains his senses. Then I can get up and prepare his meal.’
My fever-addled mind undermined reason. Confirming that Theodore was completely subdued, I curled up beside him.
‘So comforting.’
As the soft sensation enveloped my body, the throbbing in my head seemed to ease. From beside me came the sound of Theodore’s rough breathing. Though he exhaled with something of a threatening snort, to me it appeared almost endearing.
‘This is the first time I’ve heard breathing from right beside me.’
For someone who had lived alone, the breathing audible from so close was both strange and fascinating. The cozy blanket, the rhythmic breathing—despite my efforts to resist sleep, I gradually surrendered to slumber.
* * *
“Mmm.”
Reason returned. The sourceless rage slowly faded, and my mind grew clear. The moment I felt this, Theodore’s eyes snapped open.
“Claire!”
I struck her with my fist. In my hazy memories, only that remained vivid.
‘I… I hit Claire.’
Overwhelmed by surging guilt, I turned my head urgently to search for her.
“Huh?”
My body went rigid. The moment I turned, Claire’s face was right before me.
‘So close.’
My face flushed rapidly. We were near enough to feel each other’s breath. This was the first time I’d seen Claire from such proximity. Her skin, a healthy tan. Her long, pink-tinted eyelashes. Her red lips. Everything was far too close.
‘Wait. Something’s wrong.’
Her forehead was damp with cold sweat. Her body trembled intermittently. I realized at once that she was ill.
‘She seems to have a fever.’
Without waking Claire, I exerted myself desperately to escape the cocoon of blankets. After a struggle lasting some ten minutes, I emerged from the bedding drenched in sweat, my expression exhausted.
‘How did she manage to wrap it so tightly even while sick?’
I pushed the blanket aside and examined Claire. Her condition seemed quite poor—she remained asleep despite my movements.
I hesitated before gently placing my hand on her forehead.
‘She’s burning up.’
As expected, her body was absolutely scorching.
‘If she’s this ill, she should rest. Yet she insists on working even on a day like this.’
With a troubled expression, I laid her properly on the bed. I hastily retrieved water from the trolley, dampened a cotton cloth, and placed it on Claire’s forehead.
‘I should have the physician examine her first.’
I was about to rise and summon someone after wiping Claire’s neck with the remaining cloth when—
“Mmm…”
Claire grasped my wrist as I tried to rise from the bed.
“Claire?”
I called her name in alarm, but it seemed an unconscious action—her eyes remained firmly shut.
‘I can’t summon anyone if she won’t let go.’
I was carefully trying to pry her hand loose when—
“Don’t go.”
Her eyes fluttered open halfway. Whether from the heat-induced haze or simple drowsiness, her gaze lacked focus and seemed distant, yet she was unmistakably looking at Theodore.
“Don’t go.”
Her trembling voice pleaded so desperately that Theodore abandoned his attempt to leave the room and sat back down instead. He couldn’t bring himself to pry away the hands clinging to him like a lifeline.
“I’ll stay here. Rest easy.”
Theodore extended one hand while awkwardly patting her back with the other. Reassured by the rhythmic motion, Claire sank deeper into slumber.
* * *
Refreshed.
My body felt considerably lighter. I opened my eyes with a languid yawn.
‘What time is it?’
Still disoriented from the long sleep, I momentarily mistook this place for my Lodging. But the instant I realized the hand I was holding belonged to Theodore, alarm seized me, and my reflexes propelled me off the bed with explosive force.
“Claire?!”
“My apologies!”
I landed perfectly and bowed my head urgently.
‘I’ve lost my mind. I actually fell asleep. Looking outside, it’s nearly sunset.’
I had come to attend breakfast and slept straight through until evening. As a model maid, I was utterly disqualified. Like a child who had botched a long-prepared exam, I lifted my head slowly, only to find Theodore staring at me with an expression of utter shock.
“Young Master?”
“What is that?”
As confusion crossed my face, Theodore asked in a trembling voice. Following his gaze, I raised my hand to my head.
Fluffy bear ears met my fingertips.
“Oh.”
Perched atop my bright pink hair were two round, soft brown ears. We stood in silence, facing each other.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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