The World Mistakes Me for Terminally Ill - Chapter 8

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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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The World Thinks I’m Terminally Ill Episode 008

3. Sharing One Bed

‘To catch a spring cold that even dragons don’t get.’

I was suffering under imperial confinement in bed, groaning in pain.

Whenever I tried to do anything, all sorts of people would pop out to stop me, so I ended up wrapped up like a roll in fluffy blankets.

‘I have so much to do, and at a time like this.’

It had been a month since I recalled the original story, so I had 2 years and 11 months left until the guillotine.

Thinking this was my remaining lifespan made my insides burn with urgency.

‘I need to quickly revive the declining Northern Region, make my in-laws the strongest, then teach those villains a lesson.’

Shubel in the original story was the strongest in the world after experiencing his awakening event.

With no one to protect behind him and nothing to worry about, he could freely swing his sword at the villains, but I was different.

‘Those faces are quite illustrious, after all.’

I swallowed a sigh while recalling the villains from the original story.

The masters of the Empire, the Erzell Imperial Family.

The puppet masters of the West, the Beatrice Ducal Family.

The head of the Dark Organization, Nine Tail.

‘Can I really take down all those people?’

I was briefly lost in doubt, then gave up because it didn’t suit me.

How would I know without trying? If I don’t even attempt it, I won’t have the right to regret it.

“Of course, that’s only possible after I recover…”

“What is possible, my lady?”

“It seems possible for me to beat you with a pillow for constantly popping up out of nowhere.”

When I glared at the seat next to me and spoke, Shubel chuckled softly and replaced the wet towel on my head with a fresh one.

“Please bear with it for now. Once you’re fully recovered, you can do whatever you want in bed.”

“Ah, don’t slip in strange words like that!”

“I’m not sure what you mean, my lady. Would you like to explain it to me directly?”

“Explain what!”

I glared at the main culprit who had me under imperial confinement, fuming.

Since that day when Shubel showed tears, things between us had become a bit strange.

More precisely, I had started treating him somewhat roughly.

The problem was that Shubel accepted it as if it were nothing.

Originally, there had been distance due to my rejection of the unfamiliar existence called ‘husband’ and the discrepancy with the original Shubel whose personality had gone AWOL, but that distance had suddenly shortened.

‘I feel like I’m getting drawn in somehow.’

Even while thinking this uneasily, whenever Shubel just smiled with his beautiful eyes, all my thoughts would completely fly away.

Just like now.

“Even if it’s frustrating, please endure just one more day. The doctor said that while the exact cause is unknown, there’s a high probability you coughed up blood due to excessive work and stress. So it’s important that you rest well.”

He, he knows what he’s doing, right? He knows he’s pretty and is doing this on purpose!

I grumbled internally but eventually nodded my head.

The next day, I got up and left my bed.

A desk piled high with work greeted me after just a few days of rest.

I first handled the urgent merchant guild business, then opened the estate report that investigated the overall current state of the Northern Region.

And I was left speechless for a while.

“…What kind of duchy is this?”

Food, transportation, finances, arts, public safety.

Every important aspect of the estate was plummeting.

I had never seen such a beautiful downward curve before.

“It wouldn’t be easy to do this on purpose either.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

I was particularly dumbfounded by the part stating that most of the estate’s residents made their living through domestic handicrafts.

No matter what, this was supposedly a duchy, yet even essentials like food and fabric were self-sufficient.

‘Still, fortunately, despite this backward situation, weapon crafting and smelting techniques are very advanced.’

If I utilize this point, wouldn’t there be a way for the Northern Region to somehow survive?

I glared at the report.

“This is driving me crazy.”

How do I normalize this?

I sighed while tugging at my brilliant blonde hair.

The Grand Duke’s Castle, which could be called the root of Lunein, was slowly starting to function properly, so now it was time to turn my attention to the estate, which was the soil.

For a giant tree that had been crouched for a hundred years to grow, fertile land was naturally necessary.

“What else can I do? I have to tackle it one by one.”

Grumbling, I wrote up order forms to send down to the Seten Trading Company branches throughout the Empire.

Fortunately, it was spring now, so fabric wasn’t urgent.

Then let’s fatten up the estate residents first. When the granary is full, people’s hearts follow.

When consumers’ wallets close, the market falls into a vicious cycle. Public sentiment is very important.

‘We’ve just started getting the engine running, so that can’t happen.’

So I processed the merchant guild documents that came up from throughout the Empire, and conversely ordered the goods needed in the Northern Region.

After working for a while, my neck became stiff, so I raised my head.

Then, as if he had been waiting, the figure sitting in the chair across from me smiled with his eyes.

“…What are you doing?”

“I was waiting to see when you might give me some attention, you could say.”

I asked with a sour expression.

“Do you have nothing to do? What about what I assigned you this morning?”

“If you mean the estate security report, it’s right here.”

I raised my eyebrows at the new report that was somehow neatly placed next to me.

When was this here?

I glanced at Shubel suspiciously, then picked it up.

I thoroughly checked the report with the intention of scolding him if anything was lacking.

But.

“…”

It was perfect. I couldn’t find anything to scold him about.

If he weren’t the heir to the Duchy, I would have wanted to scout him for the trading company.

When I made a displeased expression, a tickling laugh settled near my ear.

“You look somewhat disappointed, my lady.”

“Be quiet.”

It was a voice that made people feel strangely unsettled. Should I call it bewitching?

I closed the report with a sharp sound.

“I’m grateful for this, but that doesn’t mean you can enter a lady’s room as you please.”

“Well… this is my room, after all?”

That’s right.

It had been a month since I came to Lunein.

I was sharing a room with Shubel.

‘No! My residential freedom!’

Except for when I was young, I had never shared a room with anyone.

So even after marriage, I had nailed it into the contract that I would live at Seton Manor.

Unfortunately, the residential freedom I had demanded in the contract was a situation I had broken myself.

Even Bikal the butler committed the outrageous act of shoving all my luggage into Shubel’s room, saying ‘married couples naturally share one room.’

Eventually, Shubel’s former room was renamed with the hair-raising title of ‘marital bedroom.’

I spoke with unnecessary spite.

“So if you don’t want to hear things like this, we could just use separate rooms.”

Shubel pretended not to hear and changed the subject.

“The flowers that bloomed in the garden today were very beautiful. They look just like you.”

“What are you talking about? The Garden construction started ages ago. Where are there any flowers?”

“As expected, my lady knows everything. You’re truly amazing.”

I was getting annoyed.

“…I’m going to decorate everything in hot pink with tons of frills.”

Shubel smiled cheerfully.

“What’s yours is yours, and what’s mine is also yours. Please do whatever you like.”

What the hell is wrong with this guy?

I looked at him with a bewildered expression.

‘Is he really the same person as that cold-blooded protagonist from the original?’

What I’ve realized from sharing the same Room for a month is that Shubel is an incredibly colorless person.

He has no likes or dislikes about anything, no clear preferences, and is like a specimen of an elegant noble who could have stepped out of some classical poetry collection.

But does that make him look like the original protagonist who seemed somehow inhuman—

‘Not really.’

Look at him right now.

When I left the Room, Shubel came trailing after me.

I whirled around to look back.

Then Shubel, who had blinked his eyes as if momentarily surprised, smiled sweetly.

“Why are you following me?”

“I’m worried you might collapse again.”

He looked at me with an innocent face as if he was genuinely concerned.

That cold person is the same species as this guy who smiles whenever we make eye contact?

‘Even a dog would laugh.’

The original story is about Shubel, who lost everything due to false treason charges, executing revenge on the villains.

It’s basically a novel with an incredibly dry atmosphere and a protagonist with the taste of a stale sweet potato.

Since it wasn’t completed, I don’t know the entire story of the original Shubel, but—

“My lady?”

“If you’re going to keep following me, at least carry this.”

“Yes.”

Still, I can tell these two are completely different people.

I eventually gave up trying to shake off Shubel and moved around with him in tow.

“But Shubel. Don’t tell me all the clothes you have are colorless? That’s all I seem to have seen.”

“I like colorless things.”

“What a waste of such a handsome face with that taste.”

“Is my face handsome?”

“Are you kidding? You should apologize to all the other men in the world.”

A faint floral scent drifted in through the wide-open window.

It was a spring day.

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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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