A Stepmother's Marchen

Chapter 31

It wasn’t easy to watch Jeremy groaning from high fever with red spots spreading from near the nape of his neck to his whole body.

I couldn’t help being scared even though I knew when he would get better.

How ironic it is to see the future best knight helpless in front of a disease.

While I was stuck with Jeremy all day, Elias and the twins also seemed frightened and completely depressed.

The long-awaited quietness came to the Marquis, but the air was more unstable.

Why did I want my children to be decent before? Now, I want life to come back to the mansion.

“…Shuri, are you there…?”

“Yes. I’m here.”

“I’m dying…? I think I’m dying.”

“Don’t be silly. Why are you dying?”

“Right. I can’t see you being upset.”

You know, when one gets sick, their mind becomes young.

Jeremy muttered from time to time. He kept falling asleep and waking up often, consumed by the terrible fever.

In the end, with his tired eyes and strangely desperate expression, he even talked about things he would never talk about normally and what happened before my husband died.

“It’s not that I didn’t like you… ..I was just jealous that my father seemed to like you more than us.”

“It’s okay now. I don’t care if you didn’t like me.”

“I hated you for using my mother’s room…But, actually, I don’t even remember my mother’s face. What does my mother look like…? Shuri, you know…?”

I kneeled by the bed, put my arms under the covers and held the boy’s warm hand tightly.

Poor boy, a boy of an age who desperately needed his real parents… but I was the only one here.

As I did in the past, I leaned over his golden hair soaked in cold sweat and kissed his pale forehead.

“Now I’m your mother. Can you remember my face instead…?”

Jeremy glanced at my face with his out of focus dark green eyes, but then he closed his arms around my neck and whispered in a heavy voice, “Let the fever go away, Shuri. Please ask the Virgin Mary to stop picking on me.”

How I wish I had the ability to do that. However, no matter how much time passed, it was impossible to argue with God.

In reality, people were kinder than God. While Jeremy was sick, letters of concern, letters of recommendation and unfamiliar medicine were sent from various places.

Among them, the special poppy candy sent by Duchess Nurembert with a short note was very useful to relieve the pain of the boy struggling with a high fever.

There was one more person I was grateful to. Prince Theobalt came to visit by the time the endless cough and red spots finally subsided.

He smiled, and said he was sorry that he couldn’t come sooner.

“I’ve also had measles, so I’ll be fine. I’d like to see that feisty fellow moaning.”

There was no reason to refuse.

As a result, Theobalt’s visit has had an effect on Jeremy’s recovery. Well, to be exact, he made Jeremy gain his spirit that he lost from the sickness for a few days.

“What the hell are you doing here? The Crown Prince must be a very idle person.”

“Why, are you jealous? If you’re jealous, you should be born crown prince in your next life, you little prick.”

“You are abusing your identity. You don’t even know the nobles’ obligations.”

…As usual, the signs of recovery were very clear. But what’s with his words?

I better get up quickly and leave. He didn’t even look at the lump under his mother’s eyes, such an unfilial son.

“Any mother should be grateful to have a son as good as me.”

“When are you going to be humble?”

“If the day comes when the Crown Prince beats me in swordsmanship, I will consider it. Shuri, I’m hungry.”

It was just an exchange that happened every day Theobalt visited Jeremy to talk to him until he was completely healed.

Thanks to that, I had some time to comfort the three completely anxious children. I felt sorry for not being a good person in the past.

“But why did you beat these guys last time? I’m really curious.”

That was a question Theobalt asked suddenly on the evening of the 10th day since the measles began while I was watching Jeremy eat chicken soup after confirming that the other three children had finished their meal.

It was an event that even I had half forgotten.

Jeremy, who ate all the dishes because he hadn’t been able to eat properly for a few days, frowned and stared at the crown prince, then said, “Why don’t you ask your cousin?”

“Jeremy…”

It was inevitable for a sick person to nag, but it felt like a foolish thing that my heart has weakened so far!!

The good crown prince smiled at me as if he was so familiar with such a situation.

“It’s all right, madam, haha. You and him are keeping your mouths shut, so how could I know?”

“He must hate you. But why does he hate you so much?”

“It’s sad to ask so bluntly. He doesn’t necessarily hate me, maybe it’s puberty.”

“You surprisingly have a tendency to escape from reality.”

“…..! Are you cowardly attacking me with facts?!”

“Argh! Why are you calling a patient, a coward?”

I let the two of them argue and went out with the tray.

After handing the empty plates and utensils to the maids, I stopped by the study to roughly process documents that I haven’t seen before, and when I finally went back to Jermery’s room, I found both of them asleep.

Suddenly, an open poppy candy bottle on the drawer caught my eye.

It was crushed into powder and added to milk, but I guess they thought it was just candy.

Seeing the future talents who must have chewed, swallowed, and fell asleep because of the medicinal candy, I naturally sighed. Weren’t they both old enough to eat candy?

I hesitated for a moment to try and wake the Crown Prince, and then I made up my mind and fixed the young men’s posture as they were sleeping with their arms and legs stretched out.

Then, I put a blanket on them.

I never thought I’d see my eldest son and the Crown Prince sleep together.

I’ll tease him later.

As I watched the two men, who were so determined on the inside and who were sleeping hard on the outside, their common aspects crossed my mind.

Come to think of it, both Theobalt and Jeremy lost their birth mother at a young age and were successors to the empire and prestigious families. It wasn’t unreasonable that the two got so close.

Although Theobalt has a living father, the Emperor I know wasn’t very friendly to his children.

Oh, by the way, I wonder what happened to the young Nurembet.

Was he okay? The duke looked like a surprisingly strict man…..

While the thoughts of the boy I hadn’t known well before flowed through my mind, I was humming and patting the soft silk blanket with my hands. It was a lullaby that I used to sing to the twins once in a while in the past.

“The flowers have already surrounded the bed and the sheep have entered the cage.

The night owl sang softly, now go to sleep. Good night, my baby, my sweet baby. Under the protection of the angel in a dream.Good night, my dear…”