Chapter 89: Chapter 89

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“Madame, can you see how many fingers I’m holding up?”

Dr. Rambaud asked.

As Riv nodded her head, he watched Riv’s reaction and spoke to Dr. Emilia.

“Madame doesn’t seem to have any problems, but she’s still out of it and is reacting slowly. But since she has woken up, you can rest assured.”

“From now on, Madame must be absolutely stable.”

Riv stared blankly at them.

Their conversation and the contents of them were too strange for a dream.

“…”

Riv pinched the back of her hand.

It hurt. There was pain.

Lionel stared at Riv as fingers were waved in front of her, worried about her dazed condition.

“How many am I holding up now?”

Dr. Rambaud’s fingers made her dizzy.

Riv gently slapped the back of his hand. His questioning was making her head hurt more.

“Riv, you can move.”

“…..”

“How many am I holding up?”

Lionel held up two fingers.

Riv didn’t want to answer, so she pinched the back of his hand.

Lionel’s face distorted strangely.

“Riv, did you just pinch me?”

Riv raised her gaze at his low tone.

“Lionel?”

Lionel answered.

“Yes.”

“Are you really Lionel?”

His expression became serious.

“Did you hit your head too hard? What’s with your reaction?”

“…Is this real?”

Lionel’s expression hardened at Riv’s question. He turned to the doctors.

“My wife seems to be in a strange condition, examine her again.”

“She’s shocked, so she’ll have some temporary memory confusion.”

“She woke up after being unconscious for a few days. This is normal.”

Lionel sighed as he brushed his long blonde hair back.

“Ha, if Riv wasn’t seriously hurt, then why the hell…?”

Riv stared at Lionel’s swaying hair. It was longer than she remembered.

All of this was too strange to be a dream.

Riv chose to disappear. However, this was different from what she had expected. Riv wanted to check.

“Lionel, where are we?”

When Riv opened her mouth, everyone fell silent. Lionel responded naturally.

“In our house.”

“I depleted my magic and disappeared, so why am I here?”

The expression on everyone’s faces, including Lionel’s, grew serious.

“I think she suffered more head injuries than expected.”

Riv felt like something was wrong.

Riv knew nothing about her ‘accident’. Just when she was about to ask about it, Lionel barked an order.

“Everyone go.”

“What?”

“I told you to leave.”

Butler Karl, the last of the servants to leave, paused in the doorway as he wiped away his tears.

“Madame, I’m glad you woke up.”

After Dr. Rambaud and Dr. Emilia sent everyone out, they warned Lionel.

“You must never surprise Madame. Got it?”

“Yes.”

All the servants and the attending doctors left.

Riv realized that she was now alone with Lionel.

Her head felt blank.

Strangely, Lionel looked rough and brutal.

His handsome face looked far more savage than usual, and he had grown a terrible beard. His clothes were also wrinkled.

“Lionel, you look tired. Did you sleep?”

“Is that what you’re going to say?”

Lionel barely held back his urge to shout. He paused for a moment and then continued.

“What’s this b*llsh*t about depleting your magic when you woke up after a week?”

“It’s not b*llsh*t.”

Riv couldn’t convince Lionel or explain the situation, because she couldn’t even understand it herself.

Understanding her situation was the first priority.

What if all of this was a dream, and she was still in limbo?

Riv gathered her strength to raise her upper body.

She glanced at Lionel as she struggled to lean against the headboard.

Her whole body felt like it was going to break. Tinnitus rang in ears, and her headache wouldn’t go away.

But before these moments slipped away, she had to confess.

“Lionel, do you remember when I said I loved you?”

“What?”

“I love you, Lionel.”

“…You’re acting really strange.”

Lionel’s large hand swiped down his face.

“Before the accident, you whispered that to me every day.”

It was like a sweet dream. Riv laughed.

Lionel’s expression became curious.

“Riv, do you remember how you got hurt?”

“I got hurt?”

Riv searched through her memories, but nothing came to mind. She had no memory after she depleted her magic and disappeared.

“Why am I hurt? I disappeared after breakfast with Lionel.”

“Disappeared? Where?”

“I don’t know.”

‘Should I answer ‘the afterlife’? Should I say that I was in a place that could’ve been heaven or hell?’

What came after death was unknown.

Riv was sent to a white void, and then she arrived at this moment.

“Hah, you definitely need to rest.”

Lionel asserted and laid Riv back on the bed.

She wanted to get up, but her body was too weak.

Her headache rattled the inside of her head. She could only blink.

“I want to get up.”

“Rest. You have to relax.”

Lionel forced her to lie down, but Riv was fed up.

If she fell asleep like this, she felt like she would never see Lionel again.

“Lionel, I want to sit. It is uncomfortable to lie down.”

“You still need to rest.”

Lionel was stubborn.

“Please let me sit, Lionel.”

Despite Riv’s plea, Lionel didn’t budge.

She grabbed Lionel’s hand and brought it to her face. It was a bribe of sorts. He seemed to like touching her face.

“Lionel, please.”

Lionel was amazed, as if he couldn’t understand Riv’s behavior.

“You’re different from usual.”

“Is it weird?”

Lionel gently stroked the top of her head.

“No, it’s refreshing. I don’t think you’ve changed. You definitely look like the Riv Sentoren I know.”

Lionel’s vigilance seemed to have eased.

Riv, again, insisted.

“Lionel, sit me by the window. I hate lying in bed.”

Lionel hesitantly dressed her in a thick robe and rolled her up in a blanket.

Then he sat her down on a soft armchair.

Another layer of blankets was placed over her, making her look like a baby swaddled in cloth. Instead of feeling cold, she felt rather hot.

Afterwards, Lionel brought soup and soft snacks.

Riv’s energy returned after she ate.

“I can’t go out, can I?”

Lionel stared at her, astonished, as he watched Riv try to break free from her prison of blankets.

“Why are you so stubborn?”

“Can we go out?”

“It’s cold outside. That’s not what someone who woke up after a week should say. You must be absolutely stable, in bed.”

She wasn’t surprised because she had already heard about needing to be absolutely stable before, but one thing stuck out strangely.

‘Cold?’

It was natural that it was cold because it was winter that she disappeared.

But why was it that Lionel’s and the servants’ attire seemed particularly light for winter?

“Lionel, I really want to go.”

“The window is the most I’ll give you. Look at the garden from here.”

Lionel was so adamant that Riv could only reluctantly nod her head.

Only after Lionel moved aside was she able to see the scenery outside her window.

The window was tightly closed, but a cold wind seeped through the small gaps.

Riv looked outside blankly.

Just watching the world through her window seemed to dissipate her frustration, but the actual scenery gave her a shock.

‘What?’

The leaves in the garden were vivid autumn colors.

‘Why?’

Autumn, not winter?

Riv looked at her flannel nightgown, robe, and the three layers of blankets that Lionel had covered her with.

All of them were for winter, with quite a bit of thickness.

It looked like they had purposely pulled out a winter robe so that Riv wouldn’t catch a cold.

The season she remembered, what was it?

Her memory was hazy, but unlike before, she was certain that the season she disappeared in was not autumn. Maybe.

‘Maybe?’

Riv was momentarily confused.

What were some of the things she remembered a few minutes ago?

She couldn’t recall the things she had vividly remembered before.

‘Are there gaps in my memory?’

Riv was at a loss as to how to explain the situation.

“Lionel, is it autumn?”

“Does the season matter now?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Riv’s serious expression, Lionel sighed softly.

“I think something is really wrong with your head.”

Lionel glanced at Riv’s pale face and wrapped another thick blanket around her.

She looked like a giant snowman, covered in blankets.

Lionel dragged a chair beside her and grabbed her cold hand.

Riv felt as though her cold body had come back to life. Lionel breathed warmth into her.

His hands were unusually warm.

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Note: 2 chaps of side stories left.