The Male Lead's Sickly Aide Is My Type - Chapter 41
Translator and Editor: Nana and Nabi
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Chapter 41
“I can’t do it. My throat is too dry.”
“What?”
Although it only took a few seconds for Carinne to stand up, it was enough time to make a plan.
“Actually, my throat has been dry since earlier, and I couldn’t even take a sip because the juice spilled.”
Archen looked slightly bewildered. It didn’t make sense for her to suddenly stand up and complain about being thirsty. His slightly enlarged eyes seemed as though they were saying, ‘So what do you want me to do?’
Carinne threw her arms around him as if they were lovers. Archen took a step back in surprise, but he didn’t do anything to her arm.
“Let’s go back to the square and get something to drink.”
He froze, unable to do or say anything. His inhaled breath failed to escape and lingered in his swollen chest.
“But… the Duke is waiting.”
After a while, he exhaled and uttered.
“I can’t hear you.”
“It’s better to go back to where the Duke is waiting than to go to the square.”
“I can’t hear you.”
“Princess…”
“I can’t hear you.”
“Fine, but let go of my arm…”
“My ears are acting strange today. I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
He was still fidgeting, trying to pull her arm away.
Whether he said it or not, Carinne had no intention of letting go of his arm. At a time when suicide was becoming more of a social issue, the words she’d seen over and over again in the news were ringing in her head.
‘You only need one person. Just one person who understands and supports you.’
And she wants to be that person to her favorite, Archen. She was confident in understanding and supporting him.
Wasn’t it just understanding and support?
Even if everyone said it was impossible, she was willing to go against the world with her arms linked with his. If he wanted a star in the sky, Carinne would have cut down trees and built a ladder to reach the sky, and she would have picked every single star and given them to him as a gift.
Though understanding and support?
She could give understanding and support worth for hundreds of people. Carinne strengthened her grip on his crossed arms. She wanted to pour out her affection so that he wouldn’t have unnecessary thoughts.
Eventually, Archen stopped fidgeting and took a deep breath.
“Lead the way.”
“That’s right. You thought well.”
Carinne spoke, taking determined steps toward the square. The central square was still bustling with people.
“Free drinks for couples! Come and have a drink!”
“That sounds good over there!”
The word ‘free’ caught her attention. It seemed like a good place to have a deep conversation since there weren’t many people nearby. She didn’t give Archen a chance to object and dragged him towards the stall.
“It’s only free for couples.”
The owner said bluntly.
Seeing the owner’s disapproving face and crossed arms, she remembered something she had forgotten.
“Oh, right. I was wearing men’s clothes.”
The owner looked at Carinne, who suddenly untied her hair and took off her hat. Her long hair cascaded down to her waist.
“Oh, you’re a woman? I thought you were a man because of the way I was dressed. Come on over. I’ll give you each a free drink.”
Seeing her long hair, the owner’s attitude instantly changed.
“We’re not a couple…”
“Quiet.”
Carinne quickly covered Archen’s mouth, preventing him from saying anything unnecessary. In the meanwhile, the owner didn’t seem to notice anything and led the two of them to an empty table.
After Carinne and Archen sat down, the owner took out a notepad to prepare to take their order.
“So, what would you like?”
“Just give me any fruit ade.”
She confidently replied, assuming that there wouldn’t be any alcohol in the fruit ade. Then, she playfully poked Archen and spoke.
“Do you drink alcohol? How about a beer?”
If she gave him alcohol, he would become more honest.
“I don’t drink alcohol while I’m working.”
Disappointing Carinne’s expectations, he replied.
“Then give me another fruit ade.”
If he didn’t want it, there was nothing she could do. Carinne cleanly gave up on trying to give him alcohol. The owner quickly scribbled something on the notepad and went to get their drinks.
“Why are you acting like this today?”
Archen asked, sounding accusatory, as soon as the owner disappeared.
It was about time she told him.
At the thought, Carinne raised her chin and stared into his eyes.
“Don’t go back to your hometown.”
From her perspective, saying he was going back to his hometown was a kind of metaphor. He couldn’t say he was going to die, so he found a way to say he was going back to his hometown instead.
“Did you bring me all the way here to tell me that?”
He looked even more bewildered, but he tried to act casually.
“It’s written all over your face that something’s going on, and that’s why you’re going down there, isn’t it?”
“….”
He didn’t say anything, his face frozen in disbelief. What should she say to change his mind? In that moment, when her insides were burning, and her throat was also starting to burn, the owner came over with a tray and placed two glasses on the table.
Carinne took a sip of the ade, sucking it through the straw.
“Let’s go back now.”
Archen spoke as if he had been waiting.
“Wait, just a moment.”
Drinking it sip by sip wasn’t satisfying enough, so she gulped down the ade in one go.
As the refreshing ade went down her throat, she finally felt a little alive before she placed the empty glass back on the table. Perhaps because she drank a large amount quickly, her head felt a bit dizzy. Carinne touched her heavy head with one hand.
“Don’t say that, live with me. No, that’s not it.”
Taken aback by her audacious statement, he took a step back. Carinne clenched her fist and hit her throbbing head.
‘Pull yourself together, focus.’
She pulled a chair and sat right next to Archen, and with all her strength, she opened her mouth.
“Stay here instead of going back to your hometown.”
“I’ll handle my work on my own.”
He pretended to be nonchalant.
His eyes, devoid of any movement, even had a chilling glint. However, Carinne noticed that he was flustered. Despite his calm pupils, his eyelids were trembling. It seemed like he would spill his inner thoughts if she could just grasp onto them.
The problem was her own head. Her heavy head was now throbbing beyond the weight it could carry. Having experienced this before, she knew all too well what this feeling was.
It was exactly the same as when she unknowingly drank alcohol at a gathering with friends and exhibited the same symptoms.
Clearly, the d*mn owner had spiked the ade with alcohol.
Who put alcohol in fruit ade?
At this rate, she would fall asleep within five minutes. She hadn’t even started to understand or support him yet. Nonetheless, it didn’t mean there was no solution. She could buy some time until their next meeting.
“If you absolutely must go back to your hometown, please postpone it. We’ll see each other at dinner tomorrow evening. Understand?”
Anxious, Carinne extended her pinky finger.
“Promise me. Quickly.”
He only looked at her extended finger, so Carinne grabbed his hand and pulled it towards her. Then, she removed his clenched fist and forcibly hooked her own finger with his.
“Now that we’ve made a promise, you’ll receive divine punishment if you break it.”
She wrapped her pinky around his finger joint and pressed firmly.
“Tell me you understand quickly.”
“….”
“Hurry up.”
He let out a small sigh, then reluctantly replied after seeing her determined expression.
“…I understand.”
That was it.
Carinne released her pinky finger.
Since she went to such lengths, he should at least stay alive until the next dinner. Even though Archen could be cold at times, he always listened to her. While she felt relieved, she held onto her fading consciousness to say the last words that had been lingering in her mouth.
The words she wanted to say so badly.
“I will be very sad if you leave.”
“….”
At that moment, Carinne felt as if a mask had been peeled off his face. There was surprise mixed with astonishment in his previously dull eyes, and his lips slightly parted.
It was clear that her words had shocked him in some way. If only it hadn’t been the d*mn ade, she would have delved deeper and put an end to it. Even though it was regrettable, there was nothing she could do.
Still, she had managed quite well up until now.
‘Well done, myself.’
Carinne mustered her remaining strength to utter her final words.
“So, please don’t go…”
That was her limit. She let go of the grip she had on her consciousness.
“Princess?”
The last thing she saw before her vision blurred was his face, filled with surprise. The last fleeting thought that crossed her mind was Iris, who waiting for her at the bar. She must apologize the next time they meet.
Carinne fell into a deep sleep as if collapsing.
“Princess?”
Although she called out again, Carinne didn’t respond. She was sound asleep, leaning against his shoulder with her hair, dyed in the colors of the sunset, sprawled out.
The owner, who had come to fetch an empty glass, looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
“What’s this? Is she sleeping?”
“What did you put in here?”
His tone was sharp, and the owner withdrew his hand hesitantly.
“Calm down, calm down. I usually mix two spoonfuls of alcohol in the ade. Well, drinking makes you feel better. It seems that the lady is very weak in alcohol.”
The owner quickly grabbed the empty glass and left the seat as if running away.
When the owner was no longer visible, Archen carefully reached out and picked up the empty glass. He was afraid to wake her up. However, if they continued this position, it seemed like his heart could not bear it.
His heart was already beating harder than ever.
‘Don’t go… was it a joke? Was it just a meaningless joke, like holding arms and smiling at me?’
Or was it just a joke to have fun and check his own reaction?
Archen gazed carefully at Carinne’s face, which was flushed. He looked at her beautifully closed eyelids, her cheeks that he wanted to touch, and her rosy red lips with awe.
And then he realized one thing. It didn’t really matter.
Even if the words he heard were meaningless, even if it wasn’t sincere and just a joke, it didn’t matter.
Even if he became a mere toy and was discarded, it didn’t matter that he had to go through the process countless times.
Even if he had to endure the pain that no one knew for years, and even if the end of that pain was him having to fall down from a cliff, it didn’t matter.
Even if the world mocked him and threw him into a pit, even if he had to endure the pain of being torn apart and his bones decaying on an endless thorny path, it didn’t matter.
“If you leave me, I will be very sad.”
Those words were enough to break his will. He was now okay with anything.
He couldn’t deny it anymore, he had to admit his feelings.
As Marta said, there were things in the world that couldn’t be helped. No matter how hard he tried and did his best, there were things that he couldn’t resist.
He finally gave in to it, and with that, he realized a few things… that he could accept death if he could just be by her side, and that just being able to walk by her side and see her smile was enough to make life worth living.
So, it was enough. He was now okay with anything.
As long as he could just be by her side.
The golden sunset had now turned into a deep red and covered everything in the sky and below it like blood. The sunset had also descended on Carinne’s face.
Archen was so absorbed in looking at her sleeping face that he forgot who he was and what he was supposed to do. His head was filled with only one person, and he had forgotten all other thoughts outside of her.
His destiny and the Ashite Flower Festival were things he had long forgotten.
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Zepelim
😭ele é um bebê
Mangagirl4
This is my favorite chapter so far 😭💗