Why Are You Acting Like This Today?

“Ugh, I feel like I'm dying. Where am I...?”

“Oh, Yuria! You're finally awake!”

“Waaah... Thank goodness you're awake, d-daughter... Mommy loves you. I really do...”

“...Um, who... are all of you?”

“No more... Y-Yuria? You don't recognize us?”

“Who's Yuria? More importantly, I'm in so much pain I feel like I'm going to die. Could you call a doctor?”

**********************

After sleeping for a full day, I was finally well enough to sit up.

Much better than when I first became Yuria and was literally on the verge of death, but this frail body was hard to manage even with a simple cold and fever.

I figured I'd catch a cold while we were out watching the aurora, which became a dark chapter in my life, so why am I like this after it's all over?

Maybe I really should keep up even some light training.

“Training? Want me to help?”

“All the training you know is the insanely brutal stuff the knights do. I don't think I could handle that properly... Hey, why are you still slacking off here?”

Yesterday, I barely managed to get dressed... There was an incident in the middle I don't want to remember, but anyway, as soon as I finally got all my clothes on, a wave of dizziness hit and I couldn't keep myself upright.

From then on, every time I opened my eyes, Derek was still by my side.

Actually, um, I didn't exactly hate it.

No matter what I called that bastard, he was my one and only friend, and he stayed by my side until the end while I was sick. Honestly, it moved me.

Compared to the loneliness and despair of having not a single person stay by my side to comfort me after I'd been so unfairly cornered and plunged into the depths, I was grateful enough to feel tears prick my eyes.

To give you an idea of how grateful I was, I was genuinely willing to let him touch my breasts once... No, maybe that's going too far.

Let's just count it as forgiving him for what happened yesterday morning.

“Yuria, are you hurting somewhere again? You were nagging me, and then suddenly you started crying.”

Ah. Here we go again.

I cried a lot back then from helplessness and despair, but even now, four full years later, the trauma is still there.

Just thinking about it is enough to make this happen.

Meanwhile, Derek grabbed a towel and came over to wipe my tears himself.

“Hey! Don't come any closer! Get away from me!”

“Come on, if something hurts, tell me right away. Ever since you started working as a maid, the head butler keeps complaining that you try to hide it whenever you're sick.”

“I'm not sick. I-It's just that my eyes are a little dry. More importantly, I said get away!”

I slipped toward the far corner of the bed to avoid Derek, who kept leaning toward me.

“Sigh, Yuria. If you keep this up, I'll really tell the head butler. You're acting suspicious, constantly trying to avoid me.”

“No, fuck, just get away! I've been stuck in bed for a whole day, so I haven't washed! I'm covered in sweat, you asshole!”

I ran away because even I could smell the sweat coming off my body. What was I supposed to be hiding?

Aside from my disability and serious frailty, my body was basically a cheat code as far as women's bodies went; going a day without washing didn't leave my face covered in oil or make my hair slick with grease.

Even so, I couldn't help feeling grimy.

And for some reason, I didn't want this guy smelling it.

At my shout, Derek finally leaned back.

I snatched the towel out of his hand and wiped my still-damp eyes.

After wiping carefully in case any sleep crust remained, I pulled the towel away from my eyes and saw an unexpected face right in front of me.

“Huh, Maria?”

“Big Siiis!”

Before I realized it, Maria had climbed onto the bed and nestled into my arms.

Just as the momentum nearly sent me tumbling backward... Derek had already come over and braced my back with his hand.

“Whoa, you're heavy. Maria, you must've eaten a lot today!”

“Mhm! I ate Big Sis's share too. Big Sis, are you not sick anymore?”

“Mhm, Big Sis isn't sick anymore. Starting tomorrow, I can play with Maria again, right?”

Actually, I was still a little sick.

My body was still languid, and I had no strength.

It wasn't that Derek was holding me up because I couldn't even support Maria's weight and was about to fall backward...

Damn it, I said don't come so close.

I shot Derek a glare.

Maybe he understood what was packed into my stare, because Derek looked at Maria, then back at me.

Maria's allowed, so why isn't he?

No, Maria's a girl like me, and you're not, you bastard.

I mean, on the outside. I'm actually a man, and... no, anyway, you can't.

“Heh heh, with the three of you huddled together like that, you look just like a family. A loving married couple and their daughter.”

As I kept glaring at Derek, I heard a familiar voice.

I turned my glare straight toward Dad.

Even if you're my dad, don't go saying we look like a married couple. Seriously.

“Oh my, Lady Maria. You shouldn't cling to your sister when she's sick. And what did we say you should do when Young Master Derek and your sister are cuddled up together?”

“You said Big Sis belongs to Big Bro, so Maria has to give way!”

“Mom! What on earth have you been teaching Maria?!”

Mom had followed Dad into the room, too.

Seriously, even if they're my parents, being this aggressively invested in shipping us is a bit much.

They were the ‘first parents’ I'd ever had, since I was an orphan, and among the few adults who'd loved me unconditionally for twenty-five years as Lee Siwoo plus four years as Yuria. I was incredibly grateful to them and loved them dearly.

Even so, they tried way too hard to pair me up with Derek.

What on earth had the original Yuria done for them to act like this?

Just like with Derek, I couldn't tell them I was a man, so I couldn't exactly put a stop to their behavior.

I didn't want to ruin the unconditional love they gave me as Yuria, or hurt them after they'd been devastated by the fact that I'd lost my memories as an aftereffect of nearly dying and coming back.

Every now and then, I still remembered Dad holding on to me and sobbing, unable to understand the situation, while I pretended to have lost my memories.

So, whenever my parents were around, whether Derek was there or not, I played the part of their daughter with one hundred percent sincerity.

That's the not-quite-a-reason why I couldn't protest when they openly called us a married couple right in front of us.

“Then you're the young master's, aren't you? Organizationally speaking, a personal maid isn't even under Mom's authority, after all. I wonder what our daughter thought I meant~?”

“Sigh, I give up. More importantly, what brings you two here?”

“What do you mean, what brings us here? Of course we came to see our daughter when she's sick. Besides, today was the day you were supposed to have your checkup.”

Oh. That's right.

Today was the day the famous doctor Dad had summoned from somewhere in the far-off East was supposed to examine my shoulder.

Lumiere, who might still be watching me even now, had flat-out said my shoulder symptoms were related to my soul.

But even if Lumiere was no ordinary being, I couldn't take their words at face value when they'd appeared out of nowhere and dropped that on me with no warning, so I still needed an examination.

And it wasn't as though I could just tell them the truth and say I met a Stella Dragon and it told me that.

Derek lifted Maria off me and stepped back.

At the same time, the Grand Duke and Duchess came in with someone who was obviously a doctor.

I didn't know why the Grand Duke and Duchess had come in too, but with six adults and one child crammed into a not-so-large room, it was getting awfully crowded.

“Greetings, Your Graces.”

Since the doctor was an outsider, I greeted them formally first.

Normally I'd call them Uncle and Aunt, though.

“So, how are you feeling?”

“I seem to be feeling much better, thanks to you.”

“That's a relief. This doctor here is the finest physician in the East, summoned by the head butler. He'll examine your shoulder and provide the appropriate treatment.”

The doctor looked fairly young.

Judging by his appearance, he was only a little older than Derek?

And he was very handsome. Objectively speaking.

I glanced at Derek.

Hmm, still, he's a little better-looking.

Wow, though, one is a Sword Master and young master of the Grand Ducal House with that face, and the other is the finest physician in the East.

The world really is unfair.

“Pleased to meet you, my lady. My name is Glenn, and I'm from the Emelia Domain in the East. I'll be staying here for a while to examine your condition and find a way to treat it.”

“It's nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”

Glenn greeted me politely.

He didn't have a family name, so he seemed to be a commoner, but he was a doctor who'd made a name for himself at a young age. I could trust him, right?

I hesitated, then held out my hand.

Glenn responded with the most flawless manners, kissing the back of my hand.

Is he really a commoner? His etiquette is something else.

Suddenly I felt an intense stare from beside me, so I glanced over and saw Derek glaring as if displeased.

What? What is it?

Ignoring Derek, who seemed displeased for no particular reason, I answered Glenn's preliminary questions diligently.

“Hmm, sleeping with your arm raised above your shoulder is better than sleeping with it lowered... Understood. Then, I'd like to run a few tests. Would you mind if I briefly touched you?”

“Yes, that's fine.”

Glenn carefully came over beside me.

Because of that, Derek, who'd been right beside me, had to move aside for a moment.

One of Derek's eyebrows rose ever so slightly.

I'm pretty sure that was how his eyebrow went up when he was angry.

I'd spent so much time with him that I was the only one who could tell for sure.

If I had to compare it to something, it was like the telltale tongue flick of a former ssireum champion turned TV host.

But what was there to be angry about?

Maybe the doctor and he just didn't get along.

Glenn unintentionally pushed Derek aside, then took my right arm and moved it this way and that, asking me about my symptoms.

Raising it, lowering it, rotating it.

Each time, I listed symptoms: numbness, pain, aching, sharp pain, spasms, and so on.

Putting it into words, I sound like a complete fucking mess.

“Well, Doctor? Can you fix our daughter's shoulder?”

After spending quite a while moving my arm back and forth, Dad suddenly cut in, apparently getting impatient.

Looking around, I realized Dad had only spoken on everyone's behalf; judging by their expressions, Mom, the Grand Duke and Duchess, and Derek all seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Only Maria, nestled in Derek's arms, was whining that she was bored.

“I'm afraid I'll need to run some more tests. Would you mind lowering the shoulder of your pajama top for a moment?”

At Glenn's words, I undid a couple of the top buttons of my pajamas and started to bare one shoulder.

It wasn't like it was some other part of my body, just my shoulder. The doctor was examining me, after all.

Still, apparently it wasn't an ordinary matter for one person.

“Wait. Is it really necessary to go that far, Doctor?”

Derek cut in, making no effort to hide his irritation.

Why take it out on an innocent doctor?