"I never expected we can find an abandoned house here."
As they walked inside the worn-out and old house, Hariah couldn't help but wonder how lucky the were. She helped Raziel sit at the bed. Though when she was about to let go from him, his hand insisted holding into her waist.
Her widened eyes darted to him but he just kept grinning.
"Do you believe I will let you die here alone?" she threatened and he only laughed at her.
"I'm scared. Please don't abandon me here, miss. I'm scared to be left alone…" though he said those word, in a teasing tone, he still released her at the end.
Hariah looked around the house that was full of dust and spider webs. And probably, the only functioning part of this house was the bedroom where they were.
"This isn't an abandoned house but a village."
She turned to him, eyes were evident of surprise. "A village?!"
"Decades ago, this used to be a prosperous village where travelers used to pass by. It was a rich village. But suddenly, wild animals from the forest we had fallen into kept attacking the villagers. They couldn't drive them away. so, one by one, people left their homes."
As Hariah listened to his story, she couldn't help but worry about their own safety. Especially…him.
"Why are you staring at me?" the man laughed that made her frown. "Are you perhaps, worried about me? don' worry. Though I'm sick, I'm still a man. I will not let a lady protect me. instead, I will protect you."
Again, that word protect…
Hariah sighed as she approached him, checking his fever. It still didn't ease even by a bit.
"Lay down here and wait for me. I will check around to see if there are medicines somewhere."
"Didn't you listen to what I said while ago? there's a lot of wild beast around and-" Raziel was stopped by her sharp glared. Like a scolded little boy, he laid down to the bed just like what she said. "Fine. Fine. I will listen to you, my wife. You're really unfair to a sick man like me…"
Listening to his grumbling made Hariah wonder whether he's really a prince or not. Sometimes, it's just hard to see such a wild and easy-going prince unlike Derain and Cavi whom she met.
Thinking about it, she wondered if Cavi was worried about her. or that he's now trying to find her in the forests. Shaking her head to took those thoughts from her head, she decided to first face the problem at hand. She needed to cure this sick and naughty prince first.
***
He was like a little boy when she woke him up to drink a medicine she found at one of the old houses nearby. Perhaps, it was even a pharmacy since there were a lot of herbs too. though many already lost its effectiveness.
Sometimes, she really wondered what she does in her past life. Was she a doctor? Cause if she wasn't, then why does she know the names of those herbs and know how to treat some illnesses or injury?
After silently drinking the bitter medicine, Prince Raziel laid back to bed again and closed his eyes. which made her wonder since he wasn't suppose to be like that. Right?
After bandaging his leg, she sat beside him and placed her palm on his forehead. Immediately, she took it off since she seemed to be burned at how hot he is.
"Not good. Why are you still having such a high fever? And it even got worse…"
She stared at him and checked his body which was trembling now. He's even mumbling something in his sleep that she couldn't hear clearly.
Putting her ear next to his lips, she heard him mumbled. "Cold. Hariah. It's cold…"
He called her name. But why did she feel odd again because of it?
"I'll find something to cover you so wait here," she told him and run outside. It was dark and windy. As if, a storm was coming. Going to check for any blanket or clothes in a house, she run from one to another but finding nothing. Perhaps, the villagers took it with them. It's no surprise since production of clothes and fabric was scarce. It's what she noticed after waking up.
The rain started to pour, extinguishing her lamp so she ended up running back to the old house with nothing gained. She was even cold now that she was soaked with rain water.
Looking to Raziel, she was even more worried since he kept trembling and convulsing. Please the wind was raging too hardly that it entered through the holes of the walls.
she went to the kitchen and on a metal basin, she placed fire woods in it and put it near the bed where Raziel sleep. Still, it didn't seem to affect him.
"No. This won't work," she decided and after couples of thinking, she stared at him.
From what she heard from Nanny Elis' lectures before departing to their kingdom, it was said that in Frost Kingdom, ladies were reserved and conservative. Though it wasn't as conservative as in Rian Kingdom, women were expected to only be intimate to their husbands.
Slowly, she took her outer robe off which was wet in the rain and let it slip to the floor.
"But I am not from either kingdom," she mumbled and went beside the sick prince. She laid beside him, wrapping him in her embrace like a mother protecting her child.
Immediately, like as if sensing her warmth, Raziel held into her tummy tightly, burying his face on it. this made Hariah gasp and was about to push him. yet, remembering he's in pain made her stop midway.
She watched him slowly eased from trembling though his fever still didn't decrease a bit. at first, she was reluctant to touch him again. But in the end, she embraced him back, letting her hand slip from his head down to the ends of his long silver hair.
As the night drew deeper and the storm raging even more, the lamp's light ended, leaving darkness over the room. with no lights to show the truth hidden in the darkness, a smile crept on Raziel's lips. Sleeping in the tummy of this naïve and innocent woman was a haven for him.
And he must admit that throughout these years, this was the first time he could sleep at ease.
"Hariah…" he uttered as finally, he fell asleep in her embrace; enveloped by her warmth and addictive feminine scent.