TVCWB Chapter 51

Chapter 051

Theo, who had eaten all the cake Madam Trukisil prepared by himself, complained of stomach pain the entire evening.

Even after taking the medicine Perea gave him, his stomach still hurt, and he looked miserable.

“It hurts… Theo hurts!”

Rolling around on the wide bed, Theo whined in pain. Perea rubbed his stomach gently with a worried expression.

When someone overeats like this, even medicine cannot fix it completely. They could only wait for time to solve it.

Beside them, Ray shook his head as if Theo couldn’t be helped.

“That’s why I told you not to eat so much.”

“It was tasty!”

“You say that like you did something right.”

Theo shouted loudly. Ray frowned right back at him.

Seeing the tension between the two fierce beastmen, only Perea felt nervous. No matter how close they were, how could Ray speak so boldly in front of a prince…? Maybe Sir Ray had thirty-seven lives.

Thinking nonsense to herself, Perea massaged Theo’s hands and feet. Good blood circulation could help digestion, even just a little.

Under her soft touch, Theo’s whining slowly quieted down. Not long after, he fell asleep with a soft purring sound.

The loud gurgling noises that had filled the bedroom were gone. Thankfully, his stomach pain seemed to have eased.

After carefully covering his belly with a blanket so it wouldn’t get worse again, she left the room.

“Sir Ray, are you okay?”

“I didn’t eat any cake.”

Ray frowned when she spoke as if treating him the same as Theo. Perea laughed softly and quickly added,

“No, not because of cake. I meant—are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“Ah… no. I’m healthy.”

“That’s a relief.”

“And you?”

Ray asked as Perea smiled lightly.

Maybe because of her job, Perea always took care of others first. But she didn’t seem to care much about her own condition.

Since Eclit was near the sea, many first-time visitors had trouble with the food or water. That was what Ray was worried about.

“Me?”

“Yes. It’s your first time in Eclit too. The food might not suit you.”

At his calm but sincere concern, Perea looked surprised. She hadn’t expected him to worry about her. It made her feel strangely shy.

“I’m not seriously sick anywhere. Hmm… maybe my head aches a little…?”

She lightly touched her forehead. She wasn’t really sick, but because Ray was worrying about her, she suddenly wanted to act a little sick.

It was the first time she had ever pretended to be ill.

At her words, Ray’s tail puffed up instantly. He had never even considered that she might actually be unwell.

He had been so busy recognizing his own feelings that he hadn’t properly paid attention to her safety.

Cursing himself inwardly, Ray raised his hand and placed it on Perea’s forehead.

“Do you… have a fever?”

He tilted his head. Having lived among fierce beastman knights who ignored small headaches, he didn’t really know what normal human body temperature felt like.

Her forehead felt warm… or maybe not. It was hard to tell. But it definitely seemed to be getting warmer under his palm.

Maybe she really was sick.

His puffed-up tail grew stiffer, and his round ears pressed tightly against his head. Ray was ready to carry her to a doctor immediately.

“Ah, um…!”

Perea, whose face had turned bright red, stopped him.

With trembling hands, she gently pulled his hand away from her forehead. Then she fanned her face quickly to cool it down. Very quickly.

“Actually, my head doesn’t hurt. It just… felt like it might.”

Only someone who had faked being sick before could do it properly. Seeing Ray react so strongly to just one word made her conscience sting.

“But your face is red, and your breathing is rough.”

Ray looked at his palm as he spoke. Her forehead had definitely grown warmer.

No, that’s because you suddenly got so close! And how am I supposed to stay calm when someone that handsome worries about me like that…!

Perea made excuses in her mind.

“I’m really fine! You don’t need to worry!”

“I’m not sure about that…”

“I-I’m a doctor, remember? I’m fine.”

Ray still looked doubtful, but he eventually nodded. Her face did seem to have returned to normal color.

“If you feel sick, tell me right away. I won’t notice unless you say it…”

“Yes, I will. I’m really not sick right now.”

“That’s good. I didn’t bother you, did I?”

“Of course not!”

If Perea had been a beastwoman, she could have shown more clearly—through her tail or ears—that even though she was embarrassed, she didn’t dislike the situation. Unfortunately, she was human.

Because of that gap in expression, Perea and Ray spent an awkward time together for a while.

Still, they stayed there until late at night. In the silence between them, a strange mix of comfort and tension existed, making it hard for either of them to leave.

The day of the performance Dia had invited them to finally arrived.

Perea was struggling to figure out how to wear the dress she had been putting off learning about.

She had thought she could just pull up a zipper, but there were so many decorations. She couldn’t even tell whether the ribbon should be tied in the front or the back.

Thankfully, the hotel—worthy of being first-class—had lent her a mannequin.

“Sigh… This doesn’t seem right.”

The mannequin she dressed according to her memory looked more like it was wearing shiny rags than a proper gown.

Perea let out a deep sigh. Memorizing an entire anatomy book felt less overwhelming than this.

Hearing her sigh, the two beastmen who had been eating breakfast in the living room wandered into the dressing room.

Theo, with bacon stuffed in his mouth, hugged her skirt and asked,

“Perea, what are you doing?”

“Ah, Theo. I was trying to figure out how to wear this dress.”

Trying to figure out how to wear it? A question mark popped into Ray’s mind.

Did a dress really require special instructions?

He looked where Perea was pointing and saw a confused pile of fabric.

Seeing where his blue eyes landed, Perea laughed awkwardly.

“When I bought it, I’m sure they explained the order… but now I can’t seem to do it properly…”

“Huh? That’s a dress?”

For once, even Theo didn’t say Perea was the best. His innocent question made her shoulders shrink further.

Should she just go back to the boutique and ask them to dress her…?

As she reached to take the dress off the mannequin, a large hand moved first and adjusted the fabric.

“This goes here, not there.”

Ray untied the ribbon that had been wrapped across the torso and instead looped it over one shoulder, tying it properly on the other side. He moved the brooch she had randomly pinned at the waist up to the top.

He arranged the layered lace skirt in the correct order by length.

When he finished, the messy pile had transformed into a neat and gorgeous dress.

“Wow…”

“Wow!”

Perea and Theo gasped at the same time and looked at Ray. Their eyes were full of admiration.

Having lived in the Imperial Palace for so long, he simply had knowledge of clothing. It wasn’t anything amazing, so Ray shrugged awkwardly.

“Perea. I’ll tell you the order. You can memorize it, right?”

“Yes! I can do it!”

She had been too flustered at the boutique to fully process it before, but memorizing things was something she was confident in.

Thanks to Ray’s quick lesson, Perea was able to put on the beautiful dress perfectly without having to return to the boutique. She let out a relieved sigh.