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Chapter 179: Human Thermometer

Midnight, Roel finally woke up from his dreams.

His mind was still a little groggy when he first regained consciousness. His body felt heavy and cold. The undead reanimation effect had sealed off his senses, so any feelings of pain were nullified. In return, his body felt numb.

Despite his senses being numbed, he could still feel it.

Every time he felt like the biting frost was going to put him into eternal hibernation, he would suddenly feel a tender warmth spreading from his mouth. There was a touch of fragrance, then warm mana would flow through his body, suppressing the unbearable cold.

This had happened at least ten times since he first lost consciousness, and each time, he would drift off to sleep once more immediately after. It didn’t take long for his body to remember this sensation, and instinctively, he began fully cooperating with the suppressive mana whenever the biting frost was about to consume him.

Roel was unaware that he was gradually being imprinted on through such a manner.

As it turned out though, this imprint went both ways. Despite being unconscious, Roel’s ‘active cooperation’ still proved to be an overwhelmingly strong stimulus to Charlotte, having never experienced such sensations before.

After yet another round of gently ambiguous sensations on his lips, Roel’s biting chill finally alleviated enough for him to maintain consciousness. It was the first time he was opening his eyes ever since returning from the Witness State, and he found himself welcomed by a starry sky...

... or to be more exact, an artificial starry sky.

They were all jewels, gleaming in different colors and brilliance. They ranged from white crystals, a popular addition to formal dresses, to amethyst, which was known to be worth even more than gold. Thousands of them were embedded on the ceiling, constructing a galaxy.

Under the gleaming light of this galaxy, Roel felt like his body had been blessed. He figured that this was one of the means of the Sorofyas.

“How beautiful,” muttered Roel in a daze.

Charlotte had been gulping down tea, trying to calm herself after the stimulus of the latest treatment, when she heard Roel’s voice and anxiously turned her head over.

“Roel, you’re finally awake!”

Charlotte immediately rushed over to the bed and grabbed Roel’s hand. Her eyes were glistening with tears of agitation. On the other hand, Roel assessed Charlotte for a moment, and he was relieved to see that she was in good condition.

“Are you alright?” asked Roel.

“I’m perfectly fine. The one who isn’t alright is you,” replied Charlotte.

Her voice was hoarse, as if there was something stuck at the back of her throat. She looked like she was going to cry at any moment. Seeing this, Roel quickly waved his hand and consoled her.

“Don’t worry, it’s not that bad. My condition isn’t as severe as it looks.”

Roel blinked his eyes contemplatively as he thought about the sensation he had experienced in his subconscious state. So, he raised his head to look at Charlotte and asked.

“I don’t know whether it was an illusion or not, but I felt something in my mouth at times while I was sleeping.”

“Hm?”

Roel’s words made Charlotte freeze right on the spot. Under the gentle glimmer of the gemstones, her face swiftly turned red. A moment later though, she had already pulled herself back together to act normally.

“I-its a thermometer! I was measuring your temperature!”

“Ah, I see... No wonder.”

Roel’s thoughts were still a little disordered from having slept for too long, so he simply accepted Charlotte’s explanation with a nod. The thermometers in this world worked via the mouth, and he had used it once before when cooperating with Anna’s plan. It did sound reasonable for Charlotte to measure his temperature while he was unconscious.

“Sorry to trouble you. I must have damaged the thermometers with the frost I emanated.”

“Not really... It was surprisingly warm,” replied ‘Thermometer’ Charlotte.

Her heart was pounding as her eyes lingered on Roel’s lips for a moment before swiftly turning away. Roel was still a little dull from his current condition, so he didn’t pay it much heed. He turned to look out the window, and all of a sudden, he frowned in confusion.

The scenery is moving... which means that the carriage is moving?

What’s going on?

“Charlotte, shouldn’t we be in my family’s manor? Where are we heading?”

“W-we’re heading off to... to see the stars! Yes, to see the stars!”

“Huh?”

Roel’s innocent question left Charlotte deeply conscience-stricken, but she had no plans of backing down at this point.

“Your condition is not too good at the moment. You need to be in a peaceful environment to rest properly, but there are simply too many matters constantly awaiting you at Ascart City. So, I decided to bring you elsewhere.”

“Ah, I see... I guess it’s fine too.”

He was a little perplexed, but he didn’t inquire any further. The experiences he had been through with Charlotte made him lower his guard toward her. He felt that Charlotte wouldn’t lie to him, and she had no reason to do so either.

Charlotte was the First Miss of the Sorofya House, the renowned ‘Pearl of Rosa’. The wealth she had at her disposal far surpassed that of the Ascart Fiefdom. From such a viewpoint, there was no reason for her to deceive him at all. What could she possibly stand to gain?

Besides, we’re just heading out of the city. It’s not as if she’s kidnapping me or something.

Such thoughts in mind, Roel completely gave up on thinking, which, in turn, meant relinquishing his final chance of getting off the carriage.

“Go to sleep, darling. I’ll handle everything, so you don’t have to worry at all...”

Under her loving lull, Roel found himself drifting off to sleep once more. Watching over the sleeping black-haired boy, Charlotte heaved a sigh of relief before gently kissing his forehead.

“Goodnight, darling.”

...

“Young miss, are you certain that you want to do this?”

Outside the room, Grace asked worriedly. She couldn’t understand why Charlotte was doing this all of a sudden.

Last night, when the two youths suddenly vanished into thin air, Grace was certain that Charlotte couldn’t possibly have kidnapped Roel. Yet, barely a night had gone by, and she was forced to swallow her own words.

Of course, while this was without a doubt a kidnapping, officially, it was still known as ‘having an outdoor dinner in the beautiful sceneries of the Ascart Fiefdom’. They had departed quite late at night, so it was reasonable for them to stay out and return the next morning.

So far, the Ascarts hadn’t sensed anything wrong, so it wasn’t too late to turn back yet. While they did conceal the truth about Roel’s condition, they had also treated him promptly with the best resources they had at their disposal, so it was unlikely to cause too much of a fuss.

However, if they continued on their way back to Rosa, things would really get complicated. It was only a matter of time before the Ascarts noticed that their guests had possibly gone rogue. On top of that, if it was revealed that Roel was actually unconscious during this period of time, that would be more than enough evidence to indict Charlotte for the crime of kidnapping a noble.

Admittedly, it did sound ludicrous for a fiancée to kidnap her fiancé, but it had to be taken into account that Roel was the proxy fief lord of the Ascart Fiefdom. If someone were to pick at this matter from a political point of view, things could very well blow up.

Unfortunately, Charlotte thought little of Grace’s worries. She wasn’t doing this on the spur-of-the-moment. In fact, she was calm and had made this decision after careful consideration.

“We have to leave right away. We need to get out of the Theocracy as soon as possible, otherwise I might never meet Roel again!”

Charlotte’s fists were trembling by her sides, but her eyes were firm and unwavering.

She had considered sending Roel back to the manor to be treated and explaining things to the Ascarts properly, but she soon realized a massive loophole in this course of action—the attitude the Ascarts carried toward her.

Based on the information she had gathered thus far, it would appear that Roel’s father, Carter, didn’t support their marriage.

The fact that she and Grace had been maliciously misled the first time they visited the Ascarts’ manor was more than enough evidence for that. While it was later clarified to be a prank by Roel’s adopted sister and the Theocracy’s princess, it was very hard to believe that they could pull off such a stunt involving all the manor’s staff without the patriarch’s approval.

Given Roel’s unstable condition—god knows how many times he had teetered on the edge of death—and that he was still unconscious most of the time, this matter would surely have to be reported to Carter. However, this incident happened due to the request Charlotte made, so the Sorofyas would inevitably have to bear some responsibility for this issue.

And it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out what Carter would do.

Endangering their sole successor just days after their first meeting; this was a sufficient reason for the Ascart House to one-sidedly annul the engagement without suffering any backlash. Besides, even if Carter didn’t make a move, the Theocracy’s princess, in her capacity as Roel’s protector, would also forcefully sever the engagement in the name of the Xeclydes.

With that, at least until Roel finally took over the Ascart House, the Sorofyas would be placed on the Ascarts’ blacklist, making it impossible for Charlotte to see her lover anymore. Even entering the Ascart Fiefdom would become incredibly arduous.

All of these had been so minor to Charlotte not too long ago, but after everything she had been through with Roel, the love-struck Charlotte could only lament just how tough her love was.

It was almost as if every single force in the world was out to ruin her engagement with Roel. A single wrong step could very well spell the end of it all.

Of course, if Roel was willing to fall out with his father, adopted sister, Nora, and everyone else to choose her, everything could be easily resolved. The only problem was that... was that even possible at all?

Charlotte shook her head.

Not a chance.

The time they had spent together was short, but the life-and-death encounters they had been through together gave her a pretty good idea what kind of person Roel was. He wasn’t the type to abandon his friends and family.

On top of that, she was aware that she still wasn’t a vital part of Roel’s life yet. Even taking the Witness State into account, Charlotte was more indebted to Roel than the other way around.

At this point, the only thing she could offer Roel was money, but what was the use of money? Would Roel even care about that?

Eventually, Charlotte narrowed her eyes as she came to the realization that she had to work on both issues simultaneously.

While we escape the Theocracy, I’ll make sure to imprint myself on him!