I Married a Sick Husband

“Are you asleep?”

 

Meredith almost turned around without thinking. Restraining the urge to look, she opened her mouth just enough for her soft voice to be heard.

 

“No. Why aren’t you sleeping, Your Majesty?”

 

“I mostly lie in bed during the day.”

 

“…Oh.”

 

Thinking about it, he had been absent since the wedding reception.

 

‘Well, he must be in bed a lot during the day.’

 

Then the Emperor’s voice came again from behind.

 

“I’m curious about something.”

 

“Tell me.”

 

“Magic is passed through maternal inheritance; I think I’ve heard this vaguely before.”

 

“…”

 

“Was your mother a magician?”

 

“Yes, I inherited it from her.”

 

Meredith retorted with a dry voice.

 

“My half-sister does not have magic.”

 

“I know, but it’s amazing that magic is still here in the first place.”

 

“Your Majesty, I have a question, will you answer it?”

 

“What is it?”

 

“It’s about your health.”

 

Originally, Meredith was going to ask about it in the morning, but instead decided to ask now.

 

“When does your condition shift?”

 

“When the sun sets, I become healthy, and when the sun rises, I fall weak again.”

 

“Like a vampire,” he added.

 

“It’s terrible to think that you’ll be troubled again in a few hours. If you can’t work during the day, it must be done all night…”

 

“Well otherwise, state affairs will not continue properly.”

 

His cold voice continued from behind.

 

“And that’s the quickest way to hand over power to the Empress Dowager.”

 

“…I see.”

 

Meredith continued to wonder.

 

“But if Your Majesty is in such a bad condition, everyone must find it strange that state affairs are running smoothly.”

 

“I had my own people in place before I became like this.”

 

The Emperor replied in a soft voice.

 

“My subordinates handle a lot of the work, so I’m getting a lot of help. I didn’t expect to face such a challenge immediately upon taking the throne.”

 

“You must be tired.”

 

She truly felt sorry for him.

 

“You lie in bed when you’re supposed to be awake, and you work when you’re supposed to be asleep.”

 

“I know. I might really get sick at this rate—”

 

Then, she heard the sound of tossing from behind.

 

Noticing that the Emperor, who had been lying on his back, had turned to face the same direction as her, Meredith’s body stiffened.

 

“—So your role is important.”

 

His heavy voice echoed from behind.

 

“Cure me as soon as possible. If you do that, I’ll give you whatever you want.”

 

What does she want?

 

Actually, Meredith didn’t know at this point.

 

She had lived her life without any desire, and just wanted to stay alive and leave the palace.

 

‘Then all I want is a divorce.’

 

However, she didn’t think it was right to mention divorce on the first night of marriage, so she asked another question.

 

“Are you going to make what happened today public, Your Majesty?”

 

“That’s what I was thinking about.”

 

To be precise, he was planning to kill Meredith, along with the assassins, and then make it public.

 

But he changed his mind when it didn’t go to plan.

 

“I’m going to cover this up.”

 

“How come? Why would you—”

 

“The Empress Dowager will use this case as an excuse to change the guards in the Central Palace.”

 

The Emperor explained in a grave voice.

 

“It’s tiring to verify if the replacement guards are the Empress Dowager’s men.”

 

“It’s difficult to be sure of no gaps in the process. I already changed it once last month.”

 

It was a more complicated issue than she thought.

 

“And this was not the fault of the guards.”

 

“When I came in, everyone seemed to have no idea of what was going on inside.”

 

Meredith said, as she remembered from earlier.

 

“I had no idea of what was happening beyond the door.”

 

“Yes, the secret passage has been exposed.”

 

“Secret passage?”

 

“The passage through which Sir Felix came in earlier.”

 

Meredith remembered Felix’s sudden appearance earlier and made a sigh.

 

‘Of course there was a secret passage, why wouldn’t there be?’

 

“It leads to the outside, but I think it’s exposed.”

 

The Emperor wasn’t surprised.

 

The previous Emperor, his father, was truly in love with the Empress Dowager, and it was likely he had told her about the secret passage.

 

It’s probable enough.

 

“We’ll have to block it.”

 

“I’m going to dig a new one.”

 

The Emperor responded nonchalantly and then told her.

 

“It’s been a long day. I’m going to sleep now. I shouldn’t have spoken to you for so long.”

 

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

 

Meredith answered quietly, then added a moment later.

 

“Good night.” (TN: she said it in a formal way.)

 

There was no response for some time after spouting the words, so she regretted saying it for nothing.

 

It was time for her to go to sleep, she thought.

 

“You too.”

 

A low murmur came from behind.

 

“Good night.” (TN: he said it in an informal way.)

 

It was a dry response, with no warmth, but Meredith decided it was better than being ignored.

 

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly and she slowly closed her eyes.

 

*****

 

Usually, Meredith was awakened by intense sunlight entering through the window.

 

However, it was the first time she was woken for a reason she could not imagine.

 

“Cough, cough!”

 

A coughing sound coming from her side.

 

She tried to ignore it a few times and go back to sleep—

 

“Cough, cough!”

 

In the end, Meredith couldn’t resist and sat up.

 

If it were sunlight, she could cover her whole head with a blanket, but there was nothing she could do to block the sound.

 

No matter how hard she tried to cover her ears, she could still hear it.

 

“Your Majesty, why are you si—”

 

Meredith, who was still half asleep, tried to ask casually, but belatedly realised what time it was.

 

‘Ah.’

 

It was morning.

 

Meredith checked the clock, which had its short needle between six and seven, and looked around.

 

The sun must have risen by this time, so naturally his body would fall ill.

 

Meredith called the Emperor with a worried expression.

 

“Your Majesty, are you all right?”

 

“Does it sound like I’m okay to your ears?”

 

“…I apologize.”

 

Maybe it was because he was sick, but he was harsher than last night.

 

The morning seemed to have added an extra layer to his coldness.

 

Meredith opened her mouth, thinking that she should be careful in front of the patient.

 

“Do you need anything? Do you want some water?”

 

“It’s fine. This is normal.”

 

His voice was definitely worse than yesterday.

 

‘I can’t believe people can be so different overnight.’

 

Meredith couldn’t believe it, even seeing it in person.

 

Really, if it’s not magic, it can’t be explained.

 

“What time is it?”

 

“It’s just before seven.”

 

“Phew…”

 

Breathing deeply, he soon murmured.

 

“Good thing we don’t have a meeting on the second day of our marriage.”

 

“Everyone will think that Your Majesty is forcing himself to stand.”

 

“I’m actually doing that. I’m barely holding on. So—”

 

“—My role is important. I already understand.”

 

She answered quickly, and the Emperor stared at her from his position lying down.

 

It was a rather pointed look that made her feel cautious.

 

“At least there no morning meeting anyway, so please rest some more.”

 

“…How about you?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Are you going to go?”

 

“Don’t you know, Your Majesty? I have a role to fulfill.”

 

“…Are you going to pay morning greetings to the Empress Dowager?”

 

“Your Majesty is sick and may be absent.”

 

In fact, the Emperor had been excused for quite some time from his morning greeting duties to the Empress Dowager, citing his physical condition.

 

Being excused from it was the only aspect the Emperor saw as a benefit from his condition.

 

“It’s part of my duty as Empress to serve the Empress Dowager as if she were my own mother.”

 

Unfortunately for Meredith, neither the Empress Dowager nor her living father considered treating her like their own child.

 

“I don’t want to go there either, but what can I do if the rules say so?”

 

She added, speaking honestly.

 

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t go.”

 

“Well, I don’t want to do anything that may cause Your Majesty to feel regret after the first day.”

 

Of course, staying alive was the biggest reason, but she was also curious.

 

‘How does Duke Schwartz have a relationship with the Empress Dowager? What was his intention from choosing her to marry the Emperor instead of her half-sister?’

 

However, she didn’t expect to learn much in the first place, but she could be able to read the atmosphere if she went.

 

“And I’m sure she’s very curious about what happened last night.”

 

“…I suppose so.”

 

“Are you worried that I might make a mistake in front of the Empress Dowager?”

 

“Mistake.”

 

The emperor murmured to himself.

 

“I’m a little worried if you’re not on the same side as the Empress Dowager. She’s a fox. And if the appearance you showed to me yesterday wasn’t acting, you don’t seem to have a very cunning personality.”

 

“Actually, I am worried myself.”

 

Meredith opened her mouth, not being able to deny it.

 

“But I’ll do my best so that I don’t become someone like that to Your Majesty, since we’re on the same boat now.”

 

“The same boat?”

 

“Remember, I told you yesterday.”

 

Meredith asked carefully.

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“Do you agree, Your Majesty?”

 

 

(T/n : After discussion we decide to put Empress dowager instead of Queen. Thank you for the correction! xD )