Blair froze, her pale face flushing a deep crimson as she felt the heat radiating from his bare, damp skin. Her hand unconsciously clutched at his arm for balance, her fingertips brushing the soft dampness of his skin.
"I... I just..." Blair stammered, her voice raspy and barely audible against his chest. "I wanted to... Start preparing dinner..."
Lukas stared down at her, his golden fox eyes widening in absolute disbelief. "Dinner? You almost cracked your head open on my floor because you were worried about dinner?!"
"It’s the only thing I’m good at," Blair whispered, her eyes brimming with fresh, quiet tears as she looked up at him. "If I don’t cook for you... if I’m just lying here... I’m useless. You’ll all hate me..." She clutched his arm. "You said you liked the meal I made, right? I can keep making it. I can keep you happy."
Lukas’s breath caught in his throat.
Looking down at her pale, shivering frame resting against his bare chest, her clear eyes wide with the desperate fear of being abandoned, the annoyance in his chest melted into a strange, heavy ache.
His white fox ears twitched, flattening slightly as a faint, flustered pink dusted his cheeks. Slowly, hesitantly, Lukas raised his hand, his sharp claws retracted as his warm palm gently cupped the back of her head, pressing her face softly back against his shoulder.
"Nobody is going to hate you for being sick and unable to cook, you dense human," Lukas muttered softly, his chin resting lightly against the crown of her head.
The damp fur of his white ears brushed against her cheek, soothing and impossibly soft. "You’re our wife, not our cook. We have dozens of chefs. Nobody expects you to crawl to the kitchen while you’re bleeding. No one asked you to."
He was stating facts, but his words made Blair’s breath hitch. Wrapped in his warm, steady embrace, hearing his heartbeat beneath her ear, the cold terror in her chest slowly began to melt away.
"Just stay here," Lukas grumbled, his voice dropping into a low, quiet rumble against her ear as he held her close. "If you want to be useful... just rest and stay alive. We need you alive, more than anything else."
Right, she thought as the warmth of his chest seeped through her cold skin. If I collapse... if I die, they won’t have a wife anymore. I won’t be able to carry out any more quests, either. I won’t be able to extend my days... It’ll all be futile.
Her remaining time on this earth was ticking away every second. But she could only change her fate—she could only survive—if she was well rested.
As if the sole weight keeping her from closing her eyes and resting had been her desperate, suffocating concern for her worth and usefulness in their lives, the tension slowly drained from her muscles.
Her grip on his damp arm loosened. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and before she even realized it, she fell asleep right there in his arms, her shallow breathing evening out against his chest.
Lukas sat completely motionless on the edge of the bed.
The soft, rhythmic puff of her warm breath tickled his skin. He didn’t pull away. He didn’t shove her back onto the pillows or slip out from under her right away.
Instead, his white fox ears twitched in the quiet room, filtering out the ambient sounds of the estate until all he could hear was the faint, fragile fluttering of her heartbeat against his chest.
He looked down at her.
Without the fear and desperation twisting her features, she looked terrifyingly small. Her face was still unnaturally pale, her lips lacking color, and her bandaged hand rested limply between them like a broken sparrow’s wing.
She felt so light—almost weightless—as if a slightly harsh gust of wind could shatter her into pieces.
How can someone be this fragile? Lukas thought, his brows furrowing in silent confusion.
He had spent his whole life surrounded by powerful pureblood predators—beasts who fought, flexed their status, and took what they wanted. He had never been so close to a creature so completely vulnerable, so utterly lacking in defenses, yet clinging so stubbornly to life.
A strange, unfamiliar warmth tugged at his chest, accompanied by a quiet, protective instinct that ran far deeper than mere duty to the family name.
He adjusted his arm slightly, supporting her back more comfortably and pulling the edge of the duvet over her shoulders so she wouldn’t catch a chill against his cold skin.
He didn’t let her down. He simply... Held her.
In the dim light of the bedroom, the translucent system log flickered softly in the air, completely unnoticed by the sleeping human in his arms:
[System Alert: Affection Log Update]
[Target: Lukas Deruno — 22% (▲ +4%)]
Lukas shifted his weight back against the headboard, resting his chin lightly over her hair.
He closed his eyes, letting the quiet rhythm of her breathing anchor his lingering headache, content—for the first time in a very long time—to simply stay still.
...
The evening sun filtered through the heavy, soundproof curtains of Lukas’s suite, casting long, golden shadows across the plush carpet.
Blair’s eyelids fluttered open. For the first time in weeks, the constant, suffocating tension in her muscles had dissolved. Her lungs felt less inflamed, and her body—though still weak—was no longer shivering with cold dread.
She shifted slightly, realizing she was tucked neatly beneath Lukas’s dark duvet. He wasn’t in the room. The space was completely silent, save for the faint, rhythmic hum of the estate’s climate control.
As she sat up, supporting her back against the headboard, the translucent system interface shimmered quietly in her vision:
[System Status: Log Update]
[Current Life Expectancy: 45 Days]
[Husband Affection Tracking Log]
—Lukas Deruno: 22% (▲ +4%)
—Philippe Deruno: 10%
—Sebastian Deruno: 0%
Blair stared at the floating log. Lukas affection towards her had increased that much? He was slowly opening up in his own rough, flustered way, and Philippe’s stern authority held a strange, unexpected weight of protection.
But Sebastian... Her gaze lingered on the harsh, round zero next to Sebastian’s name.
Zero percent...
Sebastian looked at her as if she were a piece of stray dirt tracked onto a expensive rug. He hadn’t even touched the dinner she made last night.
I can’t win him over with food, Blair realized with a quiet, bitter sigh. He’s far too sharp, too logical, and too distant. But I can’t give up. If I can’t get through to him, I’ll never survive past these forty-five days.
Just as she pulled her legs over the edge of the bed, the interface screen flickered with a soft, melodic chime, refreshing into a brilliant cyan hue:
[System Main Mission: A Silent Shadow in the Dark]
[Mission Description: A true caretaker knows that presence speaks louder than words when words are rejected. One of your husbands carries the silent weight of the unknown on his shoulders, immune to simple warmth and deaf to excuses. Approach the coldest star in the estate without intruding upon his territory, and offer a quiet gesture of endurance.]
[Target: Sebastian Deruno]
[Objective: Deliver an evening refreshment to Sebastian’s private study during his late-night work hours.]
[Reward: +3 Days Lifespan & Temporary Vascular Stabilization]
[Failure Penalty: Severe Hemorrhagic Relapse]