Saved Him, Now I'm Obsessed - Chapter 38

“It seems I’ve upset you with unnecessary words. Let’s pretend you didn’t hear it.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

“By the way, is Count McCain still diligent in his training these days?”

Ian asked about family matters in a comfortable voice or inquired about the newly granted territory. Answering his trivial stories and agreeing with him, the tension gradually eased. Naturally, my hand reached for the Ficus fruit.

I used a fork to pick up a neatly cut piece of Ficus fruit and put it in my mouth. As expected, sweet juice filled my mouth.

“That’s Ficus fruit.”

“I know.”

As if I wouldn’t know that. With such a strong aroma.

When he invited me for tea, he said he would serve Ficus fruit, so why is he explaining now that what I’m eating is Ficus?

While tilting my head in confusion, I took another big bite of the fruit.

“Will you be alright?”

“What do you mean?”

Ian’s grinning face looked suspicious. As I ate the Ficus, I pondered what his ulterior motive might be, but nothing came to mind immediately.

‘Why is it so itchy?’

I felt an itch on my nape as if insects were crawling on it. Though I knew it was impolite, I scratched the uncomfortable area with my fingernail. Still, the itching didn’t easily subside.

“If you scratch like that, it might leave a scar…”

Ian stood up from his seat and approached me.

“Huh? What’s this…”

It wasn’t just my skin. My throat seemed to be swelling too. Breathing started to become difficult.

“Drink this. It should neutralize the hypersensitive reaction.”

Ian, as if he had known this would happen, took out a small vial from his pocket and handed it to me.

I looked at him with a questioning face but drank the medicine he offered.

“Did you… put poison in the tea?”

Due to my swollen throat, wheezing sounds mixed with my words as I spoke.

“Why did you lie to me, Jane?”

“?”

“If you were really Lady McCain…”

I couldn’t hear the end of his words. As I struggled to breathe, my vision blurred.

‘I’ll kill him!’

As soon as I regained consciousness, that was the only thought that consumed my mind.

‘How dare he try to poison me!’

I don’t know what he fed me, but it was extremely painful until I lost consciousness.

It reminded me of when I helplessly faced death in the flames when the pharmacy caught fire.

“Are you alright?”

When I lifted my heavy eyelids, what I saw was Ian.

As always, he had a handsome face, but to me now, it was just the face of an enemy.

I glared at him intently as I sat up.

“Why did you do that to me? Did you really intend to kill me?”

At my words, Ian hastily shook his head.

“How could that be? You kept saying you weren’t Jane… I just wanted to confirm.”

“Were you planning to kill me if I said I wasn’t Jane?”

“No. It’s a misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding…”

Before I could finish speaking, his eyes welled up with tears. Then he tightly grasped my hand.

“You kept saying you weren’t… even though you’re Jane… you kept denying it. If you’re not here, I have no reason to live…”

‘No, if you act like this… I’ll end up feeling like the bad person.’

He was fine with feeding me something strange that could have killed me, but now he’s speaking tearfully, making me feel like I’m the one who did something wrong.

I gathered my thoughts. I shouldn’t be swayed easily just because he shows tears. Didn’t I almost die from suffocation just now?

“Someone like that feeds me poison?”

“It’s not poison. It’s because you ate the Ficus fruit.”

“You’re saying that happens from eating Ficus fruit?”

“I heard that Lady McCain once unknowingly ate food containing Ficus fruit at a social gathering and broke out in red hives all over her face. Apparently, she always had such symptoms when eating that fruit.”

There are occasionally such constitutions. Substances that have little effect on ordinary people can cause hypersensitive reactions like skin rashes, fever, and itching in these individuals.

In severe cases, it could lead to dangerous situations like blocked airways. It seemed Claire was hypersensitive to Ficus fruit.

“If you were really Claire, you would have struggled even just looking at Ficus, let alone eating it. But I thought you, who likes Ficus fruit, would show a different reaction.”

At his words, I felt dizzy and pressed my hand to my forehead.

I could understand why Simons had been fidgeting and looking at me. He must have known that Claire’s constitution couldn’t handle Ficus and wanted to stop me. But he couldn’t due to Ian’s prevention.

“Even so, that’s going too far…”

As I spoke through gritted teeth, Ian fidgeted and looked uneasy. If you were going to be this nervous, why did you try to feed me that! For a moment, anger surged and made me feel dizzy.

He said in a worried voice, “Are you dizzy? Lean back and sit here.”

“You fed me that to confirm I was Jane? Were you planning to kill me after confirming I had come back to life?”

“I really didn’t intend to do that. I just wanted to confirm if you were Jane. It’s unfair.”

“What’s unfair! I’m the one who’s unfair! I almost said goodbye to this world! Twice! Do you know how dangerous that was?”

He made an pitiful expression like a scolded puppy and made excuses.

“I didn’t know you’d collapse so suddenly. I heard that eating Ficus fruit would only cause red rashes on the skin… I was really surprised when you fainted.”

My accusation that he tried to kill me was just out of anger.

But even for a hypersensitive reaction to Ficus fruit, it was too severe. It wasn’t even a large amount, yet the symptoms appeared too quickly and strongly.

‘Come to think of it, I drank Rosette White tea before eating the Ficus fruit.’

It seemed this tea, which promotes blood circulation and maximizes the effects of medicinal ingredients, caused a more hypersensitive reaction to the Ficus fruit than usual.

“That was dangerous. Don’t ever do that again.”

“Okay. I won’t do it again. I was so scared too. But now you admit it, right? That you’re Jane?”

I nodded. I shouldn’t claim otherwise, or he might try something strange again to confirm. It’s fortunate he gave me the neutralizing agent right away, or I could have really died.

“Yes. I am Jane.”

This might be for the best. I no longer need to persuade him to give me the medicine.

“I’m so relieved.”

After I admitted to being Jane, he rested his head on my hand in relief. He mumbled “I’m so glad. Really…” several times, needlessly fueling my guilt.

“I was really sad when you said you weren’t Jane. If you weren’t Jane… If you had really died, my life would have no meaning. So why did you say you weren’t?”

“I did that because I was afraid Your Highness would be too saddened by my death.”

At my words, he looked utterly confused.

“I don’t know how I came to borrow Claire’s body, but Claire, the owner of this body, could appear at any time, or I might suddenly disappear. Then Your Highness would have to mourn my death again…”

“That will never happen! I won’t let it. I won’t lose you again.”

Ian held my hand tightly, as if he couldn’t bear to lose me again.

‘I’m getting unnecessarily moved.’

His reaction made me feel like crying, so I strained my eyes to hold back the tears.

“But how did you recognize me?”

“My foresight became clearer when I stopped taking the medicine. My dream told me that you hadn’t died and that you would return to me.”

“Ah!”

I hadn’t thought about his foresight. While he was taking the medicine, his foresight ability had been useless. I also hadn’t considered that he might have stopped taking the medicine.

“And I was certain at the banquet. It was unexpected that you appeared as Lady McCain, but you returned to me as in my dream.”

“Even so, did you recognize me that quickly? From what you’re saying, the dream probably didn’t show that I would look like Claire, right?”

“Though your appearance changed, you were still you. I was certain when you gripped my hand tightly. That you were my Jane.”

“I’m really forgiving you just this once. There won’t be a second time.”

“Of course. I will never do anything to harm you.”

“You say all the right things. Anyway, I need to go before it gets too late. Ileana will be worried.”

“It’s already too late. Stay here and rest until you’re fully recovered.”

Looking out the window, I saw the sky dyed crimson with the sunset. Time had flown by so quickly.

I declined his offer and returned home.

Ian personally escorted me to the mansion.

On the way, he kept asking if I would really go to North Wolf Lake if I became a healer.

I answered that it was just one of the options I was considering.

Ileana was waiting with a worried face. Though she seemed curious about why I came with Ian, she was more concerned about the red hive marks still visible on my face.