Chapter 15.9 - c14 (1/2)

Translated by Ailee

Edited by Mori

Honestly, it would be a lie if she said it wasn’t scary. She was now in a dark room alone with a man much larger than herself. He wasn’t in his right mind and was even wielding a sword. She was scared to death by this strange appearance of Rafael.

“Rafael…”

But Annette didn’t want to leave him all alone here. It was true that she was frightened, but she had now witnessed the weakest moment of Rafael that he had spent so long hiding. Annette somehow felt a strong sense of gratitude towards him. So with great courage, she gently wrapped Rafael’s cheeks with both hands.

“Shh, Rafael. The war is already over. You are safe now, and nothing will happen to us. So put your sword down and come here. Yeah?”

Annette whispered tenderly and gently patted his cheek. Her small but warm hand caressed Rafael’s face, neck and arms several times. His distressed expression gradually disappeared, and his taut body slowly relaxed.

~Clink.. clang…

Finally Rafael let go of the sword and it fell on the floor. Fortunately it fell on the carpet, so it didn’t make much noise. Annette gently knocked the hideous thing away from his feet. She sat on the couch and half-hugged the exposed upper body of Rafael.

With both her small hands, she gently pressed down on his hard bare chest, so that he could fall down on the sofa. Once he was laid on the sofa, Annette exhaled a huge sigh of relief.

But it was still too early to relax her mind. Rafael, reclining on the sofa, looked down at his hands blankly. Then suddenly, he began to rub his hands roughly against his pants. After rubbing so hard against the coarse fabric, the back of his elegant hand quickly turned red. Her sigh of relief soon turned into a long exhale.

“Look at this. Blood.. it’s blood, isn’t it?  I wasn’t trying to do this, Robert.. You know what I mean? I didn’t want to, but … I could do nothing about it.”

Rafael, who was rambling ceaselessly, soon buried his face in both hands as if he was in great pain. The appearance of the veins emerging on the back of the hand as he applied strength to his hands, was horrific. Annette, who saw this, sat by his side, grabbed his formidable veiny hands and gently pressed on it.

“I know. Of course, you’re not bad at all, Rafael. So now stop making yourself suffer and rest. Now, would you like to lie down this way?…Yes… Like that.”

Rafael seemed to calm down a little, and then followed her hand and lay down with his head on her knees. Because he was so tall, his legs hung off of the sofa a little, but at least he looked much more comfortable than before. All that was left was to let Rafael have a peaceful sleep.

Underneath his long lashes, his blue eyes stared blankly into space. His eyes, which seemed to be still wandering at the end of his nightmare, were bloodshot. Annette reached out in sorrow, closed his eyelids, and stroked his shoulders. However, Rafael couldn’t fall asleep and was gasping again and again.

‘How do I get him to sleep?’

Annette thought about what she could do for Rafael. Fortunately, after searching her memories, she was able to think of a lullaby. Her parents didn’t care about her enough to sing a lullaby to their young daughter, so her nanny must have sung it. Annette, who cleared her throat, started singing a little awkwardly.

Good night, darling.

When the silver bead-like moon hangs on the black ridge

When the soft spring breeze that kissed the flowers blows.

When the bubbles pop and rumble and then again grow over the ocean.

You will fall asleep

You’ll fall asleep in my arms.

Annette’s low, soothing humming filled the silent room. At the same time, her soft hands gently stroked Rafael’s head as if he was a helpless lovely child.

Annette’s lullaby worked better than she thought. Rafael’s rough breathing died  down, and the movement of his eyes, which were shaking unsteadily behind his closed eyelids, stopped suddenly. After a while, there was a sound of even breathing. Rafael had finally fallen into a deep sleep.

Annette looked down at him, now only humming the melody of the lullaby. Rafael’s face while sleeping so peacefully, looked very exhausted. He must have been suffering from sleep problems for quite some time.

Only now did Annette understand why he was drunk every night. Even now, Rafael’s even breath smelled faintly of alcohol.

‘It was because of insomnia.’

Under the strict discipline of the Duke of Bavaria, Annette led a diligent life. She always got up early in the morning and started her day. On the other hand, Rafael would only wake up late and appear past noon with bloodshot eyes. Annette once really disliked this appearance of Rafael.