SUPER SIDE STORY 14………………………….
“Thank goodness… really, thank goodness…”
She murmured while holding Ruamin’s hand.
Arsene pulled the bell cord and called a maid.
“Wash Ru with warm water right now. Don’t take too long—just enough to warm his body.”
“Yes, sir.”
The maid bowed.
Arsene approached Ivelina and gently helped her to her feet.
“Let’s come back later. We should also thank Selene, shouldn’t we?”
“Ah, yes, yes. You’re right. I forgot the most important thing.”
At Arsene’s words, Ivelina snapped back to her senses.
But instead of leaving, she looked around the room.
Arsene asked,
“Did you drop something?”
“No… I can’t see Rosel.”
“If you mean Rosel, Noah took her earlier. She’s probably eating snacks to calm down after being frightened. Noah likely took care of the queen as well.”
“I see…”
Ivelina relaxed slightly.
Earlier, she had been so focused on Ruamin that she couldn’t think about anyone else.
After steadying herself, she left the room.
Since Selene had also gone into the water, she was probably bathing by now.
Thinking that she should send Anais to check on Selene later as well, Ivelina first went to see Roselia.
Just as Arsene had predicted, Roselia was eating snacks in the drawing room.
Normally she ate snacks in her room with Ruamin, but today was an exception.
As soon as Ivelina entered, Roselia—who had just finished her cake and was gulping down juice—quickly jumped off her chair.
“Mom! Dad!”
Roselia ran over and hugged Arsene and Ivelina.
Smiling faintly, Ivelina asked,
“Rosel, were you eating snacks?”
“Yes. But where’s Ru? Is he okay?”
Perhaps because she had cried earlier, Roselia’s eyes were still red.
Ivelina looked closely at her face as she answered.
“Yes, he’s okay. The queen saved him right away, so his life isn’t in danger.”
“That’s a relief…”
Roselia sighed in relief.
Then she suddenly looked distressed.
“I’m sorry… I should have been watching over Ru…”
At the unexpected words, Ivelina and Arsene widened their eyes and looked at each other.
Arsene spoke firmly to Roselia.
“Rosel, this isn’t your fault.”
“But…”
“If you had tried to stop him, you might have fallen in with him. It’s not your fault, so you don’t need to apologize.”
After hesitating for a moment, Roselia slowly nodded.
Only then did Arsene relax his expression and smile.
Ivelina said to Roselia,
“Mom is going to see the queen, so stay with Dad, okay?”
“Yes!”
Ivelina whispered softly to Arsene.
“I’ll be back.”
“I’ll personally thank the queen again later.”
“Alright.”
She nodded with a small smile and left the drawing room.
On the way, she ran into Noah and asked where Selene was.
He said he had assigned a maid to guide her to her room.
“Thank you, Noah.”
“It was simply my duty.”
Noah bowed.
Ivelina smiled and slowly headed toward Selene’s room.
As she walked, she kept thinking about how she could repay Selene for saving Ruamin’s life.
Before she realized it, she had arrived at Selene’s door.
Ivelina gently raised her hand and knocked.
Light footsteps sounded from inside, and the door opened.
When Selene saw her, she broke into a bright smile.
“Ivelina!”
“Selene.”
“Come in quickly.”
Ivelina carefully entered the room.
The first thing she did was bow deeply.
“Selene… thank you. Truly, thank you so much.”
“Well… anyone who saw a child fall in would have jumped in to save them. I’m not special.”
Selene waved her hands awkwardly.
Ivelina straightened up and said,
“No. Even I, his mother, panicked and couldn’t do anything. You could have been in danger too.”
Selene rolled her eyes nervously.
Thinking about it now still made her heart drop.
“If it hadn’t been you… Ru might have been fighting for his life right now. You saved him and performed first aid right away. Anais, our family physician, said that thanks to the quick emergency treatment, Ru’s life isn’t in danger. Thank you so much, Selene.”
Ivelina bowed again.
Then she suddenly grabbed Selene’s hands.
“So please let me repay you somehow. Anything—just tell me.”
“What? No! It’s fine. I didn’t save Ruamin expecting a reward. And I’m a queen—I already have most things in the royal palace.”
The two of them went back and forth.
Ivelina insisted she wanted to repay her somehow, while Selene stubbornly refused.
In the end, Selene won.
With a disappointed expression, Ivelina said,
“If you ever need anything, please tell me. Alright?”
“Of course. How’s Ruamin now?”
“He’ll probably catch a cold, but that can’t be helped. I’ll stay beside him and take care of him. You should also get checked by Anais.”
“I’m fine. I’ve been healthy since birth—I’ve never even caught a cold.”
Despite Selene’s answer, Ivelina insisted.
“But I’m worried. Could you do this for me?”
Faced with Ivelina’s earnest gaze, Selene groaned softly before finally nodding.
“Alright, fine.”
“Then I’ll send Anais right away!”
Ivelina said with a bright smile.
Selene chuckled.
That evening, Ruamin developed a high fever from a cold.
Berry offered to take care of him so the illness wouldn’t spread, but Ivelina shook her head.
Unable to change her mind, Berry told her to call if she needed help, then placed the stew Ivelina had requested for dinner on the table before leaving.
Ivelina replaced the now-lukewarm damp cloth on Ruamin’s forehead.
Seeing him breathe heavily with fever made her heart ache.
Just then, Ruamin slowly opened his eyes.
“Mom…”
“Yes, Ru.”
His voice was hoarse.
Ivelina smiled gently and stroked his hair.
Ruamin coughed and asked,
“What if… you catch my cold…?”
“It’s okay. Mom is strong, so you don’t need to worry.”
Ruamin’s eyes slowly began to close again.
“Mom will stay here, so sleep well. If you sleep, the fever will go down.”
Ivelina reached out and softly patted his chest.
Following the rhythm of her hand, Ruamin’s eyelids slowly fluttered—
and he soon fell asleep.
Even after his breathing became steady, Ivelina didn’t stop patting him.
A little later, the door quietly opened, and Arsene entered.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke.
“Ivelina, let’s switch. You should rest for a bit and come back later.”
Ivelina was about to say she was fine, but when she saw that Arsene had even brought documents with him, she nodded.
“Then I’ll come back later.”
“Yes. Get some rest.”
Arsene kissed her cheek briefly.
Ivelina smiled softly and quietly left the room.
“Phew…”
As she walked downstairs, she ran straight into Roselia, who was running up the stairs.
“Rosel.”
“Mom, can I see Ru?”
“Hm… Rosel, you’re still young, so your immunity is weaker. You might catch his cold. It’s better not to see him until he gets better.”
Roselia looked disappointed and asked,
“Then is Ru okay?”
“Yes, he’s okay. Since you can’t sleep with Ru tonight, how about sleeping with Mom and Dad?”
“Yes! I’d love that!”
When Roselia was younger, she always slept beside them, but once she learned to walk and talk, they had given her a separate room.
So it had been quite a long time since she slept with them.
Excited, Roselia started bouncing.
Holding her hand, Ivelina walked down the stairs and asked,
“Did you enjoy your dinner?”
“Yes! The queen is really amazing.”
“In what way?”
“She jumped into the lake so bravely and saved Ru! I was so scared I just cried… I want to become someone cool like the queen too!”
Ivelina covered her mouth and laughed softly.
“Later, tell the queen exactly that. She’ll be very happy.”
“Really?”
“Of course. The queen really likes you children.”
“Hehe.”
Roselia spent some quiet time with Ivelina.
Soon it was bedtime.
Ivelina washed up with Roselia and lay down on the bed.
“Where’s Dad?”
“He’ll come later. Let’s sleep first.”
“Okay.”
Ivelina gently patted Roselia’s stomach.
Roselia suddenly opened her eyes and said,
“Mom, can you sing me a lullaby?”
“A lullaby?”
“Yes. The one you used to sing.”
“Alright, I’ll sing it.”
Roselia giggled and closed her eyes again.
After clearing her throat a few times, Ivelina began singing softly.
“Sleep well, my baby, my precious little one.
Beautiful flowers bloom all around you.
Rest peacefully until the morning light comes,
my precious little one.”
Her voice was very gentle.
Ever since she was little, Roselia would fall asleep before the lullaby finished.
Today was no different.
Not long after the song began, Roselia was already sleeping soundly.
Ivelina stopped singing and pulled the blanket up a little higher.
After watching Roselia sleep for a moment, she carefully stood up.
Now it was time to switch with Arsene.
When she went to Ruamin’s room, Arsene was still watching over him while reviewing documents.
“Arsene, it’s my turn now.”
“But it’s late. Won’t you be tired?”
“I’m fine. Roselia is alone in our room, so you should go to her.”
“Alright.”
Arsene nodded, gathered his documents, and left the room.
Ivelina sat in the empty chair and resumed caring for Ruamin.
