Her breath caught in her throat as she saw him sprawled on the floor, unconscious, he was only wearing his trousers, leaving his top bare and his skin pale with red hives all over.
Without thinking, Claire dropped to her knees beside him, her trembling hands reaching for his face. She noticed how cold he looked"Leon, wake up!" she pleaded, her voice cracking. She gently tapped his cheek, her heart pounding wildly.
When he didn't respond, she turned her head toward the door. "Mae! Get help!" she yelled.
Mae burst in seconds later, her face paling at the sight of her brother on the floor. "What happened?"
"I-I don't know! He just collapsed," Claire stammered, her voice shaking as she tried to hold back tears.
"Stay with him. I'll get Grandpa and a doctor!" Mae said, bolting out of the room.
Claire's hands continued to shake as she leaned over Leon, brushing wet strands of hair off his forehead. He felt cold, far too cold. Tears pricked her eyes as she tried to warm him up by rubbing their hands together.
Minutes later, Mae returned with Old Man Yu, Mrs. Yu, and a family doctor in tow. The doctor quickly knelt beside Leon, checking his pulse and breathing.
"His body temperature has dropped significantly," the doctor said gravely. "He may have been exposed to the cold for too long. We need to warm him up immediately."
Mrs. Yu looked stricken, wringing her hands. "I told you to take a hot bath right away. Why didn't you listen? Did you forget about your allergy" she yelled at the unconscious man.
Claire stepped back, guilt weighing heavily on her. "It's my fault," she admitted in a small voice. "If I hadn't—"
"It's not the time for blame," Old Man Yu interjected firmly, his voice steady despite the tension. "Help the doctor get him to the bed."
They carefully carried Leon out of the bathroom and placed him on the bed. The doctor instructed Claire to sit beside him and help with warming his hands while he checked for further symptoms and administered some medications.
Claire obeyed, wrapping her hands around his cold ones, her eyes never leaving his face.
Moments stretched into what felt like hours before Leon finally stirred, letting out a low groan. Claire's head snapped up, her eyes wide with relief.
"Leon!" she exclaimed, leaning closer.
His eyes fluttered open, and he blinked at her in confusion. "What… happened?" he murmured, his voice hoarse.
"You fainted," Claire replied, her voice trembling. "You scared me…"
Leon managed a faint smile despite his exhaustion. "I'm fine now… Stop crying." He said reaching to touch her cheeks.
At that moment Claire had forgotten that she wasn't supposed to get so close to him.
She wiped at her cheeks, realizing tears had fallen. Not long after, Leon fell asleep again.
The doctor patted Claire's shoulder reassuringly. "He'll be fine. Just let him rest, and make sure he stays warm."
As the others left the room, Claire glanced at the man resting beside her, her chest tightening. Why am I so worried about him? she wondered, confused by the ache in her heart. She didn't understand if it was due to guilt that this was her fault.
For the first time, she realized how much Leon's well-being meant to her.
Claire stared at Leon's sleeping face for a long time, and her gaze fell on his chest. Noticing that his chest was still bare, she went back inside the bathroom and found his shirt on one of the racks. Walking back, she was about to pull him up and dress him but halted.
Gripping the clothes tightly through her clenched fists and gritting her teeth, she cursed herself. "Claire, what is wrong with you?" she muttered to herself before deciding to go ask one of the butlers to do it.
When she got downstairs, she saw a young butler. After giving him the shirt and telling him what to do, she was about to follow him upstairs when Mae called her.
"Claire, are you okay?" Mae asked with a worried expression, seeing how sad Claire looked. When Claire didn't respond, Mae walked up to her and hugged her tightly. "It's okay. My brother is strong; he'll be fine before tomorrow," she whispered, patting her back.
Her hug and words of comfort made Claire burst into tears, and she cried hard, letting everything she'd been holding in out. "Why? Why are you comforting me when I'm the reason he's in that condition? I... I didn't know he was allergic to cold, and I let him join me in the rain," Claire ranted between sobs.
"And who said it's your fault?" Grandma Rinna's voice rang out, causing the two to let go of each other and turn to her. Grandma Rinna and Mae led Claire to the couch.
"My child," Grandma Rinna called her while wiping tears from her face, "Leon has always been stubborn. It's not the first time he's doing this, so there's no need to blame yourself," she reassured her.
"But, Grandma, he came out to call me. I was the reason he left the shelter. I'm the cause of all this," Claire said, burying her face in her palms as she began sobbing again. She would never forgive herself if something bad happened to him because of her.
Rinna made her look up. "Silly girl, do you think anyone can force Leon to do anything? Think of this: he could've easily left you there until Levy came or even called you to come inside, but he came out because he wanted to. I think that brat just missed being out in the rain," Mrs. Yu commented with a nostalgic smile on her face, causing Claire to look at her, confused.
Claire blinked in confusion. Noticing her puzzled expression, Rinna began to explain. "When his mother was alive, Emily loved nature and the rain. She used to take Aaron, Leon, and Mae outside to play whenever it rained. But after her death, the three of them stopped going out in the rain—until one night when Aaron and Leon fought outside in a downpour. That's when Leon's allergy started," Rinna said, her voice tinged with sadness.
The entire revelation shocked Claire. "They fought all night?" she asked, still in disbelief. Grandma Yu gave her a warm smile and nodded.
"Aaron left this house after that, despite our protests, and Leon, who used to love his older brother, didn't even stop him."
"Bu... but why did they fight?" Claire asked again, completely overwhelmed.
"Aaron watched Leon kill his mom," she answered, and Claire, who had totally forgotten she was crying, widened her eyes in disbelief.
"W... what?" she burst out. The turn of events was just too much.
Grandma Yu sighed. "Ahh, silly me. I'm probably overwhelming you right now. I know you have a lot of questions, and I'm sorry I can't say more. You can ask Leon when he's ready to open up, but rest assured, Leon did nothing wrong in killing her. In fact, he helped the police," Grandma Yu said, chuckling.
"Claire, my grandma has bored you enough with this soppy, sad story. You should go to bed now," Mae told her. Claire turned to look at her, and though her words were lighthearted, she could see the pain in her eyes. Nodding, she bid them goodnight and headed to her room, not sure if she was going to get any sleep at all.
"Urrrgh, did they have to leave me hanging?" she grunted as she turned on the bed. It's not like Leon will ever answer her, he clearly forbade her from asking him about his family. Turning to face Leon, she stared at his face and was relieved to see him no longer pale and the hives slowly disappearing. With unanswered questions in her mind, she fell asleep.
---
"Boss, please take your medications, or this could cause you a huge problem," Zach told Aaron as he handed the extremely pale man some pills, which Aaron drank in one go.
"You know cold isn't good for you. You should've just stayed in the car," he scolded slightly when Aaron chuckled.
"Not bad, brother, though I'm wondering how you'll be faring now," he muttered to himself. He was under an umbrella, yet the cold still made him sick, and his brother actually went out in the rain with no shield... wow.
"Boss, do you think he loves her now?" Zach asked, causing Aaron to glare at him.
"Of course not, you fool. He still doubts her, but I'm sure very soon his doubts will fade. For now, he's just being nice out of mere duty. Ah, don't you think I chose the perfect lady? With Sugarcube's innocent demeanor and the fact she's not even trying to seduce him, Leon will soon crumble," Aaron said, his usual cunning smirk on his face as he played with the glass of water in his hands.
"You're right, perfect choice, sir," Zach complimented quickly and excused himself. He could feel Aaron's intense emotions when he said those last words, and that crazed look in his eyes scared him.
Meanwhile, inside the dimly lit room, Aaron's smoky gray eyes shone with unsettling intensity, emotions swirling around them.