Sweet Hatred Chapter 341: Lockdown

(Important notice: the Chapter before this was edited because I didn’t put the complete Chapter so yeah you can go back to read it, sorry about that (⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠෴⁠ ⁠༎ຶ⁠) Thank you.)

ARIA

I should’ve known.

Sowhere in the back of my mind, I’d felt it coming. That burst of energy these last two days, the way I’d danced, laughed, clung to him like the world might end... I’d known my body would punish for it. But I didn’t regret it. Not one second. I’d been happy... genuinely happy... for the first ti in so long. And if the price was this fever, then fine. I’d pay it.

The door creaked open, and the doctor strode in with Niko right behind him. Kael didn’t move an inch from my side, one hand still cupping mine against the sheets, his shoulders squared like he’d kill the man if he so much as breathed wrong.

The doctor gave a polite smile, murmured a greeting, then tried to check my temperature. Kael imdiately hovered, asking what he was doing, why he needed to check that, if the thermoter was sanitized.

I almost laughed, except his voice trembled every ti he snapped out another question. He wasn’t trying to be difficult... he was terrified.

The doctor worked calmly through it, examining , listening, scribbling notes, all with Kael standing so close his shadow covered half the bed.

And then...

"The scan," the doctor said, glancing at Kael. "The one we discussed during her last checkup. Perhaps now..."

My stomach dropped. Ice-cold panic clawed through . A scan. That ant the possibility of knowing the truth.

"No," I blurted, sitting up too fast. "I don’t want that."

Kael’s head whipped toward , confusion darkening his green eyes. "Aria..."

"I said no." My voice shook. "I’m fine. I don’t need a scan."

"You’re burning with fever. You almost fainted... "

"It’s just exhaustion," I cut him off, desperate. "The dancing, the walking, the past few days running around with you... " My lips trembled. "I overdid it, that’s all."

Silence. The doctor looked between us, his brows furrowing. Kael looked like he wanted to fight on it, his jaw tense, but sothing in my expression must’ve warned him off. His suspicion was obvious though, heavy, sinking into like a stone.

After a beat, the doctor cleared his throat. "If she doesn’t feel comfortable with the scan, perhaps we compromise. Blood work, instead. Less invasive. Just to rule out any hidden concerns."

Kael’s head snapped toward him, eager. "Do it."

My throat closed. But refusing again would only dig deeper, and I had no strength to keep fighting. I nodded stiffly. "Fine. Just... blood work."

The doctor prepared his things, and Kael didn’t let go of my hand once, glaring holes through every move he made. When it was over, the man gave his verdict... rest, dication, hydration, careful monitoring. Nothing strenuous.

Then he asked to speak with Kael privately.

I watched Kael go with him, his broad back tense, his hand reluctantly slipping from mine. As the door shut, the room seed to shrink around .

The guilt hit harder than the fever.

Because it wasn’t just exhaustion. It wasn’t just a few days of fun catching up with . It was the truth I’d been burying so deep it burned. The baby I’d lost.

And how could I tell him that now? When he’d spent every second proving he’d burn the world down for , how could I hand him another kind of grief? How could I watch his face when he realized I’d carried his child, and then lost it, and hadn’t even told him?

The weight of it pressed until my chest hurt.

I was still lost in that spiral when the mattress dipped and I felt the familiar shift in weight beside . His warmth closed in, his scent wrapping around like a net.

Kael.

The first thing out of his mouth was a question.

"What’s going on in your head?"

His eyes burned into , sharp even in the half-light, suspicion clinging to every line of his face. I swallowed the truth like glass and forced a small smile.

"Just... sad you worry too much."

His brow furrowed, that muscle in his jaw twitching. "I can’t help it. I’ve almost lost you too many tis. I can’t... " He broke off, voice rough. "I can’t risk it anymore, Aria."

I turned fully to face him, pressing my palm against his cheek until he looked at . "I already told you. I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with until you’re sick of ."

He didn’t even hesitate. "That will never happen."

The quiet way he said it knocked the air out of . I smoothed my thumb over his cheekbone, whispering, "Then stop worrying so much. I’m stubborn, Kael. You know that. This is nothing, probably just exhaustion. Or even a cold. I’ve been sneezing a lot lately y’know."

His lips brushed mine, soft, tender, almost like a surrender. "Then fight it," he murmured, trailing down my neck, kissing over my cheek, my brow, as though he could kiss the fever right out of . "Teach the stupid cold a lesson."

The next day ca,

And lo and behold, I was right.

It wasn’t so hidden sickness. It was a damn cold.

The next few days I sneezed and coughed so hard you’d think every breath was my last.

The blood test ca back clear of anything dangerous. The doctor, after much back and forth with Kael breathing down his neck, concluded it was likely exposure to the sea breeze and cold air.

Kael’s verdict?

I was officially on lockdown.

"You’ve had enough exploring Forntera," he growled the third night, scooping from the balcony where I’d been wrapped in a blanket like a burrito. He carried inside with ridiculous ease, despite my protests, after forcing to drink an entire kettle of ginger tea that made pee every five minutes.

Oddly, I felt nostalgic. My mother used to fuss exactly like this whenever I had a cold. Except Kael’s version ca with lethal glares at the staff, as if they’d given the flu themselves.

The lockdown lasted nearly three weeks.

Three weeks where I wasn’t allowed past the villa gates. Three weeks of Kael carrying everywhere like I was fragile porcelain. Three weeks where even Ash, tired of my "house arrest," had to visit instead.

But eventually... finally... I began to feel like myself again. My strength returned, the hollow ache in my body lifted. I had fully recovered from my cold, and even the low iron and exhaustion had completely faded away thanks to Kael’s al planning.

Soon enough I decided I was done.

Done with tea kettles, done with being tucked into bed before midnight, done with the Roman lockdown.

I was back to the old and stubborn Aria.