Chapter 277
"She’s in this condition because of you."
"...Because of me?" Derek frowned, a sudden tension tightening his features.
There was something unusual bleeding through Thomas’s normally guarded tone—a sharp edge of bitterness. Resentment. Beneath it all lay a quiet, burning undercurrent that sounded suspiciously like jealousy.
It was the first time Derek had ever sensed such a vulnerability from him. Was Thomas actually jealous of him?
"Yes. Because of you," Thomas replied, his voice dropping back into a chillingly cool cadence.
"While you were burning through that fever, she stayed by your bedside the entire time. She flatly refused to rest. She barely ate. She pushed herself past every breaking point until her body finally gave out."
His expression hardened, eyes narrowing slightly. "You’re not fully recovered yet, so stay in bed. If you don’t want her worrying herself to the bone again, then listen for once."
With that, Thomas turned and reached for the door handle.
"Wait," Derek commanded, stopping him mid-motion. "One last question. How long was I out?"
Thomas stood frozen for a moment, his back to the room. When he answered, the words were short, deliberately vague. "Several days."
Without another word, he stepped out and clicked the door shut behind him.
The room collapsed into a heavy silence. Derek lay perfectly still, staring blankly at the ceiling while the bitter, metallic taste of medicine lingered on his tongue.
Thomas’s parting words replayed in his mind, looping alongside the haunting image of Suzy’s exhausted face.
Several days. She had watched over him for days. She had cared for him, protected him, neglecting her own life—barely sleeping, barely eating—all because of him.
A strange, dark sense of satisfaction unfurled inside his chest. It was twisted, dangerously sweet, and entirely intoxicating. The sheer realization of how deeply he had consumed her thoughts sent a rush of warmth through his veins.
He was happy—so unbelievably happy that it bordered on madness. Perhaps he was the happiest man alive.
Suzy... she cares about me this much.
Derek tightened his grip on the blanket beside him, bunched up in his fists as his heart pounded violently against his ribs.
The fragile seed of love that had taken root in the quiet corners of his mind long ago suddenly tore through the soil. It grew recklessly, violently, expanding until it threatened to consume his entire being.
He needed to see her. Right now. Immediately. He needed to look into her eyes and tell her exactly how much he loved her.
Ignoring every warning Leonard and Thomas had given him, Derek threw aside the heavy blankets and swung his legs over the edge, staggering as his feet hit the cold floor.
His muscles felt like lead and his head spun with a dizzying vertigo, but none of it mattered. Guided by the faint, muffled murmur of voices down the hall, he leaned against the wall and forced his way toward the room where Suzy was resting.
Leonard and Thomas were already standing by her side. The moment Derek crossed the threshold, the low conversation died, and their expressions shifted instantly.
"Didn’t I tell you to stay in bed?" Leonard frowned, stepping forward to block him. "Why on earth are you up?"
"I want to see Suzy." Derek didn’t look at him, stepping fluidly past his shoulder.
His gaze locked onto the bed. Suzy lay motionless beneath the heavy covers, the blanket pulled all the way to her chin, leaving only the soft oval of her face exposed. Her complexion was so bloodless it was nearly translucent, making her look heartbreakingly fragile—like a piece of fine porcelain that might shatter if touched with too much force.
Derek had never seen her like this. Not even when they had been trapped in the unforgiving terrain of the mountains together.
Back then, she had always been the anchor—strong, unyielding, unbreakable. Seeing her now, reduced to something so delicate, struck a sudden chord of terror in his chest.
A sharp wave of panic surged through him, making his eyes sting.
Noticing the sudden, desperate shift in Derek’s demeanor, Leonard’s anger softened. He reached out, gently patting the younger man’s shoulder.
"Don’t worry too much," Leonard said, his voice dropping to a reassuring murmur. "Suzy’s just utterly exhausted. Once she gets some proper, undisturbed sleep, she’ll pull through fine."
He sighed, casting a deliberate, sidelong glance at Derek.
"You know, while that fever was ravaging your system, she refused to leave your side for a single second. We tried everything. Thomas and I both practically begged her to rest."
A helpless, weary smile touched his lips. "She wouldn’t listen to a word. And now look at her. Her body finally hit its absolute limit."
Leonard spoke with intention. He wanted the weight of those days to settle over Derek. He wanted him to truly understand the depth of Suzy’s devotion.
Derek listened in absolute silence, his jaw tightening as his lips pressed into a thin, conflicted line. "...I’m sorry."
"I’m not blaming you," Leonard replied, shaking his head. Then, a sudden, puzzled crease marred his brow. "What I honestly don’t understand is how you managed to catch a fever that severe in the first place."
Thomas looked over, his eyes sharp and questioning. It was the one blind spot neither of them could rationalize.
Derek rubbed his aching temple, trying to clear the lingering fog from his brain.
"I don’t know." The illness had struck like a lightning bolt, entirely without warning. Even he hadn’t realized his body was failing until the darkness took him.
"Did anything feel off? Any symptoms at all before you collapsed?" Leonard pressed.
Derek forced himself to trace back through the days leading up to the fever.
"Not really." He paused, a strange detail catching in his throat. "Although... I was unusually sleepy. For several days before it hit, I could barely keep my eyes open."
The two men continued to question him, turning over every minor detail, desperately hunting for a medical explanation or a missed symptom that could account for the sudden collapse. But no matter how deep they dug, they found nothing that made sense.
Eventually, Leonard waved a hand in dismissal, giving up. "Forget it for now. It doesn’t matter anymore. The important thing is that the fever broke and you’re okay."
Derek nodded slowly. But just as he tried to push the thoughts aside, a sudden spark flashed through the darkness of his mind—a fleeting, fragmented memory. A clue. Something vital that he had overlooked.
Before he could grasp the fading thought and chase it down, a soft rustle of fabric came from the bed.
All three men froze instantly.
Every ounce of attention in the room pivoted toward Suzy. Under their breathless, watchful gazes, her dark eyelashes fluttered against her pale skin. Slowly, deliberately, she opened her eyes to the dim light of the room.
And at that exact microsecond, a cold, mechanical notification echoed clearly through the silence of her mind:
[Derek’s affection has reached maximum level.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully completed the conquest of Derek Martin.]