Chapter 3

After all the endless dragging around, I felt myself starting to run a fever.

Valen was the first to notice that something was off with me. He pressed his palm against my forehead, then pulled out a thermometer to check my temperature.

“103.6 degrees? Sera, you really know how to cause trouble for us.” He let out a heavy sigh.

Chloe walked into the room, looking somewhat worried. “Maybe we should cancel today’s itinerary. Sera is burning up so badly; it’s too dangerous to leave her alone at the hotel.”

Valen hesitated.

I forced a faint smile. “Don’t skip it on my account. You guys should go.”

“Are you sure? But your fever is so high…” Chloe brought over a mug of hot tea. “Sera, take some fever reducers first.”

I took the pills from her and swallowed them down.

Watching me finish the medication, Valen glanced down at his phone. “The tour guide is already here. It’s too late to cancel now anyway.”

“Sera, I’m leaving the medicine right here. Remember to take it. We’ll be back soon.”

With that, Valen and Chloe left.

Under the heavy fog of the medication, I managed to sleep for a little while. When I finally blinked my eyes open, they still hadn’t returned. I called the hotel front desk and ordered a bowl of warm chicken broth.

While waiting, I opened social media. Two photos instantly stabbed right into my eyes.

Valen and Chloe had taken photos in the same spot, striking identical poses. My fingers trembled slightly.

I tapped directly into Valen’s profile.

“And we’re off! I’m definitely going to get better shots than Chloe!”

“Managed to catch the northern lights with lucky Chloe.”

“The lonely black sand beach. Thank goodness the princess was here with me.”

Princess... A sweet little nickname I didn’t even know existed.

Beneath the post, a mutual friend had left a comment: “Hey Valen, where’s the wife? Why didn’t she tag along?”

Valen had left a blunt, simple reply: “She’s just unlucky. Ran a fever, so she’s stuck lounging at the hotel.”

The broth arrived, and I set my phone down, using the spoon to slowly stir the steaming liquid.

The year we graduated from high school, I had come down with a massive fever. Valen had been absolutely frantic back then. He had personally cooked the chicken noodle soup I craved, blowing on it to cool it down before feeding me spoon by spoon.

During those two days of fever, he stubbornly dragged me to the hospital, practically demanding that the doctor admit me for an overnight stay. It had left me completely amused.

On the walk back home, he carried me on his back, looking incredibly sullen. I leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss right behind his ear.

“Alright, look at me. I’m totally fine.”

He had grumbled softly, “But my heart aches for you.”

I swallowed the cooled broth, feeling a tiny shred of my strength return.

Right then, they walked back into the room.

“Sera, look at this! Valen took a photo of me and made my face look absolutely massive!” Chloe thrust her phone directly in front of my face.

On the screen was a selfie of the two of them. Chloe stood right in front while Valen held up the phone with one hand, snapping the shot.

My eyes began to sting. Back in our school days, before selfie sticks were a thing, we used to take photos in that same stance. We even had an entire photo wall back home filled with memories taken in that very pose.

Unable to stop my voice from trembling, I practically fled the room. “I’m feeling really sick. I’m going to go lie back down.”

The space outside my bedroom door went dead silent.

A moment later, Valen walked in. He reached out his hand to test my temperature against his knuckles. “It’s down.”

I leaned my head slightly to the side, dodging his touch. His hand hovered frozen in mid-air for a second before he pulled it back with a look of pure exasperation.

“Sera, even if you’re sick, you shouldn’t act out this terribly.”

I snapped my head up to look at him. “I’m acting out?”

“Chloe saw that you couldn’t join us, so she specifically tried to share the photos to make you feel included. Who exactly are you throwing a tantrum at?

“You’re the one who insisted on coming to Iceland in the first place. We flew all the way out here to keep you company, and now you turn around and flip over nothing.

“Seraphina Winters, can you grow up and be a little reasonable for once?”

I stared at him, utterly stunned.

“That’s enough.” Chloe walked into the room out of nowhere, gently pulling on Valen’s sleeve. “Valen, stop talking. It’s my fault anyway…”

“Don’t speak up for her,” Valen said, his face darkening with irritation. “She’s the one who didn’t bundle up enough and froze herself into a fever. Did anyone blame her for it? Just because you’re uncomfortable doesn’t mean the entire world has to revolve around you and cater to your every whim.”

Valen grabbed Chloe by the wrist.

“Let’s go. Let her stay here and think about her attitude!”

Chloe cast a worried glance back at me before following Valen straight out of the room.

The door slammed shut with a deafening thud.