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Charles Augustus Milverton woke up in the middle of the night and for a few moments, he just stared into the darkness. He rarely woke up during the night as he was a plethoric sleeper - but recently, it happened more and more times, annoying him to the core. He knew exactly the reason for these sudden and unexpected awakenings, the strong headache which made him suffer in the last two months. At the start, it only came during the days, making the work for him harder, but now, it didn't even let him sleep and Milverton was really angry because of that.
It made him feel weak. After all, those who couldn't even control their own bodies, how could they be able to control anything else? Control meant everything for Milverton, it was what he kept craving and he never had enough. Getting sick was an especially hard thing to bear for him. He felt the need to come across as powerful all the time, so when he was sick, he needed to pretend and it became harder and harder as the time passed. The pain often turned Milverton grumpy and made him act rude among his patrons whose good will he needed to keep, his subordinates whose loyalty he wanted to maintain - and with his most trusted employee, his secretary, Ruskin.
Ruskin was the only person Milverton, who liked referring to himself as the incarnation of pure evil, didn't want to hurt. He shared all his secrets with Ruskin, even the most incriminating and disgusting ones - except about the thing with his headaches. He didn't want to appear weak, not even in front of Ruskin, so he tried to hide how much his head was actually aching. He also didn't want to make his secretary worried. Ruskin was loyal and Milverton was aware that he liked him, so he could imagine what racket he would have thrown if Milverton's hidden illness was revealed.
Whatever it actually was.
Milverton tried to fall asleep again, but his headache didn't let him. He silently cursed as he had no choice but to go to his study and get the medicine he secretly kept in the safe. He knew that he needed to be extremely silent so Ruskin would not hear him. In that case, he would definitely question what Milverton was doing, but even without it, he was smart enough to realize what is behind his urge to sneak out unnoticeably.
Just like he planned, Milverron was able to get to his study without getting caught. There, he took a pill from the painkiller and he headed to the kitchen with it to get water - but this was where everything went off the rail. He was raising the glass to his mouth to drink from it, the pill was already on his tongue, when suddenly, he heard that the door opened behind him. Milverton got startled by the noise. The pill slid down on his throat and got caught on it. He began to cough, the glass fell out of his hand.
"Mr. Milverton!" Ruskin, the one who stepped inside, cried out and jumped to Milverton to help him. He kept hitting his back and got hold of his chest until Milverton was finally able to spit out the medicine. He inhaled a deep breath in Ruskin's arms and closed his eyes for a moment. He felt even weaker than he was before. And even more pathetic.
"Are you alright, sir?" Ruskin asked and his voice was gentle. Milverton opened his eyes and gulped.
"Yes. Thank you."
It was technically Ruskin's fault that he got choked on the pill, but Milverton didn't blame him. It was him who strangely felt guilty, knowing that it was because he desperately wanted to keep the matter away from his secretary.
He sensed that Ruskin turned his head over. His gaze fell to the remains of the pill which was in front of them on the floor. It was still recognizable.
Milverton expected that Ruskin would ask about it and he was right. Ruskin helped him up and after he made sure he was able to stand, the ominous words left his mouth.
"What was this about, Mr. Milverton? Why did you want to take medicine?"
Milverton wanted to lie at first, but nothing came to his mind. He also felt that it wouldn't be right. He still sensed the bitter taste of the pill on his tongue he was suffocating from. Milverton looked away when he answered.
"I just had a headache. I wanted to take a painkiller."
"I see, sir." Ruskin slowly nodded. Milverton couldn't read anything from his face, it remained expressionless like so many times. "It didn't start tonight, am I right?" Ruskin continued, stepping aside to look into Milverton's eyes. "You recently had mood swings. Is your headache behind it?"
Milverton turned red. Ruskin was able to guess it just fine. But really, how could he think that he could actually keep it a secret in front of Ruskin? He was the one who knew him the best.
"You are right. I... apologize how I treated you in those times." Milverton replied. Ruskin just shook his head.
"It doesn't matter. For me, only your well-being matters, sir." He said vehemently. "So tomorrow, I will call the doctor. It is inevitable that your problem gets treated. Maybe it is just a minor health problem and you will be better with a simple diet. But we can't wait until there will be more severe complications. You already told this to me too late."
Milverton could sense a hint of scolding from his tone. He couldn't do anything else but agree to the medical visit. He knew that he lost this fight. He wanted to explain himself so Ruskin would not think that he didn't trust him and won't be hurt over his behaviour, but the sentence came hardly to his mouth.
"The reason I didn't tell you about my headaches was not the lack of trust, Ruskin."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Ruskin's lips.
"I know, sir. And believe me... it doesn't make you less evil or less powerful if you happen to fall sick. It just means that you are human." He noted gently. To that, Milverton smiled back. Ruskin truly understood what bothered him - and knew what to say to make him feel better.
"Thank you." He quietly replied and followed his secretary out of the kitchen. He knew that from now on, he will truly tell everything to Ruskin.
Everything.