Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 110

It had been a year since their last kiss.

But this time, everything was different.

I wrapped my arms around Ehit’s neck. One of his hands supported my back while the other gently cupped my cheek.

The coolness of his hand made a soft sound escape my lips before I could stop it. In response, he pressed against me even more fiercely.

The strength drained from my arms as I clung to his neck, almost hanging onto him.

It really was different from before.

The kiss itself might have been the same, but my heart was nothing like it had been then.

Back then, I had convinced myself I had to leave Ehit.

I thought I couldn’t waste the little time he had left. That I was only someone who would brush past his life for a fleeting moment.

Even if he had given me a small piece of his heart, I believed someone else—someone destined for him—would one day bring him far greater happiness.

But now…

“Daphlen?”

Ehit called my name.

He finally pulled away after kissing me so deeply, because I drew in a shaky, tear-filled breath as if struggling not to cry.

“I’m not crying. I’m not sad.”

Biting down on my trembling lip, I smiled at him.

Then I wrapped my arms around him and leaned closer.

“Ehit.”

I spoke slowly.

“I’m so happy we met again.”

“Thank you… truly… for not forgetting me, and for finding me.”

“I should be the one saying that.”

Even as he answered, worry still lingered in his expression.

I hugged him even tighter and placed several light kisses on him.

Only then did a faint smile finally appear on his face.

Yes.

This wasn’t like a year ago.

This time, I wasn’t planning to leave.

I wasn’t ever going to let this man go.

I was going to stay by his side for a long, long time.

I smiled brightly.

“Then now…”

I had been about to suggest that we finally sit down and talk properly with our hearts at ease.

“Yes. Now.”

Ehit braced one hand behind me as he leaned closer, naturally tilting my body backward.

“Ehit?”

“Yes, Daphlen.”

Answering almost absentmindedly, he wore an irresistibly charming smile as he buried his face against my neck.

Somehow…

…what he had in mind was completely different from what I had been thinking.

After a storm-like whirlwind had finally passed, we somehow managed to calm ourselves.

We sat side by side on the terrace, continuing our conversation.

There was an overwhelming amount to talk about.

Of course there was—we hadn’t seen each other for a year.

No.

Actually, that wasn’t the only reason.

The reason we had so much to say after just one year apart…

…was because the other person was Ehit.

Picking up a piece of pastry from the table, Ehit began another topic.

“When you left…”

“Ugh… I’m sorry.”

“If you don’t want to hear it, I won’t continue.”

“Did it feel like a cat you’d grown attached to suddenly ran away?”

“It felt like a cat locked me inside hell before running away.”

“Um… yeah… I’m sorry.”

I laughed awkwardly as I apologized again and again.

Ehit simply shook his head.

Now I understood.

His feelings had never been something fleeting.

Looking back, they’d been that way even a year ago.

I just hadn’t believed it.

“Back then… I was just scared. I’d lived such a quiet, ordinary life until then. Becoming involved with the Cloydens felt like more than I could handle. And…”

I took a slow breath before continuing.

“I couldn’t believe your feelings could ever really belong to me. But my own feelings just kept growing… and I think that frightened me. Honestly… even after a whole year, I still felt the same.”

Without a word, Ehit pulled me into his arms.

“We still have a long way to go.”

“I know. I’ll try.”

“I meant me.”

“Huh?”

“I did nothing but cling to my pride… while you struggled with thoughts like those.”

His quiet voice drifted past my ear, calm and gentle.

“Do you remember asking me once whether I’d ever regretted anything? After you left, that question kept coming back to me.”

“…”

“And from that day until now… I’ve regretted it every single day.”

“Sending you away.”

“No, Ehit. That was my own stubborn decision…”

“No.”

“If I had held onto you tightly enough… you wouldn’t have left.”

After saying that, Ehit released me just enough to look directly into my eyes.

“If I had told you often enough that I loved you… if I had made you completely certain that nothing you feared would happen…”

“…”

“…then none of this would have happened.”

“I wasn’t beside you.”

“I left you to struggle all alone. I pretended not to see the burden you were carrying.”

“So, Daphlen…”

As I listened, something swelled painfully inside my chest.

The truth was…

It had been hard.

I kept telling myself that I had to solve everything alone.

That I had to make every decision.

But deep down…

I’d wanted someone to lean on.

Running alone all that time had left a part of my heart frozen.

As hard as winter ground.

Only after hearing Ehit’s words…

…did it finally begin to thaw like spring.

“Daphlen.”

“From now on, we’ll face everything together.”

“Will you give me that chance?”

He held out his hand.

I’d promised myself I wouldn’t cry.

But this time…

The tears burst out all at once.

As though accepting something precious, Ehit took my hand into his.

Then he pulled me into his arms and gently patted my back for a long time.

 

 

****

 

 

“Now tell us.”

Only a thin beam of sunlight filtered through the small window into the cramped room.

Separated by a table inside the small brick chamber, Ehit and I sat on one side.

The person who had kidnapped me—the “employer”—sat across from us.

“Why did you do it?”

The culprit, still wearing a hooded robe, slowly lifted her head.

Her hood slipped back.

Orange hair spilled free.

Beneath it appeared a pair of exhausted, hollow eyes.

They belonged to Sonia Ritner…

The owner of Herdens Fortune House.

The woman who had always greeted me warmly and offered advice.

“Sonia Ritner.”

“You seem to have quite a large hand in the pirates’ distribution network.”

“You know staying silent won’t do anything except keep you imprisoned longer.”

“So?”

Sonia—the fortune teller—let out a dry laugh.

Even with a navy colonel sitting before her, she didn’t look intimidated in the slightest.

Ehit quietly watched her before letting out a short chuckle.

With a faint sneer, he said,

“So you don’t think you’ve done anything wrong.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

Sonia turned her gaze toward me.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of guilt in her eyes.

She looked exactly as she always had back at Herdens.

The same expression she’d sometimes worn while listening to my worries.

That familiarity made chills crawl down my spine.

“I merely carried out my mission.”

“Mission?”

I frowned.

What kind of mission could possibly justify this?

Putting me…

My family…

And everyone around me in danger?

“It was the will God gave me.”

“The future He ordained.”

If that really was God’s will…

Then God needed to go home.

A deity with judgment that poor had no business remaining in heaven.

“So nearly getting this man killed…”

“That was God’s chosen future?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

“And how exactly did you receive this prophecy?”

“Did God appear in your dreams?”

“Do I look like someone who relies on something as unreliable as dreams?”

Sonia replied as though she found the question ridiculous.

I couldn’t help wondering how long she’d been thinking this way.

“So you already believed this from the very first time I came to Herdens?”

“You already knew about this future God supposedly revealed?”

“Yes.”

She answered without the slightest hesitation.

I see.

So even the first day I’d visited…

When she’d told me that what was meant to happen would happen…

She’d already been planning all of this.

Even afterward…

Every time I’d gone back to seek her advice…

Every conversation we’d shared…

She’d been hiding this all along.

“Why?”

“What future did God supposedly show you?”

“The destruction of your family.”

Sonia pointed directly at me.

Without blinking, her eyes stared straight into mine.

They looked disturbingly similar to the eyes of someone convinced they were speaking absolute truth.

The resemblance only made the chill running through me worse.

“You were always meant to perish alongside your family, Lady Daphlen Aileta.”

“What are you talking about?”

Ehit cut her off, his voice low with anger.

The calm composure he always maintained was gone.

Without taking her eyes off me, Sonia continued.

“Your family was meant to be annihilated by the Cloydens because of what your brothers did.”

“You were meant to die.”

“And several months later…”

Her gaze shifted to Ehit.

“Colonel.”

“You were meant to die as well.”

“You were supposed to lie that you were terminally ill for everyone’s sake…”

“…and then die.”

“That is the future of this world.”

The more I listened…

The paler my face became.

This…

This was the story of the original novel,

Flowers Blooming Upon the Rock.

“How did you learn about that future?”

“I already told you.”

“God revealed it to me, my lady.”

“I’m asking how.”

“How did He reveal it?”

“I received a prophecy.”

Unlike my stunned silence, Sonia remained perfectly composed.

“It was a prophecy that recorded everything leading up to Ehit Cloyden’s death.”

“And it all began with your family’s destruction.”

In the original novel—a story with an excellent beginning but a disastrous ending—Ehit had already broken off his engagement with me before the story even began.

I had already died from the shock after my family’s annihilation, remembered only as his former fiancée.

Later, Ehit declared that he was terminally ill anyway…

…and died after taking a sword meant for Ridel.

Everything Sonia described…

Was exactly the future I had originally known.

Exactly the same as the original story.