Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 117

“When did you think you’d find them?!”

“I-I really thought I’d find them quickly at first. We had a clue…”

“A clue?”

“Daphlen’s pendant. Just looking at it, you could tell it was valuable. And from its color alone—you know something like that isn’t common.”

I remembered Enric asking me about the pendant several times.

“So that’s why you kept asking me about it?”

“Delphi, what? Did you think I was asking because I wanted to sell it?”

“I thought that might be it.”

“Del—!”

Enric was about to scold me with a loud “Delphi!” but swallowed his words when he saw the rest of the family glaring at him.

“Forget that. Enric, keep talking! So? Did you find Daphlen’s real family?”

“I thought we would. But it turned out to be much harder than expected… Even with Lady Naia’s help… So I finally decided there was no choice but to tell everyone where Delphi was staying, but…”

Enric’s voice, which had shrunk to almost nothing, grew a little louder again.

“But?!”

“…Delphi had written her address in one of her letters. I always carried it in my inside pocket so I could tell everyone whenever the time came.”

“Did you lose it?”

“I lo—… Yes. How did you know, Mother?”

At Enric’s reaction, Mother narrowed her eyes as if she were at her wit’s end, while Father closed his eyes and silently offered a prayer to the heavens.

“So that’s why we never got any replies.”

I had wondered why no one answered my letters after a certain point.

After chewing nervously on his lip for a while, Enric finally gave up trying to defend himself and turned to me.

“Yeah. You always left out your return address whenever you wrote. How was I supposed to reply? Delphi, couldn’t you have accidentally written your address one more time? Oh, and we eventually found Daphlen’s real fami—”

Adlen let out a long sigh and cut him off.

“Why were you even planning to tell her only after finding her real family, Brother? Delphi is just Delphi. We should’ve simply brought her back to Aileta.”

“But…”

As Enric started biting his lip again, Elzers patted his shoulder and spoke in his place.

“I understand how Enric felt.”

Elzers looked at me and gently covered the back of my hand with his own.

“We felt so guilty for hiding it. I did too.”

“…”

“It was the same when you left. I couldn’t stop wondering how deeply we’d hurt you for you to leave the family without even talking to us first. I lost sleep over it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, Daphlen. You have nothing to apologize for. We’re the ones who should be sorry. I was so ashamed that I didn’t think I had the right to face you until we’d found your real family. I think Enric felt the same.”

“B-Big Brother… Delphi…”

Adlen still looked dissatisfied, but in the end he only let out a sharp breath and said nothing more.

Father, who had been quietly listening, turned toward Mother.

After looking at me, my brothers, and Father in turn, Mother stood up.

Then she gently pushed Enric aside from where he was sitting next to me and took his place.

“Daphlen, how did you feel when you first learned about your birth?”

Her expression was warm, but serious.

Because of that, I didn’t want to brush it off with an empty “I was fine” or “It didn’t bother me.”

I thought back to that day.

To overhearing my brothers’ conversation. To struggling with it alone. To the shock of feeling as if the very ground beneath me had suddenly disappeared.

“It wasn’t hard to accept. Maybe… deep down, I’d always sensed it.”

“I see, my beautiful Daphlen.”

“But if you’re asking whether it was painful… then no, I can’t say it wasn’t.”

“I understand.”

“I’m not sure how to explain it… It felt like something was leaking through a hole I’d always tried to cover up and pretend wasn’t there.”

I spoke slowly.

“Back then, it felt like every shield protecting me had vanished. I think that feeling scared me. Maybe that’s why I ran away.”

Mother gently took my hand.

I quietly watched as she held it like a precious treasure, slowly stroking it.

Then I looked into her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Daphlen. I knew you’d be shocked and heartbroken if you found out without warning, but I still couldn’t bring myself to tell you.”

“Daphlen… the truth is…”

Father quietly interrupted Mother.

“Your mother didn’t know. She truly believed you were her biological daughter.”

Father slowly closed his eyes and opened them again.

Even my noisy brothers fell silent.

“If we were ever going to tell you this, I wanted to do it properly. Looking into your eyes, just like this. I never wanted you to learn by accident. But by putting it off… I only ended up hurting you.”

“Father…”

“We found you while volunteering at an orphanage after a fire. At the time… this house had already lost an angel about your age. It had only been a few days since that child went to heaven.”

Father slowly exhaled before continuing.

“Your mother couldn’t accept that loss. She went there to volunteer, hoping it would help heal her heart. And that was where we met you.”

“Did I… look like the child who had passed away?”

“You looked very much alike when you were asleep. We found you lying among the dead. And the moment you opened your eyes… though we’d believed you were gone… we couldn’t help thinking you were meant to become part of our family.”

“So Mother believed I was that child.”

“She did. But more than that… the way you looked at us with those innocent, crystal-clear eyes… Whatever the reason, I wanted to bring you home.”

As I listened to Father’s story, a memory flashed through my mind.

The day I had been imprisoned in the annex of the Cloyden estate.

The illusion I had seen in the mirror.

Father and my brothers standing beside my childhood bed.

And the conversation between Father and Elzers.

“Daph…len? Father…”

“Elzers, we have a duty to make our family happy. You understand what that means, don’t you?”

So that was what he meant.

For Mother’s sake—because she believed I was her own child—everyone had decided to live as though it were true.

Then… had Mother only learned the truth when I said I was leaving?

That I wasn’t really her daughter?

She must have suffered so much.

I gently wrapped my own hands around the one Mother was still holding.

“I’m sorry. Leaving the way I did… I think I only hurt you more.”

“No, Daphlen. Never think that.”

Mother shook her head firmly.

“And… I’d already realized the truth.”

“Really, my lady?”

“Yes. Watching Daphlen grow up, I came to understand it naturally. But…”

The smile on Mother’s face was filled with such tenderness that I instinctively squeezed her hand even tighter.

“You grew up so beautifully by my side. I was so grateful for how sincerely everyone in this family loved you.”

“…”

“And because I loved you so much, Daphlen… as your mother. That’s why I couldn’t say anything.”

Looking at her, I smiled.

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? When I first found out, I was scared. It felt like there was a hole inside me… lonely and empty.”

“I’m sorry.”

“But not anymore.”

I shook my head.

“I know now that learning the truth doesn’t change how much everyone loves me. And it doesn’t change who I am.”

I deliberately smiled even wider as I looked around at my family.

“That’s why I came back. So… I guess what I’m trying to say is…”

“You love us, don’t you, Delphi?” Enric finished for me. “And you know we love you too.”

“Enric, did you actually say something sensible for once?!”

I nodded in surprise.

Enric puffed out his chest indignantly.

“‘For once’?! I always say sensible things!”

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.”

I narrowed my eyes teasingly, and Elzers sighed.

“You two, that’s enough.”

After bickering with Enric for another moment, we both burst out laughing.

I had teased him on purpose, but I knew the truth.

I knew just how much Enric—and all my brothers—had always cared for me.

“Anyway, Daphlen!”

Enric suddenly exclaimed, looking like he had been waiting forever to say something.

“Hm?”

“I never finished what I was saying earlier. The topic changed before I got the chance.”

“What was it?”

“I told you I’d been searching for your real family, didn’t I? Well… I finally found them!”

“You did too?”

“Huh? Too? Has someone else already found them?”

I turned toward Ehit.

“You should tell her.”

Ehit gestured for Enric to go first.

Enric cleared his throat dramatically before speaking.

“Don’t panic when you hear this.”

“Okay.”

“No, Daphlen. Seriously, prepare yourself.”

“I am.”

“Take a deep breath first.”

“I did.”

“Not enough. Sit up straight. You might be so shocked you fall over, so you should really—”

“Enric!”

The entire family shouted at him in unison.

After rubbing the side of his nose, Enric coughed once.

“I think… they’re the Trustia family.”

“…!”

The moment I heard those words, I shot to my feet without thinking.

Enric had warned me to prepare myself, but hearing it was even more shocking than I’d imagined.

Trustia was a name I knew all too well.

Just… not one I had ever expected to hear now.

“Healer, don’t you think we’re a perfect match?”

Because Trustia…

…was Ridel’s family name.