Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 122

Riedel smiled at me and told me to hurry to the warm villa.

“Thank you. I never imagined you would prepare a party like this for me. It was really fun and……”

I paused for a moment, choosing words that could express my feelings a little better, then continued.

“I was happy. Thank you, Riedel.”

“I’m thankful too. I’ll be there soon.”

I still didn’t speak casually to her, but just calling her by her name instead of ‘Admiral’ made Riedel look incredibly happy.

And so I was carried all the way to the carriage by Ehit.

I had to wrap my arms more tightly around his neck in case my wet hands slipped.

“I thought we would stay longer.”

“Did you?”

“Yes. Parties usually last all night.”

“I……”

As Ehit walked, he whispered something into my ear.

I lightly hit him in the chest with my elbow after hearing it, but Ehit didn’t even flinch.

‘I’ve been waiting for a long time.’

His words stayed in my ears all the way to the villa, and I had to hide my reddening cheeks behind his shoulder.

 

 

****

 

 

 

Contrary to what I had expected, I didn’t get any time alone with Ehit.

“Do you remember this, Reni…… I mean, Daphlen?”

By the time I came out after washing up, my birth parents and Riedel had already returned to the villa. They stayed in my room, telling me stories from my childhood until I became so sleepy that I could barely remember anything, and then they left.

They were talkative in a slightly different way from Aileta’s family.

If Aileta’s family talked endlessly because they had so much to say to each other, the Trustia family constantly showered me with questions while keeping quiet, seemingly cold expressions on their faces.

“I remember the sled. Oh! Did I have light-blue earmuffs on that time?”

“That’s right!”

“My goodness, you remember that! Of course you would, Reni—Daphlen.”

“Mother, Father, you’ll surprise Daphlen.”

And whenever I answered even one question, they became so happy as if something incredible had happened.

It was both fascinating and fun to watch them exchange looks as though they might throw another party right away, so I also tried my best to remember even one more thing.

In the end, I was the first one to fall asleep, but it was an incredibly pleasant sleep.

Even though I had met my family for the first time in more than ten years, they already felt so close to me.

The warm feeling of being surrounded by people who seemed to have been by my side for a long time must have come from how sincerely they welcomed me.

And I didn’t get to see Ehit again until quite late the next day.

“You haven’t left yet, Colonel?”

Riedel looked at Ehit, who was still at the villa, with an expression that practically screamed, ‘Huh?’

Ehit simply nodded with an expressionless face, politely making it clear that he wouldn’t leave before I did.

In the end, I spent the entire next day surrounded by the Trustia family and didn’t see Ehit again until evening, when it was time to return to the capital.

It seemed Ehit had spent the entire day alone at the villa, though whether he had enjoyed that time was…… well.

“I’m leaving!”

I waved until the carriage door closed.

Riedel had offered to take me to the carriage, but I refused because Ehit was giving off such an aura that I felt he might pull up every blade of grass in the garden if she did.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Ehit sat right next to me. Since he was about twice my size, the carriage suddenly felt very small with him sitting so close.

“Ehit, how about sitting on the other side?”

“It’s more comfortable here.”

I stood up to sit on the opposite side.

But the carriage shook the moment I did, and instead of moving seats, I ended up dropping onto Ehit’s lap.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Sitting like this isn’t bad either.”

Ehit pulled me closer and adjusted me into a more comfortable position.

If we were only talking about the seat, it wasn’t so bad, but even so, weren’t we a little too close?

With our bodies pressed closely together, other things naturally became close too.

No, actually, calling it ‘naturally’ would be too generous.

His hand moved closer first, and then his nose.

“Ehit, it’s still broad daylight.”

At my words, Ehit reached out and closed all the curtains of the carriage.

“It’s night.”

“Is it?”

Ehit pulled the curtains even tighter until there wasn’t even a gap left.

Only the dim light that faintly slipped through the tightly woven threads of the brown curtains filled the carriage.

“Yes, it’s night.”

He said it so calmly, all while looking at me as though he had been waiting for this the entire time, that I no longer even had an excuse to push him away.

Not that I wanted to push him away anyway.

Sitting on his lap, I looked down at him from such a close distance, and his eyes were shining like a child waiting for a reward.

I stared into those eyes for a moment before gently brushing my fingers around the corner of his eye. His blue eyes, slowly disappearing beneath eyelids that closed along with the movement of my hand, were incredibly beautiful.

“Daphlen.”

Ehit slowly opened his eyes again and called my name several times.

As though he was reassuring himself that I was here, right beside him, in the closest place to him.

“About what I said yesterday.”

I didn’t pretend not to know what he meant. I already knew.

‘If you’re thinking, “I don’t want to get engaged, but let’s get married,” then you’ll have to experience just how cold the lake is at night.’

‘……Then I suppose I’ll have to go find out how cold the lake is at night.’

……After saying that, we still hadn’t had a chance to talk about it properly.

Ehit played with my hair as he whispered.

“Daphlen, I don’t want just a promise of marriage.”

His voice was calm, but there was no trace of playfulness in it.

“I don’t want to spend even a single day apart from you. I don’t want to lie awake at night because I can’t see you and can only think about you.”

He lifted a strand of my hair and kissed it. His eyes never left mine.

For some reason, his gaze made my entire body tingle.

“I want us to see each other’s faces every day in the same place, share the same air, grow old together, and have even those moments belong only to the two of us.”

“Yes.”

“So, this is what I wanted to say.”

I nodded and waited for Ehit to continue.

I had a feeling.

A feeling that once I heard those words, all the anxiety and misunderstandings that had remained between us for so long would finally disappear.

A feeling that we could hold each other’s hands with all our hearts and move toward a future we would create together, even if we didn’t know exactly what it would bring.

But then, the carriage shook.

‘What was that?’

The next moment, there was a loud crash, like something breaking.

Before we could do anything, the carriage overturned, and Ehit quickly wrapped his body around me.

Then, with the impact that followed, the world went completely black.

 

 

***

 

 

I opened my eyes to a bright light.

“Daphlen, are you awake?”

My family was sitting around the bed. Aileta, my Trustia parents, and my siblings were all there.

The events of last night remained in my mind like a dream.

The carriage had overturned, I had briefly lost consciousness……

And then it felt like someone had taken me away.

‘Tell me Ehit Cloyden’s weakness.’

It felt like someone had woken me while I was unconscious, threatened me, and tried to kill me.

‘Was it a dream?’

At least I had returned safely, and if it really was a dream, that was a relief……

But it had felt incredibly real.

I looked around.

“Where’s Ehit?”

Of course I looked for Ehit. He wasn’t right in front of me, after all.

When the carriage overturned, Ehit had tightly covered me with his own body.

He must have taken all the impacts of us being thrown around with his body, so there was no doubt he had been hurt much worse than I was.

“Where is Ehit?”

The style of the villa and the garden visible through the window were familiar.

This was the Cloyden estate.

Which meant that if I was here, Ehit had to be here too.

“Daphlen, wait. The Colonel is safe. So take care of yourself first.”

“I’m fine.”

The wounds covering my body hadn’t completely healed, but I really was fine compared to what could have happened.

I immediately got out of bed and put my feet on the floor. My family hurriedly stood up to make me lie back down, but I brushed all their hands away.

I reached out and grabbed Adlen’s arm.

“Where is Ehit?”

If I asked someone else, I felt like they wouldn’t tell me.

My parents, as well as Elzers and Enric, would probably avoid my eyes awkwardly, while Riedel would try to persuade me to lie back down.

But I thought Adlen would tell me.

“This is the Cloyden estate. Where else would he be?”

As soon as I heard his answer, I opened the door and walked out.

One floor above, Ehit’s room. My steps toward it were slightly hurried.

No, don’t think strange thoughts.

I bit my lip and quickened my pace.

Soon, both my feet reached the door to Ehit’s room. The hand I raised to knock was trembling slightly.

‘When I open the door, Ehit will turn around and call my name. He’ll walk over to me, saying he was waiting for me to wake up.’

Then we would finish the conversation we hadn’t been able to finish in the carriage that day.

It had to be that way.

Knock, knock.

The sound of my knocking echoed through the hallway.

“Ehit.”

There was no answer.

“Ehit.”

I called his name once more. I knocked several more times.

“Lady Daphlen!”

At that moment, Randy, Ehit’s attendant, came running from the other end of the hall. He was holding a neatly folded towel in both hands.

“Is Ehit in his room?”

“Yes, he is.”

“He didn’t answer.”

“What? The young master is still…… Ah, Lady, you’ve woken up too.”

“What do you mean, ‘still’?”

“It’s……”

Without waiting for his answer, I flung open Ehit’s door.

A large bed stood some distance from the door, and a man was lying still upon it.

His black hair, dark as the night sea, was neatly resting against the pillow, while his blue eyes remained closed beneath his quiet eyelids.