Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 20

“I’ll read your fortune for you.”

It was done by shuffling and drawing cards that looked similar to tarot cards.

I stared as the fortune-teller shuffled the cards so quickly that I couldn’t even see her hands properly.

‘You can really tell the future with this? Isn’t this just superstition?’

The fortune-teller placed the cards down, closed her eyes, and seemed to think for a moment before speaking.

“Young lady, you’ve recently had a very serious worry.”

“…….”

“And your health as well… my, are you all right?”

“How did you know…?”

Is she talking about my head?
Startled, I blurted it out before remembering that Ehit was listening, and quickly shut my mouth.

This person… might actually be pretty accurate.

“I’m fine.”

I replied calmly, consciously aware of the empty spot on my head.

The fortune-teller continued, telling me several more things. I listened as if enchanted. Most of what she said sounded eerily accurate, and I nodded along without even realizing it.

“You may ask anything else you wish.”

“Is there any way for me to gather a large amount of money?”

I was a bit conscious of Ehit when asking this, but being so absorbed, the truth mattered more to me than Ehit did.

Whether I paid off my brothers’ debt or broke off the engagement, money was necessary either way.

“Yes. I see the flow of large sums of money moving around you.”

“Really? Phew.”

“I’ll ask one question as well.”

Ehit, who had been quietly listening with his arms crossed, suddenly spoke.

I stopped mid-sigh and looked at him. I was genuinely curious what kind of question he would ask.

“Do you think I’ll end up marrying this woman?”

It was a direct question. One that was both curious and frightening.

The fortune-teller made a meaningful expression.

‘What will she say?’

Does the famous fortune-teller of Herdens really know what will happen to us in the future?

I clenched my fists slightly, nervous.

If she truly knew the future, she might say something like,
“No, because the Aileta family will be destroyed,”
or
“No, because Miss Aileta will break off the engagement and run away.”

To me, those two were very different.
But from Ehit’s perspective, they led to the same conclusion—breaking off the engagement.

And anyone would naturally wonder why. If that reason were thoroughly exposed, it would only speed up my one-way train to ruin.

I looked at the fortune-teller anxiously.

In contrast, Ehit looked completely calm and relaxed.

‘Please don’t be a truly accurate fortune-teller. Please…’

If she just said, “Yes, you’ll get married,” we could gloss over things for now.

“As for whether the two of you will marry…”

The fortune-teller, who had been building suspense, finally spoke.

“Right now—”

My eyes and ears focused entirely on her words.

“Please come back in one month. I’ll give you the answer then.”

At the unexpected response, I blinked in surprise. Ehit’s expression stiffened slightly.

“You won’t answer now?”

“No. I won’t.”

“Is it that you can’t?”

Ehit asked with an easy smile. The fortune-teller smiled back.

“If I answer now, the result will turn out opposite to the fixed future.”

Ehit gave a small laugh and said with almost arrogant ease,

“So both possibilities are still open.”

“The outcome is already decided.”

“I see.”

“It’s just that when people learn the result too early, changing it becomes both very easy—and very meaningless. That’s why I won’t tell you.”

“That’s a convenient explanation.”

“As you know, every future is a combination created from variables of the past.”

The fortune-teller spoke calmly.

“Every past has its own will and force. A future chosen while deliberately ignoring the present and the past will inevitably twist and leave regret behind.”

Ehit stood up. The fortune-teller looked up at him and said,

“You don’t wish to leave such regrets again, do you, Colonel?”

The corner of her mouth, visible beneath her robe, didn’t look like it was smiling.

Ehit glanced at her indifferently and greeted her.

“Yes. Thank you for your words.”

As he said that, his expression looked like someone quietly chewing over a distant memory.

“You don’t wish to leave such regrets again, do you, Colonel.”

At the plaza overlooking the sea, Ehit’s expression was stiff as he walked with heavy steps.

The fortune-teller’s words from earlier strangely gnawed at him.

Future? Regret?
They could have been empty words that fit anywhere.

But still—

‘Don’t go, Renia. If you go now—’

‘No. I have to go.’

The moment he heard the fortune-teller’s words, Ehit couldn’t help but recall that old memory—the one that had tormented him the most for over a decade.

Ehit tightly gripped the object he pulled from inside his jacket.
A purple handkerchief he always carried with him.

Just then, a sea breeze blew in from the distant ocean. The wind pulled Ehit’s mind completely back to reality, away from the emotions of the past.

Dapflen’s hair, which had been slowly slipping backward, tapped against his shoulder.

When Ehit stopped and turned around, Dapflen was standing there with a flustered expression, gripping her own hair tightly with both hands.

“Why are you acting like a bear that stole honey?”

“I—I didn’t steal anything. There isn’t even any honey here.”

“Do you think I said that because I truly believe you stole honey? I know there’s no honey here.”

“Ah, yes… right?”

She was taking even an idiom that a three-year-old could understand completely seriously. Every time, he thought she was a strange woman.

Dapflen gave Ehit no time at all to dwell on his thoughts.

 

 

***

 

 

 

On the way back from Herdens, Ehit seemed lost in thought.

‘Now’s my chance.’

I tried to fall back a little while he was distracted, but the moment my steps slowed, he stopped.

“Why are you acting like a bear that stole honey?”

He didn’t give me even a second to slip away. We’d even gone to a fortune-teller—something that wasn’t in the plan—and still he wouldn’t separate from me.

But I had too many urgent problems to just keep dragging him along like this. Even if not a fortune-teller, there were plenty of ways to annoy him. And I had already decided to get rid of him today.

“I’m going to stop by a music listening café!”

I shouted as soon as I spotted the sign down the street.

“All of a sudden?”

“You suddenly feel like listening to music sometimes! Bye!”

At this point, I had no choice but to randomly go somewhere he absolutely wouldn’t follow.

I waved quickly and ran toward the music café.

‘Why is this door so heavy?’

I need to get inside fast—why won’t it open?

“It’s a sliding door.”

“Ah, thank you—Ehit? Why did you follow me here?”

“I didn’t follow you. I just wanted to listen to some music as well.”

“All of a sudden?”

“You suddenly feel like listening to music sometimes.”

Ehit calmly walked into the café and even took a seat.

“This is nice. I didn’t know a place like this existed.”

He turned to me with a relaxed smile.

“Aren’t you sitting down?”

You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?

I barely managed to suppress my useless fists from turning into real ones.

Why are you following me this far?!

‘No. Let’s try somewhere else.’

The next place I chose was a bar called Étoile. Since it was still daytime, there weren’t many customers.

“One glass of ‘Fortress of the Garden,’ please.”

As expected, Ehit followed me in. He sat two seats away at the bar and ordered without even looking at the menu.

“Anything with rum mixed in.”

Watching that, I laughed to myself.

Étoile only sold strong liquor. Everything here was several dozen degrees strong. My plan was to get Ehit completely drunk and send him home quietly.

‘The drink I ordered is the only one that’s just 5 degrees.’

I glanced at Ehit with a triumphant smile.

Ehit, whatever you’re drinking, you’ll be crawling out on all fours. You’ll regret bothering me all day.

No—regret it, and stop following me! Please!

“Miss, here’s your ‘Fortress of the Garden.’”

Around the time my drink arrived, a glass was also placed in front of Ehit.

Smiling lightly, I raised my glass toward him. Watching him down the strong liquor in one go, I calmly poured my own drink into my mouth.

“Hehe.”

And before the alcohol even fully went down my throat, a strong sense that something had gone very wrong hit me.

“Cough!”

“Are you all right?”

A sharp, burning sensation stabbed through my nose, esophagus, and airway all at once.

The bartender panicked and kept asking if I was okay.

What is this? This isn’t 5 degrees?

Coughing, I glanced to the side. Ehit was looking at me.

Covering my mouth, I waved my hand.

“I’m fine. Just mind your own business…”

But seriously—how strong is this?

I asked the bartender in a small voice.

“This… cough, isn’t it 5 degrees?”

“It’s 55 degrees.”

“Wasn’t ‘Fortress of the Garden’ 5 degrees?”

“‘Garden of the Fortress’ is 5 degrees. Are you all right, miss?”

“…….”

The world started spinning.