Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 22

“Pardon?”

“First.”

“Wait—”

“Is there something you’re hiding from me?”

“……”

No, seriously—could you at least turn on a blinker first?!

My heart thudded hard at the question that came flying at me without warning.

“You said you wouldn’t try to confirm anything.”

“I’m retracting that. I’ll confirm just three things.”

“Three things—what are you even—”

“First. Are you hiding something?”

Since we had come to the palace at the prince’s summons, Ehit wasn’t wearing his military uniform, but the cold tone he used to question me was unmistakably that of a soldier.

“Hiding something? There’s nothing like that…”

As if.

Knowing how this relationship would end, knowing my brothers had already invoked the Cloyden name several times, even the patch of missing hair on my head—all of it was something I was hiding.

‘If I had my way, I’d tell you everything.’

Just spill it all and feel relieved.

But how could I possibly trust this cold man enough to bare all of that?

“There’s nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes. What about you, Ehit? Is there?”

Maybe he had something in mind, which was why he was interrogating me like this. Maybe it looked strange that I was playing dumb.

But answering “yes” would have been a gamble too.

Unless Ehit put a gun to my head and demanded the truth, pretending ignorance was still the safer option.

Without breaking the emotionless gaze fixed on me, Ehit moved on to another question.

“Second. Where were you a week ago?”

“A week ago?”

A week ago meant…

The day I went to Regen to see my eldest brother.

Of all days, why ask about that one?

“I went to work and around here and there. I even went on a business trip to Count Hesse’s villa.”

“And?”

His expression made it clear he had no intention of letting this slide.

“……”

I tried to hold my silence for a moment, but eventually I parted my dry lips and asked as casually as I could,

“Do you know where I went?”

“Answer the question first.”

This question was different from the first. Naming a specific date meant he already knew the answer.

“Come to think of it…”

I pretended to think for a moment, then replied,

“I also went to Regen.”

“For what purpose?”

“You said you’d only ask three things. Is that the third?”

Ehit nodded, his expression flat and unreadable.

“For now, I understand.”

For now?

It didn’t seem like he planned to ask more, but his reaction wasn’t exactly satisfied. And that same cynical gaze lingered.

“Third.”

He began the third question.

What now?

Since it was the last question, it felt like it would put me in more trouble than the others.

Under my gloves, my fingers clenched the pale-red hem of my dress. I swallowed dryly, tense.

“How close are you to Major Dellers Bright?”

“Fairly—huh?”

Why Dellers all of a sudden?

I stared at Ehit, baffled by the unexpected question, but he continued calmly.

“Why Dellers?”

“At the very least, we should know that much about each other. We are engaged in name, after all.”

“And what exactly does ‘that much’ mean?”

“Just answer the question.”

“We’ve been close since the academy. Since we’re both in Bellachen, we sometimes eat together.”

Why bring up Dellers now? Could it be—

“Did Dellers say something bad about me?”

“…What?”

“If he did, just ignore it.”

That bastard liked subtly fishing for gossip about Ehit from me too. What did he tell Ehit? I should go see him soon.

I muttered to myself quietly, but Ehit must have heard, because he said evenly,

“There’s no need. He didn’t say anything in particular.”

“Even if he did, don’t mind it. He’s a friend who likes teasing people.”

“I said he didn’t say anything.”

Unlike the first two questions, which felt like interrogation, the third felt… different.

For a moment I wondered if Ehit himself thought he’d gone too far and was trying to wrap things up lightly—but his expression didn’t look good at all.

If anything, it looked worse than during the earlier questioning.

His slightly raised brow, the gaze tinged with discomfort, the lips pressed shut as if mulling something over.

As I studied his expression, Ehit noticed my gaze and glanced at me.

I tried to stay silent, then spoke again.

“Don’t look at me like that. If you doubt me because of the rumors people spread, I can understand. But I really—”

Before I could finish, Ehit held something out.

I tensed at first, then looked closer. It was a hairpin—the one I’d searched everywhere for days ago when trying to do a half-up style and never found.

“Where did you find this?”

“You left it right in the middle in front of the estate, like a marker.”

‘Why is Ehit even bothering to return something like this?’

It was just a cheap hairpin, five Hark apiece at some street stall offering free engraving.

And yet, kind Mr. Ehit had picked it up and even come out at night to return it. I couldn’t guess his real intention.

Judging by his behavior so far, there was no way Ehit—who clearly didn’t like me much—had come just to return a hairpin.

There had to be another purpose.

Ehit lifted the pin toward my head. I reflexively raised my hand and blocked his arm.

“Y-you don’t have to put it in for me.”

“You shouldn’t expect that kind of romantic gesture from me.”

“I wasn’t expecting it. I was warning you.”

Returning it was fine, but putting it in was absolutely not. Because…

‘Right now, my reverse scale is hidden in my hair…’

From my perspective, this was a very serious warning.

If he touched that—whether he was the male lead of this world, the duke’s heir, or my fiancé—it wouldn’t matter. He’d have to be ready to take my flaming punch.

My heart pounded at the momentary threat to my reverse scale. As I tried to calm it, Ehit’s gaze tilted toward me.

At the end of that arrogant, tilting look, my face came into view.

“A warning?”

My pupils wavered slightly with the rattling of the carriage.

Ehit extended the pin toward me, his blue eyes filled with a relaxed smile.

The word “warning” probably didn’t suit this situation. I knew that, and Ehit knew that I knew—that was why he was smiling like that.

A smile somewhere between amusement and mockery.

“A warning, huh. Then I’ll give you one warning as well.”

“……”

“Whatever you’ve been doing, whatever kind of life you’ve lived until now, your current status is the fiancée of House Cloyden. Think carefully about what that means before you—”

“Cough!”

“……”

I was already tense and swallowing dry saliva.

So when he suddenly launched into something I knew all too well—something that felt like swallowing thirty sweet potatoes at once—the saliva went down the wrong way.

I coughed violently, hacking out the moisture that had gone into my windpipe. I barely managed to calm my coughing, but I could feel my eyes burning red.

For some reason, I felt wronged. Maybe it was the coughing, maybe something else, but a deep ache settled in my chest.

Riding in a carriage to who-knew-where with a man who clearly disliked me, staying tense the whole time—it made me feel miserable.

“Cough, ugh. Just endure it a little.”

“…What?”

“Just endure it a little.”

I won’t torment you for long.

I kept the last words to myself.

I squeezed my eyes shut to shake off the tears that were about to form, then quickly grabbed the hairpin from Ehit’s hand before he could change his mind.

Thankfully, Ehit only gave me a displeased look and didn’t do anything ungentlemanly like refusing to let go or snatching it back—

“Wait.”

“…Yes?”

My hand was stopped as I tried to take the pin. He was holding it firmly, not letting go right away.

So much for not being ungentlemanly.

“Just a moment.”

I flinched at his low voice—and at that instant, the carriage jolted to a stop.

“We’ve arrived.”

I hastily yanked the pin from Ehit’s hand and jumped out of the carriage.

“Both of you, hurry up! It’s here!”

The prince, who had already gotten down, waved urgently at us.

Ahead stretched a path lined with lush green trees. From the end of the path, a breeze heavy with moisture seemed to blow gently.

“Now, we’re almost there. Curious what it is, hm?”

“Yes.”

“And what about you, Miss Aileta? Hmm?”

“Ah, yes! I’m curious.”

“As for this place, originally only royalty were allowed to enter. But in a few days—”

As we walked after the prince and his attendants, he talked nonstop. If I had to measure conversational share, it’d be about 97% prince, 1% Ehit, and 2% me.

Thanks to that, I actually gained a brief moment to steady myself. Just responding with things like “Yes!” or “Wow, that’s nice,” I could think about other things.

‘Let’s break off the engagement. As soon as possible.’

This really wouldn’t do. At this rate, I wouldn’t live out my natural lifespan.

Before my brothers even managed to get the family wiped out, I felt like I’d die of heart disease or sheer frustration first.