Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 38

‘Ehit got hurt?’

‘Let’s just go, Dapflen.’

‘No way…’

No, I can’t stop my hands.

I focused on the treatment again, but strange thoughts kept creeping in.

What if something really did happen to Ehit?

When someone is badly injured, the first few minutes are critical. During the time it took me to get here, could something have gone wrong?

After treating the people who needed urgent care, I stood up. Ariel, who had been waiting beside me, handed me some water.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Lady Aileta. The others aren’t badly injured, so please rest for a bit.”

“Where is he?”

“You mean the colonel?”

“Yes. Where is Ehit?”

“……Please wait a moment.”

Ariel left the cabin, and at the entrance I saw her speaking quietly with another officer.

The longer I waited, the more uneasy thoughts piled up.

‘I should look for him myself.’

Just as I turned around in a hurry—

“Oof!”

I slammed straight into something hard.

What is this, a wall? There wasn’t a wall here just a moment ago.

Holding my nose, I looked up.

“Dapflen?”

It was Ehit. Wearing a shirt stained red around the arm, he looked down at me in surprise.

“Ehit!”

My eyes widened, and I immediately moved behind him and tugged at his shirt.

“This! Hurry, take it off.”

“……What are you doing?”

“Hurry!”

The bloodstain spread from his left forearm up toward his shoulder. Was he okay? I had to check the wound right away.

Instead of taking his shirt off, Ehit led me into an empty cabin. Even as we walked, my eyes stayed fixed on his arm.

All I could think about was checking his injury and treating it before it was too late.

“Here. Is this good enough?”

Only after we reached the empty cabin did Ehit take off his shirt. Facing his broad shoulders, I widened my eyes and searched for the wound.

Where is it?

As I looked closely, he cleared his throat.

“How long are you going to stare?”

“The wound…”

“What wound?”

“There isn’t one?”

“Were you hoping there would be?”

He wasn’t hurt?

I blinked rapidly, and Ehit slightly turned his head to look at me.

“If I’m not hurt, then that’s good, isn’t it?”

I quickly pulled my hands away from him. All my earlier panic suddenly felt embarrassing.

As if he found my reaction amusing, Ehit chuckled and pointed to his arm.

“Here. I did get hurt.”

It was a very light scrape. The kind that only needed a little ointment.

“What a serious injury. No wonder you were so frantic.”

“That’s enough.”

“Weren’t you trying to treat me?”

Ehit held out his arm. I lightly smacked it away.

“I was worried about you, and you tease me like this.”

“You looked like you thought I was dead.”

“Yes. I did. No one told me how badly people were hurt, so I thought maybe you were.”

“Me? From a little wave like that?”

Ehit scoffed. I barely stopped myself from wanting to punch him in the nose.

“You never know what can happen.”

“You sound genuinely worried.”

“Can you stop talking like that?”

Ehit looked like he was about to say more, but instead just rubbed his chin.

After putting his shirt back on, he turned fully toward me, stared for a moment, and asked,

“What are you covered in like that?”

“Me?”

“You don’t look like someone who should be treating others.”

“Didn’t I say stop being mean? Where is it?”

Ehit touched my cheek with his finger. Leaning closer, he fixed his gaze on me and said,

“Here.”

Then his finger pointed somewhere else.

I followed his gesture and looked up toward my forehead.

“And here.”

He pointed out several spots on my face like that.

Maybe because his hand was cold, my cheeks felt especially hot.

“……”

It felt like warmth was slowly spreading through my whole body.

Very slowly, little by little.

“Are you listening?”

“……”

“Dapflen?”

“Yes, I’m listening. You’re telling me to wash my face, right? I’ll go rinse it with seawater or something.”

“Just wipe it.”

At that moment, we heard shouting from far away. It was coming from the train.

The train let out a loud burst of steam. Ehit, who had been looking at the ship, turned his eyes toward it.

“We’ll have to rely on that train to move.”

“Yes. It would be hard to travel by ship right now.”

I nodded, then suddenly sucked in a sharp breath as something hit me.

Wait, Naya is over there!

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

“It looks like repairs will take a while longer, Colonel.”

The train engineer spoke to Ehit. With his arms crossed, Ehit nodded and turned away expressionlessly.

As he walked around the train, I secretly followed behind him. I was nervous that he might run into Naya.

Well, meeting her wouldn’t be the problem—it was the thought that my name might come up that made me anxious.

“Colonel Cloyden!”

At that moment, a familiar male voice called out from behind me. When I turned around, Baron Winhen slapped my shoulder and hurried toward Ehit.

“Ouch…”

As I grabbed my shoulder, I forgot for a moment that I was hiding. Ehit turned his head and noticed me.

“Colonel! What brings you here?”

Just then, Baron Winhen dramatically stepped in front of Ehit, blocking his path.

“Deputy Director Winhen?”

It seemed they knew each other. Behind him, Baron Winhen’s wife and daughter hurried over and stood beside him, greeting Ehit.

“Yes, you remember me. I am Edler Winhen, Deputy Director of the Second Investigation Bureau of Bellachen.”

Edler? That name sounded familiar.

‘Edler Winhen…’

As I searched my memory, I recalled that he had appeared in the original story.

‘Right. This man is…’

The one who had sent Ehit marriage proposals three times and been rejected every time.

The man who kept sending proposals even before Ehit broke off his engagement after his fiancée’s family was destroyed.

“I heard, Colonel. That you lost your seal?”

At that word, my mind went blank.

The seal? The seal…?

A sharp jolt ran up the back of my neck.

Stay calm, Dapflen. Ehit still doesn’t know where it is.

“I’ve closed the case. I found it.”

“What? You found it?”

That was me who blurted it out.

Both Ehit and Baron Winhen turned to look at me. I quickly stepped back behind the wall and shut my mouth.

‘He found the seal?’

I hurriedly went over my memories.

I remember taking it out, but what happened after that?

After leaving Ehit’s mansion, I hadn’t checked whether the seal was still in my bag.

I might have dropped it at his house. No, that was very likely. And probably somewhere obvious, too.

Meanwhile, people around us started gathering one by one.

I was reminded again that wherever Ehit was, attention always followed—but by then, I was already surrounded by what looked like over ten people.

The young lady standing beside Baron Winhen shyly lifted her head and spoke.

“Hello, Colonel Cloyden. I am Merke Winhen of the Winhen barony.”

Half-hidden behind the wall, I watched.

Lady Winhen was quite beautiful. Light tangerine-colored hair, a bright yellow dress that suited her well, clear gray eyes, and soft, cute eye-smiles.

I heard people whispering behind me.

“Oh my, they look good together. Is that Lady Aileta?”

“No, Lady Sutton. What are you saying? That’s Merke Winhen, the only daughter of Baron Winhen. Lady Aileta is much more…”

“More?”

“I heard she’s ugly. That’s why she rarely shows her face at social gatherings.”

“Really? Why would Lord Cloyden—”

“It’s true. Since the engagement was announced, she only attended the princess’s birthday banquet, and even then she supposedly hid her face with a fan all day because she was so ugly.”

“Oh my.”

“Cough, cough.”

Without realizing it, I let out a cough.

“That’s… cough… not true, cough.”

The two women turned their gaze toward me.

‘What am I even doing right now.’

I half-covered my face with my hand and looked back toward Ehit. The two of them were still talking.

Maybe because of what I’d just heard, a thought crossed my mind.

‘What if Lady Winhen were Ehit’s fiancée?’

I couldn’t help imagining it.

‘Ehit doesn’t break engagements because of his principles. Even if he were engaged to Lady Winhen, it would probably be the same.’

Ehit was treating Lady Winhen quite politely. For a brief moment, there was even an atmosphere between them that looked like something might begin.

And unlike me, she wouldn’t have much to worry about in an engagement to Ehit.

Her family would be wealthy, and since she was an only child, she wouldn’t have siblings draining her dry.

“I heard that the seal you lost was one used for handling Cloyden’s internal affairs.”

At Lady Winhen’s words, Ehit’s gaze settled on her.

Her eyes, looking up at him, were filled with concern.