Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 50

A few minutes earlier.

As Dellers stepped into the hotel, he replayed his conversation with Ariel.

‘Go check Hotel Lyken, Major.’

‘You go. Why me?’

‘Please.’

‘…All right.’

After exhausting himself arguing with an admiral from the capital who simply wouldn’t listen, Ariel had practically shoved the task onto him. Ariel almost never used words as desperate as please, so Dellers couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

That was how he ended up here—to take an additional statement related to a previous investigation.

“Do you know where the owner of this place is?”

“Ah, he’s on the second floor!”

Following the worker’s directions, Dellers headed upstairs. He spotted the hotel owner busily cleaning the hallway.

Then, behind the owner, he saw the side profile of someone entering the room at the very end of the second floor.

And it was someone he found quite familiar.

‘Dapflen?’

Was it really Dapflen? Then why was she in a place like this?

He’d heard that the official residence had collapsed and she needed a temporary place to stay—but of all the lodgings available, why here?

It wasn’t just poorly equipped; it wasn’t safe either.

For now, he went back down to the first floor with the hotel owner and took care of his business.

Even as he finished and prepared to leave, Dellers’ gaze kept drifting back toward the second floor.

Would it be overstepping to go check?

“Then please, go ahead, Major.”

“Thank you.”

Still unable to sort out his thoughts, Dellers crossed the threshold to leave the hotel.

But after taking only a few steps, he sighed, then turned back.

Seeing him return, the hotel owner looked puzzled. Dellers pressed his temple once and spoke.

“Could you call one of the guests staying here?”

Even if it was meddlesome, he wanted to be sure.

If it really was what he thought, he couldn’t just leave it alone.

 

 

****

 

 

 

“Ah—this isn’t it. Room 201 isn’t here!”

“It’s not?”

“Yes. The room layout changed, but the numbers weren’t updated. Room 201 is that way—turn left at the end.”

The hotel worker pointed down the far end of the corridor.

Whatever Jaiman had hidden, he’d gone to great lengths to hide it.

“But wait—there should be a guest staying in room 201 right now.”

A guest? That made it even harder to guess what kind of “treasure” Jaiman meant.

Either way, he’d find out once he met the guest.

Ehit turned in the opposite direction. From where he was headed, voices could be heard.

“Uuuh… hic…”

No—more precisely, crying.

The hitching sobs sounded oddly familiar. A strange intuition crossed Ehit’s mind.

‘No way.’

He let out a hollow laugh. He’d been thinking about Dapflen too much today because of Naya.

Now every voice sounded like hers.

“Calm down. Let’s talk after you eat something.”

“I’m hungry… hic… waaah.”

“You didn’t even eat dinner?”

“I did…”

Ehit’s expression hardened. His strides lengthened until the hotel worker could no longer keep up.

Then, as he rounded the corner, his steps slowed again.

The two people standing in front of room 201 turned toward him.

Their gazes crossed.

For a moment, Ehit’s thoughts froze. Situations that left his mind this blank were rare for him.

A decrepit hotel in the dead of night.

Before him stood his fiancée, eyes swollen from crying, and a major from the fleet he commanded—someone who also happened to be her close friend.

Once his frozen mind began moving again, only one thought remained.

“Come out, Dapflen.”

Why she was here could wait.

“Hic. Ehit?”

Some might say, What’s wrong with a place like this?

But this was far beyond what Ehit could tolerate. He couldn’t leave Dapflen in a place like this.

That was the only thought he had.

“Colonel.”

He had no intention of questioning Major Dellers, nor of standing around here talking.

Ehit’s gaze was fixed solely on Dapflen’s reddened eyes as she sat collapsed on the floor, crying. He wanted to fix those tear ducts first—do something about them.

But Dellers seemed to be thinking differently. Despite his polite posture, his voice toward Ehit was sharp.

“Did you know Lady Aileta was staying here?”

Ehit’s brow stiffened slightly.

Was that really what mattered right now? What meaning was there in discussing anything other than taking Dapflen out of here?

“And what if I did? And what if I didn’t?”

Instead of answering right away, Dellers glanced once at Dapflen.

“Go eat something.”

His tone toward her was deliberately light, almost playful. When he looked back at Ehit, his gaze was no longer as sharp as before.

Dellers bowed once, then made a hand signal.

‘The colonel is Dapflen’s fiancé.’

Leaving that as the answer to Ehit’s earlier question—what if I knew, what if I didn’t—Dellers disappeared down the hotel stairs.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

‘The colonel is Dapflen’s fiancé.’

The reason those words lingered in Ehit’s mind was obvious.

Was it because he wondered why Dellers had answered that way?

No. That much was clear. The implication was clear too—both on the surface and beneath it. There wasn’t a single thing wrong with that answer.

Even if it was a little sharp.

What Ehit kept thinking about was this:

Why had he asked that question in the first place?

Why had he asked it so shamelessly, without even realizing how it sounded?

The implication of his question had really been, Mind your own business and leave. But if that was what he wanted to say, he should’ve just said it outright.

What would it matter whether he knew or didn’t?

If he knew and still left Dapflen here, then he was unfit to be her fiancé.

If he didn’t even know where his fiancée was staying, then he was unfit all the same.

Either way, it was something Ehit himself needed to reflect on—and Dellers had answered all of that with a single word: fiancé.

Ehit let out a long breath. His gaze shifted to Dapflen, sitting at the front of the carriage.

“This is good. Is it from Todd Bakery?”

“Please eat slowly.”

“I am eating as slowly as I can.”

Dapflen had a way of making people strange. Facing her, Ehit felt different from the man he usually was.

Sometimes a little more pathetic. More emotional.

He had no idea how she managed to do that to people. Had the duke been moved this way too?

“….”

Inside the carriage, Ehit’s crossed arms tightened slightly.

Watching Dapflen shove bread into her mouth, he told himself to get a grip.

 

 

****

 

 

 

Ehit was staring at me like he was guarding against falling crumbs.

I was already eating as slowly as possible—how much slower did he want?

‘But it really is delicious.’

It tasted like bread from Todd Bakery, which I’d had before. Thankfully, I’d stopped crying already, so it wasn’t tear-soaked bread.

“By the way, where are we going?”

“To the Cloyden estate. You’ll stay there tonight.”

“But I already have a place to stay.”

“You mean the place where you were sitting on the floor bawling?”

“I wasn’t bawling that badly.”

“Go to the estate tonight. Someone asked to see you.”

“…Don’t tell me.”

Naya?

The bread almost slipped from my hand. Ehit caught it gently and put it back into my mouth.

“My younger brother. He seems to know you. Did you do something particularly memorable?”

I nodded while chewing.

“He fell into the water, so I saved him. The day I met Madam Naya.”

“You mean Jaiman? Why Jaiman?”

His eyes looked like they were asking, Why would you do something so unnecessary?

That was harsh. Was I not even supposed to save him? Even if he was only a half-brother?

Ehit showed a moment of warmth that reminded me he was human—then, in the next instant, turned as cold as a winter sea again.

The carriage arrived.

‘Back here again.’

I’d been to the Cloyden estate in Bellachen twice now.

The first time was the day I lost my seal. And the second time was today.

“Welcome home, young master. Miss.”

A servant with neatly trimmed gray facial hair greeted us. From inside, a small child came charging out.

“Big brother! You brought her! The treasure!”

“Treasure?”

“It’s nothing. Jaiman, children need lots of sleep, so go to bed first.”

Ehit lifted Jaiman up, practically hoisting him onto his shoulder, and walked inside.

“Follow me, Dapflen. Archers, prepare a guest room.”

Dangling from Ehit’s shoulder, Jaiman said loudly, “You found the treasure!”

He probably thought he was whispering, but his voice carried far too well.

Ehit shrugged once, making Jaiman wobble—and burst into laughter.

“So you stayed up just to see if I’d do well.”

“No. I wanted to tell you something else.”

“Tell me tomorrow. Go to sleep.”

“Nooo.”

For some reason, their exchange felt awkwardly… normal.

‘Well, actually, normal siblings aren’t quite like this either.’

‘What’s wrong with the kid, Delphi!’ ‘Dapflen, this brother of yours is—’

“Ugh.”

“Dapflen?”

“Oh—no, it’s nothing.”

Thinking of my own brothers made my chest tighten for a moment.

I hurriedly calmed myself by thinking about the Todd Bakery bread I’d eaten earlier.

Phew. Maybe mental gymnastics really were the best digestive aid.

“Tell me today.”

“Tomorrow. Dapflen, please wait in the sitting room for now.”

“Where’s the sitting room?”

“Here. We’ve arrived.”

And the moment we stepped inside—

“Great! Then I don’t have to tell you today!”

All the way here, Jaiman had insisted he’d tell us something today, but suddenly he changed his mind.