Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 54

‘How long will she last? A few months?’

Suddenly, Ehit felt the urge to use his foresight to look at a future connected to her.

Just how long would Dapflen live? And how would Cloyden accept her death?

Stopping in front of the library, he closed his eyes.

Foresight basically shows the future related to that space most clearly.

‘Dapflen’s been coming to this library pretty often these past few days. If I look about four months ahead first…….’

Ehit opened his eyes again. Then he let out a hollow laugh.

What was I even trying to do just now?

It was a power he hadn’t used even once in two years. He knew there wasn’t much left before it reached the critical point where it would eat away at his life.

And yet he was going to use it just to find out when one person would die? For someone whose death was already decided?

And on top of that—

‘I promised myself. That I’d never use this power for personal reasons.’

Why was he curious enough about when Dapflen would die to momentarily forget that resolve?

He couldn’t even tell what he truly wanted to know. What was he so curious about, anyway?

He wanted some fresh air. Leaving the estate building, he walked through the garden.

At the far end of the garden, he saw Dapflen walking along, talking with Meria and laughing.

It was a bright smile.

How could someone facing death smile that brightly? That woman.

‘Smile a bit! If you don’t smile, you’re kind of scary, you know?’

That overlapped with the smile of the child who had said that while grinning widely.

The day he decided never to use foresight for personal reasons was the same day he lost the ability to see that smile.

“Ehit?”

Having spotted him, Dapflen ran over.

As soon as she arrived, her eyes went straight to checking his face. Ehit looked back at her gaze with deliberate indifference.

Hiding his expression was something he was very used to. Clearing his mind, however, still wasn’t.

Even though he had lived his whole life amid violent whirlpools of emotion.

“Are you better than yesterday…… or not? Did you take the medicine I gave you?”

“I didn’t.”

“What? Aren’t you being way too confident saying that to the person who gave it to you? Hold on, stay still for a second…….”

Dapflen made him stand there and took something out of her bag.

“This is a health pill. It’s not from the clinic, but even to me as a healer, it looks really good for the body. I got two, so I’ll give you one.”

“…….”

“Randy—no, a servant here gave it to me as a gift. Everyone’s been so kind. Since you’re the master of this place, think of it as returning the favor.”

A sentence almost slipped out of Ehit’s mouth, then went back in.

I’m the one who gave it to you.

He swallowed those words.

Ehit gently pushed Dapflen’s outstretched hand back toward her.

“You’re not taking it?”

“Why would I eat something that was given to you?”

“Because you look like you need it more.”

“I don’t need that kind of thing.”

Dapflen slightly turned her head and muttered out loud that he always spoke so unpleasantly. It was clearly talking behind his back, disguised as a monologue.

But Ehit heard none of it.

‘That is—’

The moment she turned her head, he saw something at the back of it.

It wasn’t just a patch. It was something new. New lives lifting their heads, filling in the round empty space.

‘Her hair grew back.’

It was still very small and short, like tiny sprouts, so no one would have noticed. Since it was left as is, Dapflen herself probably didn’t know yet.

But Ehit, who habitually checked her condition, could tell.

“Ehit? What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean.”

“Is something good happening? What is it? Tell me too.”

Only then did Ehit realize there was a faint smile on his lips.

“There’s nothing. I’ll see you later.”

Quickly erasing the smile and stiffening his expression, Ehit walked away.

‘What am I supposed to do about that, though?’

For things like healthy food, he could just pass them through the servants, pretending they weren’t from him.

But hiding sprouts was another matter.

An image flashed through his mind—Dapflen in despair after the servants discovered the sprouts. Just imagining that expression made Ehit uncomfortable.

It would be dangerous for the servants to find out about Dapflen’s hair loss.

‘If the servants find out, Mother or others in Cloyden will find out too.’

That would cause trouble in many ways. That was why it had to be prevented.

With a serious expression, he finished rationalizing it that way.

Ehit spent several more days thinking.

How could he hide Dapflen’s sprouts naturally? And how could he tell Dapflen about the method without it feeling forced?

As he walked down the second-floor hallway where Dapflen’s room was, he saw Meria, one of the attendants, coming out of her room.

Meria was wearing a satisfied smile.

‘What is it?’

And after that day, over the next few days, Dapflen’s sprouts were no longer visible.

At first, he wondered if she’d found it hard to hide them and pulled them all out again.

But unless she planned to live her whole life with patches, that would be far too inefficient.

So that meant she’d completely pressed them down by tying her hair—an impressive bit of skill.

‘Either way, that’s a relief.’

On the afternoon of the day the sprouts seemed to have settled.

Thinking it had been a good decision to hire Meria, Ehit headed toward Dapflen’s room.

For her, it was something worth celebrating, so as her fiancé, he thought he might at least treat her to dinner.

But through the hallway window, he saw Dapflen handing things out to members of the Cloyden household.

He stopped a servant who was walking by holding something she’d received.

“What’s that, Rana?”

“Sugar candy. Lady Dapflen said there have been many things to be grateful for. She thanked us for giving her food and health items and things like that.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It’s all thanks to you, young master. She must be most grateful to you, so she’ll probably give you the best sugar candy!”

Ehit let out an awkward little cough.

After sending Rana off, he looked around the estate. His younger sibling Jaiman, as well as each servant one by one, had received the candy—it almost looked like a candy party had broken out across the estate.

Watching that, Ehit went into his room.

‘It’ll be easier for Dapflen to find me if I stay here.’

The Cloyden estate was large. This was to save her the trouble of wasting her energy looking for him.

Two hours passed.

While briefly stopping by the library, he left his door open just in case.

After returning, he waited until late at night. But Dapflen never came.

After waiting for a long time, he stood up. Thinking she might not have found him, he decided to go look for her himself.

‘Why am I going this far…….’

No—maybe Dapflen had forgotten where her fiancé’s room was in such a big estate. He was just being considerate.

When he finally found Dapflen in the hallway in front of her room—

“Ehit? What’s going on?”

“Ahem.”

“Is it something urgent?”

“Not at all.”

“That’s a relief. Then I’ll go finish handing these out. I made them to give to people, but I haven’t finished yet.”

And with that, Dapflen left.

She didn’t give him any sugar candy.

“…….”

What was this?

She said she was giving them because she was grateful—then why wasn’t there any for him? Why?

As he headed back to his room, his steps stopped midway.

“Oh—young master?”

“…….”

He saw Randy, a servant, munching noisily on what looked like Dapflen’s candy.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It was so good, I acted rudely in front of you…….”

“It’s good?”

“Yes!”

Randy answered in a bright voice completely out of proportion to his awareness, then continued,

“Which one suited your taste better, young master? I liked the one with shnut in it more.”

“What’s that?”

“Pardon? Ah—Lady Dapflen didn’t explain it to you?”

Seeing Ehit’s eyes grow colder, Randy finally realized it.

The master of this estate didn’t know what the unfamiliar ingredient called shnut was—and didn’t even know the taste of the candy Dapflen had made.

Randy froze and stammered in panic. It was clumsy handling for a servant, but since he hadn’t been working long, there was little he could do.

If Head Butler Archers were here, he would’ve handled it more smoothly.

But the master’s face was already twisted, and Randy had already stepped on his nerves.

“Y-young master.”

The only solution Randy could think of was this.

“This one hasn’t been eaten yet. Please have it.”

Randy held out an untouched piece of Dapflen’s candy with both hands. Ehit’s expression grew even harsher.

Ah, was this not it? Of course—he was the proud heir of Cloyden. Surely he wouldn’t accept a servant’s snack—

Ehit suddenly snatched the candy from Randy’s hands.

For two seconds, both Randy and Ehit froze.

“……It’s heavy. Is it filled all the way through?”

Out of nowhere, Ehit commented on the candy’s density.

‘As I thought. He just took it out of scientific curiosity—to check its weight.’

Only then did Randy catch on to Ehit’s intention and feel relieved.

Ehit stared at the candy for a moment, then held it back out to Randy.

Randy reached out to take it back.

But strangely, it was as if the candy were stuck to the young master’s hand—he wouldn’t let go.

Why is the young master acting like this?