Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 60

The despair was plain on their faces.

“W-Well, everyone’s here now, right? Sister-in-law, please have a seat as well.”

Mother tried to gloss over Enric’s absence as if he’d never been there in the first place.

“Wait, isn’t there one more person?”

But Naya replied in a relaxed tone, as if she didn’t understand the problem. With Enric’s seat sitting there plainly in view, there was no way that excuse would work.

‘Ugh.’

Naturally, it wasn’t only my parents whose insides were burning. Mine were too—so much so that I felt like I might start dry-heaving at any moment.

I even felt a sense of helplessness. I knew I should have warned my brothers. I knew Enric had been imprisoned.

And yet, I couldn’t do anything—and it still ended up like this.

“Are you all right?”

Ehit, seated beside me, asked quietly. I could only nod hastily.

Ehit often asked if I was okay. To his eyes, I must have always looked a bit mentally unwell.

And right now, I truly wasn’t. I didn’t know anymore……

“Ehit, even if our luck is cut in half—”

Just then, Naya, who was still standing near the door, gestured behind her and said,

“Now everyone’s here.”

At that moment—

Someone appeared from behind Naya.

‘……?!’

It was Enric.

Dressed impeccably in a dark green tailcoat, the large bruise that had marred his face neatly concealed under makeup.

“I apologize for being late. Something came up.”

Enric walked forward with a dignified stride, looking nothing like someone who’d been in a prison cell just moments ago.

Father once again mouthed words toward the priest.

‘Thank you.’

Looking as though he’d never been in a cell at all, Enric sat down in his seat.

When our eyes met, he gave me a quick wink.

“…….”

What just happened? He showed up together with Naya?

‘Is this a good situation, or a bad one?’

My mind was in complete chaos. Thump, thump—my startled heart raced.

Then I heard a whisper beside me.

“Dapflen.”

Ehit leaned slightly toward me and called my name in a low voice. His finger lightly brushed the back of my hand.

Only then did I realize that my hand was trembling.

“Ceremonies are always full of little incidents. Everyone is here now, so don’t worry.”

He gave advice without knowing the real reason for my anxiety. But strangely enough, it calmed me a little.

The cool temperature of Ehit’s hand against mine seemed to draw the excess heat out of my body.

“Try clenching your fist. It should help.”

“…Yes.”

I did as he said. The more I did, the more reassured I felt.

“We agreed to make this a good memory. Memories are always full of incidents, after all.”

And when Ehit said that—

When everyone involved in the engagement, except for the duke, had gathered and filled the small banquet hall—

Only then did the entire scene finally come into view.

The soft string music that had been playing all along. The silver decorations symbolizing the engagement. The dining hall, brightly adorned like spring with beautiful plants and candlelight, and a table laden with delicacies from land and sea.

My parents’ excited expressions, my brothers’ faces—trying to look composed but clearly nervous.

Ehit’s father smiling with dignity, Naya gazing leisurely toward the door, Jaiman sneaking a grape into his mouth and pretending nothing happened.

Ehit, who gave my fist one last firm squeeze before releasing it, then stared toward the door with an expression that seemed almost indifferent.

Only then was I finally able to greet this moment not as time spent waiting for Enric, but as my engagement ceremony.

“The duke has arrived.”

I took a deep breath through my nose.

I didn’t really know why, but I felt like I could now go through the ceremony with a calmer heart than before—

“…….”

—Or so I thought, until the moment I saw the duke and barely managed to keep my jaw from dropping to the floor.

That person was……

“Bel…….”

I opened my mouth without thinking, then snapped it shut in shock. I felt Ehit glance sideways at me.

Thump, thump. I’d thought my heart had already used up all the extra beats it had after Enric’s incident, but it was pounding even faster now.

‘That person was the Duke of Cloyden?’

The elderly woman who occasionally visited the medical institute, received treatment from me, exchanged a few words, and even stayed to eat.

Lady Bella.

“Everyone, please sit.”

Bella—no, the Duke of Cloyden—winked one eye at me as she walked toward her seat.

I barely managed to suppress another hiccup.

With elegant movements, the duke slowly took the seat of honor.

“So, at last, the ceremony is being held.”

I wondered if I’d been mistaken, but no—it was her voice, her face, her manner of speech.

“You two. Have you been well in Bellachen all this time?”

Bellachen… Lady Bella… looking at it now, even the name was blatantly obvious.

“Yes, Grandmother.”

Ehit replied in a somewhat stiff tone.

“And while you were there together, did love begin to bloom?”

To that question, Ehit didn’t even respond stiffly.

Of course, I was still too shocked to do anything but stare blankly.

“It seems my teasing has embarrassed the young ones.”

Ehit’s father, the Count of Cloyden, said with a hearty laugh.

Naya let out a scoffing chuckle, and the duke, still smiling faintly, lifted her utensils without any change in expression.

Mother and Father were simply flustered. They followed the duke’s lead and laughed, but their lips trembled faintly, like students following along with an exercise video.

Each of my brothers had a different expression. Enric, freshly out of jail, still wore a look of enlightenment, as though he could accept anything now.

Elzers was carefully reading the room. Adlen seemed uninterested either way, watching only Ehit.

‘I think I’m going to get indigestion…….’

The meal began, but this was by far the most uncomfortable dining table I had ever sat at in my life.

It was a banquet at the ducal house—something that might come only a handful of times in my life—but I wasn’t in the state of mind to enjoy it.

“Now then, Dapflen.”

The Duke of Cloyden, who had been conversing with others, turned her gaze to me.

“How do you feel, now that you’re holding your engagement ceremony like this?”

“I feel a bit dazed, haha.”

Not knowing how to answer, I laughed awkwardly.

At first, I’d been baffled as to why Cloyden had sent a marriage proposal to our family.

Unless they’d spun a roulette wheel to choose a household, someone had deliberately pushed this match forward.

Ehit seemed to dislike me for reasons unknown, and I’d never even met the other members of Cloyden.

But now, after learning the duke’s true identity, I understood.

Lady Bella. The Duke of Cloyden.

This person had arranged the marriage.

The duke narrowed her eyes slightly and asked again,

“Does it make you want to cherish Ehit even more?”

Had she truly marked me as that kind of person? Someone fit to be Ehit’s partner and spouse?

“I……”

“Yes,” I replied, smiling awkwardly again.

But perhaps because I was still full of questions, the performance lacked sincerity.

“You have curious eyes.”

The duke asked with a gentle smile. Everyone seated at the table turned their gaze to me.

Of course I was curious. More than anything—

‘Why did you propose to me, of all people?’

Why reject marriage proposals from so many illustrious houses, only to send the Jerad flower branch to Aileta?

Even if she knew me, I’d only treated Lady Bella a few times and shared a few meals. I’d never shown anything that would make me an obvious choice for a granddaughter-in-law.

Moreover, I’d heard the duke was meticulous and strict about separating personal and official matters. It didn’t seem likely she’d choose her grandson’s fiancée simply because I was a capable healer.

Could she have misunderstood something? Or confused Aileta with another house?

Otherwise, there was no reason at all. Aileta was an old family, yes—but compared to Cloyden, the only thing we really had going for us was our character……

‘No, even that’s questionable, given my brothers.’

After hesitating for a moment, I asked,

“Why did you propose a marriage to me?”

At the question, my parents’ eyes widened slightly. I saw Mother mouth at me, “Stop it!”

But I wanted to know whether Aileta had even a single card that could work in our favor.

Was there some merit here that made Cloyden willingly extend a proposal? If I knew that, then if—by some chance—the destruction of our house truly came as it did in the original story, Aileta might have something to bargain with.

If I hadn’t known the original story, I wouldn’t have asked. It could easily stir up trouble for no reason.

But because of that ignorance, the me in the original story was destroyed without ever knowing why Cloyden had chosen Aileta.

If I knew the reason, maybe—just maybe—something could change.

“That,” the duke said.

“Yes?”

“It’s a secret.”

“What?”

The one who reacted wasn’t me, but the members of the Cloyden family.

The Count of Cloyden—Ehit’s father—Naya, and even Ehit all voiced disbelief, clearly not the answer they’d expected.

‘Wait… even the Cloyden family doesn’t know?’

That meant the only person who knew why Aileta had been chosen was the Duke of Cloyden herself.

And that meant the only person in Cloyden who welcomed this marriage was—just one.

“Ehit, relax your expression. You promised to leave everything to me, didn’t you—at least this?”

“Bella… no, Your Grace. Is it truly a secret? Could you not tell us what you liked about Aileta?”

I asked as well, earnestly, but the duke only smiled pleasantly and shook her head.

“I’ll tell you someday. When the time comes.”