Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 69

“……Ugh.”

The moment my leg gave out, Naya grabbed me so hard that her arm was pulled out of place, and Ehit, who caught me while nearly slipping himself, ended up badly bruised.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry. I slipped…….”

“No. I overlooked how dangerous this was. This is my fault.”

Naia said that to me while holding her dislocated arm.

She reached out with her other arm to check if I was hurt anywhere, but Ehit suddenly pulled me tightly into his arms.

“I’m the one at fault for not stopping this, knowing she makes mistakes like this often. Mother, please don’t worry about it anymore.”

“No! It’s my fault for suggesting we come to Yurente in the first place!”

“No, it isn’t! It’s our fault for not training our daughter’s feet properly from the start!”

Now the Duke and my parents jumped in as well.

Everyone was trying to claim the blame, as if being at fault were something good.

“I said it’s my fault.”

“No, it’s mine.”

“Why is everyone like this? I told you, I slipped!”

In the end, even Jaiman—who had been watching everything with wide eyes—plopped down and shouted that it was his fault too. Only then did the strange argument finally stop.

The outing ended along with that competition over blame.

Yesterday, I was completely exhausted. Today, I was shocked half to death…….

My muscles, forced to experience extreme relaxation and tension back to back, were screaming.

But after all of that, I realized something.

‘I think I understand what kind of person Naya is.’

I recalled scenes from the original story—scenes that had made me firmly believe Naya was a bad person.

‘But if I really think about it, there was never any decisive proof that Naya herself was truly in the wrong.’

I only realized later that I had already started calling her “Lady Naya” in my heart.

Anyway, even the incident where Ridel was locked up had only been assumed to be Naya’s doing based on circumstances. Everything else was like that too.

‘Then why were her words always so harsh?’

Whether it was toward Ehit or Ridel, she always spoke almost like she was threatening them, and her expression always looked like she was plotting something.

She was like that with me too.

‘Why did she talk like that? Why did she make that face?’

Now it was time to ask Naya directly.

Just like she had said—to judge her based on what I saw and experienced with my own eyes.

 

 

****

 

 

 

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

That evening, Naya came to the room where I was staying—bringing a cart piled high with desserts and drinks.

“You could have called me to your room.”

“No. It’d be troublesome if you collapsed again.”

She replied calmly and poured white wine into my glass. The scent of grapes and light alcohol filled the air.

“You went through something like that in an unfamiliar place. Your body must still be tense. I apologize for not considering that.”

“No, it’s fine. Are you okay, Lady Naya? Please show me your arm.”

“Trying to treat me? Forget it. Worry about your own body.”

In the short span of this conversation, Naya had already downed three glasses of white wine.

I only took one sip, then slowly rolled the flavor around in my mouth.

For a while, we talked about things like the scenery we saw at the cliff, or the grass in the estate’s garden. Interesting topics—but slightly off from what I really wanted to ask.

And it seemed Naya hadn’t come just to talk about grass either.

“Um, Lady Naya.”

“Yes. You came because you had something to ask, didn’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“You wear your thoughts on your face.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed at being seen through, I took another small sip of wine. Naya watched me quietly for a moment, then asked,

“What do you think of Ehit?”

“He’s an amazing person.”

“That’s true. But I meant something else.”

She spoke while lightly tapping an olive with her fork.

“Is what you said back then still true?”

“Back then……?”

“When you said the two of you weren’t important to each other at all.”

Before I stayed at the Cloyden estate in Bellachen, Naya had asked me that.

Back then, I had firmly believed that the closer I seemed to Ehit, the more Naya would harass me.

‘So I said we really had no feelings for each other…….’

But if there was no need to make it look that way to Naya anymore—

If I could just say things honestly—

Then what should I say?

‘What am I even thinking? The answer’s the same.’

I had already given up on the shallow, naïve hope that I could live here happily without anything happening.

Someday—no, as soon as possible—I would have to leave. In that situation, wishing for some special relationship was impossible.

“Dapflen.”

While I was thinking, Naya had already finished an entire bottle of wine.

She slowly turned her glass, resting her chin on one hand as she spoke.

“The Duke told me this. That Ehit will be unhappy if he doesn’t meet a good partner.”

“Oh…… I see.”

The ‘partner’ the Duke had chosen—me—suddenly felt very heavy.

‘That choice seems pretty wrong.’

He had rejected every other match and chosen Aileta as a ‘good partner,’ so it almost felt like I should apologize.

“Why that expression? Don’t you think you’re a good partner yourself?”

“Uh, I’m just…… the modest type.”

“Then become a good partner. The Duke says Ehit won’t be unhappy if you do.”

“Yes.”

I still hadn’t completely shaken the thought that Naya might be a bad person.

But the way she spoke now—slightly drunk, telling me to become someone important to Ehit—felt more like a request than a threat or warning.

“I don’t want that child to be unhappy, Dapflen.”

It sounded like a plea from someone who truly cared.

“Um, Lady Naya. I have something I’m curious about too.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you dislike Ehit?”

“Me?”

Naya let out a small laugh and popped the olive into her mouth.

She chewed while thinking for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes. I suppose that’s how it looks to you.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that—”

“There’s no need for polite lies. Honesty helps me more.”

“Then…… this might be rude, but honestly, it did seem that way, just a little.”

“Ha. You’re very honest.”

Her sharp gaze made me tense up again.

“In what way?”

“……When you speak to Ehit, you don’t sound gentle or warm. You speak harshly, and sometimes you look like you’re mocking him…….”

Since I’d already started, I said everything I could think of.

Too honestly, maybe.

Seeing Naya drink two glasses of wine in quick succession, I shut my mouth.

“Yes. I expected you’d think that. I’m not very close with Ehit.”

I thought she’d snap back with something sharp.

Instead, she gave a slightly bitter smile—the most open and vulnerable expression I’d seen from her.

Did Ehit know she could look like this?

Had Naya ever shown him this face? Had they ever talked honestly?

‘Maybe the two of them just don’t know how to talk to each other, so they end up looking hostile.’

After thinking for a moment, I said to Naya,

“Why not try getting closer? Talking more warmly, I mean.”

“Act warmly?”

Naya’s expression instantly froze, cold and stiff.

Did I say something wrong?

Her presence alone was intimidating, and I shrank back without realizing it.

“Ah, if you don’t like that—”

“No. Dapflen, you misunderstand.”

“Huh?”

“Damn it. I can’t see my own face.”

She waved her hand dismissively and continued,

“I’m not angry. This is just how my face looks.”

It really looked cold, scary, and angry, though.

“Really.”

As if she’d read my thoughts, Naya said so—still with the same sharp expression.

‘……So that really is her normal face.’

Only then did I understand why, in the original story, Naya had been portrayed as such a top-tier villain.

‘It was just her natural expression.’

That cold, frightening, arrogant face that looked like it could crush people—was simply Naya’s neutral expression.

“So. You want me to act warmly.”

“Yes…….”

“But that kind of thing……”

Looking closer, I saw that Naya’s eyes were filled with conflict.

She rubbed her chin and muttered,

“……It doesn’t suit me.”

“What?”

She let out a deep sigh and looked straight at me. Her face was still cold, but her eyes were sincere.

“I’m terrible at being warm, kind, gentle—those weak things.”

“Why?”

“When I try…… my body reacts strangely.”

She shuddered, as if just imagining it made her skin crawl.

“I don’t know how to approach people. I can’t show weakness to my son, so I always act like that. My words and actions never match my feelings.”

Her sharp eyes wavered with inner conflict.

Between her harsh words and cold gaze, I finally began to see the emotions hidden underneath.

She wasn’t cruel—she just didn’t know how to get closer.

“That look—what are you trying to say?”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I was just asking. Seems I said something that could be misunderstood again.”

Watching Naya sink into thought, I found myself thinking deeply as well.

What she had said earlier kept echoing in my mind.

‘I don’t want that child to be unhappy, Dapflen.’

Then in the original story, had she stopped Ridel from approaching Ehit because she thought Ridel would harm him—and chose to play the villain for that reason?

When in truth, she cared about Ehit more than anyone.

“Act warmly…… what does that even mean? How do you do that?”

Naya muttered, genuinely troubled.