Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 7

His expression, clenched tight as he made a fist, only softened after he noticed the purple handkerchief in his hand.

‘Sir Ehit! Wait a second, Sir!’

Of all things, she had to collapse while picking that up and make things bothersome for him. Even that part of her annoyed him.

‘When is she waking up? We were talking just fine, and then she suddenly dropped.’

Unnecessary irritation stirred in Ehit’s previously calm mind.

‘You’re acting like this because you don’t like being engaged to me, right?’

‘It does seem that way.’

Being two-faced, yet still asking such a blunt question—what was that about?

Leaning against the wall, Ehit kept his gaze fixed on the treatment room. His eyes were still cold, but they lingered there for quite a while.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

I slowly opened my eyes.

“Dapflen, you’re awake. Looks like you had a bad dream.”

It was Dellers’s voice. He handed me a clean handkerchief.

As I wiped around my eyes, I tried to recall what I’d been dreaming about. It felt like a nightmare, but I couldn’t remember it.

“Dellers, what time is it now?”

“It’s a little past 5 p.m.”

I felt like I’d slept for a long time, but only an hour? My body felt refreshed—like I’d had an extremely efficient, deep sleep.

“It’s been a full day and an hour. You collapsed yesterday and only woke up after a whole day, Dapflen.”

“What?”

Then that wasn’t one hour—it was twenty-five hours. No wonder I felt so refreshed.

But how did I end up sleeping for twenty-five hours straight?

I lay there blankly, looking around. The familiar chilly smell in the air, the walls made of mountain ash wood. The infirmary.

‘Why am I lying in the infirmary?’

Then it came back to me…

“Did I… collapse?”

“Yes. Colonel Cloyden had a hard time carrying you here.”

Ehit did? That was unexpected. I’d thought he’d just leave.

‘Considering how he treated me yesterday.’

I’d thought he’d abandon me whether I collapsed or not.

“Haa.”

“What’s with the sigh, Dapflen?”

“I’ve run into a tough problem.”

For a brief moment yesterday, realizing Ehit seemed to dislike me had made me happy—but if he had no intention of breaking off the engagement, that was a problem.

‘Am I really supposed to worry about some unrelated man’s feelings when my whole life might fall apart?’

Yes. I had to. Because a single sentence can repay a huge debt, and at this rate, I was about to owe Ehit a very big one.

If he were willing to cancel the engagement, that would’ve been ideal—but it didn’t seem like he planned to. And he already disliked me as it was. How would he react if he found out about my brothers’ behavior?

‘Wouldn’t he completely destroy us the moment he caught us?’

I sighed again. I probably needed to recover my image somehow, first of all.

“Dellers, where is Colonel Cloyden?”

“Why the colonel?”

“You said he brought me here. I should at least thank him.”

“He said he was meeting Prince Beriwyn on Appel Street. Today’s the eve of the youngest princess’s birthday.”

What did meeting Prince Beriwyn have to do with the princess’s birthday eve?

“Prince Beriwyn and Colonel Cloyden are friends. And since the colonel has a younger sister too, the prince probably wanted advice.”

As for Ehit’s sister, even I—knowing the original story—remembered her well. One of the few lines related to Ehit’s fiancée went like this…

‘They say he even tried to kill Lady Jaimen, the second daughter, because she might threaten his title… Honestly, money and titles.’

…And that Jaimen was Ehit’s half-sister.

‘But the youngest princess’s birthday definitely came up in the original story too.’

With my head clearer after twenty-five hours of sleep, I searched my memory and recalled an important detail.

Yes—there was a scene where Ehit and the female lead, Ridel, talked while looking at the sea, and the eve of the princess’s birthday was mentioned.

That day, as they finished the day on Appel Street, Ridel told Ehit it had been an unforgettable day, and Ehit replied like this:

‘It truly was a wonderful day. Very different from a year ago today.’

‘What happened last year, Colonel Cloyden?’

‘On the eve of the princess’s birthday, I was ambushed by a group of pirates at this very spot. The shoulder wound I got then is still clear.’

That “a year ago today” meant today.

‘So Ehit gets attacked today.’

I needed to hurry and warn him. Maybe then his icy gaze toward me would soften a little.

“Then I should go. Dellers, you be careful on your way back too.”

“You’re going to Appel Street?”

“Yeah.”

“But Dapflen.”

Dellers narrowed his eyes, as if interrogating me.

“What’s going on between you and Colonel Cloyden?”

“What do you mean, what’s going on…?”

Ah—maybe other people still didn’t know?

There were plenty of rumors that engagement papers had gone out from the Cloyden family, but it seemed no one knew yet who had received them.

“Then why would a colonel with a fiancée insist on carrying you himself?”

It seemed Dellers hadn’t even imagined that I was that fiancée.

From my perspective, I wanted this news to spread as late as possible—but Dellers was a close friend, so I could tell him.

“Dellers, actually…”

Just as I was about to speak, Oliver, the senior healer of the infirmary, entered the treatment room.

“Dapflen, are you feeling any better?”

“Ah, Sir Oliver.”

“I was quite worried. One of our infirmary’s talents collapsing and not waking up for a full day…”

While Oliver went on, Dellers gave a small wave and left the room.

As I listened to Oliver, I thought about the fastest, easiest way to get to Appel Street.

Remembering my past life hadn’t helped me much so far—but for the first time, I had a feeling it finally might.

 

 

*****

 

 

 

Appel Street was a neighborhood frequented by wealthy people. Maybe because of that, everyone walking along the street was dressed just as elegant and flashy as they had been at the Fallen Estate banquet.

‘Good thing I didn’t come wearing that shirt and pants from earlier.’

My purple dress was simple, but it was still much better than that outfit.

‘Let’s see, Café Redika…’

In the original story, the teahouse the female lead Ridel visited was Café Redika. Since Ehit had said “that place,” he would probably go there today as well.

Just then, I heard people talking as they came around a nearby alley.

“That must be him. It’s my first time seeing him in person!”

“Those icy eyes and that sharp nose… Who on earth is his fiancée? I’m so curious.”

It was obviously about Ehit.

I quickly headed toward the alley they had come out of. Sure enough, ahead of me was a man with the air of evening shadows, walking slowly with the sun at his back.

“Sir Ehit!”

He stopped. He didn’t turn around, but he didn’t keep walking either.

I hurried over and blocked his path.

“Huff, huff. Thanks for waiting.”

“I wasn’t waiting. I just stopped to think about the way.”

“Anyway. Are you going to Café Redika right now?”

His gaze—cold yet somehow weary—slowly locked onto mine.

“That’s exactly why it’s strange.”

“Huh?”

“You know things like that already, as if you’ve been working behind the scenes, yet in front of me you act like you know nothing.”

Ah—right. I only knew he was going to Café Redika because I’d read the original story.

“It’s the most talked-about teahouse these days. And you were heading that way, so I thought you might be going there.”

“Yes.”

After answering flatly, Ehit tried to continue on his way. I quickly stepped in front of him again.

“So you really are going there?”

“You seem to already know.”

“How about going somewhere else? There’s a new teahouse over there that’s pretty good.”

“Hearing that just makes me want to go there even more.”

Since Ehit brushed off my words and kept walking, I hurried alongside him and called out,

“Something dangerous is going to happen there today!”

With his long legs and wide strides, I was practically running on the uneven brick road. Even after twenty-five hours of sleep, my stamina hadn’t fully recovered, and I was already out of breath.

“I mean it—really!”

Why is he walking so fast?

Ehit only stopped again after I finally grabbed the hem of his coat. He looked down at me with indifferent eyes and said,

“You’ve already gotten what you wanted by getting engaged, haven’t you?”

“What I wanted?”

No—what I wanted was the exact opposite of an engagement.

If you’re going to say things like that, then please, just break off the engagement already.

“What more do you want that you’re acting like this?”

“I don’t want anything. I’m just worried you might get hurt.”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

It seemed Ehit didn’t just dislike me—he saw me as someone shameless and lacking morals.

“There’s no reason not to believe it.”

“You probably already know this, but I have an ability that lets me judge whether what you’re saying is true.”

He was talking about his foresight. If he looked into the future at the café, he could confirm whether my words were true.

If that happened, even Ehit would realize I was telling the truth.

“Wait!”

But I grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Don’t use it.”

In the original story, Ehit had been given a terminal diagnosis because of the side effects of using his foresight. I didn’t want him to shorten his life any further by using that ability for something unnecessary.