Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 72

‘This isn’t my place. Not here. Let’s break off the engagement, Ehit.’

A dream where Dapflen says that, with a face that looks like she won’t change her mind.

‘Why would I dream something like that?’

Dreams reflect present anxiety.

So was I anxious after all? Afraid that Dapflen might really say something like that.

‘No way.’

There was no reason for that to happen.

And yet, paradoxically, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to stand it if I didn’t see Dapflen right away.

“Young master, you disappeared while you were sleeping… Where did you go?”

Randy, the attendant standing in front of the room, greeted Ehit as he returned. Ehit only shook his head and went into the room.

Randy hurried in after him and fixed his bedding again. During that time, Ehit kept thinking about the dream from earlier, while Randy chatted on about this and that.

“By the way, young master. There’s something I’m curious about.”

“What is it.”

“About Miss Dapflen.”

The moment he heard Dapflen’s name, Ehit’s gaze, which had been only half-listening to Randy, snapped straight to him.

Randy, unaware of that fact as he was busy tidying the blankets, spoke casually.

“I saw her the other day. There was something a bit unusual about her hairstyle. One side was cut very short…”

Ehit suddenly clenched his fist and slammed it down on the table—bang! The windows in the room rattled.

Randy barely managed to steady himself from nearly falling over and straightened his back.

“…Y-young, young master?”

“Be quiet. Don’t tell anyone. Understood?”

“…Yes, young master.”

With a pale face, Randy finished arranging the bedding and quickly left the room.

Left alone, Ehit irritably threw back the blanket and slipped under it.

“Ha…”

He knew why the sigh escaped his lips. He felt pathetic for snapping at Randy like that.

The moment he heard that Randy had noticed Dapflen’s sprout, Ehit felt unbearably irritated.

It wasn’t simply because he was worried that if others learned about her illness, it might reach the ears of the family.

He just didn’t like it.

He didn’t like other people knowing Dapflen’s secret.

He wanted to be the only one who knew.

He let out a long breath and closed his eyes.

‘It’s just because I’m tired and my head’s a mess.’

That was the only thought Ehit allowed to rise to the surface of his mind.

No matter how rational he usually was, going through something like an engagement ceremony was bound to stir emotions.

On top of that, his frail fiancée had nearly died twice over the past few days, so it was only natural to be on edge.

He told himself that worrying too much was what made all these strange feelings surface.

Once he returned to Bellachen tomorrow—once he left this place where traces and memories of the engagement ceremony still lingered everywhere—he would be fine.

Pressing a stifled breath into his pillow, he thought that way.

Up until that night, at least, he truly believed it.

 

 

****

 

 

 

And so, the next day.

Ehit’s gaze turned toward the seat across from him on the train.

Dapflen was asleep, bathed in the sunlight streaming through the window.

She always told him to make sure he slept properly every day, yet she herself was so tired that she dozed off at times like this without fail.

Inside the sunlit train, Dapflen’s head bumped lightly against the window. Even then, Dapflen, with her strong urge to sleep, didn’t wake up.

A soft, unintentional chuckle escaped Ehit as his gaze moved from Dapflen’s head resting against the window, to her closed eyelids, her small, straight nose, and her peach-colored lips.

“Mmm.”

Still asleep, Dapflen mumbled as she pulled up the shawl draped over her shoulders.

The season was getting colder—why was she only wearing one shawl? If she caught a cold like that, it would be troublesome.

Ehit took off his jacket. And just as he was about to drape it over Dapflen—

‘What am I doing?’

Why was he giving his clothes to this woman?

Ehit pulled back the hand he had reached out toward Dapflen and tightly gripped his jacket instead.

“……”

Just then, a large-built young gentleman passed through the aisle of the train. Judging by how he staggered slightly, it seemed he had been drinking since midday.

“Oops.”

He walked while steadying himself with his hand on the train seats. As he staggered, he reached for the top of the seat Dapflen was sitting in.

Ehit blocked the gentleman’s hand with his arm.

Startled when his hand touched something other than the seat, the gentleman flinched.

“S-sorry. Oops.”

After meeting Ehit’s gaze, the gentleman hurried away as if he’d been cut by a blade. Only after confirming he had gone did Ehit lower his arm.

Ehit sat back down and buried his face in his hands.

He had already left the capital’s mansion, so why were those feelings not fading, but growing stronger instead?

His gaze returned to Dapflen. To her, sleeping soundly without knowing anything.

“……”

In truth, there was a convenient word that could explain everything. If he labeled all of his actions as ‘chivalry,’ then it would all make sense.

But really?

Was it truly because of chivalry that he hated that man even brushing the tips of Dapflen’s hair, that he hated Dapflen feeling even a little cold or sick, that he hated anyone learning Dapflen’s secret?

Pooo—the train arrived. Dapflen, who almost pitched forward as the train stopped, smiled with a half-awake expression.

“…Just hurry and get off.”

It was dangerous. He didn’t know why, but that sensation crashed through his entire body.

Dapflen, who had slept without a care, dozed off again in the carriage. Waking briefly, she spoke as if making an excuse, looking embarrassed.

“I get motion sickness. That’s why I get sleepy when I’m in vehicles like this…”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were staring so much, that’s why.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just go back to sleep.”

“You always say things so meanly…”

Muttering that, Dapflen closed her eyes again. Ehit turned his gaze out the carriage window, but his thoughts remained unchanged.

‘Once we reach the mansion, I won’t think about it anymore. Absolutely.’

But Dapflen refused to let him be.

“Keh, cough!”

“……”

They hadn’t even walked more than a few steps down the corridor when Dapflen started coughing, and Ehit’s eyes wavered.

“Cough, there are a lot more plants. But why does the air feel so stuffy here?”

While they were in the capital, he had ordered preparations for many air-purifying plants. Thanks to that, the mansion had practically become a botanical garden.

And yet, why did her condition seem worse now that they were back?

“What is it, why is my cough like this…”

“……”

“Maybe it’s a plant allergy. I think I might be allergic to plants, Ehit. Cough.”

Watching Dapflen desperately try to hide her illness by blaming the plants, Ehit’s expression hardened further.

It was strange. An unfamiliar sensation.

He knew this for certain. Dapflen Ailetta was someone who would die before long, and that fact would bring Ehit no loss.

Then why was it that only now, he felt this strange, aching unfamiliar sensation?

“Then you can go somewhere without plants.”

“The entire mansion is full of them, so how am I supposed to—”

Disturbed by the strange feeling, Ehit snapped harshly and turned away.

It felt like if he were exposed to this sensation any longer, he himself would get hurt.

That feeling was raising its head like a blade.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

Naya used to say that Ehit was kind sometimes, but thinking about it again, that didn’t seem true.

Ehit was prickly. He wasn’t kind.

‘Then you can go somewhere without plants.’

Telling her to go somewhere without plants after filling this huge mansion with plants—what kind of nonsense was that?

‘He always talks so meanly.’

Still, she tried not to feel too hurt.

Fine, whatever. It’s not like this is a place I’ll stay forever—it’s just a temporary residence anyway!

In the end, the only reason I’m even in this kind of relationship with Ehit is until the female lead, Ridel, appears and the original story begins.

No, even before that, we’ll break off the engagement.

“Dapflen? What are you thinking about?”

“Huh?”

Dellers, who was eating dinner with me, waved his hand in front of my eyes.

Today was the day I was supposed to buy Dellers a meal. I had lost a bet and promised long ago to treat him, and I was only now keeping that promise.

“So, how was the engagement ceremony?”

“Yeah, well. We just ate and exchanged a few greetings.”

“You make vows in front of a priest too, don’t you?”

“Vows… I wouldn’t really call them that. We just listened to some congratulatory words.”

“Just congratulatory words? You must’ve gotten a Shalia flower bracelet too. Didn’t you?”

“Why are you interrogating me like this?”

“I’ve never been engaged myself, so I’m curious.”

“For someone who’s ‘curious,’ you seem to already know a lot.”

Dellers was well-connected, so he probably had plenty of engaged people around him. He must’ve heard all kinds of stories about what engagements are usually like.

Did he think my engagement with Ehit was like theirs?

Aside from being more simple, the basic procedures were probably similar. But not everyone approached an engagement ceremony with the same feelings I did.

My friend, unaware of that fact, seemed to find his superior’s engagement—and his friend’s engagement—quite interesting. He had no idea how much I was worrying!

‘He probably thinks I’m just happy to be engaged!’

Even now, seeing the smile on his lips, it was obvious he simply found it fun and interesting.

Dellers was always like this. A friend who treated everyday life lightly, brushing everything off with jokes and laughter.

‘Thanks to that, life in Bellachen was less boring, and I did like it.’

I waited for the teasing remark my mischievous, playful friend would throw out next, curious what kind of joke it would be this time.

But Dellers only smiled quietly, then stood up from his seat.

“Let’s go. I’ll buy tea.”