Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? Chapter 73

When we stepped out of the restaurant, a pale pink sunset was spreading beyond the blue horizon.

A cool evening breeze flowed along the coastline. Our steps naturally headed toward where the naval base was located.

“Is Ehit at the naval base too?”

“He is, but the colonel is probably talking with an important guest right now.”

Under the red sky, waves of the wide sea rolled gently. Along the road to the harbor, white ships were anchored like birds resting on the water.

Soon, a huge wall came into view beside them. It was the wall of the naval base.

“An important guest?”

“An admiral from the capital came for work cooperation. They say becoming an admiral at such a young age makes her one of the youngest in naval history.”

I nodded and let out a small “Wow.”

“So someone that amazing came?”

“Yeah. Bellachen holds an important position in the navy too. There’s even a rumor that she’ll be appointed as the overall fleet commander of Bellachen.”

“I see…”

Wait.

If it’s a young admiral coming to Bellachen—

“Dellers, what’s her name?”

At that moment, officers near the naval base suddenly formed ranks.

The gate between the walls opened, and two people walked out.

A man in a sharply pressed navy uniform with a blue tie. And a woman wearing an insignia embroidered with waves, her hair tied up high.

One of them was Ehit. And the other was—

“Is that her?”

Brilliant blonde hair and confident green eyes. A gaze that was relaxed, yet left no openings.

Someone who drew people’s attention just by being seen.

“Yes, that’s her. Her name is… Ridel Trustia. Admiral Trustia.”

Ridel Trustia.

The female lead of the original work, Flowers Blooming on the Sea.

This was her first appearance.

“Dapflen?”

Without realizing it, I stopped walking and stared at the two of them.

I don’t know what Dellers thought of my expression.

Why my face looked so complicated in front of such a capable admiral, what meaning lay in my trembling eyes—Dellers would never know.

I swallowed dryly.

Ridel’s appearance meant the timeline of the original story was drawing near.

As Ridel smiled confidently, Ehit smiled too.

His eyes sparkled. To think that Ehit, who always scolded me with a cold face, could look like that.

“……”

A feeling like my chest was being squeezed tightened around me.

‘This was always how it was supposed to be.’

Right. I gave up long ago on the expectation that settling into daily life would make me happy.

The only future anyone ever told me about was the destruction of the family, as written in the original story.

The person who could make the male lead wear that expression, have those eyes, existed clearly and openly like this.

But still—

“Dapflen? Are you okay?”

“…Yeah. Let’s have tea another time, Dellers.”

A suffocating heaviness rose deep in my chest. I hurriedly waved goodbye to Dellers and turned away.

After only a few steps, Dellers caught up and walked beside me.

“Dellers, next time. Right now, I just—”

“I know. I’m just walking with you.”

“Dellers.”

“Dapflen, just think of me as not being here and don’t worry about me. You’re good at treating me like that.”

Earlier he hadn’t even joked, but now he spoke playfully, gently.

I looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

After glancing back once more at Ehit and Ridel, I moved my feet.

We walked along the sea for a long time. The naval base grew distant behind us, and the shadows slowly tilted.

All the while, Dellers stayed one step behind me, and my gaze wandered restlessly over the scenery of Bellachen.

Conflicting feelings coexisted within me.

Love with the female lead inevitably meant burying the former fiancée in the past, in nothing more than rumors whispered by others.

So before that rumor became one where Ailetta met a tragic end, I had to leave first.

And yet, at the same time, I realized I had never prepared at all for life after breaking off the engagement with Ehit.

I knew I had to end it, but what kind of life I would live afterward—I had never once thought it through.

“……”

It wasn’t just about how I would make a living, or how people would look at me.

It was about my feelings, how I would treat myself. How the current me would face “Dapflen Ailetta,” who had lost everything she once had.

And among the things I would lose, time spent with Ehit would surely be included.

Someone who made me anxious, unsettled, and think far too much—yet who occupied my mind more than anyone else during this time, whether I wanted it or not.

“……”

I tried desperately to push thoughts of him out of my awareness.

I knew from the beginning that someday we would become strangers.

No, even now, we already were.

The most necessary—and most dangerous—part of making a decision is thinking about all the opportunity costs you’ll lose. The more I thought, the more it would only hurt me.

It would be better to just shake it all off.

I stopped thinking and turned around. Dellers, who had been following me, stopped as well.

“Dellers!”

“Dapflen?”

“Since I bought dinner today, I’ll buy drinks too. Let’s go.”

I reset the timing of my decision to now. I would burn this tangled heart away in a 55-degree drink called Garden of the Fortress.

And then let everything properly flow away.

The strange feelings that interfered with my resolve, and all my worries.

 

 

****

 

 

“You may go.”

“Would it be too presumptuous to say I was originally part of the group?”

I stared blankly at the two people talking in front of me.

I took a moment to piece together what was happening.

So, I had come to a tavern with Dellers, ordered Garden of the Fortress, a 55-degree drink, despite his objections.

And around the time I emptied the glass in one go—

‘Ehit?’

Ehit walked into the dark tavern, lit only by flickering candlelight on the tables. As if he had known I was here, he came straight toward us.

Then, instead of me, Ehit spoke to Dellers. His tone suggested that he would take care of the drunk me now, so Dellers could leave.

But I wasn’t drunk.

While the two of them talked, I asked the bartender,

“What is this? Garden of the Fortress. Didn’t you say this was 55 degrees?”

“That’s 5 degrees. The 55-degree drink is Fortress of the Garden.”

I had mistaken a 5-degree drink for a 55-degree one, so my mind was still perfectly clear.

‘Even alcohol won’t help me.’

I had planned to burn away my worries with the scorching strength of 55 degrees, but instead of that, Ehit appeared right in front of me.

Meanwhile, Ehit and Dellers continued their conversation.

“Today was the day I was supposed to be treated by Ailetta, Colonel. I’m rather greedy, so I have trouble giving things like this up.”

“I’ll buy you something twice as good, so you should head back now, Major Bright.”

“You know Ailetta hates owing people, Colonel.”

“No need to worry. I’ll just collect three times as much from Dapflen.”

At his words, treating me like an easy mark, I jumped to my feet. The two men turned their eyes toward me.

“I’m leaving!”

“Are you all right, Dapflen?”

“Dapflen, for someone who boldly said she’d buy drinks too, this ended rather quickly.”

“Sorry. I’ll buy next time, Dellers.”

I sent Dellers away, but I had no choice but to walk back with Ehit. We were going to the same place, after all.

The entire tram ride back, I deliberately closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. The lingering feelings from seeing him standing with Ridel, and my heavy worries, hadn’t faded at all yet.

In that state, I couldn’t bring myself to ride the tram while making casual conversation with Ehit.

The tram arrived near Ehit’s mansion.

“Good night! Bye!”

As soon as we entered the mansion, I greeted Ehit and hurried straight to my room.

Only after I arrived did my strength finally give out, and I sank down in place.

 

 

****

 

 

I couldn’t fall asleep.

“…Mmm.”

I kept tossing and turning in bed. To think I couldn’t sleep even on such a wide, soft bed.

It almost felt like I had forgotten how to sleep altogether.

After lying there for a long time, I finally got up. Rather than lying still and killing time, I decided to walk a bit, warm up my body, and then try sleeping again.

My steps wandered aimlessly through the vast mansion, until I found myself in front of the study.

Quietly, I opened the door through the darkness. As soon as I entered, the scent of books filling the shelves greeted me.

I walked slowly, scanning the shelves.

‘The sleeping pills should be around here somewhere…’

After searching for a while, I stopped.

‘There it is.’

I reached toward the shelf just below the very top one.

It was a 1,200-page book titled The First 500 Years of the Empire: History and Significance. Every time I tried to read it, I fell asleep, so I had never finished it once.

The ultimate sleeping aid.

‘My hand…’

I stretched out my arm, but it almost reached—almost, but not quite. Even standing on my tiptoes didn’t help.

“Ah, I can’t reach it.”

“There’s a step stool over there.”

Oh, there was a step stool? You could’ve said that earli—

“Ehit?”

When I turned around in surprise, Ehit was already standing right behind me.

As he drew close, his faint, familiar scent brushed against me.