Chapter 116

Ch 116

There was no particular pain, but as I still had no energy, I fell asleep immediately when I closed my eyes. As my noble father in law said, I will have a lot of work to do after he vacates his position, so it would only be right to rest while I can. Thanks to the warm sunset that tickled my eyelids when I awoke from my nap, I could feel the presence of someone standing next to me.

Assuming that it was Izek, I didn’t check to see who it was. However, it was the presence of my beautiful sister-in-law who looked just like him, visiting me while I was alone.

Throughout my time of pretending to be a patient, Elenia would often sneak up to the door and disappear after quietly observing the family doctor or maid tending to me.

Even if she was wary of me, it couldn’t be helped, but more than that, I just felt like I wasn’t ready to face her.

I didn’t know how to prepare for it.

Elenia stopped pacing and stared at me with a stoic expression while I was looking away from her.

The sunset pouring in from the window with the curtains slightly drawn tinted our faces with a crimson dye.

“······You’ve already heard about it.”

The voice that finally rang was calm and dry like her.

The long hands exposed under the wide lace sleeves looked particularly lifeless today.

“I sent Marta to another place.”

“Ah······.”

“It’s not Ruby’s fault, so I hope you don’t misunderstand. This was something I should have done earlier… It seems that none of us knew what the people around us were really like.”

It was a stupid question to ask “Why did you do that?” Weren’t there moments when you felt like you knew what the reason was even if it wasn’t said out loud?

So Elenia, who turned her attention to the scenery outside of the window, slowly caught her breath, avoiding my eyes just staring at her.

“I don’t think I’ve tried to get close to anyone. I probably didn’t try because I didn’t care… now that I see that, I’ve found that I’m worse than my brother.”

I wondered if word had circulated that I was secretly hiding away beasts, but it seems that I was agonizing over a completely different issue.

“It sounds ridiculous to say this after the time we’ve spent together, but I believed that it would be okay for anyone to leave anytime. Like my mother…It wouldn’t matter if they suddenly left.”

“······.”

“If I’ve been living like that… I can’t even imagine how Ruby has been living all this time…”

The voice, which had been carrying on quietly, dropped dangerously like the calm before the storm.

I was in the middle of it all.

“Ruby, I’m… I’m sorry, I really don’t know what to say.”

She said something incomprehensible again.

Saying she’s sorry?

I didn’t think she had anything to feel sorry for in this case…

“I like the warm, pleasant atmosphere that hasn’t been around in a long while, I like how the crazy disturbances always catch me off guard, and I envy you for always being sincere.….”

“………”

“Even though I felt unsettled and I knew something was wrong… I wanted Ruby to feel comfortable here so I didn’t try to figure out what was really going on. I didn’t want you to leave so I didn’t bring up the issue or try to acknowledge it.”

Do you really mean that…?

Even though she knew it, she closed her eyes and pretended not to know, saw what she wanted to see, turned around, and forgot about it, but it was not her fault.

She wasn’t the only one.

In a way, we were all the same pebbles of different colors.

We’ve been struggling in our own way because we didn’t want to experience anymore pain and wanted to avoid crumbling like a sandcastle in torrential rain.

I thought it would be the end if I crumbled into sand.

It would have been nice if I had realized sooner that that wasn’t the end, that it could only completely coalesce together after it crumbled into sand and that it could become even stronger and withstand more powerful forces of nature afterwards.

Then I wouldn’t have to cry like this.

I swallowed the dry saliva down my throat.

Elenia now stood silently with her head down.

Long silver hair dyed red by the sunset descended like a veil to cover her face.

When I carefully raised my arm and held Elenia’s slightly drooping hand, I felt her flinch.

“You know, Ellen.”

Elenia, who slowly raised her head again, gazed at me with a puzzled expression.

Now, I couldn’t even get a sense of what kind of reaction would be the most appropriate and what kind of expression I should make in this situation, but it didn’t matter.

I raised the corners of my wilted mouth, smiled, and stuttered “Ellen, I want a Shepherd’s Pie.”

That northern pie that you can scoop up and eat.

Ruby-colored eyes, which had been vacant and hardened, gradually opened wide.

Oops, I didn’t expect to see this expression.

She suddenly took on a remarkably, youthful appearance.

Maybe it’s because of the sunset.

“Why don’t you join me Ellen? I think I’ll feel lonely by myself.”

Right as I gained the courage to speak up, it seemed as if a star had risen in the red sky.

The sparkling star-like iris appeared in her wide eyes while the corners of her lips twitched.

It was Elenia’s smile that I had never seen before, a small, faint, but extremely clear and beautiful smile.

“Yes. That will be fine.”

* * *

It snowed for a short time the other day after the dragon had just awoken and then sunny days uncharacteristic of the north appeared, but this time it seemed a little different.

I don’t know if the change in climate had something to do with the dragon or if this country had always been like this

Even if it’s still early winter, it’s pleasant to see so much snow piling up all night.

“Madam…”

I turned to the escort knights who were murmuring with a look of distress, putting a finger on my lips to signal silence.

Then, clasping the brush on my shoulder, I set my feet on the snow-covered yard.

The contrast between the dark, blue sky at dawn and the all white garden created an especially elegant scenery for a stroll.

There were a series of footprints on the soft, fluffy snow.

My legs were still a bit stiff because I’ve been in bed for a long time, but it will recover soon.

Physical strength is derived from both mental strength and endurance, but it seems my body is overall lacking in many ways.

I’ll try my best to keep my body healthy from now on because there are things that I have to take responsibility for…

I was curious about what the garden in the greenhouse would look like at the moment so I started heading in the direction towards it, but suddenly, I stopped walking and instinctively squatted down.

I wonder what it would look like if a cute snowman was showing off its appearance in the front yard of the rugged landscape of the Duchy, as if it was claiming, “This is the spirit of the North!”

Good thing I came out wearing indoor gloves.

I don’t have a lot of memories of properly making a snowman, but as I packed in the snowballs tightly, the cold air started to make me sweat. I was engrossed in the moment of making this winter masterpiece.

“…….Ruby!”

·······No, who is this?

Isn’t it my haughty husband who’s been difficult to meet with?

I spread my arms over the fairly massive snowball and smiled broadly at the monster-like guy who hurriedly walked this way.

Izek growled the whole time he was walking towards me, making it clear that he didn’t like my carefree attitude.

“What are you doing? You came out alone in the cold…”

“I came out alone because you weren’t there.”

As I started grumbling, Izek, who had taken off his fur cloak and wrapped it around my body, stopped and looked at me.

A look of embarrassment flashed in his sharp eyes.

“I was waiting for a long time to comfort you when I heard that you were on probation, why haven’t you shown your face?”

“…….about that.”

“Huh? Tell me, where did you stay overnight?”

A bit of gloomy silence passed.

Izek scratched his head with an awkward, out of character expression for a second, but as soon as he found a comeback, he brazenly scowled and made a smug proclamation.

“It’s because I don’t have any lizards I can flirt with.”

“··············”.

“I was also being cautious because you weren’t feeling well.”

“I’m fine now. What should I be cautious of?”

“Of course, you should·····.”

There was hesitation in his red eyes as he met my long, stern gaze.

What?

“So,······. Oh, no, I can’t help being attracted to the dragon even if he is a beast. I don’t think I can stop myself. What should I do then?”

“············”.

“I may be odd at times but I’m not that eccentric of a person.”

It‘s rare to see his face fall so heavily.

I closed my open mouth lightly.

My mouth began to tremble.

I tried to hold it in, but it was useless.

“········. Hahahaha!”

“Why? Why are you laughing?””

“Oh, my. Hahahaha.”

For a moment, while I was holding my stomach and giggling, my expressionless husband stared blankly at me and immediately cried out,

“are you laughing at me for telling you to be careful? Don’t laugh!”

“Fuhhh…······· Sometimes, when I see that amusing expression … ah ha ha ha ha!”

“Stop that. Don’t laugh! It’s all because of you!”

“Why? How is it because of me again?”

“Everytime I see you, you’ll say something weird. Are you going to remember this? I told you not to laugh!

“What do I say?”

Trying to hide the laughter, I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and asked, but it seems that Izek decided that saying anything past this point would be his own loss.

He looked lonely after suddenly turning his back.

“Iz, what kind of things do I say?”

“············”.

“Huh? I’m used to straightforward northern speech, so you have to tell me the truth for me to understand.””

There’s no answer.

Truly, as the Duke said, he is a lonely guy.

“Honey, are you mad?”