HNMCEH~11

CHAPTER~11

I had read it so long ago that my memory wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely an episode from the original story.

When the female protagonist was a child, she once suffered from a mysterious illness.

Due to the imperial family’s inadequate initial response, the disease began spreading across the entire nation.

At first it only appeared in children between the ages of five and ten, but then the age range gradually increased until it eventually reached adults.

It was a terrifying disease.

The symptoms that spread like a trend were roughly like this.

Just as Frezen Decart had said, it began as a simple allergic reaction, then some developed chills or seizures, and others suddenly saw hallucinations, ultimately leading to death.

The female protagonist also caught this epidemic.

And the one who appeared like a hero at that moment was the Lopenter Marquis.

The Lopenter Marquis realized that his daughter, Kanna, had allergies, and so he pursued every possible method to research a cure.

And then he discovered one thing.

The disease was merely an epidemic, not an incurable one.

In addition, an ancient text just so happened to contain research regarding this disease, and after devoting great effort, the Lopenter Marquis finally succeeded in creating a cure.

“……”

Then how exactly was the Marquis able to create the cure?

That was thanks to the person sitting right across from me—Frezen Decart.

I stopped thinking and simply stared blankly at Frezen.

“Evelyn?”

Frezen tilted his head when I continued staring at him without saying anything.

Then he strode forward and raised his hand toward me.

“W-w-what are you doing?”

Startled, I asked, but instead of answering, Frezen placed his hand on my forehead.

The sudden closeness caught me off guard and I froze.

“You don’t have a fever.”

“I said—what are you doing?”

“What else? I’m checking your temperature, obviously. Your complexion hasn’t looked good for a while. Aren’t you pushing yourself too much these days?”

“No. I just have a lot on my mind.”

I cut him off, telling him not to worry unnecessarily, but Frezen’s expression stiffened subtly.

His aura was so frightening—almost chilling—that I shrank back a little, but I forced myself to ignore it and looked away.

Anyway, if Mela had truly contracted that epidemic, the situation couldn’t be worse for me.

Because the key to that cure lay with Frezen—no, with the Decart family.

In fact, in the original, the Lopenter Marquis not only forged ties with the Decart ducal house thanks to the cure, but even gained great honor from it.

When I was reading the novel back then, my impression of the Marquis was exactly this.

‘A lucky bastard.’

There was no more accurate description.

The Lopenter Marquis rode on the fame of his daughter, the female protagonist, and achieved grand ambitions.

Meanwhile Mela, no—Kanna—grew more miserable with each passing year.

Anyway, he was a truly terrible man the more I thought about it.

I pursed my lips in frustration and sighed.

Either way, I couldn’t just sit here like this.

But asking Frezen for help was something I absolutely refused—even if it killed me.

Just then, a possibility flashed across my mind.

Andra fruit wasn’t exclusive to the North, right?

I had to at least look into it.

I hurriedly tried to move when—

“Ah!”

Just as Frezen had said, I must have pushed myself unknowingly, because a sudden headache hit me and my body tilted.

Right before I fell, a thick, firm arm wrapped around my waist.

Frezen again.

“Honestly… stubborn as always.”

“……”

“Do you think I don’t know you? The moment you overwork yourself even slightly, your lips dry first. They’re dry right now.”

“T-that’s not…—kya!”

With a sigh, Frezen clicked his tongue and then lifted me into his arms in one motion.

“Oh my.”

The maids watching let out collective gasps, and overwhelmed with embarrassment, I struggled desperately to make him put me down.

“D-Duke! What are you doing? Everyone’s watching! Put me down!”

Frezen nodded lightly, pretending he would obey.

“Ah!”

As my body suddenly dropped, I instinctively grabbed onto his neck in shock.

I glared at him resentfully, and Frezen teased with a mischievous smile.

“What’s wrong? We used to be married.”

“No—!”

What was with this confidence?

Anyone would think we were still married from how brazen he sounded.

“Let go. Now.”

“No.”

“Are you really doing this?”

Of course, I knew.

Frezen was just as stubborn as I was.

And that no matter how much I demanded, he would never put me down.

“Sigh… fine.”

As expected, the winner of this clash between spear and shield was Frezen.

I didn’t want to argue anymore and ended up being carried out of Mela’s room in his arms.

And as we passed by, Mela’s face carried a faint, inexplicable smile.

* * *

Frezen only left Evelyn Leella’s bedroom after confirming she had fallen asleep.

Even lying in bed, she insisted she had a mountain of things to do and refused to sleep.

And she made a fuss about needing to stay by Mela’s side herself.

Of course, part of that was his fault.

Evelyn didn’t trust him.

Who would trust a former husband after a divorce—especially five years later?

Even he wouldn’t.

“……”

Dark circles hung under Frezen’s eyes.

It was the exhaustion built from chronic lack of sleep.

Because of constant deployments and subjugation missions, he had never slept more than four hours.

His dreams were always bloody battlefields.

The nightmares repeated so often that he eventually gave up sleeping altogether.

Being awake was easier.

“You’re awake.”

It didn’t take him long to notice that someone else was awake as well.

When he went to check on Mela, she was fidgeting with something.

“D-Duke?”

Startled by his presence, Mela quickly hid something behind her back.

Frezen didn’t ask.

He simply dragged a chair over and sat by her bed.

sniff, sniffle…

And just like that, Mela suddenly began to sniffle like a child whose candy had been stolen.

“I… didn’t even do anything yet.”

Frezen looked genuinely confused as Mela wiped her tears with her chubby hands.

“I thought… You two fought because of me. A-and mom—!”

Mid-sentence, she clapped her hands over her mouth.

Her expression said it clearly:

‘I was supposed to call her Aunt, not Mom.’

Her wide, darting eyes were actually rather cute.

“N-not mom! I mean—Aunt Evelyn didn’t do anything wrong! Ever! It’s all because I’m sick!”

Children her age were always terrible at lying.

Someone else he knew was also hopelessly bad at lying.

Frezen asked in a flat tone:

“Is being sick a crime?”

“N-no, that’s not…”

“Then?”

“Aunt Evelyn worked so hard for years to protect this family.”

“……”

“She cut ties with other families and struggled all by herself. To protect the house. While holding back all her longing… so please don’t make her hurt.”

Her weak voice faded as her fever rose again.

“Wait… what?”

Frezen’s eyebrows twitched sharply.

He grabbed Mela’s small shoulders.

“H-hic! Y-yes?”

Terrified, Mela hiccupped repeatedly.

Frezen immediately released her and muttered, “Sorry,” before asking carefully:

“After ‘To protect the house,’ what did you say? Say it again.”

Mela pouted, not understanding, then brightened as she recalled it.

“Um… she held back all her longing.”

“……”

The word *longing* struck Frezen’s ears like a heavy blow.