Jeron cried for days on end. When he heard that Aisha had collapsed and couldn’t wake up, he cried so much that he became dehydrated.
Both of his eyes were swollen like macarons, and since he barely ate and only cried, he had lost a lot of weight as well.
“Young Master Jeron!”
“…”
Now even crying out loud had exhausted him, and he lay limp on the bed without moving at all.
“Lady Aisha has woken up!”
Flora spoke the magic words that made Jeron spring to his feet.
Sure enough, Jeron jumped up as if he had never been lying there limp.
“S-she woke up?”
“Yes. And Madam is looking for you.”
“…R-really?”
“Yes. The moment she opened her eyes, she asked for you first.”
“…Hh.”
Large tears streamed down from Jeron’s eyes.
Flora let out a helpless chuckle and coaxed and soothed Jeron. At first, she had only disliked this young master for causing Aisha so much trouble, but after watching him for several days, that wasn’t the case.
The young master liked Aisha far more than she had thought. That was why he was crying like this.
Feeling her heart warm, Flora smiled fondly and said,
“Now, please stop crying and hurry to go see Madam.”
“Snf… yeah.”
Jeron hurriedly pushed himself up, then staggered.
Since he had barely eaten for days and only cried, it was natural that he had no strength.
For a moment, his head rang and the floor seemed to sway, but Jeron endured and stayed on his feet.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh. Let’s go quickly.”
Flora, worried that Jeron might fall, followed after him in a fluster.
That was how they came to see Aisha. In front of a door fitted with a tightly locked padlock.
Creak.
The door opened slowly, and Aisha appeared.
“Jeri!”
She, who had been waiting for Jeron, rushed out and pulled him into her arms, making a fuss over him.
“No, what happened to your face now? Did you cry? Where did all the chubby cheeks of our lovely Jeri go?!”
Aisha was genuinely heartbroken. The chubby cheeks she had painstakingly built up on Jeron had vanished.
“…”
And seeing her like that, Jeron cried again.
“…Jeri. Mom is really okay.”
Seeing Jeron cry silently without making a sound, Aisha thought that this must be what it meant for one’s heart to be torn apart, and she quickly pulled Jeron into her arms and soothed him.
“Our Jeri worried about mom so much. I’m sorry, mom is sorry.”
“…”
“I was so thoughtless. Do you want to hit mom once? Would that make the tears stop?”
Jeron shook his head from side to side.
“I won’t hit you…”
“You won’t?”
“Mm. Just, just…”
Jeron wriggled a little in her arms, then raised both arms and wrapped them around Aisha’s neck.
The child who used to refuse physical contact was now voluntarily clinging to her.
“…Jeri.”
Aisha was truly surprised. While she had been collapsed, she could feel just how much this father and son had worried about her.
“…Thank you for hugging me. Jeri, because of you, mom is so happy.”
With a contented smile, she hugged Jeron tighter and whispered.
***
After pouring out all those pent-up feelings, hunger hit her all at once.
Above all, knowing that those two hadn’t eaten anything because of her, she wanted them to eat something as soon as possible.
Knock knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door, then came in pushing a tray.
“Huh? Are we eating here?”
“Yes. You should not overexert yourself yet, Isha.”
“…Ah, well.”
Aisha, who had grown accustomed to Luzbel being overly protective from the start, nodded without making much of it.
Besides, since everything had already been prepared and brought in, there was no reason to send it back.
The servants quickly set the table.
And when Aisha saw the spread, she burst out laughing.
“Pfft.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“It is funny. I am the only one who collapsed, so what is all this? Just look at the table. Now that I think about it, it is not funny, it is upsetting…”
“…Ah.”
Since eating proper food on an empty stomach could upset it, the meal consisted of a simple stew and porridge.
“From now on, just eat. You too, Jeri.”
“…I don’t want to.”
“Huh?”
“I said I don’t want to…”
Did that mean he wouldn’t eat if she was not there?
“You will not eat if I am not here?”
“…Yes.”
“No, but Jeri. You did not like me very much before, did you?”
Of course, recently he had stopped showing outright disgust like before. Still.
“…”
“Hm?”
“…I’m sorry.”
He had changed so suddenly that it was a little hard to adjust.
With a dazed expression, Aisha stared straight into Jeron’s face.
It seemed that her collapse had been quite a shock to Jeron.
“But I don’t dislike you, Isha…”
“Huh?”
“…I mean, it wasn’t that I disliked you.”
Jeron spoke haltingly, and as he did, both of his cheeks flushed red, as if he were embarrassed.
“…Jeri.”
Feeling as though all of her efforts were finally paying off, Isha was deeply moved.
She knew things had been getting better little by little, and now she felt like she no longer had to worry about the future.
“…You don’t dislike me either, Isha?”
Insanely cute.
Roaring internally, Aisha pulled Jeron into a tight hug and exclaimed,
“Ah! Of course! I love my Jeri. I really love you.”
His eyes were swollen as if he had cried for days, and his chubby cheeks were gone, but since his base features were Luzbel’s, he still had a bleakly beautiful look about him.
“Thank you…”
Jeron wriggled a little as he spoke.
He had already been cute, but Jeron, who had become even gentler in front of her, seemed determined to kill her outright with his cuteness.
Overwhelmed, and overwhelmed again.
While Aisha was losing her senses to a wave of emotion, Luzbel was watching her closely, as if he wouldn’t miss a single moment.
If it had been a few days ago, he might have asked whether she loved him or not, but right now, Luzbel didn’t have the presence of mind for that.
“…Aisha.”
“Yes?”
“…It is nothing.”
She seemed like a different person again. He began to wonder whether this really was acting.
But since she was being all lovey-dovey with Jeron and leaving only him out, Aisha thought Luzbel must be jealous and blurted out,
“Ah, I love you too, Beli.”
“…Pardon?”
“Is that not it?”
“…Aili.”
“Whyyy? Then what is it?”
Her clear, gentle eyes met Luzbel’s.
Even the atmosphere was different from when she had been with Lisellon. She was warm and gentle again.
Something was strange.
No matter how good someone was at acting, could their entire presence really change so abruptly?
Luzbel thought that he should have her examined again after she ate.
***
Aisha had been feeling that the atmosphere in the manor was strange lately. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but the servants seemed to be watching her mood more than usual, and the same went for Luzbel.
What on earth was the problem?
It seemed to be related to the fact that she had collapsed, but that didn’t feel like the whole story.
She had a feeling they wouldn’t give her a straight answer if she asked outright, so Aisha decided to find out for herself. However, problems with that plan arose almost immediately.
“I cannot go out? Why?”
“I am sorry, Madam.”
The escort knights blocked the doorway completely, preventing Aisha from leaving.
Dumbfounded, she told them to call Luzbel. In response, they said,
“It is His Grace’s order.”
“What?”
“I am sorry. We are simply following orders.”
It was Luzbel who had ordered that she was not to be allowed to go out.
“No, why?”
“I am sorry.”
No matter how many times she asked for the reason, the only answer that came back, like a parrot, was “I am sorry.”
“Hah…”
Aisha could only let out a hollow laugh. It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to go out several times, but each time she was blocked, leaving her sitting there in frustration.
A little later, one of the escort knights stepped away. It seemed he had gone to fetch Luzbel, because he returned with him.
The attending physician was with him as well.
Aisha sprang to her feet and demanded,
“Why can I not go out?”
“Aili.”
“Why?”
“You have only recently regained consciousness after collapsing. You must be careful with your body.”
“I am completely fine now.”
“Even so, it is not allowed.”
Luzbel was firm. He had let Aisha do whatever she wanted up until now, but apparently not when it came to this.
Since Luzbel cared for her so much to begin with, she thought it was only natural for him to worry when she had suddenly collapsed for no apparent reason.
“And from now on, the attending physician will stay by your side to assist you.”
“The physician?”
“Yes. We do not know when or how something might happen again, so you must undergo regular examinations and tell us if anything hurts. Do not endure even a little.”
“…I will do my best to support you.”
The attending physician bowed to Aisha.
Now that she thought about it, it had been the physician who had checked her thoroughly when she woke up and said there was nothing wrong. And yet they were going this far.
“…Beli.”
“Yes?”
“…Alright, for now.”
She had been wondering what to say, but when she saw Luzbel’s eyes full of worry, Aisha softened a little and decided to let it slide for the time being.
***
After that, Aisha didn’t say she wanted to go outside anymore.
Whenever the physician examined her, she cooperated fully, and whenever he asked questions, she answered diligently.
“Madam, do you truly have no memory of when you collapsed?”
She felt like she had heard this question dozens of times already.
At this point, even Aisha, who wasn’t particularly perceptive, could tell that something must have happened that day.
Just what on earth had happened?
“Yes. I do not.”
But she truly had no memory, and her answer was always the same.
Still, the attending physician, who repeated this question every day, was just as frustrated.
It seemed certain that Aisha genuinely had no memory, but since the scope of what he could ask was limited, it made things all the more stifling.
If it were up to him, he would have liked to ask outright whether she knew Marquis Lisellon, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask, afraid it might only stir things up again.
“Mom!”
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P.S. If you notice changes in terms of address, this is intentional. I am trying to stay as faithful as possible to the original Korean text, where forms of address shift depending on the speaker, relationship, and emotional context.
Luzbel sometimes calls her by the nickname he originally chose, “Aili”, and at other times by “Isha”, the one Jeron uses.
Other characters may refer to her as Madam, Duchess, Lady Aisha, or occasionally Her Grace.
Likewise, Monet (the aide) sometimes addresses the Duke directly as “Lord Luzbel”.
These variations reflect the Korean source rather than inconsistencies in translation.
Also, I want to thank you for reading, and for your patience and support. I truly appreciate you staying with the story.
