Chapter 67
Yeah. I love you so much. I love you more than you think.
I want to take this heart out and show it to you. That I’m not here with an easy 마음. Honestly, all that talk about things that will happen in the future doesn’t even feel real.
So this is absolutely not because I’m trying to keep some promise about the future.
It’s just that my heart… wants to protect Rohen and Lari.
“That’s enough.”
“That alone… is enough. If there is even one person who would cry for us… for people like us who have done nothing but wicked things… it seems God still sent us a small angel….”
A memory surfaced from that dreamlike place I once saw.
The adult Rohen hadn’t wished for anything big. Just having a single person who would cry for them was enough to make him happy. That 모습… overlapped with the Rohen in front of me now.
Even after seeing me use his younger sibling, he says that’s okay—those words hurt so much it feels like my chest is being torn apart.
“Do whatever you want. Honestly, I’d rather you use me instead of Lari… I’m not sick like Lari.”
“Yeah. Why is Lari the only one who can’t get up? Was Lari’s health the worst to begin with?”
“Aisha. I’m glad you’re not falling asleep. Lari… will be okay.”
With sad eyes, Rohen stroked Lari’s hair. For some reason, he wore a happy smile.
“Mm… I really want to find the cause quickly. Rohen, is your body okay?”
“Yeah. At first I was a little sleepy like Lari, but I’m fine now.”
“You were a little sleepy at first too….”
I was the same. At first, I had symptoms of drowsiness. But just like the Head Priestess said, I probably don’t have any major issues because something is protecting my body.
Even though I used the same items as Lari, that was the case. At that moment, a strange feeling came over me.
Then what about Rohen?
‘If I were the Grand Duchess, who would I want to make obedient?’
Wouldn’t it obviously be Rohen? Not Lari—Rohen. Lari already listened well to the Grand Duchess. Even if left alone, Lari wouldn’t have been a problem.
But the Grand Duchess definitely used poison on Lari.
Thoughts that began spiraling from the very start.
Then why? Because Rohen was just too wary? Because things didn’t go well when trying something on him? Did she make Lari sick to tie Rohen down?
‘Or… she tried it on Rohen too, but it didn’t work well. So she increased the poison’s potency to at least make Rohen as lethargic and constantly sleepy as Lari with minimal contact, but something went wrong and that’s when the illness began.’
I ended up at a conclusion.
What does the Grand Duchess want? For her own son to rise to the Grand Duke’s seat. The biggest obstacle to that is the twins. So she wanted to kill them but couldn’t, and in the end, the twins made it this far.
Then the way to stop the twins from taking the Grand Duke’s position would be to claim there’s something wrong with them. For that, Lari’s current condition fits perfectly.
So she must have used some method on Rohen too.
“Rohen.”
“Yeah?”
“When you first came to the Grand Duke’s house, was there anything special that came to you early on?”
“Something special that came to me?”
Back then, I was out of my mind too. We had just arrived at the Grand Duke’s house, and I was busy trying to adapt. Of course, since it was the Grand Duke’s house, many items must have come in for the twins, and I just accepted it at the time.
Lari’s condition worsened rapidly after Rohen and I arrived.
“Yeah.”
“If you mean something special… there were already so many things that nothing really stood out.”
Is that not it? What is it then? Something must have been done to Rohen too. If I could just figure out what it was… even just that…
“There was something strange about Lari.”
“Huh?”
“A doll. Lari gave me a doll. She handed me one and asked me to play with it, even though she doesn’t even like dolls. The maids here also asked if I was playing well with the doll Lari gave me. Why would I play with something like that? I gave them all back to Lari.”
Only then did I look around Lari’s bed. An unusually large number of dolls. I had thought it was simply because Lari liked dolls. And since I also carried around the doll Lari held without any problems, I just assumed it was nothing…
‘Maybe… something was combined with the dolls.’
There are strangely too many dolls.
“You’re right… that must be it.”
“Hm?”
“Someone must have told Lari to give you the doll. Saying her older brother would like dolls too… Maybe… I think that’s it.”
“That’s it?”
I quietly examined the doll Lari was holding. On the surface, nothing seemed unusual. I took the doll from the child’s arms. Her grip had been so tight that I had to struggle quite a bit to pull it free.
Because of that, the doll’s neck tore off limply.
Stuffing spilled out from the torn doll. Pure white cotton. But something about it was strange.
“As I thought… there really is something.”
“Why?”
At first glance it looked like cotton, but embedded within it were small things that looked like seeds. At a glance they might just seem like clumped stuffing, but the black seeds looked strange even to the eye. Many of them had already sprouted.
“Look at this.”
“What is that?”
“I don’t know. But it definitely seems like there’s something there. It’d be perfect if we could investigate this.”
“You mean… that might be what made Lari like that?”
I nodded and clenched it tightly in my hand. But Rohen, his face turning pale, forcibly pried my hand open.
“Rohen… what’s wrong?”
“You said it’s something bad! Something that made Lari like this! What if you get hurt too!”
Then he even dusted off my hands with his clothes, his face pale and angry.
“Ah….”
“Don’t do things like this. I can’t lose you too. So….”
Why do Rohen’s hands seem like they’re trembling so much?
“I’m sorry… I was too careless.”
“Yeah… so don’t do that.”
“But we still have to do something, so should we wrap it in a handkerchief? If you don’t like that… should we ask someone to sew it back up… and give it to someone we can trust?”
“Yeah. Do that. But never touch those seeds again. Okay?”
I can’t bring myself to tell Rohen. That actually, things like this don’t affect me. That because I was damned enough to be chosen by God, I won’t get sick anymore. That I’m fine.
‘If I say that, he’ll just start suspecting things.’
He would obviously start by suspecting my closeness with the Head Priestess.
I’ll end up leaving anyway, but until then… this is one thing I don’t want to say. That’s why I must not create anything that connects me to the temple, even a little.
“Thank you for worrying about me.”
“You’re weak… both you and Lari are weak.”
“Yeah. Then shall we read a book?”
“…Who are you going to entrust that to?”
Rohen took the badly torn doll from my hand as if holding trash and set it down by the window.
“It won’t be just that one.”
“Yeah. But… do we even have anyone we can trust?”
At that fundamental question, I gave an awkward smile.
Someone we can trust. There are people who treat us well unconditionally. But one side is holding me hostage, and the other belongs to the Grand Duke.
‘Which side would be better?’
“Or we could investigate it ourselves—”
“Even if we try to investigate and hand it to someone outside, it’ll eventually reach that person’s ears. It’s better to entrust it. Even if they’re not completely trustworthy, at least people who are favorable to us for now. I’ll give it to Rex and the Head Priestess.”
Once again, not planning to explain everything properly to Rohen, I gave a bright grin and hurried outside. When I suddenly stepped out, the maids who had been talking among themselves looked down at me expressionlessly.
“Do you need something? It was rather noisy inside.”
“No. Have you perhaps seen Rex?”
“Oh. That knight. Well, who knows. Maybe he went to report to His Highness the Grand Duke. I haven’t seen him~?”
They seemed to think very poorly of Rex already and were busy whispering among themselves.
“Maybe he went to His Highness the Grand Duke.”
“Yes. They’re so close, after all. I’m sure he reports every single thing Lady Aisha does.”
As if deliberately trying to drive a wedge between Rex and me, they spoke ill of him.
“Come to think of it, who knows if the reason he disappears every night is to report to His Highness the Grand Duke.”
“You should be careful. He might pass along every little thing you say.”
“I heard he’s born of dirty blood. How could anyone trust someone like that?”
Watching them giggle among themselves makes me feel sick.
“Is that so.”
Meanwhile, I opened another door and peeked my head outside. Rex, who had been standing nearby, saw me and smiled brightly.
“Did you come out to see me?”
“Yeah! Come here for a moment.”
“Yes!”
Like a big puppy, Rex trotted after me. Normally, I would have gone straight to where Rohen was, but I couldn’t just pass by the people who had been working so hard to tear him down even while he was outside.
“By the way, what were you saying about Rex earlier… something about being born of dirty blood or whatever—what does that mean?”
At times like this, pretending to be an oblivious child works best.
