Rael spoke with fierce, wide-open eyes, seemingly threatening them, causing the two maids to cling tightly to Melissa’s arms. Her gaze naturally shifted to Melissa’s right hand.
“You said it hurt. What’s wrong with your fingers?”
In truth, the pain was just an excuse Reizen had fabricated, and her fingers had only been slightly bruised from being pressed against the window. Yet when she woke this morning, they were wrapped tightly in bandages.
The excessive treatment made them appear broken. Melissa lifted her heavily bandaged fingers and wiggled them.
“I don’t know, are they broken?”
“What?”
Rael’s face, cigar in mouth, crumpled. She immediately approached, grabbed Melissa’s hand to lift it, and examined her fingers, which pleased Melissa who appreciated the concern.
Melissa burst into laughter watching Rael’s doctor-like examination, asking her to bend and straighten her fingers. Rael, finally detecting the lie, glared at her with triangular eyes, released her hand, and stepped back.
“By the way, how did you get here?”
Bayern’s border remained a heavily guarded area that restricted casual entry or exit. The combination of two unarmed young maids and Rael clearly indicated whose influence enabled this visit, but seeing her sister who had been in another country, she couldn’t help but ask.
Rael shrugged, preparing to reveal Reizen’s plan.
“It must all be the great Prime Minister’s plan, right? If you hadn’t met brother-in-law until the end, we would have stepped in…”
Just then.
“Melissa.”
The clinic door opened, flooding the room with bright sunlight. Everyone turned toward the doorway. A dazzling blond man with the sun at his back, resembling a god, walked in with heavy steps. He wore a neat military uniform, having returned early in the morning from inspecting the border troops.
His black coat featured a tapered waistline and gold belt, while his shoulders displayed epaulettes with the emblem of a lion standing on two legs, signifying his position as Prime Minister.
The morning corridor suddenly brightened. Nurses resting on the corridor sofa after guarding the ward all night seemed to feel their fatigue wash away and their vision brighten upon seeing him.
Rael twirled the cigar between her fingers and sighed.
“See? He knows he’s handsome and does this on purpose.”
“Huh?”
Reizen, already approaching them, smiled with his eyes, appearing to have heard something incomprehensible.
The man looked quite satisfied and pleased that Melissa’s gaze remained fixed on him.
“As long as it works.”
The man shrugged at Rael and took the cigar from her hand, wagging his finger. His aide approached and stubbed out the confiscated cigar in an ashtray beside the corridor.
“From now on, no smoking within 100 meters of our Mel.”
“Are you telling me to get lost, Melissa?”
Rael jumped in place, pulling at her hair. She began complaining to Melissa, saying she came to help but received ingratitude in return, yet Melissa’s gaze remained fixed on Reizen.
Her heart fluttered at his thoughtfulness, realizing this man had brought her sister and maids from another country for her sake.
‘How much does he love me?’
Wasn’t he usually indifferent to others? The stark difference between his smile for others and his smile for Melissa made her heart swell.
Reizen behaved like someone born to express his love for her with his entire being. Moreover, this morning he hadn’t disappeared without explanation.
He had clearly stated his purpose before leaving, explaining that due to collusion between the Marquis and the military, many people had gone missing, necessitating a complete overhaul of the border area troops, and that he would return after personally touring and organizing everything.
Yet he had appeared at the clinic in less than half a day—no, in less than two hours.
‘It’s nice to see him often.’
With her face flushed pink, Melissa asked in a pretty voice.
“Why did you come back so early?”
The corridor seemed filled with a ticklish scent, reminiscent of flower pollen floating in the air.
On this unusually warm winter day, even people collecting sheets for backed-up laundry set down their baskets to watch the pair.
Reizen, unconcerned about the surrounding whispers, grabbed her waist and pulled her close.
Several gasps erupted from onlookers.
“…Because I missed you.”
This time, the girls screamed and swooned.
Startled by the reactions around her, Melissa finally noticed the gathered gazes and turned bright red.
But Reizen, appearing to see only her in the world, took her injured hand and gently pressed his lips to the bandage.
His warm breath tickled her skin, causing Melissa to squeeze her eyes shut. Then the man lifted her left hand and slipped an unfamiliar ring onto her ring finger.
“Good Lord.”
Rael put her hand to her forehead witnessing this.
She grumbled directly in front of Reizen about his hastiness, but he looked straight at her, seemingly deaf to her words, and said:
“My schedule in Bayern is finished, so I need to return to the capital this afternoon.”
Reizen’s gaze conveyed anxiety while checking his wristwatch.
“Mel.”
His clear, blue eyes, reminiscent of a coral sea, gazed at her and trembled.
“Will you be my wife again?”
His low voice sent tingles through Melissa’s body, raising goosebumps from her spine to the top of her head. Transparent tears, dewdrop-like, fell from her eyes, wetting the wooden floor.
Her thin, arched eyebrows contorted as she inhaled with a sob. Despite attempting to stop the tears with deep breaths, they continued flowing. While struggling, she noticed patients, including Emerson, had emerged into the corridor, awaiting her answer.
Melissa took a deep breath, barely managed to stop sobbing, and bravely wiped away her tears before saying:
“For the first time, I feel like I’ve made the right choice by living. I thought I would never be happy again… That’s why I tried to die.”
Hearing those words, Reizen’s eyes darkened. Melissa gently placed her hand on the man’s cheek, which had lost confidence, and shared her warmth.
“Thanks to you, I’m alive here. When I really wanted to die, that one word from you—’live’—saved me.”
“You don’t resent me anymore?”
Melissa’s brow furrowed slightly. Recalling the past brought physical pain, filled with hurtful memories. But… Melissa now nodded slowly.
“No. I love you incomparably more than any resentment.”
Melissa opened her arms and threw herself into his embrace. Reizen also pulled her into his arms and hunched his large body.
“I’ll do well so you won’t be disappointed.”
“It’s okay to be a little disappointed. Just come back on time.”
“From my marriage experience, that ‘on time’ thing is difficult.”
“Then from now on, if it’s hard for you to be on time, I’ll come to you.”
“Ha…”
Reizen opened his mouth in a bright smile, appearing to embrace a happiness beyond what he deserved.
“I’m happy.”
“Let’s continue like this from now on, us. Together with the child in my belly.”
Melissa took his hand and placed it on her belly while smiling gently. The thought that their child grew inside her slightly protruding belly moved her, revealing the fruit of their love.
Reizen carefully caressed Melissa’s belly and closed his eyes. The morning sunshine shone brightly, seeming to penetrate even his closed eyelids. The cool air gently blowing in with each gust refreshed his mind.
It felt dreamlike.
Probably the dream he had longed for all his life…
The surrounding air felt cool. Nothing seemed visible or audible, creating the impression that only the two of them existed in the world. Amid all this, only the soft powder scent of the woman in his arms clearly tickled his nostrils.
The bright light illuminated even Reizen’s dark sides, completely revealing his bare face. Though he had deliberately maintained an arrogant, pretentious authority, the root of emotions he harbored throughout his life was resentment.
Resentment about his birth, resentment toward nobility, resentment that his beloved didn’t notice him, resentment toward his weak self who wanted to climb higher but couldn’t ascend the ladder…
He wanted to be loved simply for existing.
He wanted recognition as a whole person, to become a member of society, to freely approach and speak to the person he loved.
In a society rewarding effort, he wanted to claw his way up to reach her side. But a human repeatedly pushed down and suppressed since boyhood continued confining himself in a box, tormenting himself even as an adult.
Telling himself he must keep climbing.
That everyone must acknowledge him.
So work harder, never rest, and keep moving forward despite pain and difficulty…
He had walked that thorny path alone his entire life.
Now a woman stood with him, holding his hand. And she said: I love you.
What more words could he need?
He had received the fundamental love he had longed for so deeply.
Especially since her love surpassed any resentment so greatly that comparison became meaningless. No longer did he need to move forward while continuing to get hurt.
‘It was nothing.’
This hateful feeling, these perceived deficiencies—they meant nothing in the face of love.
Translator
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Pitidri
Acho que o caso do assassinato de David Moore não foi devidamente esclarecido… ainda acham que ela é uma assassina… e esse negócio que inverteu o ódio dos pebleus pelos nobres, que antes menosprezavam quem não era da nobreza, colocou ela em perigo. Se não fosse pelo príncipe herdeiro louco, ela já estaria morta, pelo mesmo povo que o Reizen apoiou… Não adianta somente inverter o lado que oprime, isso não é uma mudança real na sociedade