I Became The Younger Sister Of A Dying Woman - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: That Favor. I Would Like to Ask You Now.

It was a beautiful night with the full moon hanging in the sky.

Having taken a shower first, Linzel counted the stars that were visible through the window, waiting for Hernan to return.

The reason she was counting stars, something she usually didn’t do…

“……Damn it. Why am I so nervous?”

Linzel  was nervous about her first night with Hernan.

For a moment, she thought the black night sky resembled the color of Hernan’s hair.

The door opened, and Hernan, who had finished showering, walked in.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“No! Waiting for your Highness is not tedious; someone like you is worth waiting for.”

“You always speak so beautifully.”

“I have a pretty face and a pretty way with words, so you can’t help…… but fall in love with me now, can you?” Linzel blurted out more intensely than usual due to the nervousness.

Then Hernan burst out laughing. It was nice to see his face beaming.

He walked over with long strides and climbed onto the bed.

Linzel started feeling even more nervous than before they exchanged playful banter.

It was because he was so close.

In the dark night, the faint scent of soap coming from him, and the fact that they were alone in this room.

Hernan’s gaze never left hers.

Linzel swallowed nervously.

“Yeah,” he finally responded to her banter. “I think I am falling for you.”

“Th-then, Your Highness, does that mean you won’t leave me?”

“I don’t think it would be a bad thing.”

The conversation stopped there. Linzel felt inexplicably awkward and fidgeted with her fingers.

Hernan seemed to have become awkward like her. His dark eyes were lost in thought.

They  were probably thinking the same thing.

‘What should we do on the first night?’

When she made the decision to marry Hernan, Linzel had also resolved to wholeheartedly fulfill the responsibilities of being a couple.

However, now that the moment to actually face that situation was approaching, she couldn’t gauge what she should do.

If she were her usual self, which tends to be impulsive, she would have already pounced on Hernan…

The sight of Hernan, freshly bathed, was too much for her. She trembled, her excitement making her hesitate.

Hesitant to even reach out to him.

It was at that moment that Hernan’s lips, which had been closed tightly like a clam, opened.

“I can’t approach you so readily… I’m worried that I’ll make it difficult for you to breathe because of me.”

“……Huh?” Linzel expressed her doubts.

“You had a hard time breathing at the wedding.”

“You… noticed?”

Hernan nodded.

“It would be best for you to see a physician at the palace tomorrow. Your health doesn’t seem as good as I thought.”

Seeing a physician… If it could be resolved that easily, she would have sought treatment immediately.

Linzel’s father had summoned physicians who were on par with the palace’s court physicians.

But none of them could make her and Letty healthy.

The excitement she felt, being enamored by his handsome face and charming atmosphere, began to subside.

As her mind became calm and her head cooled down, Linzel could sense that a certain moment had arrived.

The moment to talk about the reasons she had been postponing and hesitating, and the reason that led her to decide to marry Hernan.

“Your Highness. You want me to be healthy, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You want to live with me in good health for a long time, don’t you?”

“You keep asking obvious things.”

Do you remember the oath you made before?”

He raised an eyebrow and then signaled for her to speak.

“You agreed to grant my request.”

“Of course. I remember.”

“That favor. I would like to ask you now.” Linzel let out a forceful breath and continued, “I wish to enter the Royal Archives.”

“……What?”

Hernan looked surprised. He had good reason to be.

The topic of the Royal Court’s Secret Archives was something he would have never anticipated.

“I think there might be a solution there that could help me and Letty get healthy.”

“But what if there isn’t?”

“There might be, Your Highness.”

Well.”

“Letty and I have seen various physicians and tried almost everything that is said to be good for the body.”

“…….”

“Despite all that, our health hasn’t improved. If anything, it seems to be deteriorating.”

“I see.”

Hernan held her hand as she continued.

“There’s only one option left, I believe.”

“To enter the Royal Archives, where special, mysterious information is rumored to exist, and see if I can find a way to make myself well.”

Linzel paused.

“Please help me, Your Highness,” she murmured as she squeezed the hand she was holding. “I… want to live.”

‘I don’t know how long I can be Linzel.’

Just as she became Linzel one day out of the blue, she could suddenly return to the world she originally lived in one day.

A world from which she had lost most of her memory.

While living as a Linzel, she at least wanted to be healthy. She wanted to become healthy and have a proper relationship with Hernan. She wanted to go on outings with Letty.

And she wanted to go to the tea parties and banquets that she never understood why Letty attended.

She also… wanted to enjoy a cup of tea like any other noble lady in a romance novel and engage in trivial conversations.

She wanted to have arguments with a feisty lady and experience the rumors of high society.

The things she had considered trivial all this time were actually things she wanted to do so very badly.

But she suppressed those desires, fearing that if she admitted wanting them, her attachment to those things would grow stronger.

Fearing that she would envy Letty for doing things she couldn’t do, Linzel  purposely belittled and scorned social activities, suppressing those feelings.

As she reached that point in her thoughts, heat welled up in her eyes. Linzel closed and opened her eyes, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Linzel poured out her heart to Hernan again.

“I….. really…… want to live.”

Hernan embraced her. His large hand rhythmically patted her back.

But the tears didn’t stop easily.

“Linzel.” 

Hernan called her, but she couldn’t respond because of her tears.

“I will make it possible for you to enter the Royal Archives by any means necessary…”

It seemed like her sincerity reached Hernan. She cried for a long time in his arms.

As if letting go of the past Linzel that had been pretending to be okay all this time.

* * *

To cut to the chase, Hernan said he didn’t have the permission of the Silver Dragon, the former emperor, to enter the Royal Court’s Secret Archives.

Because there was no reason for him to enter the Royal Archives.

Most of the materials in the Royal Court’s Secret Archives existed in the Imperial Library of the Palace.

There was no need for him to enter the archives unless he needed an “extraordinarily special material.”

Therefore, the Royal Court’s Secret Archives are currently not highly valued. It’s considered a place for royals who are interested in old things.

Moreover, Hernan had never really read any books before. He was a man of the sword, not the pen.

‘I… am not familiar with books.’

……Hernan was embarrassed to admit it. The redness at the tips of his ears was a secret only Linzel knew.

If Hernan had devoted himself to reading, he could have become the most popular man in the Empire, surpassing even Izekiel with his combination of martial arts and sexiness.

Of course, Hernan’s charm was not diminished just because he distanced himself from books.

Hernan honestly confessing his aversion to books only made him more endearing.

“…So, are you not going to tell me what happened last night?”

It was Mini’s whining voice that interrupted Linzel’s reverie. Mini had gained access to the palace and was already in Hernan’s room with Linzel’s breakfast tray.

Linzel answered while still lying in bed, summarizing that having woken up early and already received a medical examination at the palace, she felt tired already.

“How was last night?” Linzel laughed bitterly. “What do you think?”

“My friends who married early say that when you get married, a whole new world opens up.”

A new world? She’d love to know about that world.

Linzel let out a deep sigh.

Yesterday, she cried like a baby after confessing her desire to enter the Imperial Palace’s secret archives.

When she finally stopped crying, she was too weak to do anything.

She had laid down with a tired body, and Hernan just held her tightly like a cedar tree.

Nothing that Mini had hoped for happened!

“Damn it…!”

She was kind of looking forward to it, too. Linzel wiped my face with my hands. 

“Heuk! Was it really that good?”

Linzel decided not to disappoint Mini’s fantasies and expectations.

“The new world was truly beautiful.”

Even though nothing had actually happened, the night she spent asleep in Hernan’s embrace was enchanting.

How comforting his broad and warm chest was. It felt completely different from when she slept while hugging Letty.

Wouldn’t it be okay to be satisfied with that?

Hopefully, he too would be satisfied with the warmth of their night together.

“Oh my!” Mini blushed and then exclaimed, “I-I’ll bring the dress!” before rushing out of the room.

‘Hey…… what were you imagining?’

Linzel stretched and yawned, wearing a faint smile.

Her life in the palace as Hernan’s companion was finally beginning.

The main objective was to “enter the Royal Court’s Secret Archives with Hernan’s help.”

It was the real beginning.