I Became The Younger Sister Of A Dying Woman - Chapter 71

71. Through a Child’s Eyes

Hernan hadn’t spoken with Illiya for a very long time.

It had been a full 10 years since they last faced each other.

Was that why?

Hernan was mumbling, hesitating to speak.

I waited patiently. Desperately holding back a sneeze that was trying to come out.

Finally, his parched lips opened.

“Um…”

Hernan chewed on his lower lip nervously.

“Ahem. It’s Hernan.”

He couldn’t continue speaking and looked at me.

I nodded as if to say he could do it.

I wondered where the Hernan who had declared he would drag Illiya out by force if necessary had gone.

Hernan’s gaze, as he looked back at the closed door, seemed fragile.

“Illiya. I hope you’ll come out, even if just once. For my sake, if nothing else.”

I thought it was a much more sincere statement than I had expected.

If I could feel that sincerity, there was no way Illiya couldn’t have felt it.

I hoped Illiya would come out at this point, but…

“…”

Illiya was indeed not an easy opponent.

Silence.

Only silence swirled around us.

But Hernan, having broken his silence, now spoke quite readily.

“Father, Mother… everyone is worried about you.”

And then more silence followed.

“We’ve prepared flowers that you like.”

Hernan sighed.

He rubbed below his eyebrow with his fingertip, as if he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

As I was wondering what to do next—

A piece of paper suddenly slipped out from under the door.

Unbelievably, it was a response from Illiya.

“Your, Your Highness! A note came out!”

Color returned to Hernan’s face, which had been visibly disappointed.

He picked up the note and began to unfold it next to me.

We hadn’t kicked the door today, and Hernan had spoken soothingly, so maybe something good was written.

That was my hopeful expectation.

However, as soon as I read the short phrase written on the note, I realized how futile my expectations had been.

⌜Now of all times?⌟

It was easy to guess what this meant.

After ignoring me all this time, now you’re trying to care for and worry about me? That’s what it must mean.

And the target of those sharp words was Hernan.

Hernan crumpled the note.

The note was crushed so badly that its original form was unrecognizable.

“Linzel. May I kick the door?”

I stopped Hernan.

“You can’t. If Your Highness kicks it, the door will break.”

“This is just…”

He trailed off, glaring at the door menacingly.

I tried hard to calm Hernan down.

We stayed like that for about an hour.

Occasionally, I tried speaking to Illiya, but no more notes were passed.

It seemed we might have to give up for today as well.

‘Maybe it would be better to approach Lenox instead.’

I thought I should send a message to Lenox as soon as we returned to the East Palace.

“Your Highness Hernan. Let’s go back now. It seems His Highness Illiya won’t come out today either.”

“How frustrating.”

“But if you think about it… His Highness Illiya saying ‘Now of all times?’ might be a good sign for us.”

“Why?”

“He gave a response to something he could have just ignored as usual. It’s like there’s room for negotiation, don’t you think?”

Maybe Illiya had been secretly hoping for Hernan to approach him first?

‘Now of all times?’ could also be interpreted as a complaint like ‘Why didn’t you look for me all this time?’

“I see. You might be right. Let’s prepare to leave then.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Hernan gestured to me with his chin.

Understanding the meaning of his gesture, I put my arms around his neck.

Hernan lifted me up without showing any sign of difficulty.

“We’re leaving,”

I spoke to Mercy.

“Can we leave the flowers as they are? His Highness Illiya might come out to see them after we’ve gone.”

“Certainly. I’ll order them to be cleared away after a day has passed.”

“Thank you!”

“It’s nothing.”

“Well, we’re going now. You don’t need to see us off.”

Mercy bowed deeply with words of gratitude.

The jingling sound rang out continuously as he moved.

I had become quite accustomed to that sound.

And was it just the sound?

The various accessories Mercy wore had become familiar and even endearing to my eyes.

I almost wanted to recommend some accessories to Hernan.

If Hernan were to wear dangling ornaments… I suddenly wondered how shocked Gatt would be.

***

The West Palace was being dyed in the light of the setting sun.

The red light seeping through the corridor windows turned even the flowers filling the hallway red.

It was then that a small sound echoed in the quiet corridor where no one was present.

Creak.

The source of that sound was a door that seemed to have not been oiled for a long time.

Through the slightly opened door gap, a man wearing a deeply pulled hood appeared.

Despite being indoors, the man had almost completely covered his body and face with a long robe and hood.

The man was Illiya, whom Linzel had so desperately wanted to meet.

Illiya’s gaze fell on the flowers filling the corridor.

He lowered himself and gently touched each petal of the flowers.

His white hand, emerging from between the robe, turned red.

It was completely dyed by the sunset light.

Illiya chose one type of flower among the many and embraced an armful of them.

The flower he chose was a rose.

It was the same kind that Lenox occasionally brought.

It was at that moment that someone appeared in the previously empty corridor.

“Your Highness. It’s been a long time.”

Illiya’s shoulders, holding the flowers, flinched.

Illiya had been completely unaware that there was another person besides himself.

Illiya’s gaze shifted towards the source of the sound.

There stood a beautiful man who might have been there for who knows how long.

The identity of the suddenly appeared man was Mercy.

Illiya just stared blankly at Mercy. No words were exchanged.

The eye contact was brief.

Illiya turned his back and slipped back into his room.

Creak. Bang!

Mercy stared intently at the closed door.

“What a pitiful human being.”

Mercy’s words, with no one to hear them, dissipated into the air.

Only then did he begin to clear away the flowers placed in the corridor.

The next day, it rained.

It was almost the first rain I had seen since becoming Linzel.

The good things about the rain were that my pollen allergy had almost disappeared and that I could hear the sound of rain.

I liked rainy days.

Of course, there was a reason.

Watching the falling rain made me feel like all my worries and pains were being washed away.

Today, I didn’t want to lie in bed like a corpse.

I sat up in bed and looked out the nearby window.

Pitter-patter. The raindrops flowing down the window were like tears.

Outside, it was tinged gray due to the rain and dark clouds.

I couldn’t take my eyes off that gloominess.

That scenery felt somehow poetic.

Despite the bad weather, Hernan had gone to attend a political meeting.

He seemed quite busy as the work of rooting out the perpetrators of the quelled civil war was not yet finished.

‘By the way. I wonder if we can’t visit the West Palace today.’

It was a place we had only visited for 3 days.

Nevertheless, thinking that we wouldn’t go today made me feel strangely empty.

Like the feeling of a student playing hooky.

I hoped Illiya would feel the same sentiment. I hoped he would feel my absence too.

I hoped he would recognize that he had developed a love-hate relationship with me.

And that he would come out to meet me because of it.

It was while I was passing time chatting idly with Mini that it happened.

A palace maid announced that someone had come to visit.

“Your Highness. Young Master Leal has come to visit.”

Leal… wasn’t that the young master of the adorable Sevilla ducal family?

They say he’s waiting for me in the drawing room.

The little one came all the way here personally, I can’t not go.

I finally got out of bed.

When I entered the drawing room, Leal greeted me politely.

“It’s been a while, Your Highness.”

“What brings you here?”

“My brother had business at the palace, so I came along… and stopped by to check on Your Highness’s condition.”

So, you came to see the wound on my forehead, right?

“Oh my, welcome.”

“Oh my…?”

Oops. I unconsciously treated him like a child.

Leal, despite being a little one, extremely disliked being treated as a child.

Sure enough.

The child’s small brow was furrowed.

Oh my. Even such a small brow can furrow?

“Haha. My words slipped. I meant to say welcome.”

“I see.”

I invited Leal to sit down.

“Young Master. What would you like to drink? Milk?”

“M-Milk?! Don’t treat me like a child. I prefer black tea.”

Leal’s face had turned bright red.

“Do you know how to drink black tea?”

“It’s basic for a ducal family’s child.”

So even if you’re a child, if you’re from a ducal family, you should drink black tea instead of milk? Is that how it is?

What should I do, he’s too cute.

While trying to keep my mouth from melting into a smile, I ordered two cups of black tea to be brought.

“By the way, how is your forehead?”

I nodded.

“Yes. It doesn’t hurt at all these days.”

“That’s a relief.”

Leal was fidgeting with his small hands and rolling his eyes around.

He seemed to want to continue the conversation but couldn’t find a suitable topic.

At times like this, an adult should help, oh my.

In fact, as soon as I saw Leal, I thought about asking him about ‘that’.

“Um, there’s something I’d like to ask you, Young Master.”

“What is it?”

“When do young children… no, when do you feel heartbroken, Young Master? Like, what causes you to receive a wound that makes you want to turn your back on the world?”

After all, a child’s heart is best understood by another child.

The time when Illiya closed his heart was when he was eight years old.

That’s why I thought it might be good to consult Young Master Leal, who is around the same age.

“Hmm… a wound.”

“Have you ever been hurt?”

Leal nodded his head as if recalling something.

“It was something that happened recently.”

Ah! Such a story existed!

I perked up my ears.