Screeeeeech—!!

The monster screamed.

Simultaneously, the sound of a heavy body collapsing was heard.

With her eyes covered by the blindfold, Lena couldn’t tell what was happening.

The sound of the monster struggling, the screams of agony continuously tormented her ears.

At the same time, a resounding battle cry of “Waaaaa!!” was heard from afar.

“Finish it!!!”

“Cut its throat!!!”

“Tie its legs so it can’t get up!!!”

Rough voices echoed from all directions.

Lena was dumbfounded.

Slash, slash.

The sound of ropes being cut was heard, then her legs came loose and her body lurched forward.

She thought she would inevitably hit the ground, but a solid body caught her.

That embrace smelled strongly of blood. At the same time, she could also smell conifer and thyme.

The person who caught her in their arms removed her blindfold with rough hands.

Her vision cleared with his touch. With the sudden influx of light, her eyes stung and she couldn’t open them properly.

But she could clearly see the face of the person holding her up.

Hair like a black sea without light, wolf-like golden eyes filled with fierce anger, lips curled in a growl like angry waves.

The emblem engraved on the black eyepatch covering one golden eye was unmistakably the crest of the Northern Duke, the House of Northdelion.

After confirming Lena’s tear-soaked face, he clicked his tongue once and shouted toward the villagers gathered behind the barrier.

“I am the lord of this land. Who dared to do this?”

His black hair swayed in the wind blowing from afar. His clear right golden eye was filled with boiling rage.

Lena knew immediately.

That he was Delian Northdelion, the one rumored to have suddenly gone mad one day and killed all the servants in his castle.

❀❀❀

She had no idea when she had fainted.

Lena slowly opened her eyes. Her pupils, hidden behind laboriously opened eyelids, took in unfamiliar surroundings.

The bed so soft she felt like she was sinking into it, the smooth blanket that wasn’t rough and smelled nice, everything felt alien and rather uncomfortable.

She tried to get up, but her body wouldn’t listen.

‘I need to get up……’

Though Lena thought this, she wanted to stay as she was.

Around that time, she sensed someone outside the door.

“Is she still not awake……”

A voice as deep as a cave and rough as ocean waves was heard. It was a captivating voice that instantly commanded all her attention.

Lena pondered.

‘Should I answer……’

The presence outside the door lingered for a moment before disappearing.

“It wouldn’t be bad for her to rest well.”

That was the last of it. Was it because the tension suddenly released? Drowsiness washed over her.

‘I shouldn’t do this……’

But her entire body felt so heavy that she couldn’t resist closing her eyes.

‘This is all because the bed is too soft……’

Yes, because the blanket was too soft. Because it smelled nice in a way she had never experienced before.

‘That’s why……’

Lena soon fell into a deep sleep.

❀❀❀

When she opened her eyes, a familiar scene greeted her.

A bed so hard she couldn’t lie comfortably, a rough blanket with a musty smell…… All things unbearably familiar.

But Lena didn’t find it strange. Rather, she felt relieved. It must have been just a dream for one night.

Lena was still lying in her room.

‘It’s been 10 years already…… I’ve lived quite long.’

It had already been 10 years since she was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

‘At first they said it was just a simple cold.’

She had believed that. She coughed occasionally, and though she didn’t have a fever, after constantly being told it was a cold, she somehow felt like she tired more easily.

But after a year, her symptoms didn’t improve. It turned out to be a fatal disease. Just a “fatal disease” without even a name.

They said she would die someday. Her mother had said so while wailing, so it must have been true.

From that day on, Lena stopped all productive work and began recuperating in this room.

Her parents were poor, but they took the utmost care of their daughter who couldn’t work, who couldn’t get married.

Although she couldn’t receive proper treatment and only saw a doctor once every half year, Lena had thought there could be no greater love than this.

Feeling sorry and grateful for that, Lena always took over her mother’s sewing.

‘Our family was extremely poor.’

Wanting to earn at least enough for medicine, Lena stayed up nights doing more sewing.

But was it because she stayed up every night with her sick body? Her condition never improved.

No, it worsened.

After being bedridden for 6 years, even swallowing food became difficult for her.

So she subsisted on thin porridge. She got hungry quickly, but she couldn’t keep eating either, so she grew weaker and weaker.

During that time, her younger brother grew increasingly healthier. It was natural since he ate abundantly as much as she couldn’t eat.

With her parched lips, Lena read fairy tales to her brother every night. Though her body was tired, reading fairy tales was enjoyable.

‘Roberto Trix.’

Lena looked at her much younger brother with loving eyes.

Roberto was exceptionally smart. He seemed a bit weaker than his peers, but that didn’t matter.

He learned to read at two years old, so if he had lived in the capital, he would have been hailed as a genius. But for tenant farmers, what mattered wasn’t learning letters quickly or being good at calculations.

A healthy body was most important.

Even though farm work became easier with the farming tools Roberto designed.

In that respect, the siblings might have been quite useless children for farmers.

The parents sometimes sighed when looking at the siblings. Lena, already used to it, was fine, but her younger brother always felt hurt.

‘That’s why I felt sorry for him.’

Lena felt a sense of kinship there.

A daughter with an incurable disease who couldn’t contribute to the livelihood and a son who was only smart but physically weak.

That’s why Lena gave everything to her younger brother. The food she wanted to eat, the things she wanted to have, the opportunities to go outside and play, even time with friends……

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she raised Roberto in place of her busy parents.

Roberto followed his sister more than his mother. When Lena’s parents realized this, they gradually entrusted all childcare to Lena. Even after she fell ill, the childcare continued.

But Lena was happy.

‘It made me so happy to be helpful.’

Thanks to Lena’s devoted care, Roberto grew up healthier.

By the time he was finally able to work in the fields, he no longer sought out his sister.

He had discovered that there were many more enjoyable things outside than the fairy tales he had read thousands of times with his sister.

Lena was left alone in the room, sewing with a body that could die at any moment.

But it was okay.

Unlike her, he could run around, play with friends, eat delicious food at the table with their parents when the economic situation was good, laugh and chat. Although she envied him, it was okay.

Giving up everything for her brother was her choice. All of it was the result of her own actions.

‘So I shouldn’t blame Roberto.’

That’s what she had thought.

Her parents, who had always been indifferent to the siblings, became utterly devoted to her brother once he grew up.

‘Even though they entrusted everything to me.’

Now she couldn’t do anything for her brother without going through her parents. Lena had lost Roberto to her parents.

Receiving their parents’ love, Roberto increasingly shone brightly. People always bustled around him. There was always laughter, and he seemed to overflow with joy.

While Lena had nothing left. When the only friend to accompany her for life was a fatal disease.

‘No, I shouldn’t think like this. It’s ugly.’

Lena tried hard not to be jealous of her brother who had completely left her hands.

Her father cherished the grown-up Roberto simply because he helped with the fieldwork.

Her mother gave more attention to Roberto than to her simply because he could help carry heavy loads.

That’s what Lena thought. Then it became okay.

‘What family would take care of a useless daughter with an incurable disease for so long? Our parents are wonderful people.’

Thinking that way made her love for her family surge. Even when she sat alone in a pitch-black room with no one bringing a light.

“Sister, are you in much pain? Drink this.”

Roberto entered with lukewarm rice porridge, not even wiping his lips greasy with oil.

Warm, bright light leaked through the door left open by her brother.

‘See, Roberto is such a good brother.’

Lena thanked Roberto. The smell of meat wafted in through the open door.

Growl—

An embarrassing sound came from her stomach. Roberto flinched in surprise, then whispered apologetically.

“I’m sorry for eating something delicious alone, sister.”

“Why are you sorry? The doctor said I can’t eat meat. I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So you eat my share deliciously too.”

“Yes! Got it!”

As Roberto smiled brightly, their mother called him from outside.

“Why are you bothering her when your sister is sick? Come out quickly and finish eating.”

“Your sister is sick, so let her rest and come out quickly.”

Father added. Her parents were always worried about Lena.

‘Yes, where else in the world would there be such parents? I receive so much love.’

She felt guilty for having such gloomy thoughts even momentarily.

Roberto left the room with a mischievous face, saying “Eek.”

Lena sat alone in the darkened room after the door closed, stroking the warm bowl. The watery porridge sloshed around. While her family ate delicious meat, that was all Lena had for dinner.

“Thank you for the meal……”

Lena sat alone in the dark room, eating her porridge by the moonlight coming through the window.

She could hear her family’s laughter from outside. She also heard Roberto giggling as her father let out a loud burp.

When his son enjoyed it, her father burped even louder, and her mother also burst into laughter while telling him not to.

They looked happy.

They looked warm.

She envied them.

‘I can laugh like that too.’

Even if she was sick, she might not be able to eat, but she could still be with them. But Lena wasn’t allowed anything.

Lena was crying before she knew it. It was an ordinary day. It was always the same routine for her.

‘But why does it hurt so much more today……’

Her chest felt like it would burst.

‘Ah, that’s right…… I’m going to die tomorrow. That’s why this is harder.’

“Ugh, sob, sob……”

The sound of Lena clutching her chest and crying lingered in the dark room for a while, but it didn’t reach any of her family members outside.