#100.1

‘A-are you crying?’

I was about to shout ‘Gotcha!’ but instead, my lips trembled in surprise.

Did I take the joke too far?

After making him suffer for days, the first thing I said to him when I woke up is ‘Who are you?’ I couldn’t help but think that you were incredibly gullible. I didn’t even think that my repertoire of memory loss lines that only work in dramas would actually work.

As the atmosphere lightened, the situation became more serious. I slowly raised my hand. My arm felt heavy from lack of use, but I didn’t care because my attention was drawn to the tears rolling down his cheeks.

As Diart once said when he was teasing me, I love it when men cry. Imagining a handsome man crying makes my heart skip a beat. But that was only when I was a third party and it was exciting.

Diart, with a pale complexion, stared at me with a complex mix of emotions, without blinking even once. As if he thought I would disappear if he took his eyes off me, even for a moment. Something rose up in my throat.

When my fingertips touched his jaw, Diart flinched and grabbed my hand with his own, pressing his face against it. Not only did he look like he had lost weight, but the sharpness of his jawline that met my palm was even more pronounced, making my heart ache.

“Did I scare you? It was just a joke…”

“…I know.”

Diart’s voice was as hoarse as mine. His Adam’s apple rose and fell heavily.

Why is someone I know crying? When he saw my expression, Diart looked at me with a puzzled expression and smiled faintly.

“Do you think I don’t know how you look at me?”

Diart intertwined his fingers with mine, fixing them. As our hands touched, I couldn’t help but focus more on the subtle trembling of his skin than the sensation spreading throughout my body.

“But why are you crying? I was genuinely surprised because I thought you believed it.”

“Because I can finally feel relieved.”

As Diart spoke, tears that had been lingering in the corners of his eyes rolled down his cheeks.

“I didn’t know you were such a good crier.”

“But still not as much as my wife, it seems.”

Diart gently wiped the corner of my eye with his hand. It was only then that I realized I was crying. And in that moment, the floodgates opened, and tears poured out. As I raised my other hand, Diart waited and then held it against my neck, lowering his body. I held him tightly, and he held me tightly, as we both let our tears flow.

I’m truly alive.

While I tried to think positively that everything would be okay, deep down I was terrified that I might never wake up from this. But now, embraced by a man who held me with overflowing warmth and seemed to reassure me, I could finally feel completely at ease.

* * *

It seems like I’ve been lying down for a longer time than I thought. I thought it had been about a week, but it turned out to be more than two weeks. I can somewhat understand why Diart believed the nonsense from the Sau clan. If Diart didn’t get up without any reason for such a long time, I would have been really worried.

The first person who rushed over after hearing the news of my awakening was Duke Feischer. He had been in the borderlands with Grand Duke Wheaton, but he quickly returned after receiving the news of my accident and has been visiting me every day. Duke Feischer, who looked just as disheveled as Diart, covered his face with his hands as soon as our eyes met.

When I saw the expression of relief on his face before he covered it, I couldn’t help but feel emotional again. It was because I could fully feel how much he had been holding back his emotions all this time. Duke Feischer, who had been hesitating beside the bed, grabbed my hand. Although his touch was not as energizing as Diart’s, his large and firm hand was comforting in a different way. I don’t really understand why I feel this way when he’s not even my father.

“Do you see that wound? I heard the news of your awakening and rushed over, but I fell and got this wound.”

Grand Duke Wheaton, who was teasing Diart’s red eyes, now told the story of the wound on Duke Feischer’s forehead. Although he kept the atmosphere light with cheerful jokes, his gaze that carefully examined me several times made me realize that he was also very worried about me. While giving Grand Duke Wheaton a stern look as if telling him not to make any unnecessary noise, Duke Feischer did not let go of my hand.

After Duke Feischer and Grand Duke Wheaton left, Lily rushed in. Lily’s cheeks were already wet with tears from the moment she came in, and covered her mouth with her hand when she saw me and burst into tears.

“If I hadn’t left your side, this wouldn’t have happened… I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Even though I comforted her by saying it was okay, Lily held onto the bed and cried until Diart chased her away.

Although other servants and knights also came to visit me, Diart did not accept any of them. He didn’t even spare a visit for Leticia or Jarvis. He never left my side for a moment, afraid of almost losing me. The time I spent being held in his arms, which I almost lost, was so precious that I didn’t even bother to stop him.

After dinner, as I was lying in bed in Diart’s arms, I suddenly became curious about what happened to Adelia. Although Diart’s face was reluctant even to mention that name, he briefly replied to my persistent question.

“She was hanged.”

I took a deep breath, and Diart added with a distant look,

“That’s fucking lenient.”

The expression on his face implied that if it were him, he would never have let it end so easily. I thought of Adelia approaching me with a knife. She was the one who tried to kill me, and I felt no sympathy as I almost died for real.

Now, all I could think of was that it was truly over between her and me. Despite that, my mood seemed to sink, so I changed the subject.

“By the way, what about our divorce?”

Knowing that Diart had used his influence to expedite the divorce proceedings, I thought it would have been finalized while I was unconscious. But judging from Diart’s expression, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“I couldn’t get divorced while you were lying down.”

I could understand the meaning behind Diart’s words. It was evident that a man who wanted to be by my side, even if I stayed lying down for the rest of my life.

“Then we’ll have to postpone the wedding, I suppose.”

As I casually made a playful remark, Diart furrowed his brow as if he hadn’t thought of that.

“Do it immediately tomorrow. You’re always ready to run away at the slightest opportunity, so I need to keep you properly by my side as soon as possible.”

Oh no, that sound again. I held my forehead with my hand.

Why does he keep saying that I’ll run away? And I’m still here next to you!

“I shouldn’t have went to see that fortune teller. Please forget about what you heard. Why would I run away?”

I’ve said it so many times that I like you, why can’t you believe me? Diart brushed his messy hair behind his ear as he retorted. After a moment of silence, he slowly opened his mouth.

“It just won’t leave my mind.”

Diart’s face was one he didn’t even understand himself.

“Sometimes I get anxious that you’ll suddenly disappear. When you woke up this time, I was strangely restless. I was worried that you might not be the woman I knew.”

I don’t understand why I’m having such absurd thoughts either. Diart frowned.