“That’s…”

As if she had no intention of hearing Ines’s answer, Greta got up and dusted herself off.

“Well then, take good care of him. I’m tired and need to sleep. I’ll be at Old Lady Yurgel’s house. Come find me if there’s an emergency.”

The three of them were currently in an empty house in the village. There hadn’t been time to take Carlos all the way to their cabin, so they had hurriedly treated him here. The house was smaller than the cabin where the two women lived, making it too cramped for three people. So Greta decided to stay temporarily at a villager’s house nearby.

“Yes, I understand. Leave this to me and get some rest.”

Greta too had had a chaotic day, getting suddenly kidnapped and then treating a patient. Thinking how it must have been even more exhausting given her age, Ines hurried to see her off.

When Ines returned to the room after sending Greta off, a heavy silence fell with the sound of the closing door.

After standing at the doorway for a moment staring into space, Ines carefully walked over to the bed. There she saw Carlos’s face, lying like the dead.

His lips were cracked all over like drought-stricken earth, and his face was still pale.

“Carlos…”

Seeing the man’s bloodless appearance, the anxiety she had barely suppressed rose again.

‘Human affairs are always unpredictable, dear. Even when surgery goes well, there are cases where people don’t wake up.’

Though she tried to reassure herself that the surgery had gone well and he was normally a healthy man so he would wake up without problems, she couldn’t shake off her anxiety. As Greta said, human affairs were always unpredictable.

Before she knew it, Ines sat by Carlos’s head and stroked his cheek. The warmth transmitted through her palm somewhat melted away her unease.

Ines gazed at the sleeping Carlos with sunken eyes. Thankfully, his sleeping face looked peaceful. As she listened to his breathing, which sounded more comfortable than before, Carlos’s words crossed her mind.

‘For not believing your words, and for all the pain I caused you… I’m sorry.’

In his fading consciousness, what he had said to her was an apology.

‘I love you.’

And his last words, squeezed out with his remaining strength, were an untimely confession. It sounded like a last will.

‘Yes, a last will.’

The reason she felt such anxiety now was because his final words sounded just like someone facing death. Perhaps he really thought he was going to die and left his last words.

That those words happened to be an apology and a confession of love.

“It really seems like you love me…”

Since meeting her in Mareina, Carlos had constantly apologized and sought her affection. At first, she had found such a man detestable, and his words didn’t feel sincere. If he had truly loved her, he wouldn’t have done those things to her in the first place.

So she thought Carlos was just obsessed.

But only when he granted her request to let her go did she realize. That he really did love her.

Perhaps it started then. When her heart began to feel troubled.

Despite having everything she wanted, she wasn’t happy. She felt empty and bitter, and hollow as if there was a huge hole in her heart.

Realizing this, Ines’s head dropped.

Had it just been a foolish delusion to think she had sorted out all her feelings for Carlos? Her heart was in turmoil from just one word uttered like a dying breath.

“Carlos.”

Ines quietly called his name. But naturally, there was no response.

“…Carlos.”

She mustered her courage and murmured his name once more. But as the silence lengthened, she felt as if the pillar barely holding up her heart was being eaten away.

Ines gently caressed his cheek with her slightly trembling hand.

“I still hate you…”

The wounds inflicted by Carlos remained like afterimages, tormenting her. So she had resolved never to return to that man again. She had even tried to die. That’s how much she despised him.

But…

“But I never once wished for you to get hurt or die.”

Though she hated him so much and resented him, she had hoped he would live healthily and happily somewhere. Perhaps it was a remnant of the love she once had for him.

“So Carlos…”

Unlike her gentle touch, her voice was pitiful. After stroking his face for a long while, Ines now gripped his hand tightly and bowed her head.

“Please wake up.”

All Ines wanted now was for Carlos to wake up safely. If he would just wake up, then…

“I’ll grant whatever you wish, so please…”

She could do anything. She knew she was being foolish. Some might point fingers at her and call her stupid. But just imagining him not existing in this world made it hard to breathe.

As her tear-soaked murmurs quietly echoed through the room, suddenly a familiar voice penetrated her ears.

“Really… will you grant everything I wish for?”

Startled by the sudden voice, Ines straightened up. There she met Carlos’s eyes as he looked at her with a faint smile on his lips.

“Carlos!”

Caught off guard, Ines urgently called his name. A bright smile spread across her face too at the joy of seeing him awake. Unable to contain her excitement, she asked him in an elated voice.

“When, when did you wake up?”

Blinking for a moment at this very different side of the usually calm Ines, he answered.

“…Since you said you’d grant my wishes if I woke up?”

Ines’s body flinched. Her face turned red at the realization that Carlos had heard everything she had just said to herself. For someone who had nearly died, his behavior was almost playful.

“That’s…”

Not knowing how to react to his question, Ines’s words trailed off. Then Carlos, wearing a bitter smile, withdrew his words.

“You don’t need to be so flustered. I don’t have any particular wishes anyway.”

Ines’s shoulders trembled for a moment at the man’s words about having no wishes. But whether Carlos really had nothing to wish for from her or not, he stirred, trying to get up.

Finally realizing that a patient who had just finished treatment was trying to move recklessly, Ines exclaimed in alarm and tried to stop him.

“You can’t get up now! Your wound is still…”

He got up cleanly as if there was no problem.

“This level of injury is nothing.”

As if his words were true, he got up without even a groan of pain. Ines’s eyes wavered in confusion.

It was a moment that made all her previous worrying seem foolish.

‘When you could get up so easily like this…’

Why did he say those things when he collapsed? She felt pathetic about how worried she had been until now because of those words.

Having risen from the bed, he began gathering and putting on his clothes.

“What are you doing?”

As she anxiously watched the man who seemed about to leave right away, Carlos answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

“I can’t keep imposing here. I need to return quickly.”

“Return…? You’re a patient. Where could you possibly go in that condition…”

He paused while buttoning his shirt and looked at Ines.

“…It must be uncomfortable for you to have me here.”

“What do you mean…”

“You asked to be let go.”

‘Please let me go.’

“That was… your last request to me.”

Carlos’s voice cracked. Whether it was from being unconscious for a long time or from having to speak words he wanted to deny, it wasn’t clear.

“Until now, Ines, I’ve never granted even the smallest request you made of me.”

“…”

“I never even took your hand when you reached out for help.”

Instead, he had accused her of lying. Though he realized it far too late. Carlos continued speaking with another bitter smile.

“I regret that so much and resent my past self. But just because I regret it doesn’t change what I did.”

“Carlos…”

“So this time… I want to do what I can for you.”