Ch#29
“I don’t know if you heard, but you really almost died. Ailan said your brain was half-cooked.”
“Th-that... I’m sorry.”
“You’re not sick because you want to be, so what’s there to be sorry about? Anyway, rest fully in that room until Ailan says you can get up.”
“I’m sorry, but what is ‘Ailan’?”
Only then did Laslo realize he’d been rambling about something only he knew, making an ‘oh no’ face.
Edel found the expressions Laslo occasionally showed a bit amusing.
“Ailan Kop. The quack doctor who treated you.”
When he seriously called him a ‘quack doctor,’ a puff of laughter escaped Edel’s lips. She hurriedly covered her mouth but added words in case Laslo took offense.▲
“He seems too skilled to call a quack.”
*Spoils of war*
*Duchess*
“...True enough.”
Laslo readily admitted it. He didn’t seem particularly offended.
Truly written by Lemon Frog
“Anyway, just focus on recovering while resting. I’ll keep the maid assigned to you with you the whole time.”
Edel considered thanking him and leaving but cautiously added one more thing.
“I’m deeply grateful for Your Lordship’s compassion and generosity. Then, should I report my recovery period separately to Mrs. Bohen?”
“No need to watch the head maid. She’s the one desperately praying for your recovery.”
“Y-yes...?”
Laslo smirked at her incredulous tone, the ‘no way’ omitted.
...I told her harming the ‘emperor’s gift’ means no mercy. Not empty words.”
“The emperor’s gift...?”
- 2 -
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“Ah, was that an unpleasant term?”
...Try not to think about dying, at least.”
Edel hurriedly shook her head.
“No. Thanks to you, I’m still alive.”
She’d come to thank him for saving her life, yet she couldn’t immediately grasp why she was hearing this.
“Not that I expected that.”
But she could tell Laslo meant no malice. So she tried responding with suitable kind words.
“......
“Yes. If I keep living like this, someday... I too might live ordinarily....”
Recalling how she’d tried to jump from the carriage on the way here choked Edel’s words.
Back then, she’d thought arriving here would unfold hell, but looking back, Laslo had actually saved her from hell.
Why?
But what gain had Laslo Criserus gotten from it? No matter how she thought, there seemed none.
The moment she uttered ‘ordinarily,’ tears suddenly streamed from Edel’s eyes.
It was something even she hadn’t anticipated, so she couldn’t stop the overflowing tears.
“Your Lordship probably didn’t want spoils of war like me either.”
“What?”
“Ah, s-sorry!”
“It would’ve been better to receive art or jewels from the ducal house like the others. His Imperial Majesty was too mischievous.”
She quickly turned to wipe her tears, expecting Laslo to panic or get annoyed. After all, the maid he’d spent a fortune saving was blubbering during her thanks.
Edel smiled wryly, but the bitterness in her mouth was unavoidable.
However, his reaction was unexpected.
After a brief hesitation, he approached and offered her his handkerchief.
After months, she’d realized Laslo had no interest in women—or noble amusements.
But Laslo snorted.
“What... You must’ve found ordinary the hardest too.”
“What do you mean? His Imperial Majesty gave me the most precious spoils to uphold my dignity.”
At those words, the tears she’d just wiped burst forth again.
Edel had wished for ordinary happiness her whole life. An ordinary family, ordinary life, ordinary love and friendship.
It felt strange.
She’d thought her ‘ordinary’ wish humble, but it turned out to be tremendous greed.
His tone seemed scolding, but Edel strangely felt comforted by him.
Ordinary was the most precious—and hardest to attain.
Money, status, her father’s greed, high society’s attention—those were excessive, and the affection and stability within were far thinner.
“Thank you for saying that. It may be rude, but if Your Lordship hadn’t accepted me then, I would’ve.....”
She hadn’t expected Laslo to understand that.
Her words paused briefly.
“Sorry. I don’t even know why I’m crying..... Maybe the fever messed something up.”
Edel couldn’t continue, imagining the horrific other future, but Laslo said something odd.
“No need for more thanks. Go back and cry some more.”
“Pardon...?”
.
As Laslo said, she suddenly felt ravenously hungry. Edel called Daisy, who’d been staying in the maid’s room next to the guest room.
Cry more?
Thinking she’d misheard, Edel asked again.
“Sister! What happened? Why are you crying?”
“It’s an order.”
Daisy paled at the sight of Edel’s puffy eyes from crying but urgently asked without probing the reason.
Far from retracting, Laslo doubled down as an order.
“Daisy, I’m so hungry. Sorry, but could you bring as much food as possible?”
However, he grabbed Edel’s shoulders, turned her around, and pushed her out the door, saying,
“You’re hungry? You must really be recovering! Wait just a bit!”
“Cry it all out, then call that young maid and have her bring a hearty dinner. Eat your fill, think nothing, and sleep deeply. That’s my order.”
Daisy dashed to the kitchen, thrilled at Edel’s appetite.
“But—”
And shortly after, the food she brought on a tray was far more than Edel could normally finish.
“Don’t vomit. Now go.”
The study door thudded shut behind Edel, pushed into the corridor.
“I brought everything I could. Potato soup, rye bread, butter, three slices of chopped ham, boiled egg, roasted chicken, an apple. And this is shredded shallots and carrots stir-fried—it’s tasty in bread. These are cookies I bought during the day.”
“What in the world is... this?”
The food piled high on the plates looked appetizing. Perhaps Daisy’s desire to feed her more made it seem even more so.
Edel thanked her and began devouring the food ravenously. She’d never been this hungry.
What just happened?
As the simple flavors spread in her mouth, another hunger stirred.
Left standing blankly in the corridor, Edel was dumbfounded.
But Laslo’s whispered ‘order’ melted her heart like warm soup. Courage welled up from some unknown source, for some unknown reason.
“Wow... I’ve never seen you eat this much, sister.”
“Me neither.”
‘Right, it’s an order.’
Edel smiled embarrassedly and stuffed the food down vigorously.
Edel wiped her still-damp cheeks with Laslo’s handkerchief and took a step.
Then, as he said, she returned to the guest room, flopped onto the bed, and sobbed loudly.
“Haa... I can’t eat another drop.”
It was the first time she’d cried this much since marrying the Lancaster Duke.
Yet it was strange.
Clearing every plate without a crumb left a odd satisfaction.
As she cried long, the knot inside her diluted. Eventually, she even wondered, ‘Why am I crying?’
Then she no longer remembered why she’d cried.
Then hunger struck.
All that remained in her mind were Laslo’s words.
‘So hungry.’
“Good days will come if you live on.”
A common comfort, but coated in his voice, it felt special.
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