58 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
The Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior from Hell 58
The most despairing thing was that there was no way to do anything right now.
There was nothing she could do but sit next to the bed and hold his cold hand tightly.
Alisha looked at her hand clutching his large hand.
Then she remembered Reikart kissing the back of her hand.
Suddenly, she remembered hugging Reikart in Tessen.
What was it like then...?
Did Reikart, who still had the aftereffects of the pain, seem better when they hugged?
And then the confession came to mind.
'Alisha.'
His low voice called Alisha.
'I like you.'
He confessed to her, who could only give a short reply because her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would burst.
"......"
Alisha carefully brought the cold hand she was holding to her lips and kissed it.
Once, twice, three times, she briefly lowered her lips to the back of his hand.
Reikart's reaction, who had been convulsing in pain, improved rapidly.
She wondered if it was her imagination, but the trembling disappeared from his face, and after taking a series of long breaths, she saw the color returning to his face little by little.
"Your Highness?"
Alisha placed her hand on Reikart's forehead, who only let out a weak sound.
His hot face was much better than before.
Alisha buried her lips deeply in Reikart's hand.
Then, belatedly, she looked around the empty room and let out an awkward throat clearing.
She glanced at the hand she was holding, checking to see if there were any injuries, and watched the face with its eyes closed.
It's all for treatment.
Alisha nodded, silently defending herself.
She didn't have a single lewd thought.
It was all because she was worried about the sick man.
She touched his forehead and face, which had become much cooler, with her hand, and felt Reikart's hand in hers become much warmer than before, and felt relieved.
"That's a relief."
She spoke like an idiot to someone who was overwhelmed by the intense pain and couldn't come to his senses.
She worried that his condition might not improve again, but secretly let out an embarrassed laugh.
It was thanks to taking a breather.
'Alisha, I like you.'
The faint whisper she had heard earlier floated in her peaceful mind.
It was such a hectic time that she might have misheard it.
'I like you.'
But the sound kept swirling around in her head, making her lips twitch.
Her heart was pounding without noticing.
She might have misheard it, but Alisha realized the moment she heard the confession.
No, she had vaguely admitted it from the moment Reikart approached her first today and spoke to her in a friendly manner.
She liked Reikart.
That's why she felt bad when he asked what he should give in return for holding his hand when she saw him for the last time.
She had been depressed when he said he was going to meet the Baroness who had a rumor with Reikart.
She had been anxious when she thought he might have a mistress.
Just a business partner.
Alisha had proposed a deal to Reikart, and he had accepted.
After that, Reikart had offered Alisha a deal, and Alisha had accepted.
They had proposed a deal to each other and agreed, and he and she were connected by a deal.
As long as the deal was carried out faithfully, there should be no problems or discord.
But even the smallest things related to Reikart made her nervous and her mood went up and down.
Alisha had been contemplating a hypothesis for a long time, and it was related to this feeling.
Was she just liking a man she thought of as a business partner and fantasizing about what she wanted?
She constantly doubted, denying the hypothesis because it was too unrealistic.
Even now, Alisha was questioning.
She liked Reikart.
But she didn't know when she started liking him.
She knew she liked Reikart, but she didn't know why.
"It's strange."
Liking him was strange.
Dawn broke with a pale blue light.
Reikart, who woke up in peace unlike his last memory, breathed softly and wondered.
The familiar ceiling was visible in his open view.
It was his bedroom in Baden.
Reikart, who woke up from his sleep, smiled at the unfamiliar peace, then hardened his expression.
There was a warm, soft hand in his hand.
Only then did he realize that something was wrong, as his head, which always made unpleasant noises, was peaceful.
He turned to the side and saw a face sleeping against the bed.
"Alisha......"
His cracked voice broke the silence.
Even though it was a small voice, Alisha managed to hear it and woke up.
"Your Highness, are you awake?"
A sleepy face spoke to Reikart.
"......Why are you here?"
Reikart said with a cold, frozen face.
Awkwardness appeared on Alisha's face, which had been defenseless from sleep.
Reikart also knew.
He collapsed yesterday.
The intense pain he experienced during the Lua Cycle suddenly struck him in a place other than Tessen.
Alisha must have been worried about him and stayed by his side.
"Don't you remember what happened yesterday?"
Alisha spoke calmly, unlike her hardened expression.
The other person was a patient.
"I remember."
Reikart's face was cold as he answered.
The atmosphere became rapidly chilly at his cold reaction.
His furrowed eyebrows slowly relaxed.
But Alisha could not feel any warmth in the amber eyes she was looking at.
"I wanted to help Your Highness."
"I know. I know, but don't you remember what I said? No one should know that the pain disappears when you hold my hand. Especially the Emperor......"
Reikart spoke in a cold, firm voice, revealing his intense emotions.
"Why not?"
Alisha said, throwing the words out.
It was something she had said once before.
"Because he'll make Alicia Lane my bride tomorrow."
"I'm your fiancée. That means I'll eventually become your bride."
Alisha said as if taking a step closer to the truth.
Reikart turned to Alisha and said.
"I will not marry you."
It wasn't just saying it, but the words hit her ears like a declaration.
There was no hesitation on Reikart's face as he spoke.
He declared it without hesitation.
It was something she had expected to some extent, but hearing it directly was much more shocking than she had thought.
The moment she heard the words, Alisha felt like she was being stabbed with a knife.
"Why?"
Even so, Alisha did not back down.
"Because I like you."
Reikart said to Alisha, whose eyes were red.
It was a contradictory confession.
Alisha was thinking that she must have misheard what she had heard yesterday.
"Pardon......?"
The face that had confessed his love as if declaring war did not take his eyes off Alisha.
"I will not marry Alicia Lane. Because I like you."
Reikart's expression, which had been stiff all along, was contorted.
"What...... nonsense is that?"
Alisha's face was also messily distorted.
"I didn't originally intend to confess."
"Then you shouldn't have!"
"I can't hide the fact that I like you. But I tried to hide it, but yesterday I was in pain outside of Tessen and I thought I would never see you again. I thought I was going to die at that moment. So I was temporarily insane...... Anyway, I will not marry you."
Reikart once again uttered an unpleasant vow.
"Your Highness is my fiancé......!"
Alisha shouted.
"You must not marry me, Alisha. I will not marry you. Because I like you."
"What......"
"Don't marry me, let's date. I know it's a selfish thing to say, but we shouldn't get married. Go out with me."
The more Reikart spoke, the more Alisha's face contorted.
The more he spoke, the more bizarre things he said.
"Date? For how long? Forever, just dating? We won't get married, just date?"
"That's right. Don't get married, let's date."
Alisha was being confessed to.
But with each confession, she became more miserable.
"Just dating forever? How is that different from a mistress? Why, is there someone else you absolutely have to put in the position of Grand Duchess?"
"There's no such thing."
"Then why do you only want to date?!"
Reikart answered Alisha's anger with a confession.
"I like you."
Alisha shook her head.
"I don't want to. I'm your rightful fiancée......"
"I will not marry you."
They were just repeating the same words to each other.
Tears poured from Alisha's eyes at Reikart's declaration.
"......"
Reikart paused when Alisha, who had been calmly responding to his nonsense, burst into tears.
"Alisha?"
"When I sent Your Highness a letter anonymously. When I first met you, you knew about me. You must have investigated me when you came to meet me. Right?"
"Yes, I did."
"Then you must know about my birth."
"I know."
Reikart answered calmly.
At that moment, smack! With a violent sound, Reikart's face, which had been answering, turned to the side.
Alisha forgot the crime of slapping a member of the imperial family.
"You only know about yourself. You know everything about me, but you still want to date instead of marry, even though you know what kind of humiliation I'll suffer if I remain the Grand Duke of Tessen's fiancée forever......"
Tears streamed down Alisha's cheeks.
"Alisha."
Reikart turned to Alisha with a dizzy head.
"I was kept alive because I was the daughter born in the Marquis family after 200 years, but you don't care what people say about me behind my back."
"Alisha, that's......"
"I know. I know that there are a lot of nonsense that follows Your Highness too. I just have to ignore the nonsense. I know it's selfish, but I don't have to obey when the other person only wants to do what they want."
Tears were constantly falling on Alisha's face as she spoke.
Reikart didn't know what to do with the crying face.
"I, I'm sorry. Alisha, don't cry."
Alisha pushed away the hand that was trying to wipe away her tears.
"There must be a real reason why you like me and don't want to marry me."
Reikart stopped moving at Alisha's words.
He seemed to have forgotten to breathe for a moment.
"......"
The clumsy expression that had been floating on Reikart's face disappeared at once.
"What is it?"
"The moment I hear it, I can't leave you for the rest of my life. Don't do that. Because if you try to run away after hearing it, I can't let you."
"Your Highness is a coward. You can't say it because you think I'll run away. And that's how much you like me."
Alisha said, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.
The twisted smile that appeared on her lips was full of reproach.
"Yes, I'm a coward. Because if I were you, I would run away even if I died the moment I heard it."
Reikart shouted, not hiding his self-loathing.
Alisha was able to suppress her soaring anger only after wiping away all her tears.
She also had the conviction that her hypothesis was probably correct.
If the hypothesis was correct, she could understand Reikart's words and actions.
Even so, she felt an unbearable anger at the face that was politely delivering nonsense.
She wished she didn't like him.