When Askin arrived at the territory in a hurry, it was all over.
“Aria!”
Askin stormed into the castle. The servants, scurrying about in a flurry of activity, bowed their heads the moment they spotted him.
Seeing the water-filled basins and stained towels in their hands, Askin furrowed his brows and quickened his pace. Moments later, the nanny, Masa, came rushing toward him.
“Masa, how is Aria?”
“Ah, the young lady is… *hic*, sleeping peacefully, Your Grace.”
Masa had been with Askin and Aria since their childhood; she was the one who had cared for Aria the longest. Because of this, she understood Aria’s condition better than anyone else.
Askin could gauge Aria’s state just by looking at the nanny’s face.
Masa’s wrinkled skin was deathly pale. Yet, Askin read the unspoken relief in her expression. Aria was safe. She had passed the crisis.
“…How did she pull through?”
He had only been away for a moment with Ben. The region was a project Askin had been pouring his efforts into lately; if his calculations were correct, it was a venture that would ensure the family’s wealth for years to come. While his younger sister, Aria, had always been his absolute priority, he had left, thinking she would be safe for just one day.
The price of his complacency was heavy.
The Remut territory had a physician on retainer, but in truth, the man was hardly competent. That was why Askin always brought a specialist from the capital whenever Aria’s health took a turn for the worse. He hadn’t expected her body to deteriorate so rapidly the moment he let his guard down.
It was inexplicable.
Given the mediocre skill of the local staff, they shouldn’t have been able to quell Aria’s symptoms or her peculiar seizures on their own.
“What on earth happened? Tell me.”
“…….”
It was strange. Masa, along with the nearby knights and servants, stood at a loss, hesitating. It was as if they didn’t know how to voice what had occurred.
He couldn’t wake Aria, who had finally fallen into a sound sleep. Seeing Askin’s expression turn colder by the second, Masa took the initiative. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before opening them to speak cautiously.
“The Duchess-To-Be sent Duke Alzbeit’s personal physician….”
Askin’s eyes widened. His lips parted, but before he could speak, he sensed there was more.
“…And? It seems there is more to the story.”
“…….”
“Masa, your left eyebrow twitches when you’re hiding something.”
Masa wore a troubled expression, then gave a sheepish, awkward smile. *As expected, I can’t deceive our young master,* she thought, before parting her lips once more.
“The Duchess-To-Be sent a healing mage as well…. If it hadn’t been for that mage, the young lady wouldn’t have had the strength to endure.”
“…….”
Askin felt an indescribable emotion settle in his chest.
He was stunned—and simultaneously, struck by a sharp pang of regret. It felt as though he had stumbled upon a truth he wasn’t meant to hear. He had been curious about what Masa was hiding, but this was a reality he wasn’t prepared to face.
Was it even possible? He discarded the doubt as quickly as it came. All the retainers, knights, and servants surrounding him—their bewildered, troubled faces—were living witnesses to the fact.
“…Is that the truth?”
“Yes, it is.”
A healing mage.
They were specialists, individuals so rare they were treated with the status of nobility wherever they went. Furthermore, for those of high caliber, their talents were worth whatever exorbitant price they named.
In the Alzbeit family, where money flowed like water, it was rumored they would call for a mage even for a minor scratch on their beloved granddaughter. But the situation in the Remut territory was different.
“…The Duchess-To-Be said the fees were already settled. She refused to accept any payment, and then they left.”
The physician and the healing mage had already returned to the capital.
“I see. Everyone, return to your posts.”
Just as Askin gave the order, a maid hurried to him, breathless, to report that Aria had opened her eyes.
Askin crossed the distance to Aria’s room in a single, frantic breath.
“Aria!”
“…Brother!”
Aria, who had been struggling to prop herself up against the bed, called out to him with a radiant smile.
Askin faltered at the sight of her face—so deathly pale it seemed drained of all vitality—but he quickly steadied himself and sat by the bedside, masking his alarm.
“Aria, I heard. I am so sorry…”
“Brother, did you hear?”
As he began to apologize for his absence, Aria’s small voice cut through his words.
Her expression was unexpectedly vibrant, a faint, uncharacteristic flush touching her cheeks.
“The Duchess-To-Be helped me! Perhaps… haven’t we been misunderstanding her?”
Askin opened his mouth to retort, then abruptly clamped it shut. He gave a stiff, curt nod instead.
“…Your complexion is still poor. Why don’t you sleep a little more?”
“Brother, listen to me! How could she have thought to send us her personal physician and the most elusive healing mage in the empire?”
Aria pressed her hands to her cheeks, eyes wide.
“She even said… she wanted to be friends with me.”
His younger sister had suffered from severe depression ever since her seizure. She lived in constant, crushing dread of being a burden to him.
*It’s all because of me.*
That was why he couldn’t bring himself to speak of money or hardship in front of her, not even if it killed him. He remembered every agonizing day she had spent in tears, month after month, with a hollow, silent grief.
But now, his only family sat before him, smiling with such genuine, fragile hope. He could not bring himself to crush this moment.
“…How strange. That woman, wanting to be friends.”
“Right? Being friends with someone like me… It’s like a dream. She is such a beautiful, cool person…!”
He couldn’t bring himself to validate the woman, so the blunt, skeptical response was all he could manage. Yet, Aria seemed satisfied, clapping her hands lightly and beaming at him. It was a rare, startling sight—seeing his sister act like a girl her own age.
However, her strength was waning. Soon, the exhaustion claimed her.
Sensing her limit, Askin gently urged her to rest.
“…Brother.”
Aria looked toward him, her lids heavy, struggling to keep them from fluttering shut. Her thin, brittle fingers remained hooked in the fabric of his sleeve.
“Brother, you… don’t you hate the Duchess-To-Be… very much…?”
Askin stared at her fingers, wordless. A fragile hand.
Did he hate her? The feelings he held for Charlize Alzbeit were far too tangled to be summarized in a single breath. If he had to distill the long, jagged history in his heart into one word, it would be resentment. Or perhaps hatred.
There were countless incidents Aria knew nothing about. But looking at her now, he could not bring himself to bring them to light. He simply nodded, silent.
“Is it… because of me…?”
“No.”
“Then, you know… just once. Could you give the Duchess-To-Be a chance…?”
The request felt like a noose tightening around his throat. He cherished his sister above all else, but he could not force an answer that would appease her.
Aria offered a faint, awkward smile, as if she understood, and finally released his sleeve. She fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.
He slipped out of the room in silence. The servants waiting in the hallway were dismissed with a wave of his hand, and he retreated into his office, collapsing onto the sofa and rubbing his face with trembling hands.
His mind was a tangled mess.
*Why… why would she do this?*
Why on earth would Charlize Alzbeit show such peculiar care for his sister?
“No, brother, the Duchess-To-Be brought me into the carriage because she was worried I might be cold! Besides, she even brushed my, my hair…!”
On a day the rain poured down in torrents, he had been certain that woman was tormenting his sister. But the truth Aria spoke was different. He couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
That woman?
“I want to see you break. It’s thrilling when you suffer.”
The woman who used to speak like this?
“……D-Duke. The Duchess-To-Be helped us. Not only the workers…… she provided water and food without asking for anything in return……!”
“T-thanks to her, my family regained their strength and lived on!”
He was well aware of the ‘Charlize angel theory’ that had been circulating in Remut Territory recently.
He had dismissed it as nonsense.
He was convinced that every event that had occurred was merely some new scheme the woman was unveiling.
However.
If she truly were orchestrating a scheme, her actions were strange.
“I tripped on my own, but Grandfather misunderstood.”
“You need time, too. Think about it. Wasn’t it strange that, as you said, I suddenly obsessed over meeting you like a madwoman? It’s the first time I’ve only asked to meet without pulling any other tricks, isn’t it?”
A slender voice buzzed in his ears.
“I gave him chances time and time again. But it was that bastard who kicked them away. Think of it as him not being your match.”
“Wait a moment, Grandfather. This is……”
“What are you doing!”
Perhaps it was because the woman, who had always acted with the arrogance of a tyrant, being dragged away helplessly with a face that looked as if she were about to cry, defied every definition he held of her. It remained etched in his memory for a long time.