Chapter 24

 

***

 

It was definitely the smell of blood.

 

My eyes naturally looked at his left arm.

 

There was nothing wrong with his right hand and he didn’t move his left arm as much.

 

“…Did you hurt your left arm?”

 

“Are you worried?”

 

He had a smile on his face.

 

“Are you hurt? Please answer that first.”

 

“It’s okay. And it won’t scar.”

 

That must be a lie.

 

How can I accept it as a minor injury when there is a smell of blood?

 

I’m not a complete fool.

 

“Chestee. It didn’t seem like a light wound.”

 

“……It’s not really a big injury. There’s just a lot of bleeding.”

 

A lot of bleeding means you’re seriously hurt!

 

I could see him sneakily hiding his left arm.

 

When I saw it, I hurriedly grabbed his left arm.

 

“Yulia?”

 

His sleeves were damp. When I checked the liquid on my hand, it was undeniably red. And the liquid smelled fishy.

 

“This is blood, right?”

 

“That’s true.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“It’s not a big deal. I often bleed.”

 

He probably wrapped the wound with a bandage, but this blood stain meant that the wound was still open.

 

I felt really strange too.

 

I was the one who drove him to the war, and I was the one who wanted him to die there, but why am I so surprised to see him hurt?

 

I was the one who wanted him to die, but why am I shaking so much just because he’s wounded?

 

“…Does it hurt a lot?”

 

“It doesn’t hurt much,”

 

He fiddled his left arm.

 

Did I feel guilt? I couldn’t figure it out. I didn’t know where my anxiety originated and the cause.

 

“Yulia. You don’t have to make such a serious face. This is a light wound.”

 

“…But you’re hurt! No, it’s serious enough for me to know, but you say it’s a light wound? Do I look like a fool?”

 

“You don’t need to worry. It’s really a minor injury. I can’t even say this is an injury.”

 

“But once you’re back, you should have received treatment first!”

 

“I’m the one who got hurt, why does it looked as if you’re the one who got hurt?”

 

I’m serious, but he replied playfully.

 

If he’s hurt, he should at least show it.

 

My head was pounding. I suddenly remembered a floor with blood in it. But soon I shook off the unknown memory.

 

“You don’t have to worry about it. I didn’t lose my arm, nor did I get hurt so much that I couldn’t use it.”

 

“……But.”

 

“It’s nice to see you so worried about me.”

 

He took out his handkerchief and wiped my hands. To be exact, his blood is on my hands.

 

“Yulia, your hands are dirty.”

 

“Don’t touch it… this handkerchief should be used to stop the bleeding properly.”

 

“I’m on my way to see my father-in-law, and if his daughter’s hands are covered with blood, what could he think?”

 

“…My dad will understand it. You didn’t lose, and you came back after winning again this time.”

 

“I don’t usually get hurt easily. It’s a wound that’s embarrassing to call it an injury even if I get hurt. It’s not once or twice it happened anyway.”

 

“…Did you get hurt in the past?”

 

In fact, has Chester been injured even a little during the war in the original story?

 

Did I just do the description roughly in the original story?

 

That part was not an important part of the original. So I wasn’t interested.

 

“I’ve never been hurt enough to say it’s an injury.”

 

“…How can I not worry?”

 

How did my mom die? My mom was sick but there’s nothing I could do.

 

Then eventually, my mom passed away. So I couldn’t just wait if a person was hurt or sick in front of me. I immediately thought of my mom.

 

“Even if it wasn’t Chester, I wouldn’t have overlooked it if someone else had been hurt or sick in front of me.”

 

“I don’t like that.”

 

“Don’t joke around.”

 

“I want all of your actions to be directed solely at me.”

 

He smiled languidly with only me in his eyes.

 

“Yulia. I’m greedy, right?”

 

“…Anyway, just don’t get hurt.”

 

Even though I didn’t like him, I couldn’t turn a blind eye to the one injured.

 

Then, I felt the carriage stop.

 

“I guess we’ve arrived.”

 

“Shall we go now?”

 

“…Will it be okay? Really? With that arm?”

 

I was really worried. Maybe it was guilt.

 

Of course, he won a war that should’ve end with defeat.

 

And maybe the original story had already been twisted.

 

However, that did not change the character’s setting.

 

Maybe my choice rushed my ending.

 

“It’s just my left hand. It is not an inconvenience because I don’t usually use it.”

 

Chester stretched out his right hand in front of me.

 

He tries not to move his left hand as much as possible, so it must’ve hurt.

 

It couldn’t have been fine.

 

Still, rather than putting my hand on his wounded hand, it would be right to be escorted with his right hand.

 

I grabbed Chester’s hand. It was my first time coming back after six months.

 

It seemed unfamiliar and familiar at the same time

 

It means that the six months I spent have been so much fun that I could forget about my home.

 

Since I was going to see them in the office anyway, I headed to the office where my dad was with Chester.

 

“Dad!”

 

“Yulia!”

 

I let go of Chester’s hand that I was holding, and ran to my dad as I hugged him.

 

Perhaps because it’s been a while since I saw him, I felt even happier.

 

“How was your trip?”

 

“It was great! I’d like to go again next time.”

 

“Okay. I’ll let you go anytime if you want to go again.”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Oh, you’re here with the Duke of Siegbert.”

 

I looked back at Chester at my dad’s words

 

“I see the Sun of the Empire, His Majesty the Emperor.”

 

“The duke’s contribution in ending this war in such a short time is great.”

 

“Duke… do you still want to marry my daughter?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I sneaked a peek at my dad. I couldn’t understand his expression. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

 

“Yulia. What about you?”

 

“…Yes. I’m fine.”

 

“Are you confident you won’t regret it?”

 

It wasn’t that difficult to understand what my das said. The question was whether I really wanted to marry Chester.

 

In other words, it also meant that I could say it if I didn’t want to.

 

“…I’m fine. Because promises are promises.”

 

I’ve already made a lot of regrets. I know I may regret it again, but it should be a problem for later.

 

I don’t need to get married right away, I can get engaged and delay the marriage.

 

And I was going to let Chester break up the marriage at any time if he wanted.

 

“Dad. I said we’d decided to postpone the marriage and just get engaged.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Also… If we change our mind before marriage, we can break up anytime.”

 

“Then we’ll have to do the engagement ceremony first.”

 

Dad said and stared at Chester.

 

In the past, he asked me how Chester was, saying that he was a nice candidate, but for some reason, he looked dissatisfied now.

 

Rather, marrying him was more beneficial for the imperial family, is there anything I don’t know?

 

“Dad. I’ll be going now.”

 

“Okay. Let’s have lunch tomorrow, Yulia.”

 

I took Chester out of my dad’s office, and ny steps naturally accelerated.

 

“Yulia?”

 

“…Follow me. You came here without proper treatment for your arm injury.”

 

“People won’t die from this.”

 

“…….I’m responsible for it.”

 

I brought him to my castle and ordered people to heal his arm.

 

I regretted that I asked him to participate in the war for no reason.

 

If I knew he would get hurt like that, I wouldn’t do it. Since I couldn’t see people I know get hurt.

 

It reminds me of the past.

 

“Your Highness, the treatment is over.”

 

When I heard from the doctor that the treatment was over, I went inside the room where Chester was.

 

His outerwear was hanging over a chair, and Chester was only wearing a shirt.

 

His arms were covered with white bandages.

 

I ran to him and looked around, then touched his arm.

 

Still, I was relieved because it didn’t seem like he cracked any bones.

 

I felt like my voice was finally coming out.

 

“Chester. Don’t get hurt.”

 

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

He smiled, looking very sweet.

 

I didn’t know why I felt awkward seeing that expression.

 

Chester didn’t smile much, so it’s right to feel awkward.

 

“Yulia.”

 

It was only after he called my name that I could escape from my thoughts.

 

He grabbed my hand tightly which touched his bandaged arm.

 

“I wanted to ask you something.”

 

“What is it?”

 

His eyes now were sincere the first time since I met him.

 

Because of that, I was nervous because I didn’t know what he would say.

 

I was so anxious that I didn’t know what to do.

 

“Do you love me?”

 

Do I love you? I couldn’t answer the question right away.

 

It was because I was surprised, and it was a question that I had never thought of.

 

I looked at him with shaky eyes, but he seemed very serious.

 

So I decided to be honest to some extent.

 

“…I don’t know.”

 

At least it wasn’t love.

 

At one time, I was scared and hated him enough to want to die, but I didn’t hate him enough to turn a blind eye seeing him hurt.

 

I couldn’t figure out how I felt.

 

Because my family is still alive.

 

Yulia in the novel is the one who died, not me.

 

“Yulia.”

 

“You said that you didn’t love me.”

 

It was the first time I used this kind of tone to him. This is the first time I speak firmly to him.

 

“It’s the truth.”