🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 33
“It’s okay. Even if Sister Frea hates me… I still like her.”
Astella slowly lifted her head and continued in a tearful voice. Verde and Carin looked at her with pitiful expressions.
“Astella….”
“Hey, kid. In a situation like this, you can still say that? After what she—!”
“She’s the first sister I’ve ever had. Even if she’s not my real sister, I don’t want my relationship with Sister Frea to end like this.”
…What a performance. Frea watched Astella’s act with cold scorn.
The green eyes looking at her as she wiped away tears shone clearer than usual. Eyes that would have looked pretty somehow sent chills down her spine.
“Father, brothers. So please, just let this matter go.”
“What? What do you mean by that? You’re saying you’ll forgive that woman now?”
“Astella. That won’t do. She deserves to be punished for making you suffer.”
Carin and Verde jumped up in opposition, but Astella would not bend.
“No. I’m sure Sister Frea didn’t do it on purpose. I believe in her sincerity.”
“Astella….”
“Kid….”
“…Are you really sure about this, Astella?”
At Duke Vinok’s question, she answered with a gentle smile.
“Yes, Father. I’m fine. My sincerity will surely… reach her. Right? Sister Frea.”
“……”
No, it definitely won’t.
At Astella’s shameless attitude, Frea was so dumbfounded that no words came out.
“Let’s go now. Father, brothers.”
At Astella’s urging, Duke Vinok looked at Frea and Raiden, then turned and left the office.
Tsk. Clicking his tongue, Carin followed, and Verde, unable to relax his hardened expression, went after them as well.
“……”
In the office, now emptied of the four of them, only a chaotic silence lingered, as if a storm had swept through.
“Haah….”
Frea let out a deep sigh, pressing her head. When her body swayed slightly, Raiden carefully held her shoulders and asked,
“Are you okay, Frea?”
“I’m… more or less fine. My shoulder just… hurts a bit.”
The pain in her shoulder, which she had forgotten about because of Astella, came rushing back. Having endured with sheer willpower, Frea bit her lip as the pain flooded in.
“Let me take a look for a moment.”
“Ah…!”
Raiden brushed aside her hair and carefully lowered the dress from her left shoulder. Even the light touch hurt, and Frea flinched.
“My goodness….”
After checking her shoulder, his expression hardened. Carin’s handprint remained on her left shoulder, red and dark, almost blackened.
Seeing the large bruise, Raiden’s eyes wavered. Watching Frea endure the pain with her eyes tightly shut stirred both pity and anger within him.
He wanted to chase after Carin right away, but for her sake, there was only one thing he had to do first. He soon put it into action.
“Kyah!”
Startled by Raiden’s sudden movement, Frea cried out.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“You mustn’t move. You’ll fall.”
Supporting her waist and legs, Raiden lifted her up and walked out of the office.
“Hey, wait—where are you going?”
As she asked in confusion while he strode forward, Raiden answered calmly,
“We’re going to treat your shoulder. I can’t just leave it like this.”
“I can walk myself! So put me down.”
“Do you really think I’d believe that, when you were wobbling just a moment ago because you had no strength left?”
“Ugh….”
Hit right on the mark, she was left speechless. This man always became stubborn at times like this.
Knowing well that it was because he was worried about her, Frea had no choice but to quietly entrust her body to him.
“Your Grace? Miss Valche? What’s going on?”
When they came out of the administrative building, a carriage from the Betelheim ducal house was waiting. The knight, surprised to see the two of them, composed himself and opened the door.
After getting into the carriage and carefully seating Frea, Raiden told the knight their destination.
“The young lady is injured. We’re returning to the estate. Tell the coachman to go as fast as possible.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The knight nodded, closed the door, and went to the driver’s seat. Soon, the carriage set off.
Still surprised, Frea widened her eyes and asked,
“T-To the ducal estate? Why? We could just go to a nearby doctor.”
“I can’t entrust you to just any doctor.”
“No, still, the ducal estate is a bit… Please take me to my house instead.”
“No.”
“What?”
Frea questioned him as she saw Raiden shake his head firmly. Not even her own marquisate was acceptable—why?
Seeing her puzzled look, Raiden explained,
“Even if we go to the marquis’s house, you won’t receive proper treatment, will you? You’d probably try to treat it yourself without even calling your physician, without telling them about today’s incident.”
“Well, um….”
How did he know? As she rolled her eyes and couldn’t continue, he let out a sigh.
“Don’t try to fool me. You’ve always been like that.”
Pretending not to be hurt even when she was, pretending not to be in pain even when she was. It was a habit of Frea’s since their academy days. Having stayed by her side for so long, he knew.
He also knew that she had a few scars from not properly treating severe wounds, and that Marquis Valche and his wife knew nothing about it.
‘Because they never tried to know. They didn’t care about her health.’
Even when she collapsed several times with a fever but somehow forced herself up and said she’d return to the marquis’s house as if nothing were wrong—when he asked why she wouldn’t tell them, what answer had she given?
‘Even if I tell them, it won’t help. What I want won’t come back.’
Hearing that resigned voice, he realized that what she wanted—‘her parents’ worry and attention’—was something she could never hope for.
She had said it calmly, but the loneliness and sadness in her downcast eyes were still not easy to forget.
Facing Raiden’s hardened expression, Frea tried to persuade him.
“It’ll be fine if I get help from my maid. You know Greta well, right?”
“I know she’s an excellent maid, but still, no. And if you go like this, she’ll only worry more. Do you want to see her treating you while crying?”
“…No.”
Greta was always full of worry. If she found out about today and her injury, she would surely flare up in anger and shed tears.
“Haah… All right. I’ll get treated at the ducal estate.”
With nothing left to argue, Frea reluctantly agreed.
‘It feels like my inner thoughts have been exposed in many ways… but it’s not bad.’
Being hit right on the mark as if he had read her mind was embarrassing, but it didn’t feel unpleasant.
Because she could tell how deeply Raiden worried about her and thought about her. The feeling of being ‘cared for,’ something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She was grateful for his sincere heart.
Screeech—
“We’ve arrived, Frea.”
Confirming that the carriage had stopped, Raiden stood up first and got down through the door the knight opened. Then he held out his hand to Frea as she was about to step down.
“Be careful getting down.”
“…Thank you.”
As she carefully took his hand and got off the carriage, Savanna and the servants were waiting in front of the Betelheim ducal estate.
Seeing Frea arrive with him, Savanna approached with a delighted face.
“Welcome, Frea. How did you two come together?”
“I’m sorry for imposing so suddenly, Lady Savanna. I, um….”
As Frea was about to explain, Raiden spoke in her stead.
“Something happened, Mother. Frea is injured, and I think she should receive treatment first.”
“Frea is hurt? Oh dear, how? Where are you injured?”
Startled, Savanna hurriedly examined Frea. At her intense reaction, Frea spoke calmly to reassure her.
“It’s nothing serious, Lady Savanna. I’m fine.”
“Fine? You couldn’t even walk properly just a little while ago.”
“Raiden….”
Why would you say it like that? It seemed this man had no intention of letting this pass quietly.
“You were hurt that badly? Then let’s go inside at once. I’ll call the physician.”
“Yes, Mother. Frea, let’s go.”
“…All right.”
Savanna signaled the butler to call the physician, and Raiden took Frea’s hand and led her into the estate.
She wondered if it was really necessary to call the ducal family’s personal physician just to treat her, but it wasn’t an atmosphere where she could refuse.
With no other choice, Frea gave up and followed the two of them inside the mansion.
