I Became The Ex-Wife Of A Regretful Male Lead - Chapter 75

The two of them picked up the mysterious bouquet.

“It doesn’t seem to have been left here for long.”

Although some of the petals were frozen in places due to the cold, most of the leaves were still fresh and attached.

“Do you have any idea who it might be?”

Dante shook his head at Serpina’s question.

“I’m not sure. There are hardly any living people who know about this place.”

It was a brutal statement, but it was true.

The only ones who knew the location of this cemetery were the caretaker, Barhan, and Dante.

Even the royal family was unaware of this cemetery’s existence.

For a moment, he considered the possibility that his mother had come and gone, but that didn’t seem likely.

Those who had cut ties with the Richters had completely erased from their minds the fact that they had children.

To them, their children were nothing more than indelible traces of the past.

“Hmm. Then what about Barhan?”

Dante had no choice but to shake his head again at Serpina’s deduction.

“It’s probably not him. Barhan said he would come separately later.”

If it wasn’t Barhan either, then who could it be?

They put their heads together and pondered hard, but they couldn’t find an answer.

Above all, they didn’t even know for whom those flowers were left behind.

In the end, with a lingering sense of unease, the two of them turned to leave the cemetery that held the history of the Richters.

“… Ah, ouch. My body.”

I slowly opened my eyes with a creak.

The sun was already high in the sky, but it wasn’t easy to get up.

Sigh. The day after a big event, I always had to face this kind of morning.

A morning filled with muscle pain.

The problem was that lately, I had been waking up like this every morning.

I know I should restrain myself at night when I think about the morning, but…

… If only it were that easy.

Sigh.

Today, my body felt particularly heavy. It felt like a cotton quilt soaked in water.

If Dante were by my side, I would have whined and gained some energy from seeing him flustered.

〈Your Grace, it’s an emergency! Traces of demons have been found.〉

Upon hearing the report about the demons that arrived at dawn, Dante hurriedly left the house.

〈Be careful and come back safely.〉

〈I’ll be back.〉

Fortunately, I managed to see Dante off as he left, but it seems I used up all my morning energy at that time.

Sigh.

Groaning as I tried to get up from my spot, I let out a sigh and flopped back down on the pillow, burying my face.

“I miss Dante.”

I thought I might feel a bit better if my stunningly handsome husband was by my side, worrying about me.

… Ah, whatever. For now, let’s just sleep some more.

As soon as I made up my mind, I sank back into a deep slumber.

And when I opened my eyes again…

“Ah, ah, achoo!”

I could understand the reason behind my heavy body feeling like a soaked cotton.

Yeah. I think I caught a cold again.

My nose was running, and I kept coughing.

I had a slight fever, though not a high one.

Mari, who touched my forehead with a serious expression, immediately called for Heterson.

“It’s a cold.”

“Yeah. I thought so.”

“I’ll bring you some medicine, so make sure to take it well. Your energy is very low, so refrain from strenuous exercise for the time being.”

S-Strenuous exercise?

Feeling a pang of guilt at those words, I averted my gaze for a moment and nodded.

“Okay. I got it.”

With that, I put the bitter medicine Heterson had left me into my mouth and sat up, leaning against the bed.

As I placed my hand on my warm forehead, Heterson’s words about avoiding strenuous exercise came to mind again.

… He doesn’t actually know anything, right?

In any case, it seems I won’t have to wake up groaning in the morning for a while.

I didn’t want the problem to be solved this way.

No, that’s not it.

“Actually, I didn’t even want it to be truly solved.”

I lay down on the spot, slipping down with a sense of unfairness.

Even though the mornings are a bit tough, it’s just like parents who complain, “Our child keeps buying unnecessary gifts these days. It’s a problem. Sigh, even though I tell them it’s not needed, they keep buying things, and the house is getting so messy!” while being unable to hide their laughter. It’s a complaint disguised as a boast.

Ha. Life.

Forget it. Let’s just sleep.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already evening.

Mari, who came in pushing a trolley, touched my forehead with worry-filled eyes and let out a deep sigh.

“You still have a bit of a fever.”

“It can’t be helped. I caught a cold today.”

“Sigh. Hurry up and eat, take your medicine, and get more sleep.”

Saying that, Mari personally scooped up some soup and brought it in front of me.

“Here, open your mouth, my lady.”

For a moment, I wondered if my position had changed from a cold patient to a three-year-old child.

But seeing Mari holding the spoon with soup dripping from it and glaring at me, I was too scared to argue and just opened my mouth.

Well, I could roughly guess the reason behind her excessive care.

She was probably reminded of the last time I was seriously ill and was scared.

She must be doing this out of concern that my condition might worsen like last time.

Wishing that I wouldn’t overexert myself even a little.

Everyone is unexpectedly timid.

After that meal, which felt like I had regressed to infancy, ended and I obediently took my medicine in front of Mari’s watchful eyes, I finally gained my freedom.

“Now take your medicine and rest, my lady.”

With a much more refreshed expression, Mari got up and neatly cleaned up the dishes.

I stared at her blankly for a moment and then cautiously spoke the words that had been lingering in my throat.

“By the way, has His Grace not returned yet?”

At my question, Mari hesitated for a moment.

That alone was enough of an answer.

“He hasn’t come back yet, has he?”

“According to Barhan, it seems His Grace won’t be able to return today. So don’t wait up and try to get some sleep.”

Right. He won’t be coming home today.

Indeed, he had mentioned that when hunting demons, it was common for him to be away from home for days at a time.

“I guess I should do that. Thank you for taking care of me, Mari.”

“Not at all. Please get some rest now, my lady.”

After Mari left the room with the sound of the door closing…

Feeling a strange emptiness, I pulled the blanket up to my chin.

Today, the bed feels particularly large.

… Ah. I feel like crying.

I was worried about Dante, who had gone out to hunt demons, and I missed him.

Being sick without Dante by my side made me feel increasingly miserable.

They say humans are adaptable creatures.

In the past, I used to be fine being sick alone, but now, even with an abundance of people taking care of me, just the fact that Dante isn’t here makes my nose tingle.

It’s ridiculous, really.

I pressed the back of my hand firmly against my eyes, which were about to tear up.

“Ha. Let’s not cry for no reason.”

As I’ve said many times, crying doesn’t solve anything. And crying when you’re sick only makes you feel more drained.

Just like Dante, who is doing his best on the front lines, I also had to do my best on my own front lines.

Don’t cry, rest diligently, and recover as quickly as possible.

So that Dante won’t have to worry unnecessarily when he returns home.

I held tightly onto the blanket pulled up to my chin and tried to fall asleep.

Hoping that this loneliness would be hidden beneath the blanket.

Perhaps due to the effect of the medicine and the cold, I quickly drifted off to sleep.

And I had a dream.

In the dream, I was also suffering from a cold. I had a high fever and kept coughing.

I felt hazy and dizzy, completely out of it.

However, this wasn’t a nightmare.

Because my mother and grandmother appeared in the dream.

〈Oh my, what should we do? Our baby is sick!〉

〈My daughter. Are you okay? Are you in a lot of pain? I wish I could be sick instead of you.〉

〈Instead of fussing around noisily, go and gather some medicinal herbs!〉

〈Mom, you go and gather them. I’ll stay by her side!〉

I couldn’t help but smile at the two of them worrying about me and bickering about who would stay by my side.

In the end, it was grandmother who lost.

Grumbling about making an old person do the work, grandmother got up from her spot. After gently stroking my face with eyes full of worry and affection, she left.

Mother kept wiping my sweat with a cool, wet towel and continuously rubbed my hand.

I tried not to close my fever-filled eyes.

I wanted to capture my mother’s face in my eyes for even a moment longer.

〈Serpina, you need to close your eyes.〉

〈I don’t want to.〉

〈If you keep doing that, your eyes will hurt.〉

〈Still, I don’t want to. What if you and grandmother disappear while I have my eyes closed?〉

What if everything vanishes when I blink?

What if I wake up from this dream?

Let me stay here a little longer.

Let me dream a little longer, Mother.

As if understanding my feelings, Mother smiled bitterly and caressed my cheek.

〈My daughter. I’m always by your side. So you can rest assured and fall asleep.〉

〈Mother.〉

Mother.

〈… Then, can you hug me?〉

So that I can feel at ease even if I close my eyes.

〈… Hug me, Mother.〉