Because I was Terminally Ill, I Married the Male Lead's Brother, and Now He's Obsessed with Me

Episode 60

 

Originally, Ian would have continued to suffer harassment at the academy for several more years, and the episode where the two meet Daliah, who helps Ian, should have followed.

 

Knowing that I didn’t need to adhere to the original story, I had no regrets about my decision to intervene and not watch Ian suffer in silence.

 

However, I had no intention of leaving Daliah, who suffers from the same illness as me, alone either.

 

I also had plans to find Daliah whenever I had the opportunity and somehow create a connection between the two.

 

But even without my intervention, the relationship between Ian and Daliah had already been established.

 

Could it be some unseen force acting to preserve the original story?

 

To ensure the continuity between the main characters?

 

“It’s strange.”

 

The more I thought about it, the more inexplicable it seemed.

 

“Who is this witness?”

 

“I heard it was Daliah Camos.”

 

“Daliah… Camos.”

 

Ian kept repeating Daliah’s name.

 

“Anyway, thanks to Daliah Camos’s testimony, it seems the matter was easily resolved. She’s really a lifesaver, isn’t she?”

 

Nodding in agreement with my words, Ian then wrinkled his brow.

 

“But…”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“I’m worried that she might suffer retaliation from other people for helping me.”

 

“Oh…”

 

Ian was expressing thoughts that I hadn’t dared to consider.

 

Ah, right.

 

In the original story, Daliah undoubtedly helped Ian and then suffered harassment together.

 

Why did it take me so long to think of this? I felt like banging my head against the wall.

 

“Don’t worry about that.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Ian looked at me with a puzzled expression as I spoke firmly.

 

“I’ll take responsibility to ensure nothing like that happens at the academy again.”

 

Identifying and eliminating those who harassed Ian was just the beginning.

 

I wanted to expel them all from the academy so that Ian, and now Daliah, could have a peaceful life there.

 

“To do that, I’ll need information about the ones who harassed you. Can you tell me who they are?”

 

“How will you do it?”

 

“I need to think about it more, but first, we need to know who they are.”

 

“Okay, I understand.”

 

“Great, then let’s go to the study together.”

 

“Okay.”

 

As soon as I finished speaking, Ian and I left the garden and entered the mansion.

 

Entering the study, Ian wrote down a list and then handed me a piece of paper with names written on it.

 

There were about ten names on the list.

 

I scrutinized their names as if etching them into my bones, then looked up at Ian with a sudden thought.

 

“Ian, do you happen to want to meet Daliah Camos?”

 

“Daliah Camos?”

 

“Yeah. Doing something like this isn’t that easy. I thought we could express our gratitude together.”

 

“But would she want to meet me? I…”

 

Ian trailed off, unable to continue.

 

“If she doesn’t want to meet you, then there’s nothing we can do. But still, I thought we could give it a try. If you don’t like it, then that’s that.”

 

“…I don’t dislike it.”

 

“Oh? Well then, I’ll try contacting Camos.”

 

“Yeah, but… it seems like my brother has been very busy lately.”

 

Concerned, Ian asked about Lloydin’s well-being while showing signs of inexplicable anxiety.

 

“Brother? Ah, right. He seems to be busy. I’ve been occupied with my own tasks, not seeing much of what your brother’s up to.”

 

“That’s right. Brother…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Ian seemed to have something to say to me, but he hesitated.

 

“Do you have something to tell me?”

 

“Well… the reason why Brother frequently visits the palace…”

 

“Is there a reason why Duke goes to the palace often?”

 

Hesitatingly, Ian finally blurted out, as if relieved to confess.

 

“…Yes. He might be leaving soon.”

 

“Leaving? Oh, because of the crackdown?”

 

“Yes. After visiting the palace every day, he always faces a crackdown afterward. So be prepared…”

 

“Are you worrying about me now? Really?”

 

The fact that it was Ian who worried about me, of all people, surprised me, and at the same time, I felt like cheering inwardly.

 

It felt like receiving a long-awaited gift after waiting for so long.

 

Looking at Ian with a bright smile, I couldn’t help but avoid his gaze, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

 

Even that made me find Ian so lovely and beautiful.

 

“I kind of expected it to some extent.”

 

As I casually spoke, Ian, wide-eyed, looked at me.

 

“By the way, if you go back to the academy and brother leaves the mansion, I’ll be left alone here.”

 

But just thinking about being alone in this mansion, as Ian said, made loneliness surge within me.

 

But I had never been alone before, neither in Duke Anaïs’s mansion nor here, so I couldn’t fully grasp what loneliness meant.

 

“How about this then? Ian comes over often. They say you can go out on weekends at the academy. Right?”

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

“So even when you come back here, know that I’m here now, okay?”

 

Ian, who had been pondering something, nodded soon after.

 

“I will.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Ian, who immediately complied with my request, looked so adorable that I gently stroked his hair with a smile.

 

* * *

 

After Ian left the study, I immediately wrote a letter to the Camos family.

 

It contained what I had mentioned to Ian earlier about wanting to meet Daliah.

 

‘Could it really have been her back then? I want to see her as soon as possible.’

 

Of course, meeting Daliah depended on her acceptance, but somehow, I had been saying that the girl I had met by chance was Daliah.

 

‘But what about her illness?’

 

Since Ian also suffers from the same illness as me, he would notice a significant change in his illness the moment he met me.

 

If that happened, it might be better to leave the two of them to naturally figure it out, but perhaps because we were in similar situations, I already felt the urge to do something to help.

 

But I must never pretend to know about Daliah’s illness until she tells me herself.

 

‘I need to be more alert from now on.’

 

With that conclusion in mind, I revisited the list Ian had given me.

 

What could be a way to ensure that these guys never touch Ian and Daliah at the academy?

 

While pondering over it, a good idea suddenly came to mind.

 

Demonstrating that the Anaïs family and I were standing behind Ian like a rock.

 

There was only one way to show that if anyone dared to touch Ian, they would not stay quiet.

 

That was the banquet.

 

If I showed all the nobles gathered at the banquet how much I cherished Ian and the Brighton family, they wouldn’t easily dare to touch them.

 

Come to think of it, there wasn’t much time left until the New Year’s banquet held at the palace.

 

‘My father will attend that day too.’

 

I didn’t plan to rely on my father’s help for everything, but that didn’t mean I would disregard it.

 

Just as they had wielded power over this family and my brothers until now, I was just using a similar method.

 

As I sorted out the events to come, the day faded away.

 

As expected, Lloydin hadn’t returned by late night.

 

I waited for him until I got too sleepy and eventually fell asleep before he returned.

 

* * *

 

“Madam.”

 

I heard a voice calling me in my drowsiness.

 

“Madam…”

 

“Umm…”

 

Still not fully awake, I mumbled without properly responding to the voice calling me.

 

But then, as I felt a hand gently brushing the hair that had fallen onto my face back behind my ear, I woke up completely.

 

“Madam, are you awake?”

 

“…My lord?”

 

Lloydin’s face, adorned with a warm smile, was right in front of my nose.

 

“The sun will rise soon.”

 

“The sun?”

 

I had never been awakened like this by him before, so I simply stared at him blankly for a moment before turning my head slightly to look out the window.

 

As he said, the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, preparing to rise.

 

“…The sun is rising.”

 

The moment when the sun sets is beautiful, but the sight of the sun rising is equally breathtaking, almost blindingly beautiful.

 

Especially with Lloydin by my side, it felt even more so.

 

“Didn’t you say you wanted to see me training in the morning before?”

 

“Oh, right. I did.”

 

It hadn’t been long since I woke up, and his voice sounded slightly hoarse, just like mine.

 

Was it the morning after our wedding and the wholesome first night together? I think we had such a conversation back then.

T/N: Hey guys, I just saw your comments, and honestly thank you so much for your support guys. I really appreciate it. Chapters from now are going to be a little boring, so I will speed run them so you guys can enjoy other chapters. Also from this week till Eid I will be on small Hiatus. Don’t worry, I will come back with more chapters.