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

Episode 71

When you fell asleep, if there was no visible way out of the dream you had to wander to escape from, it meant the illness was completely healed.

Dahlia met Ian and gradually narrowed down the path, eventually making all paths disappear.

However, I couldn’t even be sure if my illness had completely healed because I hadn’t fallen asleep for the past few months.

Maybe what Lloydin said was true, that the illness had indeed healed.

It was the first time in such a long time that I had been completely healthy.

Anyway, I didn’t lie to him.

“Ah, that’s fortunate.”

Lloydin let out a deep sigh of relief.

Then, after a moment of deep thought, his expression suddenly stiffened.

“Well….”

“Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Although I didn’t know what he was about to say, he closed his mouth without saying anything.

“I will definitely return safely.”

Then, after staring at me, he suddenly spoke with determination in his voice.

“Could you please wait for me somehow to come back?”

He was stating the obvious.

Of course, it was my duty to wait for him to return safely from here.

Without a moment of hesitation, I vigorously nodded my head in response.

“Yes, I’ll wait, you must come back.”

“There are still many things I want to do with my wife.”

“I also have many things I want to do with Duke.” 👀

Even if someday our end was predetermined, it was not now.

It was too regretful and too sad.

‘I have to trust him.’

He will come back.

He will definitely return to my side.

I grabbed his hand and led it to my cheek.

As his warm hand touched my cold cheek chilled by the cool wind, it quickly warmed up by his body heat as if it had always been that way.

With him, even the cold winter was always warm.

Winter hasn’t passed yet.

Now, I had to endure this cold winter alone, and the thought momentarily overwhelmed me with a distant feeling.

But spring would surely come.

I promised myself over and over again that I would endure that time until he returned.

After taking a walk in the garden, I prepared myself for bed.

I lay down in bed to sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come.

Perhaps Lloydin was the same; he was awake, looking at me.

“Can’t sleep?”

“No, I can’t.”

“Me neither.”

On a night when sleep just wouldn’t come, we held hands and talked until morning came.

We tried to avoid melancholic conversations and instead shared enjoyable ones.

We reminisced about the fun games we played with our brothers in our childhood or shared funny stories we heard from them.

A few hours later, the darkness faded, and the sun rose.

Unfortunately, it was now time to part ways.

Lloydin told me not to come, but I couldn’t help it.

I wanted to stay by his side until he left.

“Madam.”

“Duke.”

Just facing him before mounting the horse made tears well up in my eyes.

I bit my lips tightly to hold back the tears.

“Aren’t you tired? You didn’t sleep all night.”

I could just send Lloydin off and go to bed, but he had to ride a long way now.

“I’m fine. I’ll be fine even without sleep for a few days.”

“Really? Well, that’s fortunate.”

What else could I say?

What else could I say to keep him a little longer?

I quickly racked my brain to think of something to say to him.

But there was only one thing that came to my mind.

*Sigh.*

I gathered my courage and finally said what I truly wanted to say at the end of our parting.

“Please be careful.”

“I will be careful.”

“And don’t get hurt, ever.”

“I won’t get hurt, ever.”

Lloydin echoed my words like a parrot.

“And you must keep your promise to come back to me.”

“I will, I promise.”

With those words, I hugged him tightly, seeking solace in his sturdy embrace.

As Lloydin tightly embraced my waist, I burrowed deeper into his arms.

We stood there, holding each other for a while without moving.

*Phoo, phoo, phoooooo….*

Soon, the resounding blast of a colossal horn shook the empire.

It was the signal announcing the departure of the expeditionary force.

Only then did we reluctantly let go of each other.

“I’ll be back.”

I couldn’t say anything and just nodded my head.

If I opened my mouth now, I felt like a flood of tears would burst out.

With a pained expression, Lloydin turned away and quickly mounted his horse without saying another word.

Then, without saying anything more, he swiftly moved away from me, and I kept staring at him endlessly until he disappeared from my sight.

* * *

After Lloydin left, I received reports daily on the situation at the northern border.

Fortunately, there were no bad news, only reports of his victories there every day.

With the anxiety of his departure temporarily fading, I pulled myself together and focused on what needed to be done.

Though once or twice a week, I visited the Duke of Anaitz’s estate to spend time with family, most of my time was spent working in the study.

It was one of those days.

Today, as I was dealing with family matters in the study, someone knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

“Madam, it’s Lia.”

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Lia entered.

“What’s the matter?”

“A letter has arrived for you, madam.”

“A letter?”

Is it from Ian?

“Yes, here it is.”

Taking the letter from Lia, I quickly inspected the envelope.

It wasn’t from Ian, judging by the unfamiliar envelope.

I opened the envelope and took out the letter inside.

Unexpectedly, the sender was Felix.

The contents of the letter were brief.

Suddenly, along with the news that he would soon be leaving the capital, he expressed a desire to see me before that.

Come to think of it, I had forgotten about suggesting to meet him separately at the banquet.

Although I didn’t have the leisure of meeting Felix, since a promise was made, it was only right to keep it as a friend.

I replied asking when he would visit.

Sending the reply was nerve-wracking, but the next day, a letter came from Felix to Ayla.

Ayla.

I’ll probably leave in a few days.

So, I want to meet you as soon as possible.

How about tonight if you’re okay with it?

I want to have a delicious meal together and talk about everything we haven’t been able to.

I’ll wait for your reply.

From Felix.

Tonight it is then.

There wasn’t anything urgent to do, so it wasn’t bad.

Above all, considering Felix seemed quite rushed for some reason, it seemed best to meet him quickly.

I replied agreeing to meet him, and a few hours later, Felix came as promised.

“Welcome, Felix.”

“Thanks for inviting me.”

“Since you must be hungry, shall we eat first?”

“Sure. Let’s do that.”

We sat facing each other at the table in the dining room.

On the table, there were various foods prepared for him, including meat, salad, stew, fruit, bread, and more.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I prepared a variety. Please eat a lot.”

“Wow, it all looks so delicious. I’ll enjoy it.”

Although there was already plenty of food on the table, servants continued to bring out more dishes at intervals.

We talked over a delicious meal, enjoying each other’s company.

The moments we spent together were only a few months during our childhood at Grayson Castle, and our conversation mostly revolved around reminiscing about the past.

After finishing the meal, we continued our conversation over tea in the drawing room.

“I really didn’t expect you not to recognize me, Ayla.”

Felix said with a resentful expression, bringing up again the fact that I hadn’t recognized him before.

“I’m sorry. It was a busy time, and frankly, you’ve changed so much from when we were young that I didn’t recognize you.”

Who would have imagined that the frail boy would grow into such a handsome man?

“I have changed a lot.”

Felix nodded proudly.

Watching him boast like that, I couldn’t help but smile without malice.

“Well, since you seem much healthier, I’ll give you credit.”

“How about you?”

“Me? I’ve gotten much better too.”

As I answered, I felt a moment of warmth.

It was so satisfying to be able to say that I was better, healthy when someone asked how my health was.

But inevitably, thoughts of Lloydin came to mind, and I found myself missing him.

TL/N: Hi guys, I’m so sorry for the delay. I was gonna post some more chapters and then some locked chapters. I became so buys that I totally forgot. Anyway, here are some chapters for you guys to enjoy.