For Your Failed Unrequited Love

Felix stepped into the bedroom.

In the center of the large, luxurious bed a pale-faced duke lay dead. The duchess sat by his bedside, looking down at her husband’s face with an expressionless face.

The scene was so static that it seemed as if time had stopped like the world in a picture.

Only the doctor and servants, who were checking the Duke’s condition, were busily moving around the bed.

“What happened?”

Felix whispered to Adrian standing next to him.

“He was shocked and collapsed when he realized that I was the one trapped in your room. He hasn’t come to his senses until now.”

Felix approached the bed.

The Duke really looked like a corpse. Originally, he had a pale and sunken face, but after he collapsed, his complexion disappeared and he could be believed to be dead.

Shouldn’t we put him in a coffin, not a bed?

“Are you sure he’s alive?”

Felix asked the doctor. The doctor replied, “Y, yes,” with a flustered face.

“…… is there any chance of him regaining consciousness?”

The Duchess, who was not saying a word, opened her mouth for the first time.

“I’m sorry, madam. As I said before, it will be hard for him to regain consciousness. And even if his consciousness returns, whether he can speak and move as before…….”

The doctor blurted out the end of his sentence. He snuck a glance to see if the Duchess and the princes would be upset and would accuse him of being incompetent.

But no one was angry at his hopeless diagnosis. No one was sad.

Someone just looked down at the Duke’s face with an indifferent face, and another turned his head with a face that said it didn’t matter.

“If the master cannot wake up like this,”

This time, Reilly, the butler who was quietly guarding the bed, opened his mouth. His eyes slowly shifted to Felix.

“The young master will have to take charge of the family’s work in earnest. Of course, I and my secretaries will sincerely assist you.”

With the words, all eyes in the room turned to Felix. All responsibility was now on his shoulders.

Leading the Berg family, managing the businesses that his father had started, and everything else that was going to happen.

Isn’t this what I’ve been hoping for? To have the power that even father couldn’t control.

However, when the moment came and he thought that all the responsibility had been imposed on him, Felix suddenly clenched his fist under pressure.

The butler tried to clear up the situation, perhaps because he noticed Felix’s feelings.

“We will do our best to assist you, master. So don’t worry too much, madam and young masters.”

The Duchess rose slowly from her seat at the end of the butler’s words. She gave the lying Duke a cold look and said.

“I’ll sleep in another room starting today.”

A maid left the room as soon as she said those words to lead her to the other room.

Except for the Duke’s servants, no one was willing to stand by him. Felix and Adrian left the Duke’s room as well to go to their own room.

Despite the fact that the lord of the mansion was unconscious, the mansion was more serene and tranquil than ever.

“Adrian.”

He called his brother walking ahead. Adrian looked back at him with an indifferent face.

No signs of grief were visible on his face. However, he did not express his feelings of joy. As opposed to earlier when he had greeted Felix with a faint smile, his face is now completely blank.

Felix called him, but he didn’t know what to say. He was filled with conflicting emotions.

Only then did Adrian smile and speak to his brother.

“Good night, brother. Don’t worry about anything tonight.”

Adrian then disappeared into his room.

* * *

As Felix entered the room, Lucy, who was sitting on the sofa, jumped up. She came running with a worried look on her face and asked.

“What happened?”

“My father collapsed.”

“The Duke?”

Lucy asked back with her round eyes.

Not knowing exactly what was going on in Felix’s family, she carefully examined his complexion.

“Are you okay?”

I’m very fine.

But if he answers like that, Lucy will be surprised.

Instead of answering, Felix smiled affectionately and put her back on the sofa.

“You’re hungry, right? I told them to bring my meal to my room.”

“Well…”

Lucy, still hesitating, turned her eyes out of the window. It was now completely dark.

“It’s late. Curfew is approaching…….”

“Don’t worry, I’ll ask them to take you back in a carriage.”

At the end of Felix’s words, the servants came with their dinner.

“Come on and let’s eat. I’m hungry.”

Felix said, pushing the plate of food in front of her.

Lucy looked down at the food timidly and eventually picked up the fork.

Although it was in the same capital, going to the temple during this night was tiring. Besides, Lucy doesn’t seem used to a fast-paced horse.

Felix smiled as he watched Lucy shovel food into her mouth with more vigor than usual, acting as though she was famished.

Perhaps because they were only concerned with eating to satisfy their hunger, their meals were brief.

“I really need to get going now.”

Lucy said as she got out of her chair and awkwardly peered down at her empty plate.

“The curfew has already passed, but…… We have no choice but to receive a penalty point.”

It’s already past midnight.

Flora should have gone to bed by this point. Perhaps she’ll be irritated if Lucy wakes her up to go to the dorm.

Felix looked out the dark window and said quietly.

“Do you want to sleep here?”

Lucy opened her mouth in surprise while she was putting on her jacket. 

“What?”

When Felix smiled at Lucy, Lucy’s face turned red.

Felix approached the bed, patted it, and said.

“You sleep here, and I sleep on the couch.”

“But…”

Lucy paused before speaking. Felix, on the other hand, took the pillow and went to the sofa. Lucy remained motionless.

“Oh, I guess I should ask for some clothes.”

Lucy was still in her school uniform.

“But…”

Felix waved the bell again, ignoring what Lucy was saying. The maid entered immediately and waited for the order.

“Please prepare clothes and bath water for Lucy.”

“Yes, young master.”

The maid left the room, bowing her head.

“Do you want to wash up?”

“No.”

Lucy immediately replied with a stiff face.

Felix smiled mischievously, shrugged his shoulders, and entered the bath.

Lucy had changed as well when he returned to the room after washing up. Wearing the duchess’s pajamas, she sat on the sofa.

Lucy cast a sidelong glance at Felix’s face before moving her gaze elsewhere when he returned.

“Why are you sitting there?”

Felix asked Lucy, who showed no signs of moving on the sofa.

“I’ll sleep here.”

“I’ll move you to the bed if you sleep there.”

Felix sat down next to Lucy and laughed.

“Hurry up and go to bed. Or do you want to sleep here with me?”

Lucy got up from her chair and sprinted to bed even before Felix had finished speaking. As she climbed into bed, she lifted the blanket up to her neck and wrapped it around her entire body.

Felix gave her a friendly smile before blowing out the candle and lying down on the sofa.

After some time, he heard movement on the bed. Lucy was suddenly swinging her arms wildly and staring at the bed linen.

“It’s my first time lying on such a big bed.”

Lucy muttered in the dark.

“It feels more empty because it’s too big.”

“Shall I sleep with you?”

“I’m good.”

Lucy refused sharply once more and closed her eyes, avoiding Felix’s gaze.

The room was dark with all the lights turned off, but Lucy’s face was dimly visible under a blue moonlight streaming in.

…… she looked restless.

Felix looked at her face in silence. 

What is she thinking?

Now that his father collapsed, Felix was more relieved than ever. He’s so comfortable right now, but Lucy looked disturbed.

And after a while, Felix realized why.

“Don’t worry.”

Felix whispered in the dark.

“I will definitely bring them to the capital.”

Lucy opened her eyes again and looked at him.

“Your family. Somehow, I’ll bring them here.”

Lucy smiled a little at his words.

“……Yes.”

Then, with a relieved face, Lucy closed her eyes quietly.

* * *

News that Duke Berg was unconscious began spreading throughout the empire through gossip.

No one thought it was strange that the Duke suddenly collapsed and was unconscious. Some people were already bragging about what they had expected.

“He already stumbled in front of people twice due to dizziness.”

Butler Reilly explained.

“Furthermore, one of them was at the royal banquet where many people gathered. From then on, people began to doubt the health of the master.”

The Duke was already in poor health due to overwork.

Since the former Duke of Berg died of overwork in a carriage, people related this to him and referred to it as the “Curse of the Berg family.”