Chapter 43
Helena quickly regained her energy as if she’d never been dispirited.
Noticing the change in her brightened expression, Aiden asked,
“You’ve bounced back, huh?”
“How did you know?”
“A little while ago, you looked like death warmed over, but now you’re walking around grinning.”
Aiden shrugged his shoulders.
“I figured you were feeling down because of what I said and decided to keep an eye on you.”
“So you did notice?”
“I don’t regret it. I meant every word.”
He continued,
“I can’t promise that this won’t put you in danger or that it’ll end well.”
Helena didn’t realize Caligo’s true feelings, but Aiden had decided to remain silent about them.
Even if they liked each other, he couldn’t guarantee a happy ending for them.
“I know. But what can I do?”
“…”
“No matter how much I think about it, I just can’t let go. I’m going to keep liking him.”
“And your plan to bring down Eskel?”
“Yes. Although, like you said, I might not succeed in taking down the family. I haven’t accomplished much so far, either.”
“But I still want to try.”
Hearing her muttered resolve, Aiden couldn’t bring himself to argue any further.
How could he stop her when she wanted it so badly?
After all, it was this determined side of her that had drawn him to her in the first place.
From a young age, Aiden had been deeply influenced by his surroundings.
Helena had said he became a doctor because of his noble heart, but that wasn’t true.
His father had been a doctor, and he simply followed in his footsteps—no grand reason.
After losing his father at a young age, he lived with the responsibility of protecting his mother and younger sister as the eldest son.
Helena, on the other hand, possessed an unshakable determination.
Though she seemed endlessly fragile and delicate, she fixed her gaze forward when she had a goal, and Aiden had envied that about her.
Unlike him, who had once harbored feelings for her but given up because of his family’s objections, she didn’t falter.
“But I’m still going to try,” she said shyly, her cheeks flushing slightly.
“By the way, this is a secret, but the townsfolk have been protecting me all this time.”
“You’re really happy about that, huh?”
“Yes, I’m thrilled! This kind of thing has never happened to me before.”
Seeing her childlike joy, Aiden let out a deep sigh.
“Fine. How could I ever win against you?”
He smiled bitterly.
“From now on, I won’t tell you to stop.”
“Really?”
“But I have one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Let me join you.”
“…What?”
Helena widened her eyes in surprise at his unexpected words.
“You’re the one who said this fight is dangerous.”
“I remember. Even so…”
Aiden replied,
“I just don’t want to live running away anymore.”
Until now, he had done nothing but run away.
But even Helena, who was facing death, was willing to risk her life to fight.
“…But—”
“Like I said, it’s a condition. If you refuse, I’ll keep opposing you no matter what.”
Aiden smirked.
“Why are you acting like this? I’m actually pretty capable, you know. Who else has better intelligence than a traveling doctor?”
Aiden knew he could never win Helena’s heart. It was far too late for that now.
Not to mention, he couldn’t even cure her illness.
“At least let me do this.”
Helena hesitated to answer.
She was someone who had nothing left to lose.
But Aiden wasn’t like her.
He still had a bright future ahead of him, and dragging him into her fight felt like a terrible guilt.
As he had said, the battle against Eskel might cost her life.
“Helena!”
At that moment, Jeremy’s voice echoed from afar.
Helena, who had been staring in the direction of the sound, turned back to Aiden and replied,
“I’ll think about it.”
“As much as I’d like to tell you to take your time, we don’t have much of it… So give me an answer soon.”
Jeremy came running over and threw himself into her arms.
He then pulled her close to him, glaring at Aiden as if to keep him at bay.
“What’s going on with you two? Why are you together? What were you talking about?”
“Nothing in particular. Why are you here? Did you have something to tell me?”
“You… you…”
Jeremy widened his eyes in frustration before shouting,
“You promised to let me stay with you! But when I woke up, I was in my own room!”
“Joshua took you back.”
“Then why did you let him? You should have stopped him! You said you’d let me stay!”
Just as he was throwing a tantrum, Joshua appeared.
“Are you a child? Why do you want to sleep in Helena’s room?”
“I’m… I’m not a child!”
“Stop making it complicated. If you’re a kid, just say so.”
“Let me stay again tonight! You promised!”
“Sure. Have you eaten yet?”
At the promise of being allowed to stay, Jeremy quickly calmed down. He was as simple as ever.
“No, not yet!”
“Then help out with the fieldwork, and I’ll cook something.”
“Got it!”
Jeremy answered energetically and ran off to the backyard.
By now, he was quite accustomed to helping out in the field. Joshua watched him for a moment, shook his head, and returned to reading the book he had been holding.
—
When Helena first arrived in Frantor, it had been the middle of a harsh winter.
No matter how many layers she wore, the biting wind seemed to chill her to the bone.
But the days were gradually getting warmer.
The snow piled high on the mountains was starting to melt.
As the breeze brushed against her, feeling much milder than before, Helena prepared a meal for the children.
“Hey, Joshua! Stop walking over the field! We’re going to plant seeds there in spring!”
“That means you haven’t planted them yet, right?”
“Ugh! Are you even here to help?”
Jeremy, somehow wearing a straw hat and sturdy boots, was leveling the ground.
Meanwhile, Joshua fiddled with a seedling spade he had found nearby.
Come to think of it, Joshua was planning to return to his hometown at the end of the month.
“Madam.”
As Helena was stirring a pot of stew in the kitchen, the butler appeared.
“Would it be alright if I helped you in the kitchen?”
“Oh, that’s alright. All that’s left is to let it simmer.”
In truth, Helena had never had many conversations with the butler.
She only knew him as someone who had served Caligo since childhood, almost like a father figure at times.
Does he have something to tell her? It was unusual for the butler to approach her first.
Feeling slightly tense, she aimlessly stirred the stew.
On the other hand, the butler seemed to be in a good mood.
He looked outside the kitchen, smiling warmly at the children playing energetically in the yard.
“I am pleased to see the young masters regaining their vitality. No doubt it is thanks to you, Madam.”
“Not necessarily…”
“No, it is. They used to have no trace of laughter, nor would they run around the yard like this.”
The butler closed his eyes and murmured,
“The Duke himself used to run around the backyard when he was young.”
“…The Duke?”
Even with a stretch of her imagination, Helena couldn’t picture it. Seeing her confusion, the butler chuckled softly.
“Yes, the Duke used to be very similar in temperament to Young Master Jeremy.”
“Not Joshua?”
“No, his fiery nature was much closer to Jeremy’s.”
When she first met Jeremy in Frantor, Helena recalled hearing something similar in passing, though she hadn’t paid it much attention.
She had assumed Caligo’s childhood demeanor would have been more akin to Joshua’s—calm and composed, as he was now.
“Of course, the Duke is brave and strong as he is today, but he was also reckless—someone who would leap into the fire without hesitation.”
Apparently, Caligo wasn’t always as cold and calculating as he seemed.
He was rational but ruthless,
cheerful like a boy but also greedy.
“There was even a time when, after losing a subordinate, he charged alone into the battlefield and returned with the enemy commander’s head. His tenacity was unparalleled.”
It was a side of Caligo that Helena found hard to imagine.
“But why… is he so different now?”
“Madam, do you know how the late Duke and Duchess lost their lives?”
She shook her head; she had never heard the details.
“Wasn’t it an accident?”
“They were assassinated.”
“…What?”
“By someone who feared Frantor’s growing power.”
The explanation struck Helena as eerily familiar.
Even now, Frantor remained under pressure from surrounding forces.
She was all too aware that even her marriage was arranged due to the Emperor’s wariness.
“Frantor is that kind of place. A land where people fight fiercely to protect their nation and loved ones, only to face the scrutiny of those in power with every victory.”
“…”
“They call it arrogance—that being celebrated by the people might embolden one to challenge the Emperor’s authority. There’s even suspicion of rebellion.”
The butler gave a bitter smile.
“The late Duke and Duchess were no exception. There was a time when the family pushed aggressively to expand its military, and one of the rival houses sent an assassin.”
“But… that doesn’t make sense. Why was it officially declared an accident?”
“Because His Majesty the Emperor ordered it so.”
The butler’s eyes glinted as he continued,
“The person who benefited most directly from their deaths was none other than His Majesty himself.”
No…
“Madam, it was the current Duke who first proposed expanding the military at the time.”
Hello Guys, if you liked my work and want to support me then you can visit this link for tips. As I can’t create Kofi because of the unavailability of Paypal in my country, I’ve made this tier which will be updated every week so that you won’t be charged again till you want to donate again by yourself or you can exit the tier after donating 🙂.
Happy Reading 🩷
