The Villain's Terminally Ill Wife

Chapter 12

When I opened my eyes again, the deep darkness had already settled in. Looking around in the dark, I realized I was lying alone in the carriage.

I felt a heavy weight on me. It wasn’t the feeling of fatigue, but rather the weight of something covering my body. Upon checking, I found Richard’s coat draped over me.

Was this a spare coat Richard had prepared?

Surely he hadn’t taken off the one he was wearing for me.

It couldn’t be. No matter how much we pretended to be a married couple on the surface, the reality was quite different. He didn’t seem to have any affection for me to the extent of offering his coat.

Thinking such thoughts, I removed Richard’s coat and sat up. My head was still dizzy, but it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t move.

Before stepping outside, I neatly folded the coat and set it aside.

In the meantime, I heard cheerful laughter and chatter from outside.

Wondering what the noise was, I opened the carriage door and saw the vassals of Count Theodore gathered around a bonfire, eating. It seemed that the journey, which should have taken just a day by carriage, was delayed because of my collapse.

Feeling somewhat guilty, I gave a wry smile. Just then,

“Are you awake?”

Richard, who spotted me first, asked. I looked at him and noticed that he was dressed lighter than usual.

Although it was early summer, the night air was cool.

Despite it being night, he was only wearing a thin shirt.

To my surprise, the coat I had been using was indeed the one he had been wearing. The thought that he had taken it off and given it to me made me feel uncomfortably warm.

“Come down.”

Richard extended his hand to me, as he did when I boarded the carriage. This time, he was being considerate to make it easier for me to get off. Awkwardly, I placed my hand over his.

With his help, I got off the carriage and tried to hand the coat back to him.

“The night air is chilly, so keep it on.”

Richard firmly refused to take back the coat I was offering.

Feeling awkward, I retracted my hand and draped the coat over my shoulders.

I was a bit cold anyway. Since Richard said it was okay, I thought it would be alright to wear it for a while.

“Would you like to eat? It may not be as luxurious as what we have at the estate, but it’s edible.”

Hearing his words, my stomach growled loudly.

Without having time to feel embarrassed, I nodded as hunger washed over me.

“If you stay in the carriage, I’ll bring it to you.”

“No, the carriage is too stuffy. I’d rather be outside.”

“…Then come here.”

Richard spread a handkerchief on a tree stump for me to sit on.

It was so considerate that I wondered if this was the same Richard I had known.

“Thank you. You’re kinder than I thought.”

After sitting on the handkerchief, I accepted the mysterious skewer Richard handed me.

It was a piece of meat grilled on a stick made by trimming twigs.

Despite being hastily prepared, the aroma was quite good.

Richard sat next to me.

Fortunately, the tree stump was wide enough to accommodate both of us.

“It seems your impression of me isn’t very good.”

“Yes, they say first impressions are important, and honestly, my first impression of you wasn’t great.”

Richard chuckled and nodded.

“You still bring up what happened back then.”

“As I said, first impressions are important.”

Taking a bite, savory juices burst forth.

“But are you feeling better? It seemed severe for motion sickness.”

Late to ask, I touched my forehead.

It seemed I had a fever earlier, but now I felt fine.

Fortunately, the palliative had helped a lot.

“I’m much better now. But what should we do? Because of me, everyone has to camp out here.”

I felt very sorry thinking that everyone had to camp outside because of me.

“Sometimes, such events can be nice. I sent someone to the nearby village for necessary supplies, so don’t worry.”

However, Richard seemed to take it lightly as he took another bite of his skewer.

Then he glanced at me.

“Richard, do you have something to say to me?”

Judging from his gaze, it seemed like he had something to say, so I asked him.

Richard checked the dark surroundings and the cheerful faces of the vassals.

Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“I thought I might tell you a story.”

“What kind of story?”

Tilting my head at his sudden statement, Richard elaborated.

“Today, you told me your story, your family history.”

I recalled the things I had told Richard at the ball.

How my mother passed away, how my father took everything from me, and how I ended up sold to him because of my father’s gambling debts.

“If you think about it, that was the story of how I deceived you, Richard.”

Richard looked at me, seemingly unable to understand.

“But you didn’t keep it a secret until the end. Considering we’ve been married for less than a month, that’s fairly quick, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

Come to think of it, our marriage was a recent event, so it’s not like I had deceived him for a long time.

However, there was still an unresolved mystery.

If things were to follow the original storyline, Richard should have been furious upon hearing about my family background, feeling deceived, and treating me as if I didn’t exist.

But what was this current version of Richard?

It felt as if the wall between us had crumbled down.

Yet, it didn’t seem to be just a feeling.

“Then I guess it’s alright for me to tell my story.”

“What?”

Startled, I looked at him, but Richard remained unperturbed.

I never imagined he would tell me his story.

In truth, I knew quite a bit about Richard.

But hearing it from Richard himself was a different matter.

“When I was fourteen, I lost both of my parents to an epidemic.”

His story began like this.

At fourteen, he lost his parents and suddenly had to inherit the title of count.

Like me, there were people who tried to take everything he had.

Some were close relatives, and others were distant relatives he didn’t even know.

The difference between us was that while I had everything taken away by my father, Duke Tristan, Richard managed to hold on and survive.

I could clearly imagine how desperate a fourteen-year-old boy must have been to protect his assets against greedy adults.

Knowing about his struggles from reading the novel and hearing it directly from him created a painful disparity.

Yes, this person had a tough time too.

And he would continue to have a tough time.

In the end, Richard would not be chosen by Eilen and would go mad with obsession.

Knowing his circumstances, it felt so unfair that this world was just a fictional setting.

Neither of us would get what we wanted in the end.

Yet, I felt a bit envious.

At least Richard would live longer than me.

“Richard, you’ve had a really hard life.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Well.”

I hugged my knees and smiled wryly.

Tilting my head to look at him, his face seemed different.

“It might be presumptuous, but can I say something?”

“Go ahead.”

“You’re really handsome.”

No wonder, since Richard was the second most handsome man in this world.

The first being Cesar, the male protagonist, and the second was Richard.

“And you’re capable, skilled, and resourceful.”

He was even good with a sword.

A man lacking in nothing.

That was Richard.

Richard looked at me strangely at my sudden remark.

“So if you ever fall in love, don’t pursue a love that can’t come true. It doesn’t suit you.”

Richard, if you fall in love with Eilen, you will end up broken as the story dictates.

But I didn’t want to see him broken.

If both of us were to end up the same, at least one of us should be happy.

I didn’t know how much my words would help Richard, but I hoped they would change something in him.

Richard had a strange expression on his face.

I knew.

That no matter what I said, I couldn’t change anything.

Just like the predetermined setting that I would die in a year, I couldn’t change the setting of this world.

“It was a strange thing to say. Just forget it.”

“Diarna, today you are stranger than any day I’ve known you.”

“I know.”

I must not seem normal.

Richard chuckled at my honest admission.

“But somehow, I don’t dislike this side of you.”

It was truly strange.

According to the original storyline, Richard should hate me and treat me as if I didn’t exist, but his reaction started to deviate from what I knew.

Was it because of the gap created by me, the chance for him to gain the title of Duke Tristan?

I kept asking myself this question but eventually gave up on finding an answer.

I didn’t want to think about it anymore.