For the past few days, I had been living quietly as a mouse under the tight surveillance of Ian and his knights.
Rather than a bride going to her wedding, I was in a situation more like a criminal being transported.
Chait kept weighing on my mind, but the carriage was already circling around the Nemper Mountain Range heading toward Kahiten territory.
Jes joined us while we were resting at a hotel in the middle region.
Having barely caught up to us by train, his face clearly showed signs of fatigue.
No, rather than tired, pale would be more accurate... Hmm, he probably looks pale because he's tired, right?
"I have returned, Your Grace."
Ian, who had been reading documents, removed the glasses perched on his straight nose.
"Did you meet the Arkidne Archbishop?"
"Yes."
"The notarization."
"He said he would proceed with the procedures as soon as he returns to the south."
"Really...?"
His eyebrow arched up.
"He's giving it up more easily than I thought."
His blue eyes turned toward me.
"I thought he would absolutely refuse until he got her back."
That's meant for me to hear, right? You're telling me the train has left. Right?
'Then at least loosen the surveillance a bit.'
He and I were constantly together except for sleeping time. We had separate bedrooms, but knights were always on standby in front of my room under the pretext of protection, and when we weren't traveling, I couldn't freely leave my room.
'If this isn't prisoner transport, then what the hell is it?'
Bride's rights are rock bottom. Of course, it's not like I'm without sin.
'No, I thought after ten years you would have found another woman and been living well...'
I'm having all sorts of idle thoughts because I have too much free time, but I really don't understand.
Why did someone who wasn't particularly the faithful type live as a bachelor for 10 years without even breaking off the engagement?
Like me, this world has some problems.
Is this a world where everyone hopes to stay unmarried?
Then can't you include me too?
No, just include me...
"Miss Bringston, it's been a while."
Jes also greeted me politely.
Ian hadn't bothered hiding his identity since passing the Nemper Mountain Range, and I was also treated as nobility wherever we went.
'It's rather awkward.'
As they say, only those who've spent money know how to spend, and only those who've eaten know how to eat - their excessive politeness was rather burdensome to me.
But Jes was waiting. He must have met and talked directly with Chait.
I was curious about Chait's current situation. Whether he was eating well, doing his work well, whether he had done anything strange while I was gone.
"How was Chait doing?"
"Th-th-the Archbishop?"
Jes stuttered unusually.
"He seemed to be doing well."
"Ah, that's a relief. I was very worried since we parted without properly saying goodbye."
Didn't Jes say earlier? That Chait had decided to return to the south.
'Thank goodness.'
Finally, the situation seemed to be finding its stable place.
Was I the problem after all...
"M-Miss Bringston..."
"Yes?"
"Um, well."
Jes hesitated for a while, then looked at Ian, soon bowed his waist and disappeared.
'Why is he acting like that? Is there tissue stuck to my face?'
While I was casually touching my cheek, Ian spoke to me.
"Feel a bit relieved?"
"What?"
"Weren't you wanting to know about the Arkidne Archbishop?"
"..."
Isn't that natural? He and I lived together for years. Since I left without even saying goodbye, of course I'd be concerned.
But I decided to stay quiet.
Roche said so. If you stay still, you'll at least be in the middle.
When you can't figure out why the other person is acting that way, it's better to stay quiet.
When I maintained my silence, Ian chuckled to himself.
"Still putting on clumsy acting."
"Acting?"
"If you're trying to provoke jealousy, it's useless."
"..."
I'm just a bit clueless, but there are often kids like this who jump to conclusions.
They seem to think everyone is complicated, but I'm dull enough to live without even understanding my own psychological state well. Please don't project your delicate sensitivities onto me.
"It's not like that."
I replied sullenly.
Of course, Ian, who didn't know my personality, put his glasses back on and warned me.
"You'd better stop trying to draw attention with foolish acts. If you run away again this time, your family will never recover."
"Did the Bringston family suffer a lot of damage because of me?"
"All the betrothal gifts for your marriage were paid out as compensation."
Oh, that's... quite apologetic.
At the time, I had no sense of connection to the Bringston family. Of course, it's the same now, but back then this body itself felt completely like a stranger's.
I simply didn't have the capacity to care for and consider them.
"We barely made up for the losses from that time. If you disappear once more, I can't even predict which land we'll have to strip and sell this time."
"..."
I'm very, very sorry.
"I won't run away anymore."
I said with determination in my eyes.
"I'm feeling responsible in my own way too."
I had many things to take responsibility for. The biggest among them was figuring out the identity and trigger of the sorcery Ian had used.
Why did that intellectual and cold man try to use such destructive sorcery?
What benefit would there be for him in destroying the world?
I had to dig into that secret from now on.
The road to Kahiten territory was treacherous. During that time, I collapsed once more with high fever. My stamina had finally hit rock bottom.
Because of that, we had to rent a room halfway when we were close to the territory and rest.
While I was dying, Ian treated me like an annoying piece of luggage.
"Miss, are you doing this on purpose?"
I'm already dying and he only says things that make my blood pressure rise. I have to live with that guy. This is a nightmare.
"Do people get sick on purpose?"
"I've seen such women occasionally."
"How... fascinating those people are."
"I think so too."
Ian sat next to the bedroom and flipped through documents.
"You're going to sleep here?"
"As if. I'll leave right after confirming that you're really sick."
What's he saying? Then am I fake sick? How annoying.
"I told you I was originally weak."
"If you're that weak, how did you manage to run away?"
"...With spite and stubbornness?"
Ian snorted at my words. How unpleasant.
But lately, I do feel like my body has been rapidly weakening.
It wasn't this bad originally.
'Is it because I'm living past the age I was supposed to die...'
I suddenly became curious about what kind of life Leticia would have lived if she hadn't had children.
"Do you absolutely need an heir?"
"...?"
He put down the documents and looked down at me.
"Well."
The man's fingertips tapped his knee.
"Rather than necessary, it's a duty. The head of the family producing an heir is for the future rather than for myself."
"Ah, duty..."
Tiresome.
Dizzy.
"That duty... can't you not do it?"
My head was spinning.
"I might die."
Ian kept appearing double. With the fever rising and people looking blurry, I gained groundless courage.
"I... really don't want to die."
Through my blurred vision, a flesh-colored shape came closer.
Soon something covered my eyes.
"Sleep."
Don't talk nonsense.
I answered obediently.
"Yes..."
Ian looked at the sleeping Leticia with pity. She was a woman who was not just frail but sickly.
This time being sick didn't seem to be faking either.
'I... really don't want to die.'
It seemed like she meant it sincerely.
'So that's why she ran away. ...Because she was afraid of dying?'
At first, he thought it was behavior to gain his attention.
But the more he experienced it, the less she seemed like someone who would cause trouble for such reasons.
If it wasn't to gain attention.
Even though she liked him enough to blush whenever she saw him, there was now only one reason she would dare to run away.
Ian twisted his lips into a smile.
Coincidentally, his fiancée resembled him in this aspect.
Due to his position, he didn't easily reveal his inner thoughts, but he was also one of those who feared death.
He suffered from an incurable disease, and though he had made every effort to cure it... he still hadn't found a perfect solution.
That day when Leticia claimed to have witnessed him.
Actually, that day Ian had been on his way to find someone to cure his disease. Then he discovered the coachman was an imperial spy and executed him on the spot.
He told Leticia he didn't remember, but he remembered everything.
'To show her that scene of all things.'
It would be a shocking scene for someone who fears death and isn't accustomed to it.
'Did she fall ill with high fever that day too?'
Ian looked at Leticia's sleeping face and imagined the past Leticia.
What kind of life a woman without any abilities would have lived until settling in a strange land.
'It wouldn't have been easy.'
His own difficult childhood overlapped with her face.
"Jes."
He called his aide.
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Call a doctor."
"Your Grace, this village doesn't have a doctor."
"Search the neighboring villages and bring one."
"...Yes. I understand."
Even after Jes left, Ian stayed by Leticia's side for a long time.
His expression wasn't good.
After giving the order to find a doctor, he had been enveloped in an uncomfortable feeling the entire time.
Somehow he found himself wishing this woman wouldn't be sick.
And he felt somehow very awkward about having such thoughts.