Chapter 29
“I don’t know if you heard, but you were really close to death. According to Ilan, your brain was almost half cooked?”
“Ah… I apologize.”
“You didn’t hurt yourself by choice, so why apologize? Anyway, until Aylan says you can get up, stay in the room you’re in now and rest well.”
“Excuse me, but who is “Aylan”?”
Laszlo realized that he was talking about something only he knew, and he exhibited signs of hindsight.
Edel found Laszlo's casual expressions like those somewhat amusing.
“Aylan Cobb. The quack doctor who treated you.”
When he said “the quack doctor” in a serious tone, Idel laughed quietly without meaning to.
She tried to quickly suppress her laughter, but added her words for fear that Laszlo would feel insulted.
"He seems too skilled to be described as a charlatan."
“…Well, that’s right.”
Laszlo readily agreed. He didn't seem to feel insulted.
"Anyway, just focus on rest and recovery. I'll make sure the maid stays with you during this time."
Edel was about to thank him and leave, but she carefully added something else.
“Thank you very much for your sympathy and generosity, Count. Should I inform Mrs. Bohin separately about my recovery period?”
"There's no need to worry about the head butler. She'll want you to recover more than anyone else."
"Yes…?"
Laszlo responded with a slight smile, expressing his mockery of her illogical question.
“I told her that if she harmed the ‘Emperor’s Gift,’ she would never be safe. It wasn’t just a threat.”
"The Emperor's gift...?"
"Ah, was that an unpleasant term?"
Idyll shook her head quickly.
Although she was slightly surprised by the sudden remark, she did not feel insulted or sad.
“No, it’s not like that. And thanks to that, I’m still alive.”
"Even though you didn't want that."
“….”
Edel remembered how she had tried to jump out of the carriage on her way here, and was speechless for a few moments.
At the time, she thought this place would be hell, but looking back, it seems that Laszlo had actually saved her from hell.
But what did Laszlo Criscis gain from this? No matter how much she thought about it, there didn't seem to be anything.
"Count, you... you weren't hoping to win an award like me, were you?"
"What?"
“Perhaps it would have been better if I had received works of art or jewelry from the Duke’s family like the others. His Majesty the Emperor was extremely malicious.”
Idil was forced to smile, but she couldn't resist the bitterness in her mouth.
After spending a few months there, she realized that Laszlo was not interested in women or in the society of the nobility.
For a man like him, she, the wife of a cheater, was an unbearable prize.
But Laszlo laughed sarcastically.
“What are you talking about? His Majesty the Emperor has given me the most precious award to preserve my dignity.”
It was a strange feeling.
Although his tone seemed to carry blame, Idell felt as if she was relieved by him.
“Thank you for saying that. I’m not sure if it was rude, but if you hadn’t accepted me at that time, I would have…”
I stopped.
She imagined the terrible future she would face and could not continue speaking, but Laszlo said something strange, as if he were thinking about something.
“…Try not to think about death if you can.”
"Excuse me?"
“Good days will come if you are alive. Of course, it is still difficult now, but just bear with it a little longer.”
Idel was surprised.
She came to thank him for saving her, but she couldn't immediately understand why she was hearing such words.
However, she could tell that Laszlo hadn't meant it badly. So, she tried to respond with appropriate, encouraging words.
“Yes. If I continue to live this way, one day… I hope to live a normal life….”
She wondered why.
The moment Idle uttered the word “normal,” tears suddenly streamed down her face.
It was something she hadn't expected at all, and she couldn't stop her tears from flowing.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry!"
When she turned around quickly to wipe away her tears, she thought that Laszlo would either be confused or annoyed by her crying, especially since she had come to thank him for saving her a lot of money.
However, his reaction was unexpected.
After a moment of hesitation, he approached her and handed her a handkerchief.
“Well… for you, living a normal life was the hardest part.”
This comment made the tears I had managed to wipe away flow again.
Edel had always wished for an ordinary degree of happiness in her life: an ordinary family, a normal life, and ordinary love and friendship.
What I thought was modest and "ordinary" turned out to be an enormous desire.
The ordinary one was the most expensive and the hardest to obtain.
Money, status, her father's ambitions, and social class interest were excessive, and the lack of affection and stability within these was far greater.
But she did not expect Laszlo to understand that.
“I’m sorry. I don’t even know why I’m crying… maybe there’s something wrong because of the fever.”
“You don’t have to thank me anymore. Go back and cry more.”
"Yes…?"
More crying?
Edel was confused, believing that she had misunderstood.
"It's a matter."
But Laszlo did not correct himself; he even emphasized it as a command.
He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face outside, then pushed her towards the door.
“When you have finished crying, call the little maid and ask her to bring you a warm and delicious supper. Eat until you are full, do not think about anything, and sleep soundly. These are my orders.”
"but…."
"Don't argue. Now go."
She slammed the office door shut behind her as she stood alone in the hallway, bewildered.
"What …"
What just happened...?
Idil stood alone in the hallway, stunned.
But the word “command” whispered in her ear, and warmed her heart like comforting soup. For some reason, she felt as if a new kind of courage was emerging within her.
“Yes, it is an order.”
Edel wiped her cheeks, which were still wet, with the tissue that Laszlo had given her and returned to the guest room. She threw herself on the bed and wept bitterly.
This was the first time since her marriage to the Duke of Lancaster that she had cried so much.
But it was strange.
As she wept for a long time, she felt something that had been knotted inside her slowly melt away. Eventually, she wondered, "Why was I crying?"
Then I felt hungry.
"I'm very hungry."
I felt a strong urge to eat, just as Laszlo had said. Idil called Daisy, the maid who stayed by the guest room.
“Sister! What happened? Why are you crying?”
Daisy was shocked to see Idil's swollen eyes, but she didn't explain why she was crying and asked her for food instead.
“Daisy, I’m so hungry. I’m sorry, but could you please bring as much food as possible?”
"Are you feeling hungry? It seems your health is improving! Wait a little while!"
Daisy was delighted to see Idil showing an appetite and ran to the kitchen.
Shortly after, she brought a tray of food containing more than Idil could normally eat.
“I brought everything I could. Potato soup, rye bread, butter, three slices of ham, boiled eggs, roast chicken, and an apple. It’s also a mixture of leeks and fried carrots, and it tastes great if you put it between breads. And these are the biscuits I bought at noon.”
The food piled on the plate looked delicious. Perhaps it looked that way because Daisy's desire to feed it was added to it.
Idle thanked Daisy and began to eat ravenously. She had never felt so hungry before.
As the simple flavor of the food spread through her mouth, her appetite for more increased.
"Wow... I've never seen you eat so much before."
“This is the first time I’ve eaten this much.”
Idle laughed shyly and continued to eat voraciously, as if she were pushing it inside her.
“Ah… I don’t think I can drink another drop of water.”
After she cleaned her plate without leaving any crumbs, she was overcome by a strange feeling of satisfaction.
Then she couldn't remember why she had cried earlier.
All that remained in her mind were Laszlo's words.
"Good days will come if I am alive."
It was a common consolation, but with the addition of his voice, it sounded rather special.
“Strangely, it seems that this might actually happen because he said so.”
It was Laszlo Crispus who got her out of the Duke of Lancaster's house and other greedy individuals.
Suddenly, a particular day at the Duke's house came to mind.
The dinner was a week after he had caught a severe cold.
“Oh? You recovered quickly? I thought the cold was serious, but it seems it wasn’t.”
"The dinner period was enjoyable for several days. What a pity."
The atmosphere seemed to regret that she had fully recovered. As usual, dinner that day was so unpleasant that she couldn't taste the food at all.
She felt like she was swallowing sand, and she barely managed to swallow enough to avoid acting rudely.