Chapter 38
It was just a temporary fake relationship, but his tenderness had already exceeded lethal levels.
My face flushed with heat, and I had no choice but to bow my head low as I walked.
When we finally reached the carriage, Alferen asked, “But why didn’t you take the carriage? It’s hot out today.”
“Because my brother bribed the coachman.”
If I’d ridden out on horseback, Adrian would have gotten word from the coachman and deserted his knightly duties to chase after me like a boyfriend pursuing a cheating girlfriend.
“Ah, I see.”
“And he even sweet-talked May somehow—it was really hard to escape, you know?”
Maybe it was from the morning’s nerve-wracking ordeal, but I found myself whining to Alferen without realizing it.
“Isn’t it a bit much to make such a fuss over me just dating someone?”
“Yeah, it’s over the top.”
“Dad apparently spent last night crying while looking at my portrait. It’s not like I’m getting married—I’m just dating, right?”
At the word “married,” Alferen’s shoulders twitched slightly, but I was too distracted to notice.
“Sigh, should I just tell the family right now that we’re in a fake relationship? That it’s all because of your broken engagement and we’re cooperating for the sake of the princess?”
In that moment, Alferen, who had been listening quietly, turned serious.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Delly.”
Then, as he pulled my hand, I ended up pressed against him, practically in his arms.
Only then did I realize we’d been holding hands all this time, and my heart pounded wildly.
That’s when Alferen whispered with a noticeably poignant expression on his face.
“If you do that, Adrian will feel betrayed all over again. He’ll think his little sister and his close friend deceived him twice.”
“……”
“He might even see it as me using you and decide to never see me again. If we confess clumsily, our already strained relationship could get even worse.”
Listening to him, it made sense.
Adrian had already been shocked enough by the public confession and acceptance.
What if we told him it was all fake?
He might let it slide with me since I’m his sister, but with Alferen, he could be so disappointed he’d cut ties completely.
To think I’d nearly destroyed the official bromance from the original story with my own hands!
My mind grew tangled, caught between doing this or that.
“Then I’d become a guy with not a single friend left in this world. Irreversibly so.”
His downcast gaze was so heartrending.
Why was he suddenly making a face like a tragic heroine?
At the same time, my eyes were drawn to his lip, bruised from Adrian’s punch yesterday.
Come to think of it, this might be the first time Adrian had ever hit Alferen first……
In the original story, the two were always on the same side.
Alferen was the steadfast, almost foolishly loyal supporter who backed the protagonist.
He cherished Adrian so much that he’d choose friendship over love.
To be hit one-sidedly by such a friend—he must have been heartbroken, obviously.
I felt uneasy, like I’d shattered the bond between these close friends for no good reason.
Either way, this lie had started with me.
Realizing I was the only one who could mediate between them in this situation, I decided it was best to keep quiet for now.
‘It’ll leave a scar.’
Without thinking, I reached out to touch his lip. Alferen flinched but didn’t pull away.
“That must hurt.”
“Not at all.”
“Then is it just an act?”
“……Actually, it does hurt.”
Alferen gave a soft, fragile smile and leaned his cheek against my hand.
He looked so pitiable that my heart ached with a sharp twinge.
For some reason, he seemed a bit more languid than usual—was it just my imagination?
Normally so polite and straightforward, seeing him loosen up like this changed the atmosphere entirely.
“Alright. I’ll keep it a secret. I can’t let you lose your one and only friend. I’ll try to set up a chance for you two to reconcile soon. Right now, I’m in a bit of a cold war with my brother too.”
“Thanks. You’re so kind, Delly.”
Alferen grinned broadly, lowered my hand, and interlaced our fingers again.
By the time I found myself getting used to that natural gesture without realizing it, the carriage had arrived at our destination.
* * *
The Ainluk ducal household had stopped receiving visitors after the previous duke fell into a coma.
His condition was so severe, and the atmosphere in the mansion was too chaotic.
The young lord who had temporarily inherited the dukedom at the time was surrounded by enemies on all sides.
It was from then on that assassins visited daily, now that the protective shadow of his reliable father was gone, leaving an 18-year-old exposed.
After many twists and turns, Alferen gained recognition from the elders’ council and officially became the duke.
But the new duke still didn’t open the mansion to outsiders, and the household staff naturally became tight-lipped.
Currently, in the capital, the only ones who truly knew the previous duke’s condition were the long-serving staff of the Ainluk household.
“It’s like time has stopped. He doesn’t eat or drink, yet there’s no sign of wasting away.”
A maid who had just finished cleaning the duke’s bedroom murmured softly, and the one beside her nodded in agreement.
“He’s been like that since I started here.”
The previous duke they served remained exactly as he had been six years ago, when attacked by a monster.
“That’s magic for you, right? It’s amazing every time I see it. A spell that prevents aging.”
Like a human frozen in time, his nails didn’t grow, nor did his hair lengthen.
He looked just like a princess from a fairy tale.
Lost in a deep sleep, waiting for the prince who would wake him.
But six years had passed without the prince appearing, and the princess was being forgotten by everyone.
“What’s the point? He can’t wake up anyway. He’s just making our young lord suffer needlessly. If he’d passed away right then, our young lord wouldn’t have had to endure all this……”
“Watch your words. The head maid might hear.”
It was just as the maids were descending the stairs that someone called out from afar, their face beaming with excitement.
“Hey, everyone! We have a guest!”
“A guest? Who, all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know. They say it’s the duke’s lover?”
“What?! Didn’t our duke just break off his engagement recently?”
“Yeah. He broke it off and then publicly confessed to Lady Peris. And now they’re dating?”
In the span of a day, Rodellia’s tearful acceptance show had been twisted into Alferen making the public confession.
And that rumor stimulated a rush of dopamine among the Ainluk staff.
It was only natural, as this was the first official guest in six years.
“They’re in the drawing room right now!”
With that, the maids rushed en masse toward the drawing room.
* * *
The place Alferen took me to was the Ainluk ducal residence.
The very place that had strictly forbidden outsiders since the previous duke collapsed.
In the original story, it was where the female lead became the first visitor in six years, comforting Alferen’s heart.
‘Wait, why show this to me first?’
This was the spot where Summer awakened Alferen.
By being the first to recognize his heart, which loved his father yet had no choice but to resent him.
<It’s not your fault, Duke. What the previous duke did was nothing short of abuse. It’s remarkable that you’ve grown up so well despite it.>
In the novel, Alferen suffered from love-hate feelings toward his father.
He’d lived every moment under the compulsion of his teachings.
Then, his father fell into this state—neither living nor dead—tormenting Alferen for a long time.
As a son, he wanted to save his father; as the head of the house, he needed to solidify his own legitimacy, and those desires clashed endlessly.
Summer’s visit awakened Alferen, who harbored that love-hate toward his father.
After that day, Alferen gave up on waking him.
He realized his actions were mere hypocrisy.
He considered maintaining the life extension as fulfilling his filial duty and stopped visiting.
Thus, the duke was forgotten, and when news of his passing came later, Alferen crumbled.
Because another realization struck him.
It hadn’t been hypocrisy. He’d simply been exhausted from the long caregiving.
He hadn’t known back then how much strength it gave him just to have his father breathing on this earth.
In the end, realizing it only when that breath ceased made it a tragedy for Alferen.
