“It’s an illness anyway. And since you’re my wife, of course your husband should do this much.”
He was somehow shameless. I tried harder to pull my hand away. But Cedric calmly held my hand and looked into my eyes.
“Why are you trying to get away from me since yesterday?”
He didn’t seem to understand at all why I was acting this way. I told him what I had experienced before.
“I heard it by accident while passing through the drawing room. That you were only pretending to be kind to me.”
Cedric’s eyes turned sharp. I continued speaking without caring.
“I don’t understand why you want to stay married to me. My family is nothing special, and I’m even sick…”
“I need you.”
The unexpected words made me ask again.
“You need me? But I don’t do anything, and my family isn’t helpful either.”
“I don’t need your family.”
“What?”
“I need you.”
Even hearing it again, I couldn’t believe it. Cedric quietly spoke.
“When I’m with you, my emotions calm down.”
“Your emotions… calm down?”
Cedric nodded.
“With other people, I have to try to control my emotions. But with you, I don’t have to. I just feel calm.”
“……”
“Didn’t Mrs. Jenkins tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“That I’m cursed.”
“Then…”
“It’s been like that since I was born. When I was young, I couldn’t control my impulses with others.”
“……”
“But with you, it’s easy. I don’t have to try so hard.”
His gaze strangely stayed fixed on me.
“So I’m curious.”
“……”
“How it would be… if I stayed with you until the end.”
Cedric smiled softly. I couldn’t say a word and just stared at him. Then he gently tucked my fallen hair behind my ear. When his hand touched my face and I flinched, he pulled his hand back and said,
“I’ll try my best for you. So please stay by my side.”
As I continued to stare blankly, Cedric slowly let go of my hand. Then he softly kissed my forehead.
When I looked up in surprise, he smiled gently and said,
“Once you start taking the medicine properly, you’ll get better quickly.”
Cedric gently cupped my cheek as he looked at me silently, then said,
“Rest well.”
Then he left the room. Even after the door closed, I couldn’t think clearly.
‘What on earth is happening?’
It didn’t feel real. I had just learned something unexpected from Cedric, but I didn’t feel bad at all. Just a bit confused.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. A maid came in and placed a white pill and food on the table. The food was plentiful, and the pill was quite big. As I stared blankly, the maid bowed and kindly said,
“The master personally made sure this meal was special. And this pill is very good for your lung illness.”
Since I didn’t reply, the maid kept talking beside me.
“If you feel any discomfort after taking the medicine, please tell us. It’s a good medicine, but people can react differently.”
I nodded. The maid kindly handed me a fork. I unconsciously took it. She pointed at the tomato salad and said,
“This dish was made with special care by the chef…”
My already complicated mind ached with all the talking. She had never stood this close and acted this friendly before. While her kindness was appreciated, it also felt burdensome that she explained every little thing.
I put down the fork and looked at the maid. She blinked, looking flustered.
“Ma’am, did I do something wrong…?”
“No, I just don’t think you need to explain everything while I eat.”
The maid looked even more surprised and opened her eyes wide.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ll leave right away.”
“No, you don’t have to leave…”
But before I could stop her, the maid left the room. I sighed softly as I looked at the closed door and turned back to the food. As the maid said, it seemed Cedric had paid special attention—there were different dishes than before.
‘How it would be… if I stayed with you until the end.’
That was the sentence that lingered in my mind the most. If he had no interest in me, he wouldn’t have said something like that.
I picked up the fork and tried the tomato the maid had mentioned. The juice dripping from it looked like blood.
Cedric arrived before dinner. It was almost the first time he came home this early. When I first heard it, I thought it was a lie.
“Cedric is here already?”
The maid quickly nodded.
“Yes.”
Even hearing that, I couldn’t believe it, so I got up and stood by the window. The carriage Cedric usually used was there. After seeing him off in the morning, I had thought a lot all day.
It was a strange fact, but it didn’t feel bad. Even the fact that he had hidden my illness from me.
I quickly turned and left the room, then went down the stairs. Just as I reached the bottom, Cedric opened the door and walked in. The moment our eyes met, he smiled brightly.
When I stopped walking, Cedric came up to me.
“Revril, I came home earlier than usual today, didn’t I?”
As I nodded, Cedric naturally took my hand and said,
“I finished work early today, just for you.”
“Why?”
“To spend more time with you.”
It was something I didn’t expect. I stared at him, speechless. Cedric’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
“Did I make another mistake?”
I shook my head.
“Aren’t you tired of trying to match me? Pretending to be kind and all that…”
“Are you tired of it?”
“No.”
It was something I said without thinking. I looked at Cedric in a hurry, but he didn’t say anything about me calling it “pretending to be kind.”
That part was still bothering me, but instead of saying more, I asked,
“So you don’t dislike me?”
“There’s no reason for me to dislike you.”
“Why?”
“Because when I’m with you, I feel like a normal person.”
A normal person. It was a familiar phrase, but it felt special coming from him. Without letting go of my hand, Cedric walked into the dining room. After giving instructions to the servant, he looked at me. His expression was much softer than when he spoke to others.
“Revril, you took your medicine today, right?”
When I nodded, Cedric continued.
“If you take it regularly, you’ll get better. No one knows exactly when, but it might happen all of a sudden.”
“……”
“Now that you’ve started taking it properly, you might get better even faster.”
His voice was kind and smooth. Thinking back, he had always been kind enough that I could almost mistake it for real. Even though he didn’t have to be.
I looked at Cedric for a moment. He was cutting meat, then looked up at me. When our eyes met, he smiled and said,
“Revril, if the food doesn’t suit your taste, just tell me. I’ll tell the chef right away.”
I nodded and looked at him. His black hair was neatly combed, his sharp nose stood out, and his hands moved gracefully.
The fancy wall decorations, the overwhelming amount of food—things I hadn’t noticed before were now clear.
“Because I need you.”
That sentence kept floating around in my mind. I used to feel like a ghost in this mansion, but now it felt like I was needed somehow. Cedric even said so himself.
Still holding the fork, I looked at Cedric. He was frowning slightly at the plate.
“Cedric.”
When I called him, he looked up. He smiled at me right away. His expression was different from before, which was a little surprising, but I didn’t hesitate to ask.
“Can that curse… go away?”
