Diana was awake. From the moment Erita entered this hospital room.
She clutched her throbbing head, clearing her dizzy vision. Her dormant senses and nerves were slowly returning to their normal state. A strange feeling, a weight and a sense of heaviness, as if her dead body had been resurrected. Just like when she first arrived here.
Erita, who had been watching her, collapsed again with a face of exhaustion. She seemed to have lost the energy to cry anymore, but the sound of her sobbing, as if her world were falling apart, still echoes in her head.
“Go out now, Cattle Princess. It’s noisy.”
Erita's face, which had displayed all manner of cowardly behavior in response to her calm and collected sermon, was stained with shame. She struggled to sit up, her whole body trembling as if in convulsions.
"You, tell the truth. You jumped yourself."
“Does it matter now?”
Noab just stood there, glaring and giggling, as if he had nothing more to say. Diana snickered at Erita.
“I didn’t see it.”
"What?"
"You should be begging desperately. Shouldn't you be begging earnestlyfor the people you killed and for me?"
“I could never do this to you. I wouldn’t do it even if it meant dying. You’re a devil.”
Erita, her face a mess of tears, muttered under her breath and ran away. Noah and Diana were left alone in the now-silent hospital room. His gaze remained fixed on her. He studied her closely from head to toe, then spoke.
“That’s right, my princess.”
She might have woken up desperately wanting to hear that sexy voice again, even though it was tuned so calmly.
Noah's slender fingers gently touched her cheek. The blue eyes in his delicate face curved with affection, as always.
"Thank goodness. I was worried you'd leave me behind."
His hand, carefully touching her, lest it break, wrapped around her shoulder. The warmth of his body and scent beneath his shirt touched her cheek. She was embraced, arms and fingers that still felt like they weren't hers, stroking his firm back. She felt a sense of relief, a sense of belonging, yet simultaneously a thrill of being with him.
"You won't die from rolling over like that. But when I was unlucky enough to hit my head, I thought, 'Oh no.'"
“Why are you like that? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“It turned out well in the end...”
I quickly shut my mouth, noticing the sadness and loneliness in his eyes. The worry and loneliness he must have felt during the few days he'd been unconscious. I felt pity for him, and I decided an apology was the priority.
“I’m sorry. This is a good opportunity to make sure I don’t bother you again….”
“I’ll do the painful and annoying stuff, so don’t do that again. Princess, just do the fun stuff.”
“I will do that.”
"We were supposed to go live on a resort island after the war. We'd build a mansion with an ocean view and create a garden exactly like the one where we had our wedding."
"yes."
"The sea there is a color you'll love. I'll buy you your favorite fruit pudding every day. There's nothing there to disturb us. It'll be fun, right?"
“That sounds fun.”
Listening to the dreamlike story, I tried to sit up, but my vision was spinning, and I felt dizzy, so I gave up. I felt thirsty, and my mouth felt dry. Noah, seeing me fall back down weakly, lowered himself and met my gaze.
“So, stay here. It’s more fun here.”
"yes?"
“More than your world.”
My eyes widened at the sudden words. Noah had a consistent smile on his face. Why was he, who could never possibly know this world, speaking as if he already knew everything?
“What does that mean?”
“I told you it wasn’t fun there.”
“Me?”
"You said life there felt like there were only two choices: dying with all your might or dying without doing anything. It was so boring and dull that you couldn't bear it."
How do you know that? I never said anything like that. Maybe I was just unconsciously babbling, like the nonsense you get from anesthesia.
“Noah, I…….”
What should I say? I'm not the Diana Claire you've been searching for. Am I actually from another world?
These were words I'd been denying, denying, and avoiding. I felt a sense of unease, as if the time I'd spent with him, and even my own existence, would become meaningless. A languid voice guided me, agonizing between meaningless facts and meaningful fictions, into sentimentality.
“I’ll give it to you.”
Instead of answering, I stared at him. His fingers slipped smoothly between mine and intertwined.
“Your beautiful and peaceful world.”
A faint blush appeared on his cheek as he held my hand as if he would never let go again.
After completing my discharge formalities, I boarded the car back home. Noah, sitting next to me, talked about the people he'd met. I nodded repeatedly at his words and gazed out the window at the lush green landscape passing by. The early summer sky was an unrealistic blue. It reminded me of the sea at Helis, where I'd gone on my honeymoon, or of sapphire.
As soon as I got back to the mansion, I changed clothes and lay down on the bed. Still feeling the aftereffects, I felt lethargic and weak. Noah saw me, withered like a plant that hadn't seen sunlight for days, and instructed the maid to bring food into the bedroom.
I lay there, tilting my head, and looked at Noah. Like a cornered rat biting a cat, I became curious about the story of the past Erita had told Noah, possessed by evil.
"What was that part of yours that Erita mentioned? The one I wouldn't understand. I think she said something like that last time."
“Well, I still don’t know.”
“Is this something that happened when you were a Frogen officer?”
“That could be true. It was just something that happened to me, so I can’t really pinpoint it.”
“Noah.”
The way he treated Erita was like livestock. The way he strangled Olivia, the contemptuous gaze he held for the lesser of men. It was completely different from when he rescued me from Belford. Something about his inexplicable thoughts seemed to have become more exaggerated. Or perhaps another side of him, unknown to me, was being revealed. I let out the fears that had been lingering in my heart.
“I don’t know what you really look like.”
Noah smiled calmly. At first glance, he seemed like an innocent boy.
"What do you like? I'm all about being a gentleman, but I'll do anything you want. I can be a good guy or an asshole."
“I just wonder what the hell is going on in your head.”
"To have my one and only one completely, to have her by my side forever. That's all I have."
He maintained a seemingly kind smile, but the image of the devil gazing down at the woman in the priest's painting came to mind. The devil, representing the priest's hidden desires. The man's expression was just like that. He added, as if explaining his own desires.
"The truth is, I want to ruin you so you can't do anything. I want to be the one who stands on the edge of a cliff and offers a hand. That's what I wanted."
Maybe I was like that, too.
My gaze was fixated on the neatly buttoned collar of his shirt and the neatly tied tie. It was a bit different from wanting to mess up that neat outfit.
He covered his mouth with one hand and smiled without answering. My eyes were drawn to his slender fingers. I subconsciously knew that the corners of his mouth, beneath them, were clearly reading my intentions and snickering. He had described it as "cute." I continued.
"Actually, I'm the same way. Isn't that true for Erita, too? Everyone is like that. Anxiety and greed are endless, and if you can't have it, you want to destroy it. At those times, you feel like you'll be needed, like you'll be acknowledged as needed."
Noah's hand slowly slid down and landed on his sleek suit trousers. His eyes were completely emotionless, and his mouth was drawn in a straight line. He leaned back against the sofa, his smile fading, and he asked.
“Why don’t you do that?”
"Because I can't do that if I want to own it all. To love is to consider the other person's feelings more than your own. If that's true, then it's love."
So we don't know love.
I swallowed the last word, but Noah's expression, as if he had already heard everything, became even more sullen, cynical, and calm.
“How can I think about something when I can’t see it or feel it?”
It was a question that was by no means easy for me. After racking my brain for a while, a splitting headache began to grip me, and I was ultimately unable to answer.
While Noah was out for a moment, Molly belatedly informed me that Boaz had been badly injured. Boaz was lying face down on a cushion in a separate room, his leg wrapped in a bandage.
“Ugh...”
The pitiful eyes turned to me as I entered the room.
He was sobbing as if he thought I was dead. It seemed like he was injured while trying to protect me.
"I called a vet and treated him, and he's taking medication, but he just sleeps all day. His age seems to be slowing his recovery."
Molly said, stroking Boaz's brown back. I rested my forehead against Boaz's drooping head.
“Thank you, you were so worried about me.”
A whimpering sound came from the back of his shaggy neck. My heart ached, aching at the thought of nearly losing someone who cherished me again.
A few days passed, and my body recovered significantly. I was able to accept the Queen's invitation to a tea party and participate in regular royal events.
At a royal party on board, I stood at the stern of the ship, looking down at the foam of the churning waves. Nearby, I could hear the conversation of noblewomen, their attire as light as the season.
“I heard the Princess is engaged to the heir to the Duke Howard of Magnolia?”
"That family, though of Medea's lineage, I expected her to marry a nobleman from this central power. At that time, she rejected the proposal of an officer from a prestigious family who won a shooting competition."
Erita was scheduled to marry a nobleman from the Kingdom of Magnolia, one of the countries within the United Kingdom of Medea. Dressed in splendid attire, she stood with a blank expression alongside her future husband, receiving the congratulations of countless people.
Noah, wearing a suit that showed off his muscular physique and curves, stood next to me, resting his elbows on the railing and his chin on it.
“She won’t bother you anymore. Good, right?”
He looked at me and smiled faintly.
Instead of being punished, Erita obeyed Noah. She began to pay attention to me and stopped being so annoying. Furthermore, she will obediently become Medea's Queen, so the outcome is exactly what we hoped for.
Noah, looking down at the rolling waves, pulled a piece of paper from his bosom and handed it to me. It was a newspaper clipping from Belford, and it contained an article from the children's author Janet's serialized work, "The Girl with the Dog and the Wolf."
I asked with a puzzled face.
“What is this?”
"I got a call from your sister, through a children's author. Letters sent here from Belford are usually reviewed in their home country, so it looks like she submitted them to a newspaper."
“I’m having trouble deciphering it. What does it say?”
“I think she wants to come and live in Medea. Please help me.”
I tilted my head. Why would the daughter-in-law of a high-ranking politician from a long-established ducal family come to Medea?
“Are you talking about immigration?”
"Exile."
"Asylum application? Why bother asking Medea for protection..."
Noah's hand wrapped around my side. He whispered softly in my ear.
"Because the lieutenant colonel is of Medea's bloodline. Belford is in a state of great political strife between factions. It seems they've judged that Prime Minister Damian Groenendaal and the lieutenant colonel's safety may be at risk. His successor, Jayce, has long since departed for a neutral country."
"Yes."
I tried to hide my emotions and answered monotonously. He asked for my opinion with a friendly smile.
“So, will you help her?”
“Huh? That’s...”
His smile, shadowed by a dark shadow on his side, was no longer affectionate. It was a painfully real lesson. He was asking me about my learning ability.
"Think carefully about what's most important. I'll follow your wishes."
She clutched her throbbing head, clearing her dizzy vision. Her dormant senses and nerves were slowly returning to their normal state. A strange feeling, a weight and a sense of heaviness, as if her dead body had been resurrected. Just like when she first arrived here.
Erita, who had been watching her, collapsed again with a face of exhaustion. She seemed to have lost the energy to cry anymore, but the sound of her sobbing, as if her world were falling apart, still echoes in her head.
“Go out now, Cattle Princess. It’s noisy.”
Erita's face, which had displayed all manner of cowardly behavior in response to her calm and collected sermon, was stained with shame. She struggled to sit up, her whole body trembling as if in convulsions.
"You, tell the truth. You jumped yourself."
“Does it matter now?”
Noab just stood there, glaring and giggling, as if he had nothing more to say. Diana snickered at Erita.
“I didn’t see it.”
"What?"
"You should be begging desperately. Shouldn't you be begging earnestlyfor the people you killed and for me?"
“I could never do this to you. I wouldn’t do it even if it meant dying. You’re a devil.”
Erita, her face a mess of tears, muttered under her breath and ran away. Noah and Diana were left alone in the now-silent hospital room. His gaze remained fixed on her. He studied her closely from head to toe, then spoke.
“That’s right, my princess.”
She might have woken up desperately wanting to hear that sexy voice again, even though it was tuned so calmly.
Noah's slender fingers gently touched her cheek. The blue eyes in his delicate face curved with affection, as always.
"Thank goodness. I was worried you'd leave me behind."
His hand, carefully touching her, lest it break, wrapped around her shoulder. The warmth of his body and scent beneath his shirt touched her cheek. She was embraced, arms and fingers that still felt like they weren't hers, stroking his firm back. She felt a sense of relief, a sense of belonging, yet simultaneously a thrill of being with him.
"You won't die from rolling over like that. But when I was unlucky enough to hit my head, I thought, 'Oh no.'"
“Why are you like that? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“It turned out well in the end...”
I quickly shut my mouth, noticing the sadness and loneliness in his eyes. The worry and loneliness he must have felt during the few days he'd been unconscious. I felt pity for him, and I decided an apology was the priority.
“I’m sorry. This is a good opportunity to make sure I don’t bother you again….”
“I’ll do the painful and annoying stuff, so don’t do that again. Princess, just do the fun stuff.”
“I will do that.”
"We were supposed to go live on a resort island after the war. We'd build a mansion with an ocean view and create a garden exactly like the one where we had our wedding."
"yes."
"The sea there is a color you'll love. I'll buy you your favorite fruit pudding every day. There's nothing there to disturb us. It'll be fun, right?"
“That sounds fun.”
Listening to the dreamlike story, I tried to sit up, but my vision was spinning, and I felt dizzy, so I gave up. I felt thirsty, and my mouth felt dry. Noah, seeing me fall back down weakly, lowered himself and met my gaze.
“So, stay here. It’s more fun here.”
"yes?"
“More than your world.”
My eyes widened at the sudden words. Noah had a consistent smile on his face. Why was he, who could never possibly know this world, speaking as if he already knew everything?
“What does that mean?”
“I told you it wasn’t fun there.”
“Me?”
"You said life there felt like there were only two choices: dying with all your might or dying without doing anything. It was so boring and dull that you couldn't bear it."
How do you know that? I never said anything like that. Maybe I was just unconsciously babbling, like the nonsense you get from anesthesia.
“Noah, I…….”
What should I say? I'm not the Diana Claire you've been searching for. Am I actually from another world?
These were words I'd been denying, denying, and avoiding. I felt a sense of unease, as if the time I'd spent with him, and even my own existence, would become meaningless. A languid voice guided me, agonizing between meaningless facts and meaningful fictions, into sentimentality.
“I’ll give it to you.”
Instead of answering, I stared at him. His fingers slipped smoothly between mine and intertwined.
“Your beautiful and peaceful world.”
A faint blush appeared on his cheek as he held my hand as if he would never let go again.
***
After completing my discharge formalities, I boarded the car back home. Noah, sitting next to me, talked about the people he'd met. I nodded repeatedly at his words and gazed out the window at the lush green landscape passing by. The early summer sky was an unrealistic blue. It reminded me of the sea at Helis, where I'd gone on my honeymoon, or of sapphire.
As soon as I got back to the mansion, I changed clothes and lay down on the bed. Still feeling the aftereffects, I felt lethargic and weak. Noah saw me, withered like a plant that hadn't seen sunlight for days, and instructed the maid to bring food into the bedroom.
I lay there, tilting my head, and looked at Noah. Like a cornered rat biting a cat, I became curious about the story of the past Erita had told Noah, possessed by evil.
"What was that part of yours that Erita mentioned? The one I wouldn't understand. I think she said something like that last time."
“Well, I still don’t know.”
“Is this something that happened when you were a Frogen officer?”
“That could be true. It was just something that happened to me, so I can’t really pinpoint it.”
“Noah.”
The way he treated Erita was like livestock. The way he strangled Olivia, the contemptuous gaze he held for the lesser of men. It was completely different from when he rescued me from Belford. Something about his inexplicable thoughts seemed to have become more exaggerated. Or perhaps another side of him, unknown to me, was being revealed. I let out the fears that had been lingering in my heart.
“I don’t know what you really look like.”
Noah smiled calmly. At first glance, he seemed like an innocent boy.
"What do you like? I'm all about being a gentleman, but I'll do anything you want. I can be a good guy or an asshole."
“I just wonder what the hell is going on in your head.”
"To have my one and only one completely, to have her by my side forever. That's all I have."
He maintained a seemingly kind smile, but the image of the devil gazing down at the woman in the priest's painting came to mind. The devil, representing the priest's hidden desires. The man's expression was just like that. He added, as if explaining his own desires.
"The truth is, I want to ruin you so you can't do anything. I want to be the one who stands on the edge of a cliff and offers a hand. That's what I wanted."
Maybe I was like that, too.
My gaze was fixated on the neatly buttoned collar of his shirt and the neatly tied tie. It was a bit different from wanting to mess up that neat outfit.
"I wonder if doing that will really fill it up."
"Actually, I'm the same way. Isn't that true for Erita, too? Everyone is like that. Anxiety and greed are endless, and if you can't have it, you want to destroy it. At those times, you feel like you'll be needed, like you'll be acknowledged as needed."
Noah's hand slowly slid down and landed on his sleek suit trousers. His eyes were completely emotionless, and his mouth was drawn in a straight line. He leaned back against the sofa, his smile fading, and he asked.
“Why don’t you do that?”
"Because I can't do that if I want to own it all. To love is to consider the other person's feelings more than your own. If that's true, then it's love."
So we don't know love.
I swallowed the last word, but Noah's expression, as if he had already heard everything, became even more sullen, cynical, and calm.
“How can I think about something when I can’t see it or feel it?”
It was a question that was by no means easy for me. After racking my brain for a while, a splitting headache began to grip me, and I was ultimately unable to answer.
While Noah was out for a moment, Molly belatedly informed me that Boaz had been badly injured. Boaz was lying face down on a cushion in a separate room, his leg wrapped in a bandage.
“Ugh...”
The pitiful eyes turned to me as I entered the room.
He was sobbing as if he thought I was dead. It seemed like he was injured while trying to protect me.
"I called a vet and treated him, and he's taking medication, but he just sleeps all day. His age seems to be slowing his recovery."
Molly said, stroking Boaz's brown back. I rested my forehead against Boaz's drooping head.
“Thank you, you were so worried about me.”
A whimpering sound came from the back of his shaggy neck. My heart ached, aching at the thought of nearly losing someone who cherished me again.
***
A few days passed, and my body recovered significantly. I was able to accept the Queen's invitation to a tea party and participate in regular royal events.
At a royal party on board, I stood at the stern of the ship, looking down at the foam of the churning waves. Nearby, I could hear the conversation of noblewomen, their attire as light as the season.
“I heard the Princess is engaged to the heir to the Duke Howard of Magnolia?”
"That family, though of Medea's lineage, I expected her to marry a nobleman from this central power. At that time, she rejected the proposal of an officer from a prestigious family who won a shooting competition."
Erita was scheduled to marry a nobleman from the Kingdom of Magnolia, one of the countries within the United Kingdom of Medea. Dressed in splendid attire, she stood with a blank expression alongside her future husband, receiving the congratulations of countless people.
Noah, wearing a suit that showed off his muscular physique and curves, stood next to me, resting his elbows on the railing and his chin on it.
“She won’t bother you anymore. Good, right?”
He looked at me and smiled faintly.
Instead of being punished, Erita obeyed Noah. She began to pay attention to me and stopped being so annoying. Furthermore, she will obediently become Medea's Queen, so the outcome is exactly what we hoped for.
Noah, looking down at the rolling waves, pulled a piece of paper from his bosom and handed it to me. It was a newspaper clipping from Belford, and it contained an article from the children's author Janet's serialized work, "The Girl with the Dog and the Wolf."
I asked with a puzzled face.
“What is this?”
"I got a call from your sister, through a children's author. Letters sent here from Belford are usually reviewed in their home country, so it looks like she submitted them to a newspaper."
“I’m having trouble deciphering it. What does it say?”
“I think she wants to come and live in Medea. Please help me.”
I tilted my head. Why would the daughter-in-law of a high-ranking politician from a long-established ducal family come to Medea?
“Are you talking about immigration?”
"Exile."
"Asylum application? Why bother asking Medea for protection..."
Noah's hand wrapped around my side. He whispered softly in my ear.
"Because the lieutenant colonel is of Medea's bloodline. Belford is in a state of great political strife between factions. It seems they've judged that Prime Minister Damian Groenendaal and the lieutenant colonel's safety may be at risk. His successor, Jayce, has long since departed for a neutral country."
"Yes."
I tried to hide my emotions and answered monotonously. He asked for my opinion with a friendly smile.
“So, will you help her?”
“Huh? That’s...”
His smile, shadowed by a dark shadow on his side, was no longer affectionate. It was a painfully real lesson. He was asking me about my learning ability.
"Think carefully about what's most important. I'll follow your wishes."
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