Chapter 5 (1/2)

Chapter 5

Chloe’s eyes watered. She managed to bear the shock of her impending death, but here, she could only clutch her gloves.

“Go up to the drawing room. I’ll follow you there.”

Eric handed her the old shawl that was over his shoulders then walked away.

She stared at the limp shawl for a moment before she also walked back the way she had come.

The sound of their footsteps was deafening.

“Since the Madam is here, His Excellency will come soon. Oh, would you like some tea to warm you up?”

With a smile on his face, Daniel still treated Chloe the same, as though he hadn’t seen Eric ignore her just like that.

It was weighing on her mind. It would have been easier for her if he had just ignored her like the rest of the northerners did, then she wouldn’t need to think about how to respond to this unprompted kindness.

“Madam?”

Chloe shook her head a couple of times.

“I’m fine. Instead, I’d like it if you turn up the heat.”

“I understand. If there’s anything else you need, please feel free to call me.”

“Thank you.”

David bowed and left the room.

As soon as she heard the door close, Chloe collapsed on the sofa. She buried her face in her hands and breathed hard. Then, she consciously placed a handkerchief over her lips. The pain in her chest came immediately.

Cough!

Cough, cough, cough! Several more followed, leaving blood on the handkerchief. Chloe curled into herself, holding onto her chest where the pain was spreading. Her slim shoulders trembled pitifully.

“Haa, ha…”

She covered her eyes with a palm as she leaned back to lie down on the sofa. Her body drooped like a heavily soaked cotton ball.

It hurt.

It really did.

She couldn’t compose herself because it hurt so much.

But she couldn’t let anyone know that she was already this sick.

She had never told anyone in the first place.

A memory from when she was younger suddenly flashed through her mind.

Having caught a bad cold, she looked for her mother, but her mother turned a blind eye to her. Instead, her mother went to her older brother’s horseback riding class to accompany him.

There was another instance.

Chloe had a serious head injury after falling down the stairs after her older brother played a sick joke on her.

She cried and went to her parents. Yet instead of scolding her brother, they berated Chloe.

It only hurt more when she talked.

Complaining about her pain just made people laugh at her.

It was a shame to reveal her sorrow.

Her anxiety was her own. Her pain was her own. Her thoughts were not to be shared with others.

Chloe had learned all of this a long time ago.

That’s why she always kept her mouth shut.

Even when she heard the truth about her limited time in this world.

“Huu…”

Chloe groaned for the last time, pressing harder around her eyes with the back of her hand.

Thinking about it, she spent each day of her life as though she’d live forever.

She thought her husband would come to love her someday.

But now, she had only two years left.

She lived as his wife for five years without having ever felt any love.

Two years or however long after… It was clear that Eric would not change.

Rather than dying in misery, she wasn’t sure whether it was possible to live her own life… but it was better to try anyway.

Chloe slowly sat up and opened her eyes.

She approached the window and looked outside, where she saw a huge clock, the capital’s landmark.

Tick, tock, tick, tock. As the watch’s second hand moved, palace guards crowded around it.

Carrying shotguns, they were all wearing prosthetic arms.

She heard that prosthetic arms could be manipulated to fire bullets.

Chloe doubted it at first, but soon nodded, thinking that it was possible because Eric was the inventor.

The genius inventor, Eric Aslan, could invent something like that without even batting an eyelash.

‘He’s a great man.’

Chloe chuckled under her breath, remembering how he looked in the lab.

She was flustered by his unusual appearance, but other than that, he still looked great.

Him, soaked with sweat.

Him, covered with soot.

Him, dressed so sloppily.

However, it just seemed to reveal his true character.

He was a great man with infinite capabilities.

‘…I don’t belong next to him.’

Chloe laughed again, leaning against the window and tapping her forehead against the glass.

Her breath was mixed with sadness and misery.

At that moment, when the windows gradually clouded—

Ka-chak. The door opened. She could hear footsteps coming closer, and she could tell who it was without even looking back.

Eric.