Chapter 4 (1/2)

The maid approached me and snooped as if she didn’t know what to say. I pointed over to the window without looking back at her.

“Louise, look over there. I was counting the leaves in that tree. When the last leaf falls, I… I’m going to die.”

I spoke wistfully like a time-worn lady just waiting for the day she dies. I gently laid my hands over my chest as if I were the heroine of a tragic story. A smile that was formed with a slight pull of the tip of one’s mouth must look pathetic and lonely.

At my words, the maid Louise, looked out the window and at me alternately with an impatient expression.

“What do you mean, Madam? It’s spring now, isn’t it?”

“…….”

Embarrassed by the cold criticism, I simply rolled my eyes. After all, how would she know about《The Last Leaf》? It was a short story from ‘the world outside of the novel’, so there was no way we could be on the same page.

Yes. The season was a sunny spring, and new leaves sprouted abundantly in the tree. The sun shone over the garden as if the day the last leaf falls would never come.

A soft breeze blew past the garden plants towards me, and my long hair curled and fluttered.

“I know. I was just pretending to be the main character .”

(e/n: main character of the short story she mentioned, “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry)

“Pardon? The main character?”

“Nothing.”

I shook my head gently. It was funny how I imitated the main character when I was just an extra.

Louise, who didn’t know what was going inside my mind, tilted her head. I turned away from her curious gaze and sat down.

“What about His Grace? Have you heard from him yet?”

“No. He has yet to send word.”

My husband had already been away for days. It was clear that it didn’t matter to him whether his wife was sick or not. I was sure I would’ve gotten news of where and why he left since he had been out of the house ever since I woke up after days of being ill.

‘He’s incredibly indifferent to his wife.’