DMDTY 1.3

Tears welled up and I couldn’t see well.

 

My body was constantly shaking on the running horse, and the cool night breeze brushed my face.

 

We had only spent about two years together. It was too short a time considering I had waited ten years.

 

It was far from enough as compensation for the difficult hostage life.

 

But now I didn’t even have the luxury to feel such sadness.

 

The remaining hope of this country was Jeremy. The new King of Caple.

 

‘Yes, let’s entrust our bloodline to Nathan as Father said and save our lives first. If we can negotiate well later, we’ll have another chance.’

 

Of course, there would be a price to pay, but we had to live first.

 

My parents didn’t just stay there for the sake of their children’s lives.

 

The fate of this country was in Jeremy’s hands.

 

That was why we had to live, even if it was cowardly and miserable.

 

But no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t believe that things had progressed so suddenly.

 

It was too smooth, as if it had been planned in advance.

 

No, in fact, it was full of loopholes even if you looked at it a little bit.

 

The Count and Countess were killed by a single blow to a vital point. It was too clean without any frills to be the work of mere robbers.

 

In addition, it was even more suspicious that the border guards, even an unknown soldier, shot an arrow without permission.

 

It wasn’t even certain that the arrow was shot by a Caple soldier.

 

It was because they still hadn’t found the soldier.

 

The only evidence was that the arrow came from the Caple side of the wall, and the arrow stuck in the knight’s chest was a spliced arrow shaft mainly used in their country.

 

Nevertheless, Montague reacted sensitively as if they were having a seizure without even omitting the investigation to find out the truth, and eventually started a war.

 

It was too radical a method to simply dominate Caple again.

 

Above all, although Montague had lost in the previous war of independence, the war would have been much longer if they had done their best. No, it would have been more natural for Montague to win.

 

Although it was a coalition, they were all weak countries, and Montague, with its superior technology, had plenty of weapons to replace the numbers.

 

Nevertheless, Montague fought moderately and stepped back neatly when a plausible appearance was achieved.

 

I knew that it was his heart that wanted peace.

 

‘Could it be…’

 

The army only moves by the king’s orders.

 

It was the unique authority of the ruler and an area that no one could invade.

 

I was very worried about his safety because things that were different from his intentions kept happening.

 

My head was complicated with these thoughts, but we were able to reach the entrance to the mountain range bordering Nathan around dawn because we had been running non-stop.

 

It would be quite difficult to cross this mountain, but it was better to avoid Montague’s eyes.

 

I clenched the reins of the horse with a determined heart. And then I started to climb the mountain range.

 

It was around that time that a rain of arrows began to pour down over my head.

 

The startled horse reared up with a strange noise, and I inevitably fell off the horse.

 

My face was buried in the damp dirt floor, and I lost consciousness.

 

 

⋆˙🖇️˚.⋆

 

 

Lowell stared at Julia, who was lying in bed with her eyes closed, with a slightly dazed feeling.

 

Looking at her lying in front of him, he was enveloped in a dreamlike feeling.

 

Was it because he had been longing for her so much? She seemed like an unsubstantial illusion, so his hand, which he had unknowingly reached out, stopped hesitantly.

 

‘Hesitantly? Why? Could it be that she’ll disappear if I touch her?’

 

He kept laughing at himself because he was so ridiculous.

 

It was absurd, but he thought that if it was her, it might be possible.

 

She had always enjoyed teasing him.

 

Of course, most of them were pranks such as suddenly appearing and startling him, putting ink on his sleeping face, or messing up his carefully combed hair.

 

Even with such trivial pranks, he would exaggerate and get angry for her sake, enjoying her extreme reaction.

 

Because he loved her laughter that made her uvula visible every time.

 

He couldn’t bring himself to touch her and just scanned her with a slow gaze.

 

Then, his gaze stopped for a moment. It was because of the bruise that stained her soft cheek.

 

The red marks, which looked painful just by looking at them, made him frown involuntarily.

 

They seemed to have been caused when she fell off the horse.

 

“Tsk, I told them to bring her carefully.”

 

He clicked his tongue softly and finally raised his hand to gently stroke her cheek.

 

It was too kind for someone dealing with a princess of a defeated nation.

 

Fortunately, she wasn’t disappearing, so it was definitely reality.

 

He had finally found her again. His Julie.

 

He moved his hand to comb through her abundant blonde hair with his fingers, and the hair rustled, releasing a familiar scent.

 

He took a deep breath.

 

“A month, no, it’s been two years.”

 

A bitter laugh burst out.

 

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be injured anywhere else. However, her eyes were swollen, and tear stains that she hadn’t wiped away were hardened, making her look all the more pitiful.

 

‘I wonder if she cried a lot.’

 

Since long ago, she had been like a child when she cried.

 

Unlike other women who covered their mouths and silently shed tears, she would wrinkle her face and sob until her cheeks turned red.

 

And every time he faced her tears, he didn’t know what to do and sweated anxiously.

 

He smiled faintly as he thought of her crying like that again.

 

‘You can hate me. Julie.’

 

It was bound to happen.

 

She would soon lose everything in this war that he had meticulously planned.

 

In fact, he had barely slept for almost a month for this moment.

 

His exhausted body was so heavy that he wanted to lie down next to her, who was fast asleep, but he couldn’t rest yet. This alone wouldn’t be enough.

 

The intelligent her might have already realized that this was his trick, but nothing would change.

 

He kissed her cheek lightly. He felt her warm skin and was finally relieved.

 

‘You can’t even imagine how much I’ve longed for this moment.’

 

A smile spread across his face with satisfaction.

 

One side of his chest was as cold as if it had touched ice, but he decided to ignore it. He couldn’t have everything anyway.

 

Sometimes, there were things that could only be obtained by giving up something else.

 

She would never know until she died what he had given up and what he had gained, but that didn’t matter either.

 

‘So wake up soon. Julie. I still have many things prepared for you.’

 

He continued to stroke her cheek for a long time afterward, until a knight looking for him knocked on the door.

 

 

⋆˙🖇️˚.⋆

 

 

It was the middle of the night, I don’t know how long after I had lost consciousness, that I opened my eyes.

 

I couldn’t tell if it had been a day or two.

 

I seemed to have heard Romi’s voice in a distant dream.

 

He looked at me with a somewhat melancholic expression and then gently stroked my cheek.

 

I felt relieved by his touch and fell asleep again in a drowsy mood.

 

A sigh-like kiss that touched my cheek in my hazy consciousness.

 

I must have relied on Romi quite a bit, seeing as he came to mind even in this situation.

 

I tried to get up, but a terrible headache suddenly struck, and I let out a small groan, “Ugh.”

 

“Gasp!”

 

Then, as the situation just before came to mind, I jumped up as if thrown.

 

In the darkness, I could see the silhouette of a familiar room.

 

The place I woke up was my room. There was no doubt, seeing the bed decorated in my mother’s taste.

 

Everything in the room was the same as before.

 

Everything was intact except for a slight burning smell.

 

‘Was it a dream?’

 

If it was a dream, it was definitely a terrible nightmare.

 

I was resentful that I hadn’t screamed and woken up in the middle.

 

After a while, I got out of bed with a dazed feeling.

 

As soon as I put my foot on the floor, my head spun, and I staggered for a moment.

 

“Ugh, my head.”

 

I barely managed to stand on my wobbly legs.

 

Then, I slowly moved towards the door.

 

It was late at night, but I was actually a little scared to sleep alone like this.

 

I have to go to Jeremy.

 

It might be a bit of a collapse of my dignity as a sister, but somehow, I felt that feeling his small, warm skin would quickly calm my anxious heart, troubled by nightmares.

 

I carefully reached out and pulled the doorknob.

 

“….?”

 

My plan was thwarted, and the door was locked from the outside.

 

The creeping anxiety instantly turned into a big fire, engulfing me.

 

Amidst the confusion, I grabbed the doorknob and shook it hard.

 

When it didn’t open, I pounded on the door with my fist.

 

“Is anyone out there?!”

 

I pounded on the door until my fist hurt, but there was no response.

 

A chill ran down my spine.

 

I rushed to the window and threw open the curtains.

 

“…..”

 

The scenery outside the window, which had been so peaceful until recently, was truly a scene of carnage.

 

Gray smoke was billowing everywhere, and the corpses of soldiers who had fallen bleeding were scattered all around.

 

My legs gave way, and I collapsed to the ground.

 

If there was a miniature version of hell, would that be it?

 

Unlike my room, which was all pink, with a thin glass window in between, the outside was filled with only colorless despair.

 

‘It wasn’t a dream……’

 

My cheeks, which I pinched hard to see if I hadn’t woken up yet, hurt so much that tears came out.

 

I didn’t want to believe it, but it was definitely reality.

 

After staring blankly out the window for a while, I took out the sword hidden under the bed.

 

There was no longer anywhere to run, and I shouldn’t run away.

 

‘Find Jeremy. And get out of here.’

 

Only that thought filled my head.

 

It was then that I heard a sound from the door.

 

I held my breath and approached the door.

 

The hand holding the sword was already soaked with sweat, but I gripped it even harder so it wouldn’t slip.

 

Please be off guard. Please think I’m still lying in that bed.

 

A prayer came to mind in my anxious heart.

 

Finally, the door opened.