Chapter 43

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Chapter 43

The carriage containing Min-ha, Seth and Noah quickly left Persen Castle and headed through the forest.

The golden carriage, driven by the elite knights of the Persen family, was so peaceful that it was almost impossible to feel any major vibrations even though it was running on a rough forest path.

Min-ha was talking to Noah, who was excitedly watching the scenery outside the window passing by quickly.

“Brother, sister-in-law! Look at that! What’s that?”

“Well, it looks like a bird to me?”

“What bird is it? Is it a bird that only lives here?”

“Hmm… I don’t know either. Let’s look for it together next time?”

Min-ha’s voice, responding to Noah’s cute chatter, was somehow weak.

It was because she was aware of her feelings for Seth, and at the same time, her head was complicated due to the trouble with the situation and her feelings for unknown anxiety.

Perhaps, realizing that Min-ha’s appearance was strange, Noah hesitated to continue his words. Seth, who was watching the two of them, asked carefully.

“…Are you sick?”

“Yes?”

“You’ve been strangely out of energy for a while, so I was wondering if you might be uncomfortable somewhere. Shall I loosen the corset a little more?”

“…Ah.”

“Sister-in-law, where are you sick?”

Their faces and voices were full of genuine concern.

‘I made them worried…’

At that, Min-ha felt sorry for making the two of them worry about her troubles for nothing. However, still hesitant to confide in her true feelings, she pointed to her head and gave the excuse that came to mind.

“Ah… that’s not it. I guess I have motion sickness. I’m feeling a little dizzy.”

“Are you very dizzy?”

​​

“No, not a lot. Only a little.”

Hearing her words, Noah asked, holding her arms with a frown on his face.

Min-ha was pricked in her conscience at the sight of him, but she continued to lie because she could not take back what she had said. On the other hand, Seth, who was also gazing at her complexion, clicked her tongue slightly before moving to her side.

“It must have been that the carriage was too fast. Let’s stop the wagon and take a break for a while until you are all right.”

“Oh, no. What if we don’t arrive on time? It’s fine. I don’t want to bother you.”

“What do you mean, bother? You’re uncomfortable, of course, we should stop.”

“Still… I heard that this is an important part where important people gather. If we’re late, we’ll be in trouble.”

​​

“…If it was really the you before, you would’ve told me to stop the carriage even if it was urgent. At times like this, I sometimes miss how you were back then.”

“So, you don’t like me now?”

“I answered that question before… I don’t hate it.”

In response to her question, Seth smiled before carefully placing his hand on her forehead. When the place he touched on her forehead became slightly warmer, he stared back at Min-ha worriedly.

“I’m sure you have a little fever… Who’s driving the carriage right now?”

“Yes, Captain. It’s me!”

“Gawin, stop the carriage for a second. It seems that the wife has motion sickness.”

“Yes, sir!”

Gawin’s answer was heard by Seth after he opened the window, and the carriage slowly stopped moving. After the carriage completely stopped, Seth opened the door and glanced back at Min-ha, who was holding Noah.

“Let’s take a break and get some fresh air outside. It’s also nice to take a short walk, shall we go out?”

“No, it’s all right. I’ll shut my eyes for a bit.”

“I want to be next to my sister-in-law!”

When Min-ha shook her head to the question, Noah also replied by sticking his head out of her arms.

Seth, who smiled slightly at the answers of the two, approached her again and spoke with her worried face.

“Are you very dizzy?”

“No, not that much…”

“That’s a relief.”

At her words, Seth relaxed his grimacing expression as if relieved and sat down next to her, before lightly patting his shoulder with his hand. Min-ha, not knowing what that appearance meant, tilted her head.

​​

“Lean on my shoulder for a second.”

​​

“Yes…?!”

“They said it would be better to lean on something when you have motion sickness.”

“No, I don’t want to… I’m shy.”

​​

“Isn’t it better than having a headache because of motion sickness?”

“….”

“Please, sister-in-law! My brother’s shoulders are very strong!”

“….”

At a loss, Min-ha did not know what to say to Seth’s natural suggestion.

Who was the one who got her confused now? It was because of him who made her heart feel dizzy since he had been so sweet. Nevertheless, she also wanted to lean on his shoulder because it looked so reassuring.

As she was lost in thought for a moment, Min-ha looked back at Seth, who stared intently at her as if waiting for an answer, and Noah with twinkling eyes.

‘Should I lean on him and close my eyes for a second?’

In the end, after she hesitated, Min-ha moved her head and placed it on Seth’s shoulder.

As if waiting, Seth gently stroked her hair and said softly.

“Just stay like this and take a nap. You’ll feel less dizzy soon.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to sleep like this, too. To be honest, I was a little tired of handling the territories because of this incident.”

“…Really?”

“Noah, what do you want to do? Do you want me to call Lancelot?”

“Me, too! I want to take a nap with my brother and sister-in-law!”

“Then, come this way. Sister-in-law is not feeling well right now.”

“Yes, brother.”

With her leaning against his shoulder, Seth brought Noah, who was holding onto Min-ha, close to him. With his eyes shut and Noah in his arms, he rested his head on the back of the carriage.

“….”

After a while.

Min-ha, who was quietly leaning on Seth’s shoulder and closed her eyes, suppressing her pounding heart, carefully opened her eyes when everyone fell asleep. And, still resting her head on his shoulder, she turned her head slightly to gaze at Seth, who was asleep, and Noah in his arms.

As if separated from the world, there were only Seth, Noah, and herself in the carriage.

Min-ha, who was awake by herself, is now adrift in her thoughts again.

She could not deny her anymore…

She likes Seth.

…It was fine until she acknowledged her own feelings. The moment she became aware of and acknowledged her heart, her heart continued to grow heavy with the reality she was in and her situation.

She possessed the body of Minase Persen, the former royalty of the empire and Duchess of Persen, but her ‘soul’ was twenty-year-old Kim Min-ha from the Republic of Korea.

In other words, although she was Kim Min-ha, she was not really Kim Min-ha, and even though her body was Minase Persen, she was not Minase Persen either…

Can she love him without even being honest about herself? In any case, he was the husband of Minase Persen.

In the beginning, it was easy for Min-ha to lie to Seth, who she saw for the first time and was someone who hated her.

After all, she thought he was just someone whom she would not see for a long time, anyway.

In fact, it was easy to lie to Noah as well. Even cute Noah would one day grow up to be a young man, and after that, they will naturally become distant. Then, one day, even the memories she shared with him will fade.

Therefore, instead of revealing that she was not Minase Persen, Min-ha pretended to be her while trying her best to adapt to the strange world she got thrown into where she knew nothing at all.

So, until she leaves the mansion, Min-ha recovered the generosity and interacted with the adorable Noah, which Minase Persen had lost in a reasonable way so that she would not feel uncomfortable.

Was it wrong for her to jump in with such a thought? She gave her heart to Noah and Seth more than she thought… To the point that she even came to like Seth.

‘…What should I do in this situation?’

​​

Min-ha pondered and pondered.

Should she continue to live as Minase Persen like this? Or, at least, to Seth Persen, should she be honest with him and tell him everything…?

If she continues to live as Minase Persen, she will not have to prove herself to be Kim Min-ha with difficult and lengthy explanations, though in the end, she has to keep lying and deceiving him.

In the opposite case, even though she would not have to lie, she has to convince Seth and she does not know whether he will accept it or not.

And, in the worst case, he may not be able to accept Minase Persen, who was possessed by Kim Min-ha…

​​

‘What should I do?’

Min-ha agonized countless times.

Finally, after such a long deliberation, she finally came to a conclusion as she gazed at Seth, who had just fallen asleep.

‘Let’s be honest… about my own identity.’

…And, leave the judgment to him. Because love cannot stand on lies, and she could not lie to the one she likes anymore.

After coming to a harrowing conclusion, Min-ha looked at the faces of Seth and Noah, who had fallen asleep once again before closing her eyes, still resting her head on Seth’s strong shoulders…

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