CH 7

It seems that I’ve been too proud since Shuline has been silent ever since.

I was trying to be as quiet as I could since I was trying to read Shuline’s mind.

In the midst of the uncomfortable silence, the door suddenly swung open without even a sign of a knock.

I was surprised by the loud noise, but I was happy to have a saviour to break this tense atmosphere.

The two people who came through the door were Luna and the knight.

But this joy of mine ended as quickly as it came. Luna’s face was soaked with tears.

“Madammmm Lindel!”

As soon as Luna saw me, she started to wail loudly.

I knew she’d be worried, but I didn’t expect Luna to cry this much.

The maid who took care of me since I was a child till adulthood, it was unlikely to see her cry so sadly.

Of course, the maid hated me as she was my father’s maid. But Luna also had no reason to like me that much, so it was surprising for her to worry about me to this extent

Luna was still young and seemed to be sensitive.

“Luna, stop crying. I’m fine.”

“Don’t say you’re fine! How does this look fine?!”

I just opened my mouth to soothe the crying child, but Luna stopped crying and screamed.

I paused, embarrassed after hearing that statement and Luna fell onto the bed and cried bitterly.

“Poor Madam Lindel. How is this fine? Vomiting this much blood, really, really…! ”

Luna sobbed and cried incomprehensibly as though she could not speak.

Normally, Luna’s wailing would be considered burdensome. But on the other hand, it was heartbreaking to see her so sad and weeping for me.

It hasn’t been long since we met, but I felt Luna’s pure concern for me.

‘Luna…!’

Until now, I couldn’t care less about Luna because I had a lot on my plate. But I’ve decided that I’d be kind to her from now on.

However, my emotions were shattered by Luna’s words.

“Why does Lindel always say act like she’s okay? I already know everything!”

“You know what?”

“Of course, I didn’t know from the very beginning. I acted foolishly, as Madam Lindel intended.”

It was shocking to hear that I intended to do something. All I did here was eat, sleep, roll around, and wondered what everyone was talking about.

Luna got up from lying on her stomach and shouted dramatically.

“You’re rolling around doing nothing every day! So, I, Luna, foolishly thought that Madam Lindel was a han-ryang*.”

TL/N: a person who enjoys life and has no worries about their future and so on even though others work hard or try to achieve their goals

“H-Han-ryang?”

“Madam Lindel was always lazy, had no appetite, just staring into space with a blank face. I was disappointed that you were so different from your nickname ‘Unfortunate Genius.’”

Every word Luna uttered became an arrow and stabbed me repeatedly.

I felt a little ashamed hearing that my appearance looked so pathetic.

Some of Luna’s words were offensive. However… ‘Unfortunate Genius’, I never thought I’d have such a strange nickname.

“What do you mean by an unfortunate genius-.”

But Luna’s words didn’t end there.

“However!”

“No, I think my nickname is a little weird-“

“But now I know everything.”

Luna gazed mournfully at me with excessively burdensome eyes.

* * *

Luna Valentine was an imperial maid.

A girl who was recognized for her ability at a young age was given the responsibility of serving Lindel Vaud de Bachne.

In fact, there was a reason for her ability, but Luna, who is completely unaware of Lindel’s current avoidance of people, won the position of her exclusive maid.

Anyway, Lindel Vaud de Bachne, whom Luna served, was a very famous figure.

Lindel, the youngest deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, was an influential person who put a powerless prince on the throne.

It was no exaggeration to say that everyone in the Empire knew her, but it was not just for the particular reason above.

Lindel was also famous for her terrible one-sided love.

The genius knight, respected by many, was far more famous for her unattainable love for the Emperor.

But this was not the end of Lindel’s misfortune.

She has an incurable disease.

The mighty knight was gradually weakened by an unknown disease, and when she could no longer lift a sword, she tried to leave as quietly as she could.

Lindel just smiled through her pain and tried to disappear without anyone knowing. 

People felt sorry for the unfortunate knight who had remained resolute until the very end.

Luna was very embarrassed when she first found out that she had to serve this unfortunate person.

The imperial palace was a place where you had to keep your head down and act carefully in order to survive. In such a position, Luna had no choice but to be worried as she was assigned to serve a being that attracted the public eye.

In addition, Lindel was a noble.

After becoming deputy commander of the Guards, she was awarded the title of Count by the Emperor.

Unlike those that inherited their title, it was usually not a big deal to obtain a title solely through their own skill.

Moreover, in this case, it was not a Baron or Viscount, but a Count. I wonder how high she’ll hold her nose.

For this reason, Luna had a difficult time with Lindel.

But in reality, Lindel was the kind of person Luna had never met.

“Give me your hands.”

“Y-Yes?”

“There’s nothing to be so nervous about. Can you give me your hand for a second?”

It was while she was helping Lindel eat.

Lindel was always quiet and didn’t talk to Luna very much.

It was at this time that Lindel, who had always sat quietly with a pale face, first spoke to Luna.

Luna held out her hands, frightened.

Usually, when her hand were held out this way, she was scared because the whip always followed.

To Luna’s surprise, Lindel wrapped Luna’s wrist in a soft cloth instead of hitting her with a whip.

“You hurt your wrist. If you continue to use your strength, you will suffer more later on.”

Lindel smiled faintly as she tied the cloth sincerely.

“Get some rest now that you’ve finished work. Thank you for always working hard.”

Luna was pushed by the hands of other children that morning on her way back from picking up the laundry.

This was normal as she was often bullied by a group of low-ranking nobles for being a commoner.

I probably sprained my wrist when I picked up the laundry basket. Of course, no one cared about the wound of a mere maid.

But Lindel, who had always looked indifferent, immediately noticed Luna’s wounds.

Luna was embarrassed.

Later that day Luna examined Lindel more carefully.

Until then, Luna thought Lindel was quite a pushover, contrary to rumours.

Lindel was always lazy.

When she woke up, she nibbled on the food and stared at the air blankly to pass the time.

Her face was pale, but she didn’t even look very ill.

Because of that, Luna tilted her head, confused.

Lindel, who was concerned about Luna’s wounds, seemed like a good person but seemed quite different from the rumours.

Contrary to the gossip saying that she was going to die soon, there was no sign of any sadness.

But one day, late at night, Luna saw Lindel quietly looking out the window.

The eyes that stared at the stars in the night sky were still blank.

The same black eyes, unfocused, were the same as usual, but they looked somewhat gloomy due to the veil of the night.

Because of that, Luna opened her mouth without realizing it.

“Do you need anything? If you can’t sleep, I’ll bring you a glass of wine.”

“That’d be great.”

Lindel replied softly without taking her eyes off the starry sky.

“Well, I don’t really know what I want…”

Luna suddenly had a  feeling that Lindel was about to disappear in front of her.

She was right in front of me. Yet somehow, I felt like I could never reach her no matter how far I reached.

“It’s windy. You’re not feeling well, so why don’t you go to bed now?”

“I’m not sick.”

Lindel spoke with a sigh.

“I can’t be sick, I’m…”

“Madam Lindel?”

“Luna. People always listen to what they want to hear. They ignore the truth and only believe what they can see. It’s stupid, but I can’t blame them.”

Lindel smiled faintly with a troubled face.

“Because it’s all my fault.”

“Well, that’s not true. I don’t know what’s going on, but everyone is worried about Lindel.”

“I know. They’re good people.”

Lindel’s voice was as faint as her smile.

“I’d be happy to be with you for a long time.”

Luna suddenly realized. Oh, this person is really going to die. Lindel was assuming she had little time left.

The face that usually looked blank suddenly seemed very miserable when I looked more closely. The eyes that I thought were blankly staring into space seemed to be actually thinking of her loved ones.

What didn’t seem very sick was actually trying to look like that.

She was enduring the pain, fearing that those left behind would grieve.

Luna could no longer speak. She felt like she could cry at any second. Lindel was really getting ready to leave.

“M-Madam Lindel, you’re going to be fine.”

Luna’s voice trembled terribly.

Why did the Heavens want to take such an unfortunate person because she was indifferent?

I was resentful of how there were so many bad people out there but the Heavens wanted to take such a good person.

Despite Luna’s unsure voice, Lindel answered kindly.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

With a face that wasn’t even close to being all right, Lindel laughed.

* * * 

“The reason why you didn’t move too much was because of the pain. It must have been extremely painful. You were so upset that you couldn’t even eat properly, but you always pretended to be okay so I wouldn’t worry.”

TL/N: This is Luna speaking

I was just lazy. There was nothing to do now since I wasn’t a knight anymore.

And the food was quite unreasonable from my point of view. The meal for patients had no liver and did not taste very good.

“Did you refuse to eat because your stomach was unwell?”

Next to Luna, Shuline added somberly as if he had just known.

I couldn’t believe what they were saying and answered without realizing it.

“No, I just couldn’t eat it because it didn’t taste good.”

Shuline looked at me with sad eyes without saying a word. No, I really couldn’t eat it because it tasted really bad. So I don’t know why they’re looking at me that way. 

“Then what about when you blank out? You were actually remembering your loved ones, right?”

I was right about to just blank out on that too.

Since there wasn’t much I could do, I blanked out sometimes without even realizing it.

But the knight, who was listening quietly next to him, covered his mouth and lowered his head.

“It’s not like that, so don’t cry.”

“But you always pretend to be okay.”

A tear ran down Luna’s cheek again.

“You should worry about the others.”

“Gasp!”

As if Luna’s words drove a knife through his heart, the knight turned his back, hiding his cry. His shoulders trembled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never done that. You’ve misunderstood, Luna.”

I refuted Luna’s comment because I thought she would say something weird again if I left it at that any longer.

The knight was already crying in sympathy, so I looked at Shuline to help clear up this misunderstanding.

But his eyes were already wet, too.

“No, why are you looking at me like that.”

My words became straightforward.