CH 112

The night passed.

For the first time since I married Wilhelm-sama, I spent the night on the same bed. I woke up earlier, so I watched Wilhelm-sama sleeping next to me.

His eyes were closed, but his dignified features were still plain to see.

At last—we were united.

I was so happy that I could not stop smiling broadly. I could not keep my lips from curling up.

Gently, I touched his white beard. A little tickled by it, Wilhelm-sama’s brows knitted.

「Hm……」

「Oh……Sorry, did I wake you? 」

「No……I slept well. Carol, was it not too cramped? 」

「No, I am fine」

Greeting the same morning on the same bed—how delightful!

However, Wilhelm-sama gave a wry smile and covered his face with his left hand.

As though—he was regretting it.

「Ah……that, Carol. It hurt……did it not? 」

「……just a little」

「……Sorry」

「There is no need to be sorry. It is what I wanted」

I was the one who wished to be embraced.

And Wilhelm-sama granted that wish of mine. That was the happiest thing. Finally, we were able to become one—.

It had been ten years since I fell in love with Wilhelm-sama. Such feelings had finally come true.

Was there any happiness more than this?

「I will probably be cursed to death by Dukeridd」

「My grandfather? 」

「He doted on you, Carol. So much that he declared he will never give you away for marriage」

「My……」

I did not remember much about my grandfather.

If I was not mistaken, he passed away when I was eight years old. At that time, I could only think about Wilhelm-sama, and soon after that, my engagement with His Highness Rayford was decided. Had my grandfather been alive, perhaps I would not have been engaged to His Highness Rayford.

And without the breaking of engagement by His Highness Rayford, perhaps I would have been married to the heir of an ordinary noble house. Had that happened, there would not have been a future in which I was married to Wilhelm-sama like this.

Fate is such a complicated thing.

「Dukeridd and I go back a long way」

「Yes, I have heard you attended the academy together」

「He had always been the heir of a ducal house, but he never thought about his status. And though I was from a noble house, we were just poor nobles. Even so, he often went with me, ignoring those from good families who curry favor with him. A part of me was hesitant since he was a duke’s son……but he was able to convince me that he did not care about such difference in status」

「……so Grandfather was like that」

「Therefore, I often attended parties held at the Ambrose ducal house. I firmly refused the invitations after Dukeridd’s death……but when he was still alive, he would change the date of the party if I had other plans」

They really were close.

I had never heard of my grandfather from Wilhelm-sama. But it was fun listening to the story of my late grandfather like this.

Still.

I had to thank my grandfather.

That in this way—Wilhelm-sama and I were able to meet each other.

「Shall we visit Dukeridd’s grave next time? I have to report to him」

「Yes. Let us go together then」

「I will make sure he knows that this was also Carol’s wish. Otherwise, he will give me a beating in the afterlife」

Kuku, Wilhelm-sama let out a laugh.

My grandfather passed away eight years ago. If he was still alive, he would be the same age as Wilhelm-sama. Unfortunately, he left Wilhelm-sama behind and passed away first.

However, it was not like he met an untimely end. When one was over fifty years old, it was not strange for their time to come soon—that was common sense. And so, the main notion in noble families was to hand over the head position once they passed fifty.

Wilhelm was sixty-two years old.

It was not strange for death’s clutches to swoop down on him at any moment.

「Wilhelm-sama……」

「What is it? 」

「I am…scared……」

「Hm? 」

I wrapped my hand around Wilhelm-sama’s arm.

I was trembling, even though I was at the height of happiness that I could not be any happier than this.

My heart was being filled up with more and more apprehension.

「I am happy……but, this happiness……I wonder when it will end……」

「Carol……」

「I know there is no need to feel uneasy. But……still, just imagining Wilhelm-sama dying……my chest feels painful, it is unbearable……」

Only my age could not catch up with Wilhelm-sama no matter how hard I try.

Why, god?

Why did you let Wilhelm-sama and I set off in this world with such years apart?

If it had been much, much closer—.

Fu, Wilhelm-sama smiled.

「Carol」

「Yes……」

「Everyone will die someday. Even I do not know when I will die」

「Y-Yes……」

「But everyone will. No matter how young and healthy one may be, they could be run over by a carriage and die tomorrow. No matter how happy a young couple may be, one of them could be struck by lightning and die tomorrow」

「Eh……」

「So, it is all the same. No one knows when they will die. So, we should be happy together until we die someday」

「……」

Indeed, that was so.

I also did not know when I would die. Perhaps, I might even die before Wilhelm-sama.

Everyone was the same.

Wilhelm-sama’s chances of living up to a hundred years old were not zero. The chances of me passing away before I could turn twenty were not zero.

Then—we were the same.

「……Wilhelm-sama」

My heart became a little lighter.

Though our age did not match, we were husband and wife. Until the time one of us would pass away, we would be husband and wife.

So, until then.

I—wanted to be happy.

「I love you」

「Me, too. I love you, Carol」

Therefore.

Until then, please make me happy—Wilhelm-sama.