NIYTR 46

Chapter 46

The Starting Point of All Misfortune

All of Edelweiss’s misfortunes began with the Duke of Stern.

The starting point was always him.

It was because of him that she trusted and relied on Rosemary.

It was because of him that she loved Adolf and dreamed of a future with him.

“Because I never once received your love… I believed someone who claimed to love me.

I deluded myself into thinking that kind of love would never abandon me.

Because I’d never experienced real love before, I didn’t know how to tell the difference.”

“…”

“If you had loved me, I would’ve known that wasn’t love.”

Adolf had never loved her.

Because he didn’t love her, he discarded her—just like the Duke of Stern had.

If he had loved her, he wouldn’t have abandoned her like that.

“Are you upset because I only cared about your sister?

Edelweiss, one day when you’re a parent, you’ll understand.

You can’t possibly imagine what it felt like to raise you under someone else’s name,

unable to even give you the Stern family name.”

“……”

“I don’t know if it was such a crime to spend a little more time with Rosemary—

a child who couldn’t even call me ‘Father’ in public.”

Once again, the Duke of Stern demanded Edelweiss’s understanding.

“As a daughter of Stern, you lacked for nothing,

and when you left to live with my sister and became the adopted daughter of Blossomweaver,

I said nothing.

Why are you so selfish…?”

To him, she had always been the one who wanted too much,

and Rosemary was always the pitiful one.

“I’m so afraid of becoming a parent like you—

so afraid my child might grow up the way I did—

that I’ve decided I’ll never have one.

So no, I guess I’ll never understand how you feel.

What a shame.”

“…Edelweiss!”

“Spend the rest of your life with Rosemary in your little greenhouse.”

Edelweiss ignored the Duke of Stern’s call and walked away.

And from the opposite side, she ran into Damian.

“Why is your foot like that?”

“…Good question.”

Only now did the pain in the top of her foot become sharp and clear.

“You really are… such high maintenance.”

“……”

“Even more than Charlotte.”

Damian approached with long strides. At the same time, her vision tilted. A firm arm, accompanied by a warm presence, effortlessly lifted Edelweiss.

He glanced at her foot and frowned at the sight of her blood-soaked shoe.

“I’ll take you to your room. Just sit still and get treated.”

“…Your Highness, there are still guests in the hall.”

Startled, Edelweiss shrank back and signaled with her eyes for him to put her down.

But Damian didn’t budge. He remained completely nonchalant.

His blue eyes lowered.

It was as if they were asking, “Why were you crying?”

“I’m really fine, I can walk on my own.”

Realizing he’d noticed, she suddenly felt embarrassed.

“Be quiet. Just stay still.” Damian tightened his hold around her.

“Do you not eat enough?”

“…What?”

“Couldn’t even tell if I was holding something or not.”

Even though this man never said a single kind word—

Edelweiss strangely felt comforted in his arms.

His warmth made sleep creep up on her.

“Young lady! Where have you been?”

Anna’s voice made her open her eyes. She came to her senses to find herself already in the corridor by her room.

The sky outside the window was now shrouded in darkness.

‘…Did I fall asleep?’

To think she had dozed off in Damian’s arms in that short time.

And that Damian hadn’t even tried to wake her—that was the most surprising part.

Damian, annoyed by Anna’s fussing, snapped,

“You. Stop being so noisy and just open the door.”

“…Yes, sir.”

Anna kept glancing worriedly at Edelweiss’s injured foot as she opened the door.

Damian carried Edelweiss inside and walked straight to the bed.

He gently set her down and sat across from her.

“Don’t just stand there. Go get something for treatment.”

With a flick of his hand, Damian ordered, and Anna scurried about.

“…Uncle said he was going to get a doctor. He must’ve been worried when I disappeared,”

Edelweiss murmured, remembering the Marquis of Blossomweaver.

“Anna, please go downstairs and let Uncle know I’m fine and he doesn’t need to worry too much. What about the guests?”

“The guests have all left. They didn’t hear about the incident in the lounge, so don’t worry. Also, your coming-of-age gifts and the key the marquis gave you are organized on the table.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

Anna left, glancing back at Edelweiss the whole way.

Her eyes lingered on Damian, filled with a subtle hostility—like she feared he might do something to Edelweiss.

“You have quite the loyal personal maid.”

Damian noticed too and let out a short laugh.

“I’ll talk to her later. I’m sorry if she offended you.”

Worried Anna might say something inappropriate when facing Damian, Edelweiss answered quickly.

“Are you trying to protect her because you think I’d retaliate?”

“……”

“This is the part where you’re supposed to say no.”

Edelweiss couldn’t help but lift the corners of her lips at Damian’s dry laugh.

“I’m not going to anyway. Too much trouble.”

Click—

He answered in a disinterested tone as he unfastened the gold cufflinks on his sleeve.

Edelweiss’s gaze followed the subtle movements of his hands. As he rolled up the sleeve of his white shirt, his firm forearm was revealed—smooth and solid as if to prove his status as a naval officer.

Even without flexing, thick veins naturally stood out beneath his skin. Damian took hold of both her feet in one hand.

“…What are you doing?”

The sensation overlapped with when he had pulled her into his arms earlier, like he was trying to keep her from escaping.

There was an overbearing pressure that felt like he might grasp her tightly at any moment—yet there was a gentle warmth just beyond it.

He picked up tweezers and removed the sharp glass shard embedded in the top of her foot.

Edelweiss felt embarrassed that Damian was seeing her bare foot.

A wave of shame surged like a storm.

Worried he might hear the pounding of her heart, she held her breath.

“Your Highness, p-please let me go.”

But Damian didn’t even respond.

He completely ignored her plea and continued working.

This situation was nothing like when she had asked him to tie her sash.

Showing her feet to a man before marriage was practically a taboo.

Panicked, she grabbed his arm, but it was useless.

“If you’re going to stop me, you should try harder.”

His hands moved fluidly. His skill was so refined he could be mistaken for a real doctor.

Mesmerized by the ease of it, she stared without realizing—until Damian narrowed his eyes.

“That day, the wound you stared at.”

He must be talking about the claw-like scar on his shoulder.

‘I didn’t mean to look…’

She felt wronged all of a sudden.

She had knocked, after all. It was he who had mistaken her for the Marchioness of Riche and opened the door shirtless.

“I wasn’t staring.”

“You looked pretty passionate to me.”

Realizing Damian was teasing her and enjoying the situation, Edelweiss clamped her mouth shut.

“Don’t worry. That one healed because I treated it myself too.”

“T-That big of a wound… by yourself?”

“In the navy, getting injured is nothing special. You think there’s always a doctor around when death is everywhere at sea?”

“……”

“When you’re hurt on the sea, you survive however you can. Any proper sailor knows how to take care of at least this much.”

Maybe it was because he had fought so hard to stay alive that he had become this way.

“…Still.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

“If I were afraid of death, I wouldn’t have set sail in the first place. I already made arrangements for someone to protect Charlotte if I ever died.”

Hearing him speak so plainly about death, Edelweiss felt an odd sense of kinship—and a pang of sadness.

His trained muscles drew elegant lines even with the smallest movements.

“…Ow.”

The moment Damian poured antiseptic over her wound, she flinched from the sharp sting.