Chapter 54. The Last Words
The tailor’s master cautiously stepped into the room and let out a soft sigh upon seeing Bella.
It had already been ten days. Bella hadn’t left her father’s side for a moment.
He worried that at this rate, Bella might fall ill before Baron Osich passed away.
“Bella. Why don’t you rest even a little?”
“I’m fine.”
Bella lifted her head at the master’s voice.
She had spent the entire day holding her father’s hand, recalling the happy memories of her childhood. She clung to the faint hope that he might awaken if she did so.
But life was not a fairy tale, a play, or a novel; such dramatic moments never came. It seemed inevitable. Throughout Bella’s life, dramatic moments had always leaned more toward misfortune than luck.
“Still, you’ve been stuck in this room for over a week. At this rate, you’ll get sick too.”
The master examined Bella’s complexion.
In that time, her eyes had darkened, her body had grown thin, and the sparkle in her violet eyes had dimmed. Her lively gestures had slowed, each movement now laborious.
“I really am fine. No matter how much I resented it, I want to be by Father’s side at the end. I just want to.”
“Wait here. I’ll bring some stew.”
“Thank you.”
Bella offered a faint smile of gratitude. She appreciated the space the master had given her to care for her ailing father and the concern for her own health amid it all.
“What’s there to thank me for? I’m the one who should be grateful. Thanks to you, Bella, you even got into the academy.”
In the bag Bella had brought were gold coins—money that had originally been intended for a small house her father could live in alone.
“It’s because you sold me your status that I could even live like this. I should have helped you from the start, of course.”
“Still, thank you, Bella.”
With a warm smile, the master left the room. Once again, only father and daughter remained, and silence hung heavily.
Bella continued staring at her father’s unresponsive face with a weary expression, finally speaking softly.
“Father… do you remember? Every winter, we would climb the back hill to go hunting.”
“…….”
Her chapped lips traced a faint smile as she recalled the memories.
“I still feel happy thinking about those times. The memories of you teaching me swordsmanship, the times you offered me gifts with your calloused hands—they all make me happy.”
“…….”
“You were someone extraordinary. When it was nearly impossible for a commoner to become a noble, you became a knight, earned honor, and became one. I’m trying now, and it’s incredibly difficult.”
“…….”
“Father… I’m struggling, you know. Whenever I whined about being tired, you’d scoop me up in your arms. So why aren’t you waking up now?”
“…….”
Without a home or family, she had gone to the capital alone, working as a maid. There had never been a moment without hardship. Perhaps every moment was difficult.
The hardest days were not the ones burdened with work but the holidays. Everyone returned home to their families, and Bella was alone.
During such times, she curled up in bed, remembering her joyful childhood and her father’s clumsy but warm comfort.
“Father… please, just once…”
Just as tears began forming in Bella’s eyes, dry and devoid of moisture, Baron Osich’s fingertip twitched ever so slightly.
“…Be…Bella…?”
“…!”
When Bella lifted her head, she saw her father’s eyes faintly open.
“…Beel…la.”
“Are you conscious? Father! Just a moment, I’ll fetch the physician!”
As Bella hurried to leave, his grasp on her hand faltered.
“Bella. I will soon die.”
“Don’t say that! Now that you’re conscious, you’ll recover!”
“Listen to me carefully, Bella.”
Baron Osich’s eyes were filled with a sharpness that seemed almost unnatural. He looked as if he had been fully cured of any illness.
Overwhelmed with joy at her father’s sudden improvement, Bella wiped the tears from her eyes with a smiling face.
“If you’re going to give unsolicited advice, just say you love me instead.”
“Never trust the royal family.”
“…What suddenly brought that up?”
Bella’s eyes widened at the unexpected words. Her father had served the royal family as a knight, loyal to the crown more than to the nobility.
“Bella. No matter how well you do, never associate with the royal family. Understand?”
Baron Osich held Bella’s hand firmly, repeating his warning. Bella was confused, wondering if her father’s mind was truly sound despite his body’s recovery.
“…I don’t understand. If you’d warned me about nobles, I could follow that advice. But why are you suddenly talking about the royal family?”
“Zhan.”
“Zhan?”
Fear flashed clearly in Baron Osich’s hazy eyes. He grasped Bella’s arms urgently.
“Yes. Zhan. Never, ever drink anything. Especially anything offered by the royal family.”
“…Did the royal family commit some great wrongdoing against you?”
“No. I just… heard something. I stayed silent all this time, afraid that if I spoke, you might be harmed.”
“….”
Hearing a mere rumor, he had lived in fear all his life, and now, having risen from his sickbed, he wanted to warn her.
Bella could not fully comprehend a single word or action of her father, but she was too happy to see him awake to interrupt or stop him.
“When I was a mercenary, one of my comrades once told a strange tale—that my ancestor had killed a great noble.”
“A great noble? You mean someone killed for money, and that a noble was murdered back then?”
A noble who had been killed long ago.
For some reason, Chey’s face came to mind at that moment.
“Yes. So, Bella, never accept a drink from them…”
As her father’s eyes finally closed, his hand fell limply into the air.
Time seemed to stop.
And then, unbearable fear and sorrow engulfed Bella, like a massive, unstoppable tidal wave.
“Father? Father! Stay with me! No, no, please, I’m not ready yet!”
His body, already gone, hung lifelessly.
Bella repeatedly pressed her hands to his wrist, neck, and face, desperate to feel even the faintest pulse.
But there was none. He could no longer breathe.
He had already passed away.
“Ah… ah… aaah!”
Realizing the finality of their parting, Bella screamed in agony. Collapsing before her father, she cried out as if in protest.
Does it always hurt this much? Losing a family member—it was excruciating.
“Please… show me! I’m begging you, show me!”
If she could see deceased spirits, she should be able to see her father’s soul too. Why could her eyes only see Chey’s?
It was unbearable, as if her heart were being seared by fire.
Gasping for breath, Bella clutched her father’s hand desperately, as if it were her lifeline.
Baron Osich had spoken incomprehensible words to his daughter and then passed away.
Without saying he loved her, without an apology.
“Looks like you can see me.”
Chey’s seductive voice echoed outside the darkened window. The other people, busy patrolling, could not hear it.
Only one person, meeting Chey’s gaze, froze in terror.
“What… is your name?”
The young man, appearing barely over twenty, scanned the surroundings and repeatedly looked at Chey in disbelief.
Chey didn’t approach him aggressively. Humans instinctively resist death.
Perhaps Chey’s relatively gentle approach calmed the man a bit, for he cautiously entered the mansion, glancing around.
Perched on the windowsill, Chey waited leisurely for his prey.
Well, he wouldn’t die, so it was fine. After all, their reason for being there was not to protect a ghost.
