Chloe and Gerard were reading together in the morning.
“My Lady, did you like that passage?”
Gerard asked upon noticing his wife’s eyes were glued to one of the passages in the book.
“Yes, how could they have written a scene like this?”
Chloe wondered in pure admiration. Gerard chuckled because her slightly opened mouth looked adorable.
He naturally tried to put a cookie in Chloe’s mouth. It was a big problem because he kept wanting to put something between those pouty lips.
“No, I’m fine.”
Chloe turned her head away from Gerard’s hand.
“Why? Do you want something else?”
“I need to stop eating. You’re making me fat.”
Chloe grumbled.
“I eat late night snacks every night as well as during the day. At this rate, I think I’ll have to replace all of my dresses.”
It was as she said. Gerard sat right beside Chloe night or day, and he tried to feed her something every time.
“You’ll just have to get a new set.”
However, Gerard said as if asking, ‘What’s wrong with that?’
“No, I mean…”
Chloe was quite stunned at his gentle tone.
“Even if you gain or lose weight, you’ll still be pretty.”
Of course, Gerard wished Chloe could gain some more weight now while fiddling with Chloe’s tender wrist.
Chloe’s concentration was eventually broken by her husband’s constant attention. Despite the fact that he was originally soft spoken, he had been too straightforward in expressing himself lately.
It felt nice but embarrassing to her.
“Hm, shall we get ready?”
Chloe closed her book loudly. She wanted to shake off her anxiety inside with reading, but she couldn’t concentrate.
It was also because her husband kept interrupting her, but it was mostly because of the delayed meeting caused by their fevers in recent days.
The meeting was just around the corner. Chloe bit her lip at the rising tension.
“All right, my Lady.”
Gerard gently squeezed his wife’s hand upon noticing her trembling fingertips. She seemed nervous from breakfast until now.
“It’s an important day today, so we have to prepare thoroughly.”
Gerard replied with a sweet smile. They still had a lot of time until the evening, the time of the appointment, but thinking about it made Chloe want to throw up.
Today was the day Catherine and Gaon visited Blanchett mansion.
***
A woman wearing a robe got off the carriage and took Gaon’s hand. Chloe unconsciously stiffened in her spot at the sight of the slender silhouette.
In order to calm his wife down, Gerard squeezed his wife’s hand lightly before letting go. He stepped forward and greeted the guests calmly.
“Welcome to the Blanchett mansion. I’m Gerard Blanchett.”
Gerard greeted Gaon. He omitted the Imperial greeting out of consideration for the other party.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Gaon of Ryeo.”
The two shook hands. Gerard inadvertently tried to greet him in an Imperial manner, but soon extended his hand out.
“…I haven’t seen you in a long time.”
Then, Gerard proceeded to greet the woman behind Gaon.
“Let’s go in now. We’ve only left the trustworthy servants around, so you can be at ease here.”
Catherine, who was covering herself with a robe, nodded at Gerard’s words.
The two couples sat opposite each other in the parlor of the Blanchett mansion. The silence didn’t remain long between the men and women.
Gerard spoke up as soon as Jane stepped away to prepare tea.
“Please be at ease here.”
Catherine carefully pulled back her robe upon his words.
Chloe’s eyes widened at the sight of her revealed feature.
It was really Catherine.
It was really her sister, albeit with a thin body.
“It’s been a long time, Chloe.”
Catherine spoke with a weak chuckle. Her cheeks trembled with tension.
“I heard you were sick… Are you feeling better?”
Her trepidation was revealed as she wondered if her youngest sister might refuse her.
Chloe felt it, too.
“…Why are you here?”
The words didn’t come out in a nice way. She felt hatred and resentment rather than longing and love at the sight of her sister, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Why did you leave your family behind and disappear?”
“My Lady, Rin is…”
Gaon tried to defend his wife at Chloe’s sharp remark.
“No, Gaon.”
However, Catherine stopped her husband from doing so. She made eye contact with Gaon and shook her head slightly.
“Haa…”
Chloe chuckled at that. Seeing her sister’s careful and calm behavior made her realise something. Catherine was really sitting in front of her.
Gerard gently caressed his wife’s back.
“That’s not what you really wanted to say, my Lady.”
He whispered while tucking Chloe’s hair behind her ears.
He wanted to hug Chloe, who looked up at him with his wide eyes, but he held back. It was the gentlemanly action he had to do.
Chloe asked while turning her head towards Catherine again.
“Why did you do that?”
“…”
“Why did you leave us without saying anything? Do you know how hard it’s been for us since your disappearance?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Catherine answered in a faint voice while looking down like a criminal.
“Sorry… Chloe, I’m sorry.”
Catherine apologised, tears streaming down her face.
Her apology made Chloe’s chest tighter. Her protruding lower lip quivered helplessly.
“What… What are you saying sorry for? What the h*ll are you so sorry about?”
She was so upset that she couldn’t help but be angry. She wanted to tell her sister that she missed her. She meant to say that she missed her, but anger slipped out of her lips instead.
“After you disappeared, Father drank every day, and Mother cried her heart out every day, too. Karina was busy taking care of gossip in the society, and I…”
“…”
“I, hah… I missed you so much.”
Chloe ended up crying.
“Oh, but everyone was told not to talk about you… They didn’t even let me mention your name…”
She spoke wistfully. She was angry, but she didn’t mean it.
“I miss you so much, but I couldn’t even say that I missed you!”
“Chloe…”
Catherine eventually rose from her seat. She walked up to Chloe and wiped her tears.
“Please don’t cry. I’m sorry. I was wrong, wasn’t I?”
“How could you… disappear like that?!”
Chloe hugged her sister, who was now in front of her. As if she was scared her sister would disappear again.
“And if you left like that, wouldn’t you have to live well?! Instead, why are you sick? Why’re you so thin?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Catherine pulled Chloe’s face into her arms. Even if her youngest sister had become a mother, she was still her youngest sister.
“I shouldn’t have left like that, but I wasn’t thinking straight at that time…”
They hid after being scolded by their parents who asked Catherine to draw. Joining her in bed because she was afraid of the night.
Catherine was heartbroken at the thought of the little child.
“I’m sorry.”
The two sisters hugged each other for a long time and cried loudly.
The persistence of family was truly amazing. Although she hated and resented her sister, she couldn’t hate or resent her with all her might.
It took a few minutes before the two sisters calmed down. Once again, Gaon explained Catherine’s situation on her behalf.
How Catherine suffered from a disease that was difficult to cure in Hernia. How she had to leave for the East to cure the disease. How she ended up meeting him in the process.
“What about the vomiting? Do you not vomit anymore?”
Chloe recalled the explanation she had heard from Gaon last time and asked impatiently.
“She’s fine now. There are medicines in the Ryeo Empire that can cure my disease, and the food is good there, so I’m feeling much better now.”
Catherine said while taking Gaon’s hand.
“It’s all thanks to him.”
“Rin.”
Gaon held Catherine’s hand more tightly as a response to her action.
“…You could have told me before you left. You could’ve told your family about it before leaving for the East.”
Chloe argued while staring at them alternately.
“I know.”
Catherine laughed in despair.
“I could’ve done that… I was so foolish back then.”
“What do you mean?”
“The thought that I couldn’t show my weakness to my family back then. Father, Mother, Karina… and you. Everyone depended on me…”
“…”
“I couldn’t say that I suffered from a fatal disease. I guess I despised the thought of showing my vulnerable side.”
Catherine said while laughing at herself. Chloe was left speechless.
“Now that I think about it, that seems like an excuse.”
“?”
“It was just… selfishness. I actually wanted to be free. I pretended not to, but on the other hand, the expectations and desire of my family were burdensome.”
Chloe hadn’t realised Catherine thought that way.
“So, I think I wanted to get away from everything in the end. I’m so sorry.”
She knew she suffered from a fatal disease, but she couldn’t tell her family about it. She also wanted to be free by using the disease as an excuse.
The whole story was so sad and shocking. Tears that had been wiped kept streaming down her face.
“I didn’t know it was so hard for you…”
Her sister had struggled. It turned out to be hard for her sister, whom she thought was nailing everything.
She felt very guilty to not recognize her sister’s struggle. Why had she never thought it’d be hard for her, too?
“I’m sorry.”
Chloe finally apologised to Catherine.
“No, no. Why are you apologising…”
Catherine waved her hand and patted her sister.
“All I could think about at that time was how bad my disease was. I’m sorry… I knew that I had hurt our family too.”
“Huhu…”
The pair ended up crying again.
‘Phew, I don’t think there will be any tears left at this rate.’
Gerard thought beside them with a frown. He regretted not having talked about Catherine with a more considerate mind.
He never realised how much she missed her sister until now. He should have figured it out sooner.
Once again, Gerard was hit with a realisation of how many holes there were in their marriage, which he thought was perfect.
However, it was lucky that he realised it now.
They needed to talk and share thoughts more often. So that she never had to cry on her own.
While observing Chloe’s flushed face, he reminded himself about it.
Chloe and Gerard were reading together in the morning.
“My Lady, did you like that passage?”
Gerard asked upon noticing his wife’s eyes were glued to one of the passages in the book.
“Yes, how could they have written a scene like this?”
Chloe wondered in pure admiration. Gerard chuckled because her slightly opened mouth looked adorable.
He naturally tried to put a cookie in Chloe’s mouth. It was a big problem because he kept wanting to put something between those pouty lips.
“No, I’m fine.”
Chloe turned her head away from Gerard’s hand.
“Why? Do you want something else?”
“I need to stop eating. You’re making me fat.”
Chloe grumbled.
“I eat late night snacks every night as well as during the day. At this rate, I think I’ll have to replace all of my dresses.”
It was as she said. Gerard sat right beside Chloe night or day, and he tried to feed her something every time.
“You’ll just have to get a new set.”
However, Gerard said as if asking, ‘What’s wrong with that?’
“No, I mean…”
Chloe was quite stunned at his gentle tone.
“Even if you gain or lose weight, you’ll still be pretty.”
Of course, Gerard wished Chloe could gain some more weight now while fiddling with Chloe’s tender wrist.
Chloe’s concentration was eventually broken by her husband’s constant attention. Despite the fact that he was originally soft spoken, he had been too straightforward in expressing himself lately.
It felt nice but embarrassing to her.
“Hm, shall we get ready?”
Chloe closed her book loudly. She wanted to shake off her anxiety inside with reading, but she couldn’t concentrate.
It was also because her husband kept interrupting her, but it was mostly because of the delayed meeting caused by their fevers in recent days.
The meeting was just around the corner. Chloe bit her lip at the rising tension.
“All right, my Lady.”
Gerard gently squeezed his wife’s hand upon noticing her trembling fingertips. She seemed nervous from breakfast until now.
“It’s an important day today, so we have to prepare thoroughly.”
Gerard replied with a sweet smile. They still had a lot of time until the evening, the time of the appointment, but thinking about it made Chloe want to throw up.
Today was the day Catherine and Gaon visited Blanchett mansion.
***
A woman wearing a robe got off the carriage and took Gaon’s hand. Chloe unconsciously stiffened in her spot at the sight of the slender silhouette.
In order to calm his wife down, Gerard squeezed his wife’s hand lightly before letting go. He stepped forward and greeted the guests calmly.
“Welcome to the Blanchett mansion. I’m Gerard Blanchett.”
Gerard greeted Gaon. He omitted the Imperial greeting out of consideration for the other party.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Gaon of Ryeo.”
The two shook hands. Gerard inadvertently tried to greet him in an Imperial manner, but soon extended his hand out.
“…I haven’t seen you in a long time.”
Then, Gerard proceeded to greet the woman behind Gaon.
“Let’s go in now. We’ve only left the trustworthy servants around, so you can be at ease here.”
Catherine, who was covering herself with a robe, nodded at Gerard’s words.
The two couples sat opposite each other in the parlor of the Blanchett mansion. The silence didn’t remain long between the men and women.
Gerard spoke up as soon as Jane stepped away to prepare tea.
“Please be at ease here.”
Catherine carefully pulled back her robe upon his words.
Chloe’s eyes widened at the sight of her revealed feature.
It was really Catherine.
It was really her sister, albeit with a thin body.
“It’s been a long time, Chloe.”
Catherine spoke with a weak chuckle. Her cheeks trembled with tension.
“I heard you were sick… Are you feeling better?”
Her trepidation was revealed as she wondered if her youngest sister might refuse her.
Chloe felt it, too.
“…Why are you here?”
The words didn’t come out in a nice way. She felt hatred and resentment rather than longing and love at the sight of her sister, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Why did you leave your family behind and disappear?”
“My Lady, Rin is…”
Gaon tried to defend his wife at Chloe’s sharp remark.
“No, Gaon.”
However, Catherine stopped her husband from doing so. She made eye contact with Gaon and shook her head slightly.
“Haa…”
Chloe chuckled at that. Seeing her sister’s careful and calm behavior made her realise something. Catherine was really sitting in front of her.
Gerard gently caressed his wife’s back.
“That’s not what you really wanted to say, my Lady.”
He whispered while tucking Chloe’s hair behind her ears.
He wanted to hug Chloe, who looked up at him with his wide eyes, but he held back. It was the gentlemanly action he had to do.
Chloe asked while turning her head towards Catherine again.
“Why did you do that?”
“…”
“Why did you leave us without saying anything? Do you know how hard it’s been for us since your disappearance?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Catherine answered in a faint voice while looking down like a criminal.
“Sorry… Chloe, I’m sorry.”
Catherine apologised, tears streaming down her face.
Her apology made Chloe’s chest tighter. Her protruding lower lip quivered helplessly.
“What… What are you saying sorry for? What the h*ll are you so sorry about?”
She was so upset that she couldn’t help but be angry. She wanted to tell her sister that she missed her. She meant to say that she missed her, but anger slipped out of her lips instead.
“After you disappeared, Father drank every day, and Mother cried her heart out every day, too. Karina was busy taking care of gossip in the society, and I…”
“…”
“I, hah… I missed you so much.”
Chloe ended up crying.
“Oh, but everyone was told not to talk about you… They didn’t even let me mention your name…”
She spoke wistfully. She was angry, but she didn’t mean it.
“I miss you so much, but I couldn’t even say that I missed you!”
“Chloe…”
Catherine eventually rose from her seat. She walked up to Chloe and wiped her tears.
“Please don’t cry. I’m sorry. I was wrong, wasn’t I?”
“How could you… disappear like that?!”
Chloe hugged her sister, who was now in front of her. As if she was scared her sister would disappear again.
“And if you left like that, wouldn’t you have to live well?! Instead, why are you sick? Why’re you so thin?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Catherine pulled Chloe’s face into her arms. Even if her youngest sister had become a mother, she was still her youngest sister.
“I shouldn’t have left like that, but I wasn’t thinking straight at that time…”
They hid after being scolded by their parents who asked Catherine to draw. Joining her in bed because she was afraid of the night.
Catherine was heartbroken at the thought of the little child.
“I’m sorry.”
The two sisters hugged each other for a long time and cried loudly.
The persistence of family was truly amazing. Although she hated and resented her sister, she couldn’t hate or resent her with all her might.
It took a few minutes before the two sisters calmed down. Once again, Gaon explained Catherine’s situation on her behalf.
How Catherine suffered from a disease that was difficult to cure in Hernia. How she had to leave for the East to cure the disease. How she ended up meeting him in the process.
“What about the vomiting? Do you not vomit anymore?”
Chloe recalled the explanation she had heard from Gaon last time and asked impatiently.
“She’s fine now. There are medicines in the Ryeo Empire that can cure my disease, and the food is good there, so I’m feeling much better now.”
Catherine said while taking Gaon’s hand.
“It’s all thanks to him.”
“Rin.”
Gaon held Catherine’s hand more tightly as a response to her action.
“…You could have told me before you left. You could’ve told your family about it before leaving for the East.”
Chloe argued while staring at them alternately.
“I know.”
Catherine laughed in despair.
“I could’ve done that… I was so foolish back then.”
“What do you mean?”
“The thought that I couldn’t show my weakness to my family back then. Father, Mother, Karina… and you. Everyone depended on me…”
“…”
“I couldn’t say that I suffered from a fatal disease. I guess I despised the thought of showing my vulnerable side.”
Catherine said while laughing at herself. Chloe was left speechless.
“Now that I think about it, that seems like an excuse.”
“?”
“It was just… selfishness. I actually wanted to be free. I pretended not to, but on the other hand, the expectations and desire of my family were burdensome.”
Chloe hadn’t realised Catherine thought that way.
“So, I think I wanted to get away from everything in the end. I’m so sorry.”
She knew she suffered from a fatal disease, but she couldn’t tell her family about it. She also wanted to be free by using the disease as an excuse.
The whole story was so sad and shocking. Tears that had been wiped kept streaming down her face.
“I didn’t know it was so hard for you…”
Her sister had struggled. It turned out to be hard for her sister, whom she thought was nailing everything.
She felt very guilty to not recognize her sister’s struggle. Why had she never thought it’d be hard for her, too?
“I’m sorry.”
Chloe finally apologised to Catherine.
“No, no. Why are you apologising…”
Catherine waved her hand and patted her sister.
“All I could think about at that time was how bad my disease was. I’m sorry… I knew that I had hurt our family too.”
“Huhu…”
The pair ended up crying again.
‘Phew, I don’t think there will be any tears left at this rate.’
Gerard thought beside them with a frown. He regretted not having talked about Catherine with a more considerate mind.
He never realised how much she missed her sister until now. He should have figured it out sooner.
Once again, Gerard was hit with a realisation of how many holes there were in their marriage, which he thought was perfect.
However, it was lucky that he realised it now.
They needed to talk and share thoughts more often. So that she never had to cry on her own.
While observing Chloe’s flushed face, he reminded himself about it.
