What I Gained by Giving My Body - Chapter 1.3

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‘……I wouldn’t have gone to that kind of ball if it weren’t for Ed.’

Her brother, Edward, still hadn’t abandoned the fantasy that there was some dim-witted man who would marry Caitlyn. Because she knew her brother’s life wouldn’t last much longer, she was playing along, but since Caitlyn was also human, she did feel unwelcome.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Ten years ago, after their parents died, Edward jumped into a perilous money-making venture in a foreign land. Caitlyn, who knew the end of it, had begged him in tears to stop, but Edward was adamant.

In the end, Edward gained the fame and wealth he desired, but he returned after contracting a dangerous endemic disease, and because the treatment was too late, he was diagnosed with a remaining lifespan of two or three years at most. The money he earned disappeared in an instant.

But even in the midst of that, Edward never touched Caitlyn’s dowry and left it behind. There was a reason why a boy who was only in his early to mid-teens had earned money while gritting his teeth.

Edward thought he could manage himself somehow. But to take responsibility even for his sister who was avoided in society, he needed considerable fame and wealth. To a level where he could cover Caitlyn’s flaws.

But what was the use of all that? The fame remained, but it instead resulted in Caitlyn being treated as a burden attached to her younger brother. And once Edward died after a few years passed…….

‘I’ll end up living as a loner for the rest of my life.’

If the futures of ordinary people were like a complicatedly tangled ball of thread, her own future was like a single string floating in the air. Her parents, who were faintly intertwined thanks to the bond of family, had already left. Once Edward left as well, she would live as a loner for her entire life.

Caitlyn accepted the bitter future stoically. It was because she knew all too well that even if she struggled without yielding to fate, she would instead return to that future. However, regarding the future approaching the only family member who treated her well despite being a loner…….

No matter how much it was her, she couldn’t respond with detachment.

“Cough, co—cough! Cathy…… are you back?”

How could her heart not ache seeing her younger brother, who was barely walking out to greet her even while he was so sick he couldn’t properly steady his body?

“Yeah.”

Caitlyn smiled faintly at her brother, Edward.

“Sorry, there wasn’t much of a result today either.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Edward replied while trying hard to hide his disappointment.

“I’m already grateful enough that you even go out to those places…… cough, cough, ugh, ugh…….”

“Ed!”

Caitlyn ran toward Edward and supported his body. It would be nice if they had a caregiver, but they had already spent almost all their money on treatments to delay the progression of the disease, so they didn’t have the luxury to afford such a thing. Usually, it was fine. Because she could sufficiently nurse Edward by herself.

But like this, whenever she saw her brother struggling after she returned from a ball according to Edward’s wishes, she felt a sense of ‘what is the point of all this.’ It was even more so because she knew there wasn’t much time left.

“Go lie down on the sofa for a bit. You took your medicine properly, right?”

“I’m not a child, I can take medicine by myself.”

“I see.”

Caitlyn laughed softly.

“Still, you’re admirable, my brother.”

“…….”

Edward was silent for a moment.

“Admirable. It’s because I caught some disease that you’re having a hard time…… I couldn’t even let you live in luxury like I promised.”

“I don’t need luxury.”

Caitlyn said with emphasis.

“I just want you to be happy.”

Even if it’s just for the remaining time.

Caitlyn swallowed those words inside. Edward, who lay on the sofa, soon fell into a sleep, and a peaceful silence settled over the small two-room house.

However, Caitlyn could not sleep for a long time that night. It was because her future, which had been only clear, was fluctuating from the very moment she met that mysterious man.

‘……Just what is going to happen to me?’