What I Gained by Giving My Body - Chapter 2.5

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It turned out for the better, actually. Caitlyn muttered to herself inside the carriage heading home. She had almost suffered something terrible that was horrifying even to think about at the hands of Baron Barrel, and Archduke Akbar had also cruelly trampled and belittled her, but Caitlyn had obtained what she wanted. She had learned the way to save her brother and her friend.

‘By mixing bodies as often and as much as possible…….’

As long as the future was no longer visible, it would be fine. Just because her foresight disappeared didn’t mean the predestined future would change, so she could immediately tell Leslie the truth and have her prepare in advance. Edward’s illness would also be cured as soon as Archduke Akbar regained his power.

After that, it didn’t matter. Even if Edward and Leslie both left her side and she ended up alone in the end, she wouldn’t regret it. At the very least, it would mean something meaningful remained in this life.

“We have arrived, Miss Hardick.”

Caitlyn stepped down from the carriage. It was late at night, but she didn’t want to stay at the Archduke’s mansion for even a moment longer. She hurried through the door and entered the house. Her only desperate thought was to lie down in bed and rest. As Caitlyn headed toward her room while holding her discarded coat, a weak voice called out to her.

“……Cathy.”

When she turned around, Edward’s face, looking as if he had waited for her without sleeping, was deathly pale. Her mouth went bone dry. Only then did Caitlyn realize how she appeared to others.

Disheveled hair, a swollen cheek, a face clearly marked by tear stains, and wretchedly crumpled clothes……. Had she known, she would have tidied herself up to some extent at the Archduke’s mansion, but it was a regret that came far too late. Edward continued in a trembling voice.

“This really isn’t right. I don’t know what you’re thinking, Noona…… but this…… isn’t right.”

“Ed.”

Caitlyn suddenly stopped speaking. What on earth could she possibly say?

That it wasn’t what it looked like? No. Exactly what Edward suspected had happened at the Archduke’s mansion. That there was a reason? If she told him the real reason, Edward would never believe her. Usually, the only one who believed the results of that ‘power’ was the original owner of the power himself. Edward spat out words in a voice mixed with heavily suppressed sobs.

“You said it was for me.”

The corners of Edward’s eyes were red. Seeing his face, which looked as if he would burst into tears at any moment, Caitlyn swallowed hard. Her heart ached just imagining the wound her brother must be suffering.

“Then for my sake…… please stop. Please. Whatever the Archduke promised, it won’t save me. You know I’m as good as dead already…….”

“No.”

Caitlyn barely managed to answer. She couldn’t tell him the truth. No—even if she told him, he wouldn’t believe it. That realization choked Caitlyn and made it hard for her to breathe. But there was one thing Caitlyn could promise. This…… was different from her foresight, and she felt that Edward had to believe her.

“No, Ed…… You can live. You will surely live.”

Edward’s voice grew violent.

“Fine, let’s say I live. But what meaning is there in a life sustained by selling my Noona? It’s nothing but shameful!”

Caitlyn closed and opened her eyes. She was too exhausted to have this kind of fight right now.

“……It’s for me, too. So don’t think like that.”

It was the truth. Edward might think she was unilaterally sacrificing herself for him, but casting off this loathsome foresight was also for Caitlyn herself.

“Cathy…….”

“I’m tired. I’m going in to sleep now.”

Caitlyn hurried her steps into her room and shut the door tight. In the pitch-black room, the moonlight filtered in dimly. It was a white moonlight that pierced through her eyelids even when she closed her eyes. In the end, Caitlyn couldn’t fall asleep all night and only managed to close her eyes after the sun had risen.

Because she didn’t want to sit at the dining table and eat breakfast as if nothing had happened after that confrontation with Edward, she remained in her room. It was around noon when she sensed something was wrong.

Edward liked to sit in the living room and bask in the sunlight, but she couldn’t hear a single sign of presence. Caitlyn opened her door. She had a bad feeling. She approached Edward’s bedroom and knocked on the door.

“Ed, about yesterday…….”

The door, which had been open to begin with, swung wide. Caitlyn stared blankly into the room. A bed neatly but somewhat clumsily made, a desk without a single sheet of paper, and an armchair without even a trace of someone having sat in it caught her eye. Everything was telling her the fact that the owner of this room was not here right now. And that he had left it empty for quite some time.