The Princess’s Final Wish Before Her Time Runs Out - Chapter 86

When she was a child, Tericia had once fallen gravely ill.

Her fever had lasted nearly a week. Though she couldn’t recall the cause, she remembered that when she awoke, everything had changed.

Her mother acted like Tericia had been a victim and used the situation to replace many of the staff at the duke’s estate with people loyal to her.

But more than anything else, what changed most was Rashid.

He was supposed to live in the main estate but after that incident, he’d been moved to the annex.

His old room had been left empty, and no adult ever gave her a straight answer.

Even as a child, she could guess what had happened: Rashid had been driven out.

Driven out because of her.

Tericia found her answer written in the faint, bitter smile on Rashid’s face.

“…Because I got sick.”

“……”

“That’s why you were sent to the annex, wasn’t it? Because of me.”

The soft, sorrowful smile on her lips said it all—she had finally confirmed the suspicion she had carried since childhood.

She had meant to be someone who loved and protected her little brother—but in the end, it was she who had hurt him first.

She let out a dry laugh at the cruel irony.

“I hurt you. Even back then. Just by being close to you, I…”

“You didn’t,” Rashid interrupted gently. “I was just too young to control myself. That’s all.”

He spoke as if it was nothing.

“You were the one who truly suffered. The fever was so high… they said it was dangerous.”

After she collapsed in the forest, her body had burned with fever. For a full week, she had hovered on the edge of life and death.

“…That fever… it took my memories,” she whispered.

“I know. I was just glad you recovered.”

Rashid’s voice was soft, sincere.

“How… How could I forget?” Her voice shook.

“I clung to those memories just to survive… and I forgot everything about you.”

Her purple eyes shimmered. Her voice trembled, laced with pain.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Rashid said gently. “We just went for a night walk. That’s all. A foolish little brother who didn’t know his sister was sick kept pulling her along, thinking she was fine.”

“……”

“She was in pain. But she was so afraid her little brother might leave her, she forced herself to keep walking. And I… I never realized.”

I just wanted to keep her with me.

She never said anything, never showed it.

She just kept walking beside me, pretending nothing was wrong.

How could I not fall in love with someone like that?

He didn’t say those words aloud.

Instead, he smiled faintly—reminiscing about their childhood.

“I used to think this was some deep, wild forest,” he said. “But now I see—it was just a garden. Just a little patch of trees. The two of us thought we were lost, but we were barely ten steps from the path.”

“That’s so silly,” Tericia muttered, chuckling. But her face twisted ever so slightly, like she was trying not to cry.

“It was,” Rashid agreed, laughing softly with her.

“After I moved to the annex, I kept coming back here. Over and over. So I wouldn’t get lost again. I memorized every turn, every tree… just so I could walk with you again.”

As he spoke, he released her hand.

His fingers trailed lightly up her wrist, grazing her shoulder, outlining her silhouette in a feather-light touch.

Up her neck… to her cheek.

His hand lingered there, palm gently resting against her face.

‘Should I kiss her now? If I start, will I even be able to stop…?’

He couldn’t stop the thought.

Her eyes, wide and trusting, were fixed on him alone.

She looked at him like he was everything—as though she believed in him without question.

She had no idea.

No idea what he was thinking. How selfishly he looked at her. What dangerous thoughts he had when he looked at her like this.

So pure and trusting.

All she felt now was guilt. Regret. And if he wanted to, he could use that… twist it into something else.

His golden eyes darkened with heat, but Rashid didn’t move.

If I push too far… she might run again.

He forced a quiet, bitter laugh. Not yet. Not tonight.

He let out a breath, almost like a sigh, and gently lowered his hand—taking hers once more.

“Like this,” he whispered.

“Just like this…”

Rashid lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

For now, this was enough.

He reminded himself where the line was—and didn’t cross it.

He focused on the way she looked at him, breath held, heart wide open.

“That I get to be with you… is enough.”

“…Rashid.”

Her pale cheeks were slowly turning pink.

Rashid had to force himself not to look too long—not to stare too greedily at the warmth rising from her throat.

So instead, he spoke again.

“Tericia…”

In the calmest voice he could manage, Rashid spoke.

“The deployment orders have come.”

Tericia’s amethyst eyes widened, trembling as if struck.

“I’ll be leaving next month. Preparations start now.”

He hadn’t wanted to say it like this. Not now. Not here. But it was something she needed to know. And because he knew how much she hated it, he wanted her to hear it from him—no one else.

“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be very busy.”

It looked like she had something to say—her lips parted, then closed again. She tried several times, but no sound came out.

Finally, with a voice so strained it sounded like it tore straight from her chest, she managed to speak.

“Rashid…”

Her violet eyes shimmered. Slowly, tears welled up—fragile and glimmering, threatening to spill at any moment.

Rashid couldn’t look away.

What would it taste like, he suddenly wondered—completely out of place.

If he leaned in and kissed those tears—would they taste salty? Or sweet? Or would everything about her be sweet, even her sorrow?

Desire surged once more, hot and insistent.

Rashid clenched his fists to restrain himself.

If he got too close now—if he let himself touch her—she might run again. And this time, the damage would be irreversible.

He managed a crooked, self-mocking smile as he looked at her. But the heat burning beneath his skin was impossible to hide.

Unbothered by the turmoil in his gaze, Tericia’s trembling lips finally moved again.

“Don’t go.”

Her voice cracked with desperate honesty.

“Please… don’t go to war.”

A single tear broke free, sliding down her pale cheek.

“Don’t go. I just… I don’t want you to.”

“Tericia.”

He smiled—but she didn’t notice the glimmer of emotion buried beneath it. That quiet, dark joy that flickered in his eyes when she clung to him like this.

She was crying, and it should have hurt to see it. But instead… he felt something dangerously close to happiness.

“You don’t have to go. There are others—veterans, more experienced than you. Why you? Why does it have to be you?”

She knew she sounded unreasonable. She didn’t care.

Her hands clutched the front of his uniform, shaking.

Her red lips trembled. Her lashes, damp with tears, sparkled faintly in the moonlight.

It was too much.

She looked so heartbreakingly beautiful, it made him want to laugh.

“I suppose I haven’t been such a terrible little brother after all.”

“Rashid!”

He laughed softly—lightly, like something heavy had lifted off his chest.

“Sister.”

“…”

“Tericia.”

He leaned in until their eyes met. Her whole body was shaking, her breath uneven.

He smiled at her.

“Shall I stay?”

“……!”

“If you ask me not to go… I won’t.”

A sweet lie.

He promised to abandon duty, to ignore everything—if she asked him to.

It was a beautiful lie. A cruel one, because it made her hope.

And Rashid, smiling so brightly as he said it—only ever smiled like that for her.

The brighter his smile, the more he was hiding.

“…You’re lying.”

She wanted to say it again. Don’t go. Just stay here. With me.

But he would still go. Just like he did back then.

So she moved on instinct—and threw her arms around him.

Rashid flinched, startled. Then slowly, his arms wrapped around her in return.

She clung to him tightly, her arms around his waist, her head pressed to his chest.

She didn’t let go. Not for a long time.

And he didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

It was the first time she’d ever embraced him like this. So Rashid stood quietly, holding her—memorizing the moment.

“Rashid…”

Her voice came, finally, in a faint whisper.

“You have to go, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

There were many reasons.

But the truth was—going to war was the fastest, most legitimate way for him to prove himself… to claim the right to stand at her side.

“Then promise me. Promise you’ll come back alive. No matter what. Don’t die out there. Just come back. And if you do… no one will ever be able to deny you anything again. No one will ever send you away again. You’ll never have to go to war again.”

Come back alive. Whatever it takes. If you do… everything will finally be yours.

Hespelt and Me.

She had never said those words before. But now, finally, she did.

Rashid tightened his embrace in answer.

“I will. I promise. I’ll come back safely, without a scratch… to your side.”

“Promise!”

“I promise.”

He wanted to kiss her. To hold her, claim her, lose himself in her until the sun rose.

But he didn’t.

He held her instead—firmly, gently—just so she wouldn’t cry.

And for a long time, they simply stood there, holding each other in silence.

“Come with me, Rashid. Take my hand. If you do… you won’t be scared anymore.”

He could still hear the voice of the little girl who once reached out her hand with a smile.

And now… now that he could finally reach for that hand again without fear, He knew. There was nothing left to be afraid of.

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