Alan's life was full of suffering. But it was also a life filled with the love and care of others that he could lead a good life and became a person who could sympathize with others easily.
Still, he only respected and admired three people in his life. Two of them were his parents. He loved his mother, who was so kind, and he idealized his father as a great man. The third was Deliah. Although his emotions for her were always complicated, she still made an inseparable part of his life. Sometimes, she was like a family; sometimes she was more than that. Other than her parents, who were mostly away from him, Deliah was the one who he interacted the most with, and maybe that was why he started to harbor romantic feelings for her at some point in time. It happened naturally in his basically lonely and sick life.
To him, all three were the most precious existences in his life.
That was why...
"I-It was your late father."
He couldn't easily accept the words that came out of her mouth. The man he had respected all his life was such a person? In a normal situation, he would have denied the words as false accusations. But the one who uttered those unbelievable words while crying pitifully was none other than Deliah.
His weak body and mind couldn't handle the turmoil of intense negative emotions that wrecked up inside him, and he fainted on the spot.
After that incident, an invisible distance was created between them. It was a barrier created by Alan, not Deliah, who still tends to him faithfully without any change in her behavior. Maybe it was because he felt guilty towards her, or it might be because he still could not believe her words. Whatever the reason, this incident completely changed him.
His health started deteriorating bit by bit, and he started to neglect his noble duties because it was simply too much for him. Signs of imminent destruction lingered around him as he silently wailed internally.
Then, something happened that broke his mental dilemma completely. A woman and a child came knocking on his doors, demanding to be given compensation for the well-being of the child between her and the late Duke.
It was a very polite demand, almost close to begging. But the meaning behind it was anything but simple begging.
The existence of the mother and child itself was the proof. The proof of his late father's twisted character, who repeatedly cheated on her mother.
He couldn't deny it any longer. The proof was before Alan, who sat in his chair clenching his fists as he looked at the child who resembled his father. His hazy gaze also lingered on the familiar ring on his desk. It was a ring that his father used to wear.
He looked at the frightened mother and the oblivious child and thought to himself.
'How many are there you have harmed, father?'
He dismissed the mother and child with enough money to last for months and even provided a stable job for the single mother. It was all he could do to at least appease those his father had abandoned after using. But he knew there were some who were still in pain.
'Deliah, were you always enduring by yourself? Why did you care for me so much when my family only gives you pain? Why did you never tell me? I would have embraced you; you are the only one who is left for me in this world.'
But his wish did not reach. The next day, he was informed that Deliah went missing.
His mind—which was already on the verge of exploding—went completely blank at the news. Using his authority, he ordered all the knights and soldiers to search all over the city. He even went himself, and an unprecedented commotion shook the duchy.
Fortunately, Deliah was found safe in time before anything could happen to her. The culprits—two haggard men—were arrested and thrown into jail. They kept shouting about getting revenge on the late Duke, but Alan was not in his right mind to even consider their words.
That day, it was Alan who looked after Deliah. He took care of her weakened body and fed her himself with his hands as he gently stroked her face. In the darkness of the night dimly lit by the flickering flames of a candle, both looked at each other silently with tears in their eyes.
It was Alan who broke this silence.
"Why are you so good to me? I am the blood of the man who has harmed you."
Deliah's eyes shook with melancholy. A helpless voice came out of her as she started to recount her past.
"Do you remember the first time when I came to this mansion?"
"Yes, I remember."
"I was sold by my parents because we were too poor to afford the food for a family of six. It was the late duchess who bought me to be your maid."
Slowly, her words became more and more firm as she opened her heart to him for the first time.
"At that time, I was really scared. Alone, away from my home, I always cried at nights because of the harsh training and the unwelcome gaze of everyone."
The weakness she hid deep within her. The past she never intended to tell anyone and vowed to endure alone was unraveled bit by bit.
"It was you who gave me courage. That day, when you held out your hand towards me, who was crying all alone. It was your smile that gave me strength. At that time, I didn't know the feeling that suddenly began to sprout in my heart."
"Deliah..."
"But before I knew it, I knew what that feeling was; even now, it is the same. The feeling to be always by your side, my heart that always yearned for your well-being. I started to love you."
"..."
"But the love between a maid and her master was impossible. That's why I decided to devote my life to you, who became the reason of my own life."
"Then why...?"
Why did you reject me when I confessed to you? Deliah looked at him with sad eyes and said with difficulty.
"These marks are my punishment to dare covet your love."
Alan's expression stiffened, and anger rose within him.
"I am the new Duke. My father is no more, and there is no reason to be bound by him."
"You shouldn't say such things about your late father."
"He may be father, but he is not a man I respect anymore."
"E-Even then, setting aside our status difference, I am no longer pure. I can't be with you. You deserve to be with someone better than a used woman like me."
Her words came out with difficulty. There was self-loathing in her words as she tried to shake off the regret of rejecting her own love twice. She didn't want it, but in her own mind, she had already lost the right to be with him when she gave her own virginity to the former Duke in exchange for being by his side, to fulfill her own wish to serve his first love and the pillar of her life forever.
"You don't know me well." He said reproachfully to her, and to himself as well. "It is the same for me; until now, I didn't know you were suffering so much."
His words struck at her heart. His figure came ever closer to her, as he declared with utmost confidence.
"I don't want your purity." He pointed towards her chest and said firmly while looking into her wet eyes. "I want your heart. That's all I need. And I will take it tonight."
And then it happened, as she was shocked by his unexpected words. Her lips were taken by him before she could say anything.
He delivered his feelings to her through his actions rather than words as he poured all his love in the silence of the night, which was soon broken by the hushed breathing and stiffled moans as they became one in body and mind.
Their love for each other was unleashed in full, and they accepted each other on that night. The false boundaries were broken, and all the pain was washed away. A new chapter of life was opened for both of them.
Of course, the future was still full of hardships, and there were many things that needed to be corrected and solved. But at least they had each other to rely on.
At the end of it all, they lived a happy and healthy life supported by their love for each other. Deliah became the official wife of Alan, and Alan also overcame his illness with her love and care. They were also blessed with two healthy children.
Was it because their love transcended sufferings and status? They died after living a fulfilling life at the same time, side by side in the embrace of each other, as they held each other's even until the end.