I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend - Chapter 54

By the fourth day, Rudrick was now leaning against the door without the strength to scream.

His father really seemed to be thinking of killing him.

For a few days, he couldn’t eat or drink. Furthermore, he had lost all physical strength as a result of his crying and fussing.

‘I don’t want to die. I didn’t try so hard just to die here.’

No, it’s better to die… It’s better to close my eyes and feel comfortable right away than to be trapped here and rot slowly.

And, if I have a chance, I would do it now.

His head fell to the floor helplessly. Rudrick thought blankly, staring at the ceiling.

Somehow, if I close my eyes now, it feels like it will be the last time.

Finally, he closed his eyes to see that flickering vision.

And when he opened his eyes again, there was bread and water lying next to him.

The same day it was repeated.

Rudrick, who barely returned from the threshold of death, hurriedly ate up as soon as he found something to eat.

And as soon as he got a little bit of energy he started knocking on the door again.

The appearance of bread that did not exist until yesterday indicates that someone went there.

‘That means someone still hasn’t forgotten me.’

After knocking on the door and shouting all day like that, he quickly lost strength.

After entering this place, Rudrick rapidly became weak. If he eventually collapses and loses consciousness…

Bread fell again.

Rudrick repeated the same behavior.

He hurriedly eats the bread, knocks on the door again, shouts, sometimes weeps, again loses consciousness and passes out, the bread falls off.

Eat, knock, shout, faint, eat, knock again, shout, faint, open his eyes, close, open again, then faints.

Before he knew it, Rudrick was mesmerized more than the day he knocked on the door.

He knocked countless times and talked to the door several times, but there was no answer.

No, the answer came from somewhere else at some point. It’s hidden deep within the warehouse. The dead body uttered a voice.

At first, he only heard a few words, but the voices became increasingly loud. They mocked him repeatedly while also offering him warm consolation.

He finally thought he’d gone insane. However, he had no intention of correcting it.

Now he felt that even the chatter of the corpses was disgusting.

At some point, this place, which was just terrifying, felt comfortable.

The suffocating darkness surrounded him warmly, and the crazy silence calmed his heart.

Above all, he doesn’t have to think about anything here. Neither his father, mother, nor childhood memories that bothers him.

As time passes by, the memory fades, leaving no emotions behind.

Looking back, I don’t know why I was so distressed.

Why he was so depressed and hard on himself, what he regretted so much. He couldn’t remember what made him excited, expecting, disappointed, or sad.

He didn’t even have to remember…

If he’s been tormented by that wild feeling until now, he doesn’t have to do it again.

Just like right now. He doesn’t feel anything, he just needs to live in peace like this.

And only then, when he vaguely realized why his father had locked him here.

The door opened. Rudrick was finally free.

He left the warehouse with the help of the knights he hadn’t seen in a long time. He looked up at the more dazzling sunlight, and he thought for a moment.

‘The handkerchief… What happened?’

But it wasn’t that important, so Rudrick quickly forgot about it.

Also the promise he made with the handkerchief.

✿

Many days have passed.

Meanwhile, Rudrick was sent to the warehouse several more times, his mother committed suicide, and his father was discovered to be infertile.

It was noisy, but the ordinary days continued.

And as time went by, Rudrick changed little by little.

I don’t know if it’s because I grew up as my father said, or if it’s a detachment that comes from giving up on something.

However, it became increasingly difficult for me to feel emotions.

Even if my father beat me, I became more and more comfortable.

It seemed like I have felt anger or sadness before, but now it was just blunt without feeling anything.

So Rudrick didn’t laugh. He didn’t even cry.

As time went by, I became less talkative and had an expressionless face as if I was wearing a mask.

People murmured as they looked at me. That the Duchess had turned into that, and that her son was insane, and that the Duke had ruined his own son.

Rudrick didn’t care what kind of gossip was going on.

‘I just feel bored.’

The constant motion of daily life and the reaction of people that don’t change. Rudrick was bored just looking at them, so he wished for something special to come into his life.

And not long after, something really special happened.

One day, such an arrogant and overbearing father was brought in full of blood.

The peaceful daily life of the Duke was broken in an instant. Numerous people’s cries, and screams were heard.

Rudrick was in the midst of the chaos. He was standing there, staring at his father, who was lying like a dead person.

“Haha…”

He was able to laugh happily after a long time.

“Perfect.”

 ✿

「Dahlia POV」

“Ugh!”

I woke up from a sleep. My entire body was wet. It wasn’t just the body, the corners of my eyes were wet with tears like hell was shedding.

I was dazed because I didn’t have the mental capacity to clean up my messed-up face.

Obviously this was my reality.

What I’ve been through so far was just a dream.

‘I know, but why was my body shaking like this?’

Dahlia held her breath and lifted her head. All of this was due to past dreams that have been carried on since her childhood.

Exactly, it’s a nightmare that started when I was twelve.

At first I thought it wasn’t a nightmare. Because the dream I had was not just a scary dream, it was the content of [Silver Lady].

Until then, the contents of the novel were fading, so I felt the need to write it down separately.

One day, I started dreaming about the contents of a book.

The first dream I had was right before the outbreak of war.

In my dream, I was having tea time with my parents. At first I was puzzled by my parents’ faces, which were more wrinkled than they are now, and the clear vision for a 12-year-old.

Then I realized at once that I looked like a lady who drank tea gracefully.

“This is a dream.”

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be that quiet even in front of my parents.

‘So is this a lucid dream? For that reason, I was acting like it wasn’t myself.’

I’m definitely Dahlia Averine, but that Dahlia feels strange as if she’s not me.

The thoughts did not progress any further. I turned around unknowingly and saw the old-fashioned butler standing in front of the door.

[ㅡAn official letter has arrived from the Imperial Family.]

I still remember vividly the feelings I felt at that time.

As soon as I heard those words, my heart started to beat anxiously, and at the same time, I desperately hoped that it’s nothing.

But I never knew why I was so anxious in my dream. Maybe this was because I woke up to that scene from my last sleep.

Waking up earlier than usual, I couldn’t get out of the lingering dream for a long time.

It was only a dream, but my heart was racing as if it had actually happened, and I couldn’t stop shaking.

Still feeling uncomfortable, I deliberately tried to forget about it.

It was just a dream created by my subconscious, I was just a little tired because I have a lot to worry about these days.

But it didn’t take much time to realize that the dream was not just a simple dream.

After a while, I dreamed again…

[ㅡFather, do you have to go?]

I, who looked unfamiliar like the last time, was eagerly talking to my father.

[ㅡYou can send someone else. You don’t have to step up…]

[ㅡDahlia]

I lifted my head at my father’s voice.

At that moment, I could see my father, whom I was familiar with, reflected in my eyes. A caring and gentle, but courageous father at the decisive moment.

[ㅡI’m glad I can protect you and your mother.]

Hearing that and smiling, I was also indescribably sad, and in the end I couldn’t say anything.

Instead, when I woke up, I could only know.

‘This is not an ordinary dream.’

Having similar dreams one after another, or even those two dreams being connected, would never be a coincidence.

Nervous, I desperately pointed out the connection between the two dreams.

“An official letter from the Imperial Family, a father leaving somewhere.”

And I was very anxious about it.

The answer came out quickly. It was such a simple answer that I wondered why I couldn’t think of it so far.

There was still one important event left in the book.