“He is sick and undernourished.”
The doctor who finished Lapel’s treatment said, staring at Werazel. The expression on his face was judgmental, thinking what did they do to the child to become like this.
Malnutrition in this day and age… Even a child in a baron mansion.
The physician clicked his tongue. He muttered inwardly, saying that it was the last thing he expected.
“Is he going to be okay?”
Werazel asked for Lapel, who was lying in bed, with her gaze fixed on him. The child with his small eyes closed and breathing weakly looked sick to anyone. His blue lips were shivering, and the cold sweat that was forming on his forehead was running down his face.
“I will prescribe some medicine, but it is very important to feed him well and give him rest. “
Werazel was given a small vial from the doctor. The bottle containing the thin liquid was red like strawberry syrup.
“He just needs to take full meals three times a day and give him one tablespoon of this medicine after meals. “
Lizelle nodded.
The doctor packed some medical equipment in the room. The woman who couldn’t take her eyes off her child and said to be from a business trip seemed very worried about her child. But the child is malnourished. How hungry is he and neglected…… Again, people are really not what they seem.
What a detestable person. The doctor left the room, thinking harshly.1
If she had looked at the doctor’s face at least once, Werazel would have noticed immediately what he was thinking and would have corrected it. However, she was too focused on Raphelion and did not know it. So, she had no choice but to notice belatedly about strange rumors that wandered later.
“Lizelle. Who is this child?”
The baroness hesitantly came into Werazel’s room after the doctor went out and asked.
“I saw him and realized he had lost his parents, I just couldn’t ignore him.”
According to Lizelle’s plan, she will go to the duke as soon as she finds Raphelion, seeing him in this condition, the child’s recovery came first so she brought him home.
Baroness Rosalie was frightened when she saw her daughter came home looking crazy in a dress torn up to her knees, and even holding a child…
I was worried that my daughter had hidden a child from me without knowing it. Rosalie was relieved from Lizelle’s answer. Only then she could breathe properly. It was fortunate it wasn’t something she had to worry about.
“I see, so it was like that. Is the child okay?”
“Yes, once he eats and rests well, he’ll get better soon,” said Lizelle, removing the dark hair stuck to the cheek of Lapel wet with sweat.
“M..mom.”
A small sound emanated from his little lips, his voice hoarse. One could see that he was looking for his mother. It was like after his parents died in an accident. Werazel sighed a little.
She cannot help but pity him. The child was like herself in the past.
At that time, she desperately needed a touch of affection, and so was Lapel.
“I’ve cooked some soup so if the child wakes up, give it to him. “
“Yes, thank you mom. “
Rosalie left the room, patting Lizelle on the shoulder, saying it would be okay.
Werazel changed the towel on his forehead with a new one. Whether the doctor earlier was good or not, the body temperature of Lapel that was too hot gradually returned to normal.
“You’ll see your family soon.”
Thinking he would be cold, she meticulously covered him with a blanket up to his chin.
His parents might be gone, but his uncle, Duke Chester, depicted as the uncle of the male lead in the novel, will surely cherish Raphelion.
“So you have to get better and go see your uncle.”
Werazel put her hand on his little chest and patted him. For now, her priority is this child. Once Lapel is all healed, that is the time to think about the reward.
The sun rose in the middle of the sky.
How long has it been?
“Uhh..”
Raphelion opened his eyes with difficulty, his thin eye were a bit dry, and after blinking many times, his blurred vision slowly became more and more clear. An unfamiliar place was reflected in his confused eyes.
The boy carefully looked around.
“Um, are you alright?”
When he heard a worried voice right next to him, Lapel’s head turned to the side. The woman he saw before was sitting next to him. Lapel tried to control the tears about to burst in him and swallowed.
“I’m glad that your fever has fallen down a lot. “
Werazel placed her hand on his forehead and checked his temperature. It went down a lot more than when she first touched it, and it seemed that he had recovered a lot since she saw him breathing regularly unlike before.
“Mom … . “
Lapel reached out with his little hand and grabbed Werazel’s collar.
I wanted to feel the warm embrace that I felt before. The soft and cozy cotton blanket.
“Lapel, I’m not your mother,” said Werazel firmly. She knows just like a newborn duckling imprinting what it first sees as a mother, and so was the lost Lapel.
But she was not. Because she could never be Lapel’s mother.
“Hhhh! Mom … … ! “
When he was rejected by Werazel, tears poured out of Lapel’s eyes.
Thick, dew-like tears fell on his cheeks and on the sheet. Looking at those tears, Werazel was aching with regret and guilt, but again she really wasn’t his mom.
With a firm resolve, she spoke to the boy with a stern expression. “…Lapel.”
“Huuuuu! “
She waited until Lapel stopped crying.
Lapel stretched out his small, thin arm and clamored for a hug, but she shook his head and ignored it.2
(T/N: Lizelle!!! Why are you doing this to him? Poor kid 😭)
In the past, she was particularly weak to children, so she wanted to hug and soothe him, but she held back her twitching hands.
The sound of cries that had rang in the room slowly faded, and Lapel looked at Werazel with tearful eyes while drinking a glass of water.
“…….”
“….Come here Lapel.” Then Werazel stretched out her arms and lifted him up. Lapel cried out as if waiting, burying his face on Werazel’s shoulder.
“It’s okay Lapel. Do not cry. “
Werazel gently patted the back of the boy hugging her neck. Her shoulders were wet with his tears.
“Umm … Am I Lapel?” Lapel hugged Werazel tightly, not wanting to miss the warm arms he could feel again. As expected, she was cozy like a soft cotton blanket.
“Yes. Your name is Raphelion Halos.” Werazel walked around the room, holding him in her arms.
“Where are my mom and dad?” Werazel paused for a moment to the open question. She wondered and pondered how best to explain to this child.
“You will be able to meet your family soon. They are very, very nice people.”
In the end, she chose to answer vaguely. She decided that it would be better to hear this from his family, the Duke, than to hear the deaths of his parents from others. All she could do was return him back to him.
“Family?”
“Yes, family, They are just waiting for Lapel to come home. “
To be clear, the Duke is waiting very anxiously. He tried to find his nephew by any means and method. So, I had to take him to the duke as soon as possible.
“Aren’t you my family?” 😭1
Lapel lifted his head and stared at her. A question mark was drawn on his red eyes that stopped crying.
” Huh. I am just Werazel. “
” Wer..azel? “2
“Yes.”
“Werazel.”
Lapel muttered Werazel’s name with a small lip to see if he liked the name of Werazel , with a dimple on his cheek as he smiled.
She smiled at that sight too. A small kid like him was calling her name. It was rather cute.
Seeing Lapel happy, she stroked his head and a feeling of roughness was struck her hand. As it turned out, it was dirt.
As soon as she brought him home, she had no mind to wash him because she thought first of his treatment. Lapel’s hair was covered with dust and was stuck together, and his face was covered with black ashes in several places.
“Lapel, let’s go do something fun.”
I had to give him a bath because he seemed to have some energy. His body wasn’t all healed yet, but if I left it in such a dirty state, he would only get more sick.
Lapel’s eyes twinkled at her voice.
“Fun?”
“Yes, something fun. Let’s go quickly.”
“Fun! It’s fun!”
Lapel giggled in the arms of Werazel.
He did not know until then that sad tears will fall again.
A few minutes later, Lapel’s cry rang loudly in the bathroom when it dawned on him that the fun thing was bathing.2
“Kyaaahh! Nooo! “