***
Translator: void
❄❄❄❄❄
I was currently pouring the yendell tea with honey for the fuming Duke Kyron. Duke Kyron was completely furious. It was clear that a simple winter strawberry wouldn’t do any good to soothe his anger. So I had no choice but to use some emergency prescriptions. Wasn’t it true that sweets were the perfect way to relieve stress?
Chaers then opened his mouth and the voice that came out was a voice that was still boiling in anger. He hasn’t cooled down at all.
“He thought that no one would notice.”
“Hmph.”
That was the only answer that Duke Kyron gave him.
I turned to look at Chaers. Even though I couldn’t go around without any coat, he had a few buttons off of the collar of his shirt. It seemed like he was trying to air out his body.
What in the world did you do to make your body feel that hot?
But Duke Kyron just stared at Chaers with a slight frown on his face as the scent of the yendell tea wafted all over the room. I couldn’t tell if he was frowning at the sweet scent of the tea since I put in a lot of honey or if he was frowning because of the dishonest administrator. Nevertheless, I still couldn’t help but gulp down my saliva.
Chaers continued to talk.
“It’s true that there’s an additional fee for the timber from the merchant that we have contracted with since we need to import and it needs to be shipped and go through a detour before coming here but the price did not go up.”
Duke Kyron sipped a bit of the tea as he continued to frown. This time, I was sure that he was frowning because I put too much honey on his tea.
“Perhaps we can leave the demonic beasts alone in the meantime.”
At his words, Chaers finally let out a sigh of relief as the frown on his brows loosened.
“What about the administrator and the village chief?”
“Follow the rules and regulations.”
“Haa… I knew you would say that.”
Chaers sighed as if he had a bit of a sympathy for the criminals before turning around to leave.
The administrator seemed to be a man of great experience for him to dare and cheat Kyron Harpel. Considering his old age, it seemed like he had already been in that position for a long time. But it seemed like he did not expect that Duke Kyron was someone that was meticulous, right?
Duke Kyron looked like he was brooding on the same things that I was thinking about.
“If you’re blinded by greed then you won’t be able to see an inch ahead of you.”
He muttered under his breath as he stared at me after I received the teacup that he had used. I did not want to get nitpicked when he was in a bad mood so I avoided looking at him but I was surprised at what I saw.
“Duke!”
Duke Kyron’s fingertips were swollen red. It looked like the injury that he received after pricking his fingertips earlier at the construction site was infected. I was already running downstairs even before Duke Kyron finished speaking ‘Nevermind’.
I quickly ran to the doctor and asked him for an ointment. When I came back, I applied the ointment and wrapped his finger in a bandage. When I finally stepped away after finishing everything, I saw Duke Kyron raising his hand with a deep frown on his face. He looked at his hand for a moment before mumbling to himself.
“Take it easy on the excuses.”
But this was not an excuse.
I remembered how his strength and power was beyond that of a human. It was described vividly in the original book, after all. However, I could feel a subtle difference from his exhausted appearance. It seemed like there was a vague sense of uneasiness hidden behind his calm facade. But nevertheless, he was still Duke Kyron.
I spoke as gently as I could.
“That’s a good idea. Please take a rest. I will tell Sir Chaers not to disturb you.”
“Alright.”
I quickly drew the curtains so he could sleep peacefully before withdrawing from the room.
❄❅❄
Duke Kyron, who I was expecting to wake up after a short nap, did not show up even after dinner was done. So I went to his room and knocked genty.
“Duke? Are you up?”
There was no answer.
“Duke? I’m coming in.”
I opened the door carefully. I could see that the curtains remained shut and that he was still in bed. I quietly stepped inside as I pulled the curtains a bit to let a bit of a light inside.
“Duke…?”
Somehow, through my intuition, I felt that something was wrong. I quickly approached the bed as I placed my palms on Duke Kyron’s forehead. His forehead was as hot as a ball of fire.
“……!”
I quickly pulled his bandaged hands in shock. Duke Kyron’s eyes opened. He stared at me but said nothing. It seemed like even opening his mouth could exhaust his strength.
“D, Duke. Please let me take a look.”
I gingerly removed the bandage that I wrapped around his finger earlier. The area surrounding the small scar on his finger was swollen and was a glaringly gruesome red. Not only did the doctor’s medicine not work, it was even far worse than its condition from earlier.
What a punk, giving a great name like ‘ladder disease’ but his medicines were not working!
“Duke, I will fetch the doctor. Please wait for a bit.”
I ran out at once.
He was exhausted since he did not have the time to take a proper rest ever since we left Harpel Castle. If he received an injury in that condition then he would definitely be easily infected.
I felt angry as I ran towards the doctor. I thought that I was going crazy for a moment.
What was the point of knowing the future of this world if I couldn’t even stop him from getting sick like this?!
I couldn’t even remember how I was able to drag the doctor by his wrist. When we returned to the inn, I was hotter than Duke Kyron who was burning with his fever and the doctor was panting and covered in cold sweat. However, I still turned to him as I spoke coldly.
“Doctor, the Duke’s body feels like a ball of fire!”
“Hmm…”
“Doctor!”
The Doctor stretched his back after looking at Duke Kyron’s condition. Then, he slowly spoke to me.
“Arielsa.”
“Yes!”
“It won’t help me if you get too carried away. Go and get some boiled water. We need a lot of clean water.”
“Yes.”
The doctor was right. I pouted slightly as I turned around to leave Duke Kyron and the doctor to go to the kitchen.
After I boiled a lot of water, I took it up to Duke Kyron’s room. Then, the doctor washed a thin bladed knife in the basin of water as he stabbed the infected area on the Duke’s finger. There was a lot of blood that was shed on the spot.
I knew that since the infection had spread to the body, then this blood letting would not do much. However, in this world, he was the doctor and not me. And I had no real medical knowledge. The only thing I have was the common sense that I had acquired in the modern world.
I couldn’t do anything except clench my fists tightly.
I knew everything. I knew what hardships Duke Kyron would go through. I also knew who the woman he would fall in love with was. I knew his entire life.
But why don’t I know how to treat his infection?
‘What the hell is this?!’
Just as I was about to shed tears, Chaers came inside the room. He looked at the doctor’s back with an expression that was saying ‘I don’t like everything that’s happening but it would be better if someone just finished everything quickly.’.
When I approached him, Chaers spoke quietly to me.
“Is it because of the injury from the construction site?”
“That’s what it seems to be.”
Chaers looked helplessly at Duke Kyron. Although his voice was low and small, his words were nevertheless frightening.
“I can’t believe this. I have never seen the Duke fall sick in bed.”
Chaers gaze and tone seemed to be showing his resentment towards me. My heart ached as I stood there in a daze. I knew that Chaers was only saying this out of anger and sadness but my heart felt uncomfortable at the thought that he resented me and blamed me for my incompetence even though it was not something that I did.
But what he was feeling was the same as what I was feeling. We were both relying on each other as we worried about Duke Kyron.
The doctor rebandaged Duke Kyron’s finger before getting up.
“Arielsa. Take care of the Duke. Remember to not let his temperature rise too high. Can you do that?”
“Yes. I can do that.”
“If the Duke’s breathing becomes unstable, call for me right away.”
“Then, I will do that.”
After the doctor left, the only thing I could do was stand there. I felt like I needed to stand tall like I was an abandoned man in the middle of a secluded area.
“Pft.”
Duke Kyron let out a soft laugh. He was squinting at me from the bed.
“Why do you look like you’re the one who’s more likely to die than the patient in bed? Arielsa.”
“……”
‘It’s because of you!’
The only thing I could do was to shout in my heart. I kept my mouth shut as I sat down on the chair that the doctor vacated earlier.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Do I look okay now?”
“I’m glad that you have the energy to tell me off.”
I spat out the words of discontent as I shook my head at him. To be honest, I was scared. Even for a moment I felt that deep sense of fear.
In the original book, after the incident where Duke Kyron almost died from pneumonia, events like this land inspection were just written like some passing words. Based on the words ‘The Duke had been there.’, the trip must have ended without a hitch since it was only described in a single line like that. Just like when he cut the wolf and acted like nothing had happened. But for an accident like this to happen that wasn’t even written in the original book… In this world that was devoid of antibiotics, infections like this were fatal.
For some reason, the moss that was stuck in the wood that was piled up near the forest stayed in my head. My breath hitched when I remembered about a documentary that said something about a rare mold that grew deep in the forest that would bring some sort of disease to hikers.
If this world went without Duke Kyron, what would happen to the people in the novel that has lost their main character?
But there was one thing that I was sure of. I knew that he would hang in there. He would continue to be like that until he had reached the summit of the frozen land in the far desert.
I turned my head away, afraid that my tears would fall down before I started to speak to him.
“Shall I get Sir Chaers?”
“Leave it. There’s no administrator or village chief right now so he will be busy.”
“Ah…”
The administrator and the village chief were both taken away for embezzlement. Right now, he would be the one in charge of the restoration work.
“Just sit there.”
He was a man with an iron-clad destiny. However, the thought that he asked me to just sit there and do nothing couldn’t stop my mouth from rising up.
I sat still just like he told me to do. However, it was quite embarrassing to be looked up since he was just staring at me with his squinted eyes.
When I avoided his gaze by looking at the snow outside, he turned his head to look at the ceiling. The long silence was quite awkward so I mumbled some words quietly.
“Why do you get a thorn pierced on your hand? You’re not a child anymore.”
“……”
I quickly glanced back to see Duke Kyron’s reaction after I said something insolent which was completely out of line of Arielsa’s character. However, he looked like he was grinning. When I started to feel like the silence had been going on for too long…
“You… You’re very different these days. Arielsa.”
“…..”
This time, it was me who was left speechless.
“Sorry…”
I dropped my head down. When he realized that I couldn’t bring myself to speak, Duke Kyron whispered in a low voice.
“What are you sorry for?”
When I heard such a voice, I felt that it was a bit harder to speak. I felt more sorry.
“Because you’re different…?”
I did not know what to say. This would not have happened if I did not yell at myself after possessing that I had decided to protect him like his guardian angel.
I stopped a traitor from accusing his administrator and even prevented him from falling for a long time in the lake and almost dying of pneumonia. But it would not be enough for me to call myself a guardian angel if all I could do was to watch him fall into such a deep crisis with just a small scratch.
But the next thing that came to my mind almost got my hairs standing up.
‘Is he ill now because he avoided having pneumonia…?’
Although a bit frightened by the thought, I still tried to reply nonchalantly.
“Do you not like it when I’m different?”
He was silent for a moment before replying to me in that low whisper.
“That’s not it.”
At some point, the corners of his mouth curled up in a weak smile. Not long after, his breathing started to sound more comfortable before evening out. It seemed like he had already fallen asleep again.
I felt fortunate that he said those words. However, at the same time, I felt anxious as I pondered over his words.
With nothing else to do, I spent the whole night brooding over the original plot in my head as I checked Duke Kyron’s condition with my eyes and my ears from time to time.
❄❅❄
The night felt extremely long.
Duke Kyron’s fever gradually increased in temperature. He would moan and groan occasionally as his body started to soak in cold sweat. I kept on changing the damp towel on his head as I wiped the sweat off of his body so I could at least give his body a bit of a reprieve.
When dawn came, his body was suddenly overcome with chills. Watching him endure the chills with his teeth clenched hard was so heartbreaking that it was hard for me to watch. Looking at him in this weakened state had completely shook my mind.
I checked his breathing obsessively just like the doctor asked me to. That was when I realized something. I thought that it was a bit suffocating since it was dark and there were no lights but that wasn’t it. I could see that his aura was slowly losing its light.
I jumped up in shock and the chair that I was sitting on fell down with a bang. At the same time, Chaers bursted through the door.
“Arielsa, what’s happening?!”
I did not know whether he just accidentally came by to check on the Duke’s condition or he was doing a vigil waiting by the door nervously.
“Th, that…”
“Spit it out. Arielsa.”
I couldn’t help but close my mouth in pain when Chaers grabbed my shoulders strongly. But I knew that I couldn’t say something like ‘The light surrounding the Duke’s body is slowly fading away.’.
“That… I dozed off for a second.”
I made that excuse since it was perfectly possible for me to doze off and fall off of the chair. But the result was even worse than what I expected.
“What the hell. What a useless brat!”
Chaers pushed past me as he pulled up the chair and sat down.
I called out to him with resentment.
“Sir Chaers?”
“I can’t tell you what the Duke’s condition is. Take a rest in your room so you can take care of him during the day. I will take care of the Duke until morning. I won’t look away from him. Go and get some sleep now.”
I chewed my lips hard since I was upset. But it couldn’t be helped.
“Yes. Sir Chaers.”
Just as I was going out of the room, Chaers spoke to me coldly.
“You… Do you know what kind of man this man is?”
“That…”
I shut my mouth tightly as if I was guilty. Anyway, right now, I was a pathetic maid who fell asleep while taking care of a critically ill Duke.
“The Duke is the only one who could stop the demonic beasts in the north. Even if everyone from the Imperial Family came, they would not be able to do so. The Duke is the only one who can protect this world.”
“Yes…”
“You are in charge of taking care of such a man. If you can’t take such a responsibility, then tell me right now. I will send you back first thing in the morning. At least, Sir George would like that.”
How dare you bring up George’s name!
I clenched my teeth as I answered him.
“No. I can do it.”
Then, I turned around and closed the door without waiting for his response.
Right now, it seemed like the scariest person in the Harpel’s northern territory was not Duke Kyron but Chaers.
I leaned back on the door as I sighed deeply.
This is the worst night ever.
Through the door, I could hear Duke Kyron’s weak voice. It seemed like he had woken up after the small fuss between me and Chaers.
― Why are you so hard on Arielsa? Are you enamored with her?
Heok… What does he mean by this?
Without realizing it, my ears were already pressed tightly on the door. However, Cheers’ answer only left me irritated.
― With the one who kicks the ball at the knights training area? What the hell are you talking about, Duke? I can’t leave the Duke alone to someone who looks like a goat. Especially now.
Back then, I was already suspicious about why Chaers suddenly appeared. I thought that perhaps he was not sure if I was taking good care of Duke Kyron that was why he was waiting by the door. But did he have to insult me like that?
I officially hate Chaers.
❄❅❄
A servant came to wake me up at dawn.
When I ran back to Duke Kyron’s room, I saw the doctor placing some medicine in the Duke’s mouth while Chaers stood back and watched.
I couldn’t believe myself. I left him all alone and slept all by myself until the break of dawn. When the doctor saw me, he stood up before speaking.
“His fever has gone down. Feed him that medicine every hour.”
“Yes. Doctor.”
Feeling a bit relaxed, I slumped on the chair that the doctor had vacated.
Meanwhile, Duke Kyron had his eyes closed. His aura was very weak but it still remained glowing. Holding back my tears, I spoke to Chaers.
“I’ll bring him something to eat so please look after the Duke for a bit longer.”
Then, I went to the kitchen to make a rice gruel for the Duke. I felt relieved that his fever had dropped. My resentment for this main character who could not be ill boiled away with this gruel. I also felt sorry that I couldn’t stay and protect him all night.
When I went back to Duke Kyron’s room, Chaers walked out without saying a word. However, I did not have the time to care about his resentment and hatred.
I quickly sat down on the chair as I blew on the gruel to cool it down. While I was doing this, Duke Kyron’s eyes opened as he turned towards me. Then, he spoke to me.
“I won’t eat it if your spit gets on it.”
When I heard his half-hearted joke, I couldn’t help but look him in the eye.