Chapter 29: Fill in the blanks
Chapter 29: Fill in the blanks
“Is this what it’s like when you get ready to take a bath?”
Cassion looked at Ruel and sighed.
‘I thought I might get wrinkles on my forehead.’
Looking at the blanket mixed with sweat and blood, Cassion counted how many blankets he had left in his head.
‘I’ll have to get a new one.’
“… It’s noisy.”
Ruel said, suppressing a scream that seemed to leak out.
“Having the energy to talk means that it’s still okay.”
Cassion handed the Breath over directly to Ruel, who couldn’t even lift it properly.
“How long will it take?”
“Damn it…”
“Do you want me to put you to sleep?”
How painful must it have been to squeeze his arm to the point of bleeding? Wouldn’t it be better to sleep so deeply that you didn’t know the pain than to endure it?
Ruel looked at Cassion.
“Alright. I will wait patiently.”
Thinking that he wouldn’t want to show this to anyone else, Cassion dragged a chair and sat down.
After returning to this mansion, Ruel didn’t even take painkillers.
After gaining the power of recovery, his body was better than before, but Mineta seemed to have caused distrust of the drug.
He had been taking poison medicine for years, so he honestly felt like he was going to get fed up with it.
“Would you like some painkillers?”
The answer was not heard.
“It’s a pain reliever I bought myself. There is no poison in it.”
Cassion said that he had bought it himself to assure Ruel.
It’s not good to rely on medicine, but it seemed foolish to endure the pain recklessly.
Now that he had even let out a scream, Cassion asked again.
“How about taking some medicine?”
“… Give it to me.”
Ruel struggled to get his words out. Only then did Cassion smile with relief.
“I’ll be right back.”
Even the sound of the door opening and closing did not reach Ruel’s ears.
This pain was too great. There was no sign of it calming down even though the power of recovery was so strong that it rang, “Wi-ing.”
‘Damn body.’
Since he didn’t know the name of the disease and the medicine didn’t work, all he could do was get used to the pain.
‘Calm down, sink!’
‘I wanted to cry right now. I wanted someone to grab hold of how much it hurts and appeal.’
Then, the pain disappeared in an instant.
Ruel put down the blanket that he was holding tightly. ‘I’m exhausted all over my body.’
‘I should’ve just taken medicine.’
‘The reason I didn’t take the medicine was that the pain that I could endure came after I gained the power of recovery.’
Also, he didn’t want to depend on drugs.
‘But it was the first time I had such a strong pain like today.’
‘I’m dying…’
I felt like I was going to die.
‘Hungry.’
As the pain went away, I felt very hungry.
Ruel looked around him, feeling his energy gradually rising.
He was drenched in so much blood and sweat that he vomited. He frowned right away.
“I’m here. Here’s some medicine with water.”
“Bath.”
As soon as Cassion returned, Ruel said as if he had waited.
“Pardon…?”
“I’m going to eat right after taking a bath, so get ready.”
***
Sniff.
Ganien sniffed as he sat next to Ruel.
“Did you throw up again? It smells like blood.”
While trying to pick up the meat that had just been cut thickly with a fork, Ruel glared at Ganien.
‘I didn’t know his senses were this sharp.’
Clank.
Tyson dropped his cup of water.
Even his lips, on his face that turned whiter than the tablecloth, were shaking.
What about Aris?
He couldn’t even sit on a chair, he just stood still and looked at Ruel.
He looked like he had lost his soul.
“… Ha.”
Ruel sighed. As the pleasant meal time went by, ‘I thought it might turn into a funeral home.’
Only then did Ganien notice.
Tyson and Aris only knew that Ruel was sick, but didn’t know what symptoms he had.
Ganien closed his mouth and held the spoon calmly.
Cassion put down a freshly drawn water cup and spoke quietly to Tyson.
“You dropped your cup.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
He couldn’t grab the cup steadily so he drank all the water with his trembling hands.
Ttak.
Ganien quieted the area in an instant, and even the sound of Tyson putting his cup down was loud.
Tyson struggled to call Ruel.
“Ruel.”
Feeling that it had come, Ruel glared at Ganien again and quietly moved his mouth.
“It’s just a symptom of a disease that always occurs, so you don’t have to pay much attention to it.”
“What are you talking about…”
“Have you decided on a date to publicly announce the Magic Knights?”
“Ruel.”
“I’ve been thinking about it, but rather than a grand announcement, I want it to be quietly announced only to the Royal Family. Setiria is going to bustle. I don’t want that.”
After finishing his words, Ruel put another piece of meat in his mouth that tempted his tongue with its luscious flesh.
It felt like the energy that had been lost due to Astell’s cooking was being restored.
Looking at the stunned Tyson, Ruel called Aris.
“Aris.”
“Is, is that true? I didn’t know Ruel-nim’s condition was that bad…”
“Is the training going well?”
“I’m sorry, but I want to know about Ruel-nim’s condition rather than that story right now.”
“I chose you because I needed my escort. Stupidity isn’t an option, is your training going well?”
Ganien pleaded for something with his eyes, but Ruel lightly ignored it.
Aris reluctantly replied with a sullen face.
“I’m always doing my best.”
“Yeah, learn a lot when you’re with Ganien.”
Ruel inhaled from the Breath and finally called Ganien.
He hurriedly pounded on his chest while eating.
“Why? Why?”
“When are you going to leave? Shouldn’t you move slowly?”
“I’m going to stay a little longer. It’s too early to leave now. Speaking of which…”
“Okay. Please pay more attention to Aris. I’m fine because I have Cassion.”
Ganien looked at him absurdly. What if it wasn’t for him.
‘I’m going to focus on Setiria for now anyway, so it’s okay if Ganien doesn’t follow me.’
Ruel pressured Ganien with his eyes.
“Didn’t you mean to say that?”
“Yes, well.”
After borrowing time to talk to everyone, Ruel focused on the food again.
‘There was a lot of food that I had never seen before, so it seemed like it was something good for the body that Tyson brought.’
What was unusual was that they cooked using only one ingredient on a plate without mixing the ingredients.
It tasted great, so what about it?
Cassion took notes from time to time while waiting, but he was so serious that I couldn’t talk to him easily.
“Ruel, eat a lot.”
Tyson, who looked older than before, sounded weak.
“I’m eating a lot… Cough, cough!”
Ruel suddenly coughed out.
Something was different.
My fingertips trembled and red spots came up on the back of my hand.
“A-Are you having another attack again?”
“Are you okay, Ruel?”
While Tyson and Aris were in chaos, Cassion’s deep sigh came.
“Everything from 4 to 10 is eliminated.”
What?
He said strange things and took something out of his arms and showed it to Ruel.
When Tyson looked at Cassion frighteningly, he said, ignoring his gaze.
“It’s medicine. You don’t have to be surprised.”
“What kind of medicine is it?”
“It’s a medicine that relieves allergies. Ruel has quite a few illnesses. so there are a lot of things to be careful about.”
Ruel opened his eyes wide.
‘… Crazy!’
When the first ingredient came out, Cassion was looking to see if he was allergic to it or not.
It was a checklist that he wrote down seriously.
“It doesn’t matter if you look at it that way. I didn’t know the material, so I had to check it.”
Tyson grabbed Cassion by the collar.
Feeling relieved, Ruel coughed and laughed.
“Did you experiment with my nephew?”
“Then, Tyson-nim, how do you know the foods that cause allergic reactions to Ruel? If you can tell with magic, I’ll gladly follow your direction, too.”
Cassion forced Tyson off.
He was not the butler of Tyson, he was Ruel’s loyal butler.
“I’ve only served Ruel for half a year, but I’m the one who knows his condition best. Not you who say you’re his uncle with that condescending mouth.”
He was the only blood relative to his only nephew, so it was natural to be worried.
He was able to bring food that was good for the body in the hopes of helping him become healthy.
However, he had to let him know that the food could be a means to endanger Ruel’s life.
“…That’s enough.”
Ruel barely opened his mouth when he was about to stop coughing.
“Okay.”
Cassion smiled loyally. Knowing that he deliberately pushed Tyson, Ruel frowned at Cassion.
“I’m…sorry. I don’t even know, you… .”
He had roughly noticed what the loyal butler had done to Tyson’s face, who was engulfed in guilt.
He was induced to speak directly of the disease with his own mouth and his condition.
‘You don’t want me to take care of myself alone, right?’
Ruel bit his lips and sighed soon.
“You don’t have to think deeply about what Cassion said. It was my fault for not telling you.”
Ruel pretended he couldn’t win over what Cassion had done.
It was something that Tyson and Aris would find out someday.
Ruel told them what he knew of his condition and the symptoms of his illness.
Meanwhile, Cassion took away the food that Reul couldn’t eat in front of him and brought those that he could eat closer.
Only Ruel and Ganien were not swept away by the gloomy atmosphere at the end of the story.
Ganien expressed dissatisfaction when he saw the changed locations of the food between Ruel’s stories.
“How can you change the location of food so cheaply?”
“The person of highest stature here is Ruel-nim. I’ll take you to another seat.”
Cassion went to the end of the table and pulled out the chair.
Ganien muttered and put the mushrooms in his mouth.
Ruel calmly waited for the allergic reaction to subside, and Tyson and Aris continued to play with each other without knowing whether the food was going through their nose or mouth.
***
“Cassion.”
After returning to the room, Ruel lay in bed and put his hand on his belly.
“Yes.”
“Don’t do anything useless.”
“I did it because it was useless. When were you going to tell them if I didn’t force you?”
Ruel was amazed to see his shameless face without any remorse.
“My uncle nearly had a mental breakdown, no, he’s weak-minded. What if you stimulated him too much?”
“You know, there’s Drianna. What does it matter if there is a student who will succeed him?”
“Aris?”
“I’ve allowed you to make up your mind faster. When Ganien leaves, your side will be empty.”
“What’s your decision?”
Cassion smiled without answering. He seemed to have called and talked with Aris.
How burdensome was it to receive a mixture of pity, sadness, and confusion from both sides during the meal?
‘I nailed it again when I mentioned that I didn’t die, so they must have understood it well.’
“The data I received from Minart. Did you finish your research?”
The data received from Minart were a list of people hired by the former lord.
“Yes, it’s already been completed.”
“Give it to me.”
“I guess you forgot what your condition was like before this evening.”
“You have to move when you can.”
Cassion’s expression briefly hardened at the subtle words.
“We cannot keep the Baron’s positions vacant forever, so we have to fill it up slowly.
Even though you know Minart was getting letters asking for help.”
“Here you are.”
It seemed like he was going to say one more word, but Cassion politely handed over the data.
Ruel, who was looking at the data silently, opened his mouth.
“Did you include all the former Barons?”
“As you can see from the results of the survey, the former head of the household has chosen the right people.”
“That’s a relief, I was thinking about which people to choose.”
“I’ll send a letter.”
“No, it was unfair to be kicked out, but it’s not just about sending letters.”
Cassion’s heart fluttered whenever Ruel brought up the word ‘no.’
Should Ruel say that he was like a child before making trouble?
“I will personally go. I’m going to go around everything tomorrow, so get ready.”
“…are you serious?”
“Yes.”
Cassion was silent for a moment. He suddenly frowned as if he was pondering something.
“Did you curse inside again?”
“No, it’s not. It’s… My heart is throbbing because I’m getting a little intense thinking about how to do it.”
“Anyway, get ready. As you know, I’m not feeling well, so let’s plan the fastest and best route.”
“It’s quite absurd that someone who knows it well says something absurd.”
“I’m hungry when I turn around, maybe because I’m growing up. Go bake some meat pie.”
After eating like that?
Cassion showed embarrassment, but he had already bowed.
No, he had to eat a lot. so that he could gain weight.
“I’ll bring it to you soon.”
Cassion turned around and thought that he might have to find an exclusive butler soon.
‘Where do I get a guy similar to me?’
Even if he was too talented, it was a mask.
Suddenly, something sweet pulled back.
“Yesterday, while planning the route, we found the location of the Barons again, and as a result, they all went on a fishing trip together.”
Crunch crunch.
Eating cookies in the carriage, Ruel looked out the window.
Blinking his sleepy eyes, he was belatedly startled.
“What kind of trip?”
According to data handed over by Cassion, the seven Barons originally had a bad relationship.
However, after being chased, their relationship became strangely strong, and they even became as close as siblings.
“It’s a trip that brings back memories by cursing Setiria who kicked them out.”
Ruel smiled at the clear sky. Did you come together in old age as a group?
“Where are we going now?”
“It’s Franna Village in the center of Apor and Sisel. There is a fairly large lake behind Franna Village, so I think they traveled there.”
Apor was the center of Setiria. And it was also the place where his mansion was located.
“Did you travel often?”
“That’s right. I was wandering around Setiria at regular intervals.”
“Don’t you go outside of Setiria?”
“I never left Setiria before or after I was kicked out.”
Ruel crossed his arms.
If Setiria had been hated so much, he would have escaped quickly after being cut from the position of Baron.
‘There is something, something.’
Ruel pondered while inhaling Breath, and asked one thing.
“Did they all go on a trip together?”
“No, they went around Setiria in pairs of three or four or two, two or three.”
“You’re saying that they all moved together this time, right?”
“That’s right.”
Listening to Cassion’s answer, Ruel raised the corners of his mouth.
The date they went on a fishing trip together cleverly overlapped with the date we returned.
‘Are you going to test me?’
Whatever it was, I would know if I met him in person.
“Cough, cough.”
Ruel closed his eyes until the carriage arrived.
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