Let’s go back five minutes.
Conrad and I were on our way to Jayden.
“I’m sorry, Young Master.”
I’d been hearing someone apologize over and over, and then an elderly servant was driven out into the corridor, shoulders hunched.
On the tray in his hands was food. A clear soup that looked like it was meant for an invalid.
So that’s where Jayden is.
He was the only patient in this residence, after all. But the food looked completely untouched and had gone stone cold.
“One moment, Miss Viola. Let me go see what’s happening.”
Conrad went over to the servant, who looked close to tears, and exchanged a few brief words with him.
“What’s going on? Where’s his personal maid?”
“Ah, well, you see…”
I waited, standing some distance away, and soon Conrad came back and pushed up his glasses with a troubled look.
“Is something wrong?”
“I’m terribly sorry. I think it would be better if you came back tomorrow. The young master seems very much on edge today.”
Conrad’s explanation went like this.
Perhaps because he’d come to believe his illness could never be cured, Jayden had a strangely intense dislike of doctors, pharmacists, and the like.
And on days when he felt especially ill, it got far worse.
So bad that no one could even approach him except servants who had looked after him since he was very small.
“On days like this, he sometimes lashes out… You might get hurt, Miss Viola. His Grace also asked me to be careful of that.”
“Ah…”
“Since you’d come all this way, I meant to at least introduce you to the young master’s personal maid, but it seems she’s stepped away again. I’ll arrange another meeting sometime tomorrow, so it would be best if you went back for today.”
Conrad said it in a worried voice.
Hmm. He’s looking out for me.
I understood. Jayden was a Dragonblood, so most ordinary treatments didn’t work on him.
If I went in claiming to treat him and only set his nerves on edge, it would clearly do neither of us any good.
But grateful as I was for the thought, the more I heard, the more worried I became.
From what I saw just now, he’s skipped his meal, too.
And if he was especially on edge today, that ultimately meant he was in a great deal of pain right now…
I didn’t want to back down quietly like this.
“Would it be all right if I checked on him myself?”
“It might be dangerous, so I’d recommend going back for today.”
“But he’ll need to be treated eventually.”
I said it more firmly than usual.
Jayden couldn’t have refused treatment from the very beginning.
He’d simply grown worn out at heart, sick as he was, when he saw no noticeable improvement.
Refusing treatment never really meant wanting to stay sick.
It was closer to not wanting to hope any more and end up hurt at heart too, when he was already suffering in body.
I know that full well. I don’t want to back off.
Especially not with a patient who was only six years old.
My sense of duty as a pharmacist—no, even before that, my pride as an adult—wouldn’t allow it.
When I set my eyes firmly, Conrad looked a little taken aback.
Oops. Did I get too worked up?
“A-and besides, that’s my role and my responsibility… isn’t it?”
I added carefully, a beat too late.
“…I understand now why His Grace entrusted this to you, Miss Viola. Allow me to thank you on the young master’s behalf.”
“Pardon?”
When I tilted my head at the puzzling words, the corners of Conrad’s mouth rose slightly.
“It’s nothing. More importantly, let’s go in together. I’ll go first, just in case.”
Knock, knock.
The moment we knocked, what came back was a shout with a metallic edge.
“Get lost! I said nobody comes in!”
Conrad answered calmly.
“Young Master, I’ve brought the pharmacist.”
“I don’t need one!”
At the unchanging answer, Conrad glanced at me once, as if to confirm my resolve.
When I nodded, he turned the doorknob with a composed face, as though he’d expected as much.
“Forgive me, but we’re coming in.”
“Get lost!”
Creak.
The instant the door opened, a blast of heat hit my face.
Ugh.
The room was shut off on every side by blackout curtains, and in one corner, logs were blazing in the stove as if it were the dead of winter. The stuffy, dry air took my breath away.
…This is even worse than I thought, isn’t it?
It could not have been a worse environment for a patient.
What are they thinking, leaving a child like this? No wonder he’s getting sicker.
I was told earlier that he definitely has a personal maid…
The stale air drew a sigh from me. Airing the room out was the most basic thing.
It looked like there was a long road ahead.
But there was another problem that needed my attention right now.
I narrowed my eyes and looked around the room.
The bed’s empty.
Instead, I spotted a small shadow curled up on the sofa in the corner.
“I said, ugh… get out…”
Haa, haa. Ragged breaths burst from the boy’s mouth. His silver hair, which must once have shone, was soaked in cold sweat and had lost its luster.
Even at a glance, Jayden, whom I was finally meeting, was in much worse shape than I’d imagined while reading the original.
His face, visible between strands of tangled silver hair, was bright red, as if burning with fever.
“Do you want to die? I told you not to come in!”
Spotting us, Jayden staggered to his feet. His unfocused pupils flashed fiercely.
Conrad stepped in front of me as if to shield me and spoke firmly.
“It’s the Duke’s order.”
Huh. Is it just me? Jayden’s shoulders visibly flinched.
Come to think of it, the original had said Jayden was afraid of Cain.
There was nothing to be gained from provoking the patient. I hurriedly stopped Conrad.
“Wait a moment, Sir Conrad. Let me—”
But as if my voice hadn’t reached him, Conrad went on with what he’d been saying.
“If you refuse to be examined, I’ll have no choice but to call His Grace—”
“I said I don’t need it!”
Jayden screamed it at the top of his lungs. The force packed into that young voice felt like it would split my eardrums.
“I know my own body better than anyone! Get lost!”
The child flung out his arm, and the vase on the side table came flying and smashed to pieces right in front of my feet.
Sharp shards sprayed everywhere and skidded all the way up to my toes.
“Miss Viola! Are you all right?”
Conrad turned around in alarm, but I had no time to answer.
Jayden, still fuming, had turned away, but he looked unsteady from behind. Unable to withstand the high fever, the child finally swayed badly.
Ugh. The child lost his balance and was about to pitch forward. Right in the direction where the shards of the broken vase had scattered.
“No!”
My body moved before I could think. On instinct, I threw myself forward and caught the child by the shoulder.
“Don’t touch me!”
But Jayden, flustered in the moment, shoved me away hard.
Crunch. I heard a sickening sound from somewhere, and when I came to my senses, I was lying on the floor.
Where’s Jayden?
I hurriedly checked on the child, but thankfully, the recoil seemed to have landed Jayden on his backside on a safe rug.
What a relief.
If a child who was already sick got hurt on top of it, that would have been a disaster.
I was relieved and about to get up when—
“M-Miss Viola!”
From my left arm, braced against the floor, bright red blood was dripping and soaking into the carpet.
“…Uh, uh.”
Seeing the blood running down my arm, Jayden went white as a sheet. His lips only trembled, his face saying he couldn’t believe what he’d done.
A suffocating silence. And at that very moment—
A cold shadow fell through the gap of the open door.
“Jayden Asheln. What is the meaning of this?”
The owner of that voice, as cold as a blizzard, was Cain.
Holding back the anger rising in him, Cain surveyed the wrecked room.
He had deliberately stayed away in case he got in the way.
And yet, at the sound of a scream, he had come running straight here, only to find this chaos.
His brows drew together on their own.
The metallic smell of blood was overpowering. Beneath the torn sleeve, bright red blood dripped down the woman’s pale arm.
“Conrad. Take her and get that treated first.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Conrad went over to Viola at once, as if to help her up. Cain slowly turned his head.
His gaze soon came to rest on Jayden, trembling with fright. His face had gone white with fear, without a trace of color.
“…”
This is exactly why I didn’t want to come. Cain swallowed the bitter taste inwardly.
To him, Jayden was like a ticking time bomb.
He was a sick child, so Cain knew he needed treatment, but he was so volatile that no one could easily touch him. He did quiet down in front of Cain, at least…
But in truth, that wasn’t calm so much as being paralyzed with fear. When the boy needed rest more than anything, it only made him worse.
“Explain.”
Cain gestured with his chin at the broken shards of vase and Viola’s bloodied arm, and asked in a low voice. Jayden’s shoulders jerked.
“I-I didn’t do it!”
The words slipped out before Jayden could stop them; he clapped a hand over his mouth too late.
Ha. As if even angrier, Cain gave a hollow laugh, then called the boy’s name clearly.
“Jayden Asheln.”
Cain’s presence grew stronger and stronger until it felt like it would overwhelm him and leave him senseless. Jayden’s face went whiter and whiter.
Wh-why did this happen? I just… I just didn’t want the treatment…
“Dragonbloods are born to reign. You must never show weakness.”
A man’s voice seemed to ring in his ears.
I’m scared. S-someone like me isn’t even a real Dragonblood after all.
His breath caught and caught in his throat. The closer Cain came, the hazier his mind grew.
But at that very moment—
“It’s a misunderstanding!”
A voice as clear as an oriole’s rang out through the room.
