‘Ack, you scared me…’
I had fallen asleep just a moment ago, but I quickly woke up when I sensed someone’s presence.
It wasn’t the usual footsteps of our pirate crew—it was a much lighter, softer sound. It was as if someone was sneaking around, but ironically, that kind of movement only tickled my ears more.
Who would even sneak into a place like this? Still, just in case, I forced my heavy body to move and crawled under the nightstand.
‘Something felt off.’
Sensing something ominous, I realized in a flash what I had overlooked. It was Evelyn’s presence.
After Terminus fell into darkness, she must’ve sent letters to the rest of the Sixth Houses. And Evelyn—this castle’s only living servant—would have been the only one capable of sending them.
Yet nothing was ever delivered, and supposedly no one survived in Tenus’s domain…
But Evelyn was most certainly alive. I remembered that clearly.
‘Because I’ve met her before.’
It had been so long that I’d completely forgotten. Damn it. No wonder she seemed so familiar when I first saw her.
Although I joined the navy long after the fall of Tenus’s territory, naval support was still occasionally dispatched to help with the region’s recovery.
That support always included medical officers, and naturally, many of the new recruits were sent to Tenus.
That’s where I had seen her before. With that annoyingly smooth face of hers.
‘She said she was affiliated with another of the Sixth Houses… Which one was it again?’
Apparently, she had lived in Tenus’s domain but was taken in by the charity of one of the Sixth Houses.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember which house it was.
‘Anyway, she’s definitely a spy. A spy!’
She introduced herself as a ‘loyal butler,’ which was suspicious. Normally, people would just say ‘a butler.’ To call oneself loyal is basically expressing a hope to be seen that way—an indicator of some self-consciousness or hidden intent.
I don’t know whether she switched sides midway or not, but once I remembered all this, I couldn’t help being on guard upon hearing those soft footsteps.
‘If something seems suspicious, I’ll just yank the blanket from under the bed.’
Anyone stepping on it would lose their balance from the sudden movement. If I were lucky, they’d hit their head or arm on the corner of the bed.
‘Where the hell is Nereus?! Don’t tell me he was drugged too?!’
Damn it—come to think of it, Evelyn suddenly brought me cookies and something to drink earlier today. Was there a sleeping drug in it?!
‘But I was still fine afterward!’
Where is he?! Even if I had the knowledge of a 26-year-old, this body wasn’t 26. In front of a grown adult who was out to harm me, I was just a bite-sized little kid. I couldn’t think of foolishly trying to fight and win.
Sure enough, Evelyn walked into the room with a chilling look, the blood vessels in her eyes visibly popped.
‘This is insane. Really insane.’
This body is already sick—I can’t handle her murderous intent on top of that.
In the end, I couldn’t even grab the blanket.
All I could manage was a stupid attempt to cover my mouth with my hand.
Even though I knew the moment she saw the empty bed, she’d check under the nightstand.
But what happened next—
It all unfolded in an instant.
A large shadow leapt in before I could even exhale properly—
And stabbed a sword straight through Evelyn’s body.
The sword pierced through her and plunged deep into the side of the bed.
Evelyn twitched, pinned in place like a butterfly on display.
“Hic.”
In the moonlight streaming through the window, a man stood—
His face, hair, and clothes all soaked in blood.
I recognized him.
And yet, I didn’t.
‘N-Nereus?’
He always smiled like a fool in front of me.
Even when threatening the orchard keeper, he never intended to actually kill.
Even when he was intimidating people at the clothing store, his face was never that grim.
His savage, wandering eyes locked onto me the moment I let out a tiny hiccup.
And then—
He dropped to his knees.
As if in surrender, he slumped to the ground.
His large, trembling hands reached toward me… and then froze.
“…Ah.”
Nereus stared down at his hands.
Sticky.
Soaked in red blood.
“Ah… um. Uh…”
The murderous intent from earlier was gone.
All that remained was hesitation.
“La… Lala.”
“…Hic.”
“Lala, I’m sorry, okay?”
His voice trembled as he mumbled an apology I didn’t understand.
“Okay? Daddy messed up. You were scared, right? I’m sorry. That thing last time… it shouldn’t have happened again…”
His voice thudded dully in my chest.
“It’s all my fault, so don’t cry, okay? Please?”
‘Me? Crying?’
As I stared at him blankly, Nereus hastily wiped his hands on his bloodstained clothes—
Then gently rubbed my cheek.
The scent of blood lingered beneath my nose.
***
This was bad.
Was the medicine ineffective?
No—it wasn’t that.
I sighed in relief as I checked the reaction in the solution. It was perfect.
‘I even tested it on myself, and the results weren’t bad.’
It wasn’t fast-acting, but my breathing had definitely improved.
If I kept taking it for a few days and got some rest, the splotches would disappear and I’d be healthy again.
‘The remedy for the Maddie disease is nearly complete too.’
I scribbled down the dosage and precautions for Steve while watching the mixture boil and cool in repeated cycles.
“Use a distiller and heat it on low. Inhale the steam… twice a day. Keep it running while you sleep. And in the morning, ventilate the room thoroughly…”
There. All done.
Now, before opening negotiations—
Maybe it was time to sit down and think.
“Dad Gilbert.”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
For the record, Gilbert was doing my hair today.
Nereus usually left it a complete mess, with stray hairs sticking out everywhere.
Gilbert wasn’t exactly an expert either, but maybe because he was good at cooking, he picked up the method quickly and tied it up pretty neatly.
“When will you be done with my hair?”
“…Almost done.”
Well, there was the drawback of him being painfully slow.
He kept mumbling, “Would this look better? Or maybe this?”—and in the end, finished off with a half twin-tail decorated with two huge royal ribbons.
“Hm, you’re cute again today.”
“Dad Gilbert.”
“What is it this time?”
“Where’s Nereus?”
Nereus hadn’t shown his face in front of me since that night.
He was always annoyingly glued to my side—and now he was completely absent.
Days passed as I focused on making and testing the medicine, but not a word from him.
“…….”
Now everyone just kept their mouths shut. I stared sharply at Gilbert but gave up halfway.
‘Ugh, what’s the point of getting annoyed.’
It wasn’t Gilbert’s fault.
He seemed troubled himself, muttering something like, “Ner won’t listen to me…”
They act like avoiding me changes anything. We’re all on the same ship—it’s not like he can disappear.
He had no issue showing his threatening side, so what difference did this make?
‘But I know Nereus is nearby.’
I could feel his gaze now and then.
Very obviously so.
“Sigh. Whatever. I’ll just go see Lord Ekati.”
We were scheduled to meet anyway, so I stopped dwelling on it and packed six bottles of medicine.
“Oh, you’re here.”
When I entered the room, Ekati was sitting there—looking utterly exhausted.
“You look tired.”
‘Not surprising, considering everything.’
The one loyal retainer she trusted turned out to be a traitor.
Apparently, her final words were something about doing anything ‘for that person.’
I had thoroughly searched her quarters, just in case. To my surprise, there was absolutely nothing left. Only a few disorganized documents in the office.
‘Evidence of embezzlement under the name of Terminus.’
But frustratingly, there was no clear record of where the money had been sent.
‘Still, even Terminus should know—only another of the Sixth Houses would be bold enough to pull something like this.’
There weren’t many factions that could rival the Sixth House.
Maybe it’s Mahot from the Eastern Continent?
But Mahot wouldn’t bother with such a tedious scheme.
‘Even if I added them to the suspects, I’d still be left with six potential Houses in total.’
Not something I needed to worry about right now, though.
There were only two things that mattered.
Like a seasoned merchant, I neatly placed three bottles of medicine down in front of her with a light tap, tap.
“Alright, alright. Please take a look at this.”
“…You talk like some merchant hostess, and you’re only six years old.”
“Yup!”
“…Never mind. Go on.”
“First, this medicine.”
I proudly held up the first vial.
“This right here is the cure for a disease currently spreading in the Tenus territory—and it’s expected to become more severe. Take it three times a day, 30 minutes after meals, for one week.”
“I see.”
“But there’s one condition.”
I immediately held out the second vial.
“You’ll have to dissolve this in the Tenus territory’s water source. The solution should be applied every three days, but I can also turn it into a crystalized form for convenience. That way, it only needs to be replaced once a month.”
“So that’s where you went the other day… I was wondering why you went out. And you didn’t get lost, even though it was your first time there?”
“Of course not. I had a method. I’m a genius, after all.”
Trying to pry info out of me? Not happening.
I gave a snort and picked up the third vial.
“The Dark Neutralizer—this is the first one.”
“Neutralizer? The first one?”
“Well, last time’s treatment was just a fluke.”
Ekati’s gaze grew… complex. But I kept pressing forward with confidence.
“Still, fluke or not, no one had ever neutralized the darkness before. I developed this based on what I observed then.”
“It’s not poison, is it?”
“Knew you’d ask that—tada!”
I pulled out three more vials I’d kept hidden.
Two of them contained reagents that reacted differently depending on the compound added.
I added a drop of the dark neutralizer to each—immediately, the mixtures turned a bluish hue, swirling faintly inside.
“Identical results.”
“Yes, as expected.”
Because it was the same formula. I’d prepared this in advance just in case she doubted it.
Then, to prove my sincerity, I downed one of the samples in a single gulp.
“Wh-What are you doing?!”
“It also has an energy booster mixed in. Helps with recovery.”
It did make me feel a bit more energized.
See? I’m perfectly fine.
I flashed her a totally fine face.
Even with my body still recovering, it was weak—sensitive enough that even a mild poison would have shown symptoms by now.
I extended the vial toward her.
“There’s definitely no poison. But as for whether it neutralizes the darkness—that, I can’t say. Please check it for yourself, Lord Ekati.”
“…”
Ekati hesitated, then slowly took the vial I offered.
She swallowed it.
She knew—just like I did.
That even luck was better than having nothing to rely on.
After all, no one in this world had ever succeeded in curing the darkness before.
For several seconds after drinking it, she sat still in a daze.
Then, she murmured softly.
“Unbelievable…”
A quiet voice. But certain.
“The thing inside me… has settled down a bit.”
Her voice trembled.
~~~
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