Chapter 19
Can I refuse?
Blake’s primary physician, Clang, found Liche squatting in the hallway while on duty.
“Liche Miss?”
It was next to his examination room door.
Since when has she been like this?
Clang pondered while looking at Liche’s round nape, deeply asleep. Should he wake her up?
“Mmm….”
Then he heard the sound of an animal’s cry and turned his head slightly to the side.
There was a picnic basket with a lid next to Liche, and it seemed like something was moving inside.
“It’s not the usual sound of a squirrel always being around. What did she bring?”
Clang cautiously opened one side of the basket, lined with cloth to make it soft, and found a small wounded wolf inside.
“Ah….”
Clang, bewildered, swallowed hard.
It wasn’t a big deal to have a young beast like that, but the fact that its fur color was close to orange-red was the problem.
A talented person from the Serdia dukedom.
“He’s the rumored youngest son.”
He’s been threatened by the first lady, the eldest son’s mother.
“But how did Miss Liche…?”
Clang’s mind was in turmoil.
Miss Liche, who should have been sleeping in her own room all night, suddenly brought the youngest son of Serdia.
Shiver.
In the meantime, Liche, who responded to Clang’s presence, slowly raised her head. The python that was sleeping inside yawned.
Her silver eyes couldn’t shake off sleep completely and blinked heavily.
Liche turned her head left and right, then slowly raised her head and found Clang sitting next to her, holding the lid of the basket.
“Hello, Clang.”
“Liche Miss, why are you here… no, more importantly, where did you get this animal from? Is there a trespasser in the room by any chance?”
Liche shook her head. Then, at a slow but not fast pace, she explained.
“Pecan kept scratching the window in the early morning. I thought he wanted to go out, so I opened the window. Then he went downstairs and kept calling out to me. So when I followed him, he was near the castle gate.”
That was what Liche planned this morning. She deliberately hid the wolf in the bushes near the castle gate and brought him back as if she coincidentally found him in front of the Duke’s people. Since it would be difficult to get treated at the castle if she secretly brought him in. A plausible excuse that could be told to others was needed.
Clang, who didn’t know the details of the incident, asked in surprise.
“The castle gate? Did you go out there alone?”
“No. Zed went with me.”
“Zed?”
But why is Miss Liche alone here?
Liche pointed to the back of the puzzled Clang.
There was Zed, a young man with brown hair, walking down the hallway with a blanket.
“Oh? Miss, are you awake? Did the doctor come?”
“Zed. Wait here for a moment.”
Clang got up and pulled Zed to the corner of the hallway.
He whispered to Zed in a voice that the child couldn’t hear.
“Why did you bring the youngest son of Serdia?”
He was like Blake’s right-hand man. Zed Treang wouldn’t fail to recognize the wolf.
Zed shrugged at Clang’s reproach.
“What else could I do? He’s in bad shape. He’s just a child, about eight years old.”
“If it were my situation, even the doctor couldn’t do anything about it? Miss Liche looks like she’s about to cry just by seeing him…”
“You know you’re weak with kids. But you shouldn’t have brought him to the castle. If something goes wrong… They might bring the army in saying that someone from the castle killed a talented person from Serdia.”
“He’s not dead yet.”
Clang rubbed his forehead at Zed’s words.
“And if it were your situation, what could you do? Saying it’s impossible to treat him…”
Clang urgently stopped his whispering.
It was because of the small hand grabbing the hem of his robe.
“Clang.”
Liche, who had approached the two of them with the basket, cautiously spoke.
“He’s in a lot of pain… Can’t you treat him?”
“Well, that’s…”
Clang met Liche’s eyes, which were looking up at him, and moistened his dry lips.
He should say that he can’t treat the wolf, but why can’t he say that?
“We can’t leave him like this.”
“Clang.”
“Clang said Jed could have the wound treated…”
“That’s true.”
But there’s something that needs to be done.
“Does that mean only humans can be treated?”
“…No. I’ll take a look.”
Clang couldn’t bring himself to disappoint those innocent silver eyes.
Eventually, Clang relented.
With a smile, he accepted the basket containing the injured wolf from Liche. Meanwhile, Jed chuckled as if he had found something amusing, teasing Clang.
* * *
“Serdia Duke, aren’t you laughing a bit too much? You might tear the corners of your mouth.”
In the Royal Hall of the Roksha Empire…
Beneath the highest seat of the throne, the Serdia Duke received the emperor’s reward for becoming the winner of the Hunting Festival.
“The glory of this year’s Founding Festival shines upon Serdia.”
Applause erupted from all directions at the emperor’s words.
Even Rovenhaff joined in the applause enthusiastically. His hands were as busy as his mouth. He whispered to Deon, who stood beside him with a somber expression.
“What a pity. If it weren’t for yesterday’s incident, Lord Lodwick would have been the winner as always.”
The friction between Blake and Gerwer Duke at the Hunting Festival.
Due to the emperor’s anger, the participation rights of both families were revoked. And at the hunting festival attended by the imperial family and the Hebenhartz, Serdia emerged victorious.
“What’s so great about that?”
Deon replied indifferently.
In another part of the room, Blake seemed to share similar thoughts, offering only a formal applause with an expressionless face.
“But there were no rewards this time, right?”
“What rewards?”
Although the rewards Blake brought back to the castle every year were splendid, there was nothing to be disappointed about not receiving. They were all easily obtainable with the wealth and distribution network of the Rodwick family.
“You know. Derkedian. If I get that, can I come to your house?”
Rovenhaff asked Deon casually, gesturing towards the Serdia Duke wearing the winner’s crown, and naturally asked Deon, who was standing next to him.
“Uh? Did you hear me?”
But Deon, who had returned, was already gone.
Rovenhaff realized he was about to collapse, but he wasn’t Hibetzman either.
Rovenhaff maintained a smiling face as he congratulated the Serdia Duke, while he thought.
‘I expected this much.’
He had longed for the days when he could meet Deon face to face for the past two months.
His letters went unanswered most of the time.
He tried to approach yesterday, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it with the tension between Lord Lodwick and Gerwer Duke.
So.
‘I must hear that I can visit the Lodwick Castle today.’
Perhaps he could find out the cause of this commotion here.
Perhaps he could find out the whereabouts of the silver-haired girl taken by Lord Lodwick.
Rovenhaff, cooling his blushing face with coldness again, turned his head to the side.
“I really don’t want to cause trouble… Oh, Derkedian? Where did you go?”
But Deon, who should have been by his side, had already disappeared.
Puzzled, Rovenhaff’s blue eyes scanned the surroundings.
A nearby noble informed him of what he had seen.
“Lord Rodwick left a little while ago. When the Serdia Duke was about to receive the winner’s crown.”
It was almost from the beginning.
He was doomed this time too.
Rovenhaff watched the Founding Festival, feeling a sense of impending collapse.
* * *
It had been over a week since Liche made Clang’s clinic her second home.
“Hello, Clang. Can I come in?”
“Of course.”
The door, which was already open, was knocked on unnecessarily as permission was sought.
Clang responded with a kind smile at such a sight from Liche, nodding his head.
Liche drew back the curtain covering the bed in the corner.
A small wolf, wrapped in bandages, was curled up in a basket on the bed.
“Sleeping.”
Now, even without Python’s explanation, Clang could somewhat gauge the wolf’s condition.
Every time the wolf slept, its purified energy diminished enough to cover only half of its body now.
But the wounds on its body were beyond Liche’s control, so Liche, as usual, asked Clang about the wolf’s well-being.
“Is he doing better today?”
“Yes. Maybe because he’s young, he’s recovering quickly. The wounds are almost healed, and the broken leg bone will also mend soon.”
Swish.
The wolf’s tail swished upon hearing the conversation between the two. When it opened its closed eyes, forest-green irises appeared.
“Kkiing.”
“Are you okay?”
Liche reached out her hand. The wolf, obediently, leaned its head towards Liche’s palm and licked it.
“Itchy.”
Liche chuckled. The young wolf seemed to like her reaction as it licked Liche’s palm a few more times.
“Oh, seems like you’re full of energy today?”
Jed, who had entered the clinic unnoticed, spoke up.
The only people aware of the wolf staying in the clinic of Lordwick Manor were Liche, Clang, and the Tran siblings.
Although Clang and the Tran siblings recognized the wolf as a supernatural being, they didn’t inform Liche. They thought it was better that way.
Liche shared the same sentiment.
She assumed the three didn’t know that the wolf was a supernatural being.
“Aristocrat has returned!”
Meanwhile, the cries of the servants echoed throughout the mansion from the entrance hall.
Liche joyfully got up, turning her head.
The bustling sounds of those who greeted the returning aristocrat could be heard beyond the open door of the clinic.
It had been over two weeks since she last saw them, so she had missed them quite a bit.
“Our lord has returned so quickly.”
They were supposed to arrive tonight or tomorrow morning.
It wasn’t even noon yet.
Why was that? Liche hurriedly dashed towards Jed’s sight, who was walking briskly.
Jed’s gaze followed her excited figure. It seemed he was touched. It wasn’t just the one-sided affection of a lord towards his family.
Meanwhile, as Liche exited the clinic, she bumped into someone’s leg. Subsequently, her body naturally leaned into the empty space, finding comfort in the familiar embrace.
“Liche.”
“Oh, Dad!”
Seeing Liche’s brightened face upon spotting him, Blake’s lips slightly curved upwards.
He stroked Liche’s head and asked about her well-being after seeing his daughter whom he hadn’t seen in a while.
“Doing well?”
“Hey, all the tricks healed?”
Instead of a greeting, Deon, who came along, asked Liche.
It seemed he got caught for pretending not to want to go hunting.
“Uh, um….”
Her face flushed. Liche nodded.
Creak.
At that moment, a cry, which she didn’t want to reveal just yet, was heard.
“….”
“What’s wrong?”
Two pairs of red eyes turned towards the interior of the clinic through the open door.
