The sky was beginning to be dyed red as sunset was coming.
“Is the graduation class ending late today?”
“Yes, for students who voluntarily want to train.”
I wanted to go back together and start a conversation.
There’d be no time if I was told to go back, but when you love, you inevitably become a coward.
Louis couldn’t act rashly, fearing that Carol might notice his feelings and just push him away.
“Then, is it okay to take a little look at the future talents of the North?”
At Louis’s words, the director nodded heavily.
Louis thought of a little bird that would still be asleep.
“Hehe.”
“…What did you say?”
The director, who mistook the laughter for words, asked.
“It’s nothing.”
It was serious to laugh just by thinking.
When the door to the training ground was opened, a heat that was not like winter was felt.
“The ceiling is open, but the heat is tremendous.”
It was really tremendous. Louis had learned swordsmanship as a basic temperament, but he did not work hard like the people in front of him.
Louis was always clever, so he was surprised by people who were passionately focused on one thing.
“Actually, I was going to tell you at the graduation ceremony, but there are two students in this graduating class who can handle.…”
Even if he went straight to Carol’s house now, he wouldn’t be able to meet Carol.
‘If going with Kevin and Dylan together, should be able to hold out until the next day.’
Louis was a friend of Carol, but also a friend of Kevin and Dylan.
While watching the training ground from a distance, one student made a loud noise.
“Uh oh!”
The students’ eyes all landed where the noise came from.
By the time Louis turned his gaze to check, the students were already gathered together.
“It seems something happened.”
As if to answer Louis’s question, one student shouted.
“Someone has collapsed here!”
The supervisor, who was dozing off, jumped up and ran out.
“Who is it!”
The director, unable to cope with the unexpected spectacle, looked at Louis.
“Our academy never trains harshly.”
“Yes. I know. It seems like everyone is flustered, so it’s not a common occurrence.”
“Of course. Your insight is very excellent.”
The director, sweating profusely, praised Louis.
Louis calmly listened to his words and quickly scanned the people to find Dylan and Kevin.
‘Are they already in that crowd?’
Until then, Louis had shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
“It’s Kevin Langer!”
Until he heard the name of the person who had collapsed.
“Kevin Langer has collapsed!”
As if to confirm, one student spoke again.
“…Kevin?”
Louis, who had been thinking calmly that it would be hard to find them from afar, paused.
“The teacher is here, so they will take action soon. It seems they have called a doctor, so it should be okay.”
“I need to go there.”
In an instant, Louis’s calmness was shattered.
He couldn’t properly hear the director’s explanation.
“…You just said Kevin Langer, right?”
He was shaken as soon as he heard the name.
The director’s face turned pale.
“Yes, yes. I heard that too, but they will handle it soon.”
“…”
“You don’t have to worry. The medical team is excellent…”
The director, wiping his sweat with a handkerchief, asked in a trembling voice.
“Do you happen to know that student?”
Thud thud!
There was no answer to the director’s question. Because Louis had already run towards where the people were gathered.
The director chased after Louis’s back with a face on the verge of fainting.
“I’ll go inside for a moment.”
He pushed through the crowd and quickly went inside.
The students, mistaking the adult figure for a doctor, quickly made way.
Soon, Louis saw someone who had collapsed and the person holding him in his eyes.
“Dylan!”
“…Brother?”
The moment his gaze caught Dylan’s pale face, Louis realized that something was wrong.
“Right. It’s me. What’s the matter?”
Dylan, who had been stiff with a rigid expression, softened when he saw Louis.
He wasn’t even curious about why Louis was here.
He was just relieved that there was definitely someone here who could help him.
“I don’t know. We were training together and he suddenly collapsed.”
He checked Kevin’s complexion. His pale face was sweating cold sweat and moaning in pain.
The fact that Kevin didn’t answer Dylan’s call meant he was completely unconscious.
“Did this happen all of a sudden?”
Dylan, who had been recalling today’s memories, shook his head.
“He was strange since this morning…”
At that time, he didn’t pay attention to Kevin because of Carol’s worries. There was definitely a clear signal today.
‘If Sister didn’t notice, I should have.’
Even though it didn’t mean he was negligent because he didn’t notice Kevin was sick, Dylan felt crushed by guilt.
“He was always healthy, so you wouldn’t have noticed if he was a little strange. It’s not your fault.”
“But still…”
Even though Louis said so, Dylan wiped his reddened eyes with the back of his hand as if he had come to his senses at Louis’s cool words.
“And this isn’t something that ordinary medical staff should see.”
Louis lifted Kevin’s clothes. It looked like a normal fever, but there was a feather sticking out of his stomach.
It was a sign that he was trying to revert from his human form.
‘And red spots are coming up.’
It was strange that spots were forming due to heat in this cold weather.
He had read about these symptoms. He didn’t remember exactly because he thought it was not a big deal and passed it by.
‘I should have read it properly.’
Louis held Kevin in his arms, clicking his tongue softly.
The students were buzzing in confusion as a person dressed like a noble suddenly picked up a student.
“Isn’t the medical team coming soon?”
“No. I think it would be better if I call the doctor.”
Dylan asked in a desperate voice, following Louis.
“Is it something really bad?”
If he was human, he could have been treated by a regular doctor. But why do they have to rely on the doctor Louis called?
Dylan closed his eyes tightly at the ominous thought.
If Louis hadn’t been here, if they had found out he was a beastman.
Just imagining it sent a chill down his spine.
“I’m not sure. But if my guess is correct, it’s not a bad thing.”
“…Yeah.”
“Don’t worry too much.”
“Okay.”
Dylan, grateful for Louis’s arrival, held back his thoughts of going into the burrow.
“There! There’s a patient there! Go quickly!”
The director, who saw the arriving medical team, was frantically urging them to hurry.
“I don’t think that will be necessary.”
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry, but I think I should go now.”
“But the medical team is here…!”
“I’ll stop by again when I get a chance.”
Despite the director’s attempts to stop him, Louis gave a slight bow and passed by the director.
****
“Ah… I really don’t want to go to work today.”
Carol leaned her head against the rattling window and muttered softly.
Contrary to Carol’s feelings, the weather was very sunny today, so the carriage arrived earlier than usual.
‘Today is…’
She was planning to apologize to the Duke and break the awkwardness of the past few days.
As usual, she got off the carriage and was about to go straight into the main building, but a familiar voice stopped Carol.
“You’re going to work now?”
“Ah, yes.”
As if she had been waiting, Kate glanced at the carriage and asked.
“The carriage provided by the Duke looks very splendid.”
“Ah, yes. The weather has warmed up a lot today, are you leaving soon?”
Carol didn’t have the ability to force a good relationship between the two.
She had tried enough.
She couldn’t possibly urge the Duke to maintain a good relationship here, could she?
“Leaving?”
“Aren’t you going to leave when the weather warms up?”
She was planning to respond appropriately here.
Even if the Duke didn’t say he would send her away soon, there was no reason for Margaret to stay here any longer.
The question of leaving was not an insult. It was just a simple greeting.
But Kate trembled with anger as if she had heard an insulting remark.
“It sounds like you want to get rid of her quickly.”
“Yes?”
“You even grabbed the hem of our lady’s dress, do you have any ill feelings?”
“…No, what are you talking about, there’s nothing like that.”
On the contrary, she had told the Duke to be nice to their lady, but it only made the atmosphere worse.
Since she couldn’t honestly talk about it, Carol emphasized that it wasn’t true instead of explaining the reason.
“There are a few more things I want to ask.”
“…I’m going to go now.”
It was a statement that she didn’t want to talk anymore. As she was about to pass by, Kate chased after Carol.
“Did you lie about your age?”
“…That’s a sudden question.”
“Do you have any childbirth experience?”
“It seems like I’m not the one asking a very rude question?”
When Carol stopped and glared at her, Kate spoke with a rather confident face.
“I just asked, why are you getting so angry?”
“Excuse me! Are you acting like this just because I grabbed the hem of the dress?”
She didn’t want to go to work today, was it because she foresaw this?
Fortunately, the conversation didn’t last long.
“Carol?”
“Norman.”
“What are you doing here without going in?”
“…I’m about to go in.”
As the big-bodied Norman glanced at Kate, Kate feigned ignorance.
Instead of asking more, Carol just passed by Kate.
“Is there any trouble?”
“Weren’t you just passing by?”
“That’s right. I was originally going out for a while, but something seemed strange.”
“Thank you.”
Carol wiped her dry face. She had just arrived at work and was already tired.
“There’s onion soup inside, so take it. You know how to heat it up, right?”
“Don’t you trust me too much?”
“I think of you as the youngest in the kitchen.”
Norman laughed pleasantly. After seeing off Norman, Carol entered the main building.
Caw! Caw!
Before entering, she turned her head quickly and looked at the sky.
A crow that usually wasn’t visible was crying.
When she left, the sun was just beginning to set, but it was suddenly night.
