Erne moved to take off his clothes in an attempt to stop the bleeding. But with every movement, blood dripped down profusely. Judith grimaced in horror.
“But it’s strange.”
“What now? What’s wrong?”
“I’m feeling dizzy.”
At that moment, Erne staggered. Startled, Judith quickly supported him by wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Is it the poison? Or did you lose too much blood? We should go to a hospital first.”
Unlike modern hospitals, the hospitals here didn’t require identification, so there wouldn’t be any issues with them visiting. With her arms still around Erne’s waist, Judith began walking. Perhaps because the poison hadn’t fully spread, Erne managed to walk quite steadily. Though he occasionally let out stifled groans, they somehow made it to the village.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Do I really have to walk all the way here while bleeding from a poisoned wound?”
What was he suggesting, crawling there? Judith looked up at Erne with a face that clearly said she didn’t understand what he was trying to get at.
“I told you we should buy a horse.”
“How can we afford such an expensive thing? You know our financial situation perfectly well!”
“What if I collapse here?”
“Then there’s nothing I can do. I can’t carry you on my back, can I?”
Judith tapped his waist lightly and urged him to walk faster.
“That’s why we need to hurry before you collapse.”
“You’re seriously…”
Erne swallowed a groan of pain.
“I’m sure that assassination attempt was because of you. They must have had a grudge against you.”
“Would you stop blabbering? My ears are going to bleed from all your chatter.”
“Well, I’m actually bleeding for real right now.”
Erne raised his left arm, from which blood was dripping, and waved it in the air, but Judith completely ignored him and pointed her finger ahead.
“Look! Over there! It’s the hospital! We can get your bleeding arm treated there. Let’s go, quickly.”
Judith dragged Erne forward. He wanted to shake her off, but he was too dizzy from the poison. His frustration was palpable.
***
“Try not to use your arm as much as possible. Take the antidote three times a day, and don’t forget.”
“Yes, physician.”
The physician, who had clearly been woken from sleep, had a tired face. He pulled out the dagger embedded in Erne’s shoulder, stopped the bleeding, and prescribed the antidote.
While Judith listened carefully to the physician’s explanation about the ointment and antidote, Erne closed his eyes and took deep breaths. It felt like he could hear the faint sound of footsteps stealthily approaching again.
His body, which had been brimming with excitement for the first time in a long while, refused to calm down. The tension of facing murderous intent, the sharp sensory awareness when wielding a sword — those sensations lingered vividly in his body.
He let out a shallow breath and clenched his fist tightly.
“Hey, patient, loosen up your hands. If you keep that up, the wound will open again. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you can treat your body recklessly. You’ll only suffer in old age, tsk tsk.”
“…..…”
Before he could even process his thoughts, the sound of the elderly physician’s tongue clicking filled the room. A deep crease formed on Erne’s brow.
“If the wound festers, the cost of the medicine will double, and it won’t just be expensive — you’ll suffer too…”
“Double the cost of the medicine?!”
Erne’s eyes snapped open, his voice more shaken than when he had faced the assassin. Judith, who was pulling out the coin pouch to pay the medical bill, froze in place.
“….……”
Didn’t I save your life?
Seeing Judith’s trembling hand clutching the pouch, Erne quietly loosened his grip on his fist.
Grinding her teeth, Judith paid the extra night consultation fee on top of the medical bill. The unexpectedly high amount made her hands tremble slightly, but she still went through with it. After all, she owed Erne her life.
Seeing Erne with his left shoulder and right arm wrapped in thick bandages, she felt a mix of gratitude and guilt. If he hadn’t fought to protect her, Erne wouldn’t have been hurt this badly.
“Are you okay, Sir?”
“Do I look okay to you?”
Why did the proverb *’a kind word can pay off a thousand debts’ suddenly come to mind? Just a minute ago, she had been full of gratitude and remorse. But half of that feeling vanished in an instant.
“Anyway, thanks to you, I’m still alive.”
“You realize that, huh? Then act accordingly.”
Another half of her gratitude crumbled away.
“I lost a lot of blood. I think I should eat some meat.”
“I think it would be better to stick to a vegetarian diet for detoxification.”
“……You’re not grateful at all, are you?”
Erne squinted down at Judith, but she stubbornly kept her eyes fixed forward.
Erne muttered complaints about how she wouldn’t even buy him a drink or a meal, but Judith was focused on something else entirely — figuring out who had sent the assassin and why.
Both of them only spoke their own thoughts. By the time they reached the mansion’s front gate, Judith suddenly recalled something Erne had said.
“By the way, back when the assassins attacked, you asked if the drugs’s effects had worn off, right?”
At the time, she had been too distracted to think about it, but now that she did, it felt strange. The effects of the drug wearing off?
“You gave me some drug, didn’t you? Thinking about it now, it was odd. I started feeling drowsy too…”
“How do we deal with that corpse?”
Huh? He’s changing the subject. Judith glared at Erne with sharp, narrowed eyes.
“Look me in the eyes, honey.”
“Is that something you should say to a patient?”
Erne grimaced as he mumbled about calling Henry to dispose of the corpse. But the more he spoke, the more Judith’s suspicions grew.
If he had given her drug, when did he do it? They had eaten the same food, so it wasn’t that. Erne had drunk alcohol alone, so it couldn’t have been that either.
“At least have some water or something while you’re at it.”
“What’s with you all of a sudden, Sir?”
“Alright, forget it. No need for thanks.”
“You mixed it in the water, didn’t you?”
For a moment, their eyes met. Erne flinched subtly and averted his gaze from Judith. It was the water he had given her after Leon left in a huff. She had thought it was a gesture of kindness, but it wasn’t kindness at all?
“What kind of drug was it?”
“It’s not something that would endanger your life or anything.”
“Then what was it?”
“A potion of truth.”
No wonder her mouth hadn’t been listening to her brain. Judith furrowed her brows, then tilted her head as if something still felt off.
“Why did you make me drink that? Wait… Did you think I might be working with the people who killed you?”
That was a reasonable suspicion, but using a potion of truth? Judith pouted her lips.
“So, have you cleared your doubts?”
“Yeah.”
He acted so nonchalantly, but it seemed he was more thorough than she had expected. She hadn’t realized that Erne had suspected her, but she understood it now.
“I understand. If I were in your position, I’d have doubted me too.”
“Surprisingly bold, aren’t you? Why don’t you spend money as boldly as you talk? Like buying a horse, for instance. It would make things a lot more convenient for both of us.”
Erne waved his injured arm in front of her, attempting to emphasize his point. It was clearly a plea for sympathy, but Judith tilted her head in genuine confusion.
“Your legs are fine, so why do you need a horse?”
There was nothing wrong with his ability to walk. Muttering her clearly audible thoughts, Judith unlocked the door to the mansion.
“Since Sir Erne’s arm is injured, I’ll do you the honor of opening the door for you.”
Her words were so grand, like she was doing him a monumental favor. Ern was at a loss for words.
“…Wow, thank you so much for that.”
He was so ‘grateful’ that he muttered under his breath, “Just you wait, Judith Herrington. Just you wait.”
***
The Next Day
“I’m thirsty.”
Rubbing her tired, puffy eyes with her forearm, Judith glanced at Erne with a haggard expression.
She had felt uneasy ever since he’d insisted on lying down in her workspace-bedroom when he had his own room to use.
“Water.”
“The water is right in front of you.”
“You should pour it into a cup for me.”
Judith frowned, and Erne raised his bandaged right arm as if to make a point.
“What if the wound gets worse from lifting the water bottle?”
If he was going to say something like that, he should at least put a little effort into looking pitiful.
“If it gets worse, the cost of medicine will double.”
Damn it. Right in the middle of making candles, Judith had no choice but to stand up. It wasn’t the assassins that frightened her, it was just how tired she was.
When the assassins had barged in, when Erne had been injured, and when she’d rushed him to the hospital, there hadn’t been any time to feel fear. But now that she was back at the mansion, the metallic smell of blood still lingered, and the sight of bodies strewn about flashed vividly in her mind. Her skin crawled with goosebumps.
“What should we do with the bodies, Sir?”
“There are people who take care of that. Go to Henry. He’ll know where to make the request.”
There was a special cleaning guild that handled incidents involving assassin corpses. When Judith told them there were four bodies, they demanded a steep fee. Her hands trembled even more than when she had faced the assassins themselves.
They offered to clean up the bloodstains for an additional fee, but Judith firmly declined. It took her half a day to clean the hallway, and just as she was catching her breath, she remembered the pending orders she had yet to fulfill.
If she didn’t deliver the products by the promised date, she might not get paid. Even if she did get lucky and received payment, her trustworthiness would be questioned. The core of any business was trust, after all!
With deadlines approaching, she wasn’t sure if she could finish her work without staying up all night. And on top of that, Erne, using his injury as an excuse, kept pestering her to do this and that, disrupting her progress.
But she couldn’t afford for Erne’s wounds — inflicted by a dagger and a poisoned dart — to get worse. There were already so many expenses to cover, and if she had to pay more for medicine, it would be unbearable!
“Here.”
In the end, Judith lifted the water bottle sitting right in front of Erne and poured it into the cup that was also right in front of him.
“Drink it.”
“Miss Judith Harrington.”
Erne clicked his tongue and added her last name for emphasis. Grinding her teeth, Judith braced herself. Every time he called her that way, it was his warning that he was about to be difficult.
“The water’s too cold. Who gives cold water to a patient?”
“…Hold on.”
Judith placed a kettle on the hearth inside the fireplace. Soon, the sound of bubbling water echoed through the room. She poured the freshly boiled water into his cup.
“It’s warm now.”
“Warm? This is hot. What if I spill it while drinking and burn myself?”
Erne shook his head disapprovingly.
“Burn ointment costs even more than regular ointment.”
“Just leave it there and wait for it to cool. Then you can drink it whenever you want.”
“If I was going to drink it later, why would I have asked for it now, Miss Harrington?”
Judith clenched her trembling fists. Picking up the water cup, she blew on it and handed it to him.
“It’s too cold now.”
Erne made a face like he was reluctant, but for the sake of her effort, he decided to drink it. Seeing this, Judith ground her teeth and muttered under her breath.
“…I should’ve just left you cold and lifeless.”
Why did I revive him? Why?! That damn amateur shaman. If I ever find him, I won’t let him off. Judith glared in the direction of the unknown spirit medium she had yet to track down.
“I can hear you. Keep those mutterings to yourself.”
As Erne raised the cup, a bit of water spilled onto the bandages wrapped around his right arm.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Admit it!”
“It was an accident. It’s hard to drink with my left hand. And besides, my left shoulder is injured too, remember?”
Judith squinted at him, clearly unconvinced.
“Don’t forget who you got hurt protecting.”
“Tch.”
“Tch? Really? Is that something you say to your savior?”
As she walked over to grab the ointment and bandages, Judith pouted her lips.
“Who do you think saved your life, huh? If we’re being honest, I’m your savior too, aren’t I?”
“It was the spirit medium who revived me, and Henry who paid the fee. How exactly are you my savior, Miss Harrington?”
Erne genuinely seemed confused, but Judith had a talent for pretending not to hear any questions that put her at a disadvantage.
“Wow, your hearing seems oddly selective, huh?”
🍓; *Means that a kind or thoughtful gesture, like saying something nice, can have a significant positive impact, sometimes even more than material repayment. It emphasizes the value of kindness and goodwill in relationships, showing how simple acts of warmth can resolve conflicts, ease tension, or create goodwill.
her hearing is flexible, too 😂😂😂