I Picked Up My Father Who Left Home 139
Lia finally managed to escape the ballroom, but anyone could see that she was in terrible shape.
Her face was pale, a cold sweat had formed on her forehead, and even her lips had lost their color.
She herself could feel that her condition was far from good. Every step was a struggle.
Her body longed to collapse and rest right then and there, but she refused to give in.
She needed to get out of the Marquess’ residence as soon as possible.
Lia barely made it outside and headed toward the carriage.
‘Now… I can finally go home…’
Thinking about that made her heavy body feel just a little lighter.
But even so, she still didn’t feel like herself.
As she was about to get into the carriage, dizziness suddenly overwhelmed her, and she lost her balance.
At that moment, a hand reached out from inside the carriage and caught her before she could fall.
Thanks to that, she avoided the embarrassment of collapsing in front of everyone.
The owner of the hand was Cassian.
Sensing something was wrong, Cassian had left the greenhouse early and was already waiting inside the carriage.
Supporting her, he gently helped Lia get inside.
“Khal…?”
Lia widened her eyes in surprise, clearly not expecting to see him here.
“………”
Even as she looked at him, silently questioning why he was there, Cassian said nothing.
But the air around him was heavy with an ominous, murderous aura, as if it could explode at any moment.
He was in an extremely bad mood.
He had already felt a foreboding sense of unease back in the greenhouse.
Worried that something might have happened to Lia, he had hurriedly turned back—only to find her in this wretched state.
Anyone could see that she was barely holding on.
She looked as though she would collapse at the slightest touch.
“…What did that bastard do to you?”
His voice was cold and sharp, cutting through the air like a blade.
Cassian, who always spoke to her in a warm and affectionate tone, calling her ‘my angel baby,’ was now unable to hide his fury.
It hadn’t even been that long.
At most, two or three hours had passed.
Yet in that short time, the Marquess had clearly done something.
‘I should never have let her go alone.’
He had thought it would be fine for just a moment.
He had only stepped away briefly to check the greenhouse, yet in that short time, Lia had ended up like this.
It was his mistake.
He never imagined that the Marquess would dare to lay a hand on her in the middle of the ball.
“…He didn’t do anything.”
Lia immediately understood who Cassian was referring to.
She shook her head as if nothing had happened.
“You’re telling me he didn’t do anything, and yet my angel baby ended up like this?”
“…I think I was just too nervous. Being around the Marquess made me uncomfortable.”
At her response, Cassian’s brow furrowed.
There was no way mere nervousness could make her look this sick.
Lia was clearly unwell.
This wasn’t something caused by a little discomfort or tension.
“I’m really fine.”
Sensing the storm brewing inside him, Lia tried to reassure him with a calm voice.
Lia understood what Cassian was worried about, but truly, nothing had happened at the ball.
She had merely exchanged polite conversation, and there was nothing unusual about the event.
“I told you before. You don’t have to pretend to be fine in front of me.”
Cassian’s voice was low and heavy. Seeing Lia insist she was fine despite looking as if she might collapse at any moment only worsened his mood.
“Then… can I borrow your leg for a bit? I just want to rest for a while…”
“If you asked me to cut it off and give it to you, I would gladly do so.”
“Uh… no, that’s a bit…”
Lia firmly refused with an expression that said she was truly fine.
What would she even do with someone else’s leg? She had no intention of becoming an unfilial child by making her father cut off his own limb.
“Rest.”
Despite his hardened expression, Cassian gently laid her down.
“Then I’ll sleep for just a little while.”
“Alright.”
Cassian gave a small nod, his face still filled with concern.
At his response, Lia closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
She had insisted she was fine, but her body was in worse condition than she had expected.
Her head was spinning, and her stomach churned as if it were being turned inside out.
Feeling Cassian’s warmth made her feel a little better, but her body still felt unbearably heavy, as if drenched in water.
The unsettling feeling she had experienced in the Marquess’ residence still clung to her, refusing to let go.
It felt like something from that place had latched onto her, gnawing away at her body.
Instinctively, Lia burrowed deeper into Cassian’s embrace.
Being in his arms made it seem like the unease and discomfort would fade away.
Even as she lay on Cassian’s lap, she kept tossing and turning, unable to find a comfortable position. Eventually, she fell asleep.
The entire time, Cassian sat motionless, gently patting her back.
“…He’s got some nerve.”
Once Lia’s breathing finally evened out, Cassian loosened his tense posture and muttered coldly, his voice dripping with emotion.
He didn’t know exactly what trick the Marquess had pulled on her.
But one thing was certain, the Marquess was undoubtedly the cause of Lia’s sudden decline.
Otherwise, there was no reason for her condition to deteriorate so quickly after leaving the duke’s estate.
The first priority was to call for a physician as soon as they returned home.
Dealing with the Marquess could come later.
As much as he wanted to slit the man’s throat immediately, acting rashly without evidence would only complicate matters.
If this situation involved only himself, he wouldn’t have cared about the consequences.
But this time, Lia was involved.
For her sake, he needed to restrain himself.
Suppressing his anger, he recalled what he had seen in the greenhouse earlier.
The medicinal herbs.
Those were undoubtedly ingredients used to make the poison that had once been used on him.
Of course, simply possessing those ingredients didn’t necessarily mean the Marquess was responsible.
Owning poisonous plants wasn’t a crime in itself.
However, the ingredients used in the poison that had affected him weren’t commonly found.
Each one was difficult to cultivate and even harder to acquire.
And yet, the Marquess was growing several of them—more than just one or two.
If it had been just one or two, he might have dismissed it as a coincidence.
But nearly all the ingredients needed to make the poison had been in the Marquess’ greenhouse.
That was too much to be mere coincidence.
Because of this, Cassian was almost certain.
The one who had poisoned him was the Marquess.
Thinking about it that way, some things started to make sense.
Cassian had never liked the Marquess.
He pretended to be a kind and affable man, but Cassian alone had seen through that act. He knew the Marquess harbored something sinister beneath the surface.
Still, since the Marquess had never done anything directly to him, Cassian had simply found him bothersome but had let it be.
But lately, Cassian’s feelings toward him had grown into something more than just mild irritation.
It was no longer just an annoyance.
It was a strong, direct feeling of hostility and rejection.
At first, he thought it was just because the Marquess had shown unusual favor toward Lia, which irritated him.
Lia, too, had always seemed unusually uncomfortable around the Marquess.
But Cassian felt there was something more.
It was as if his body was sending him warning signals—something undeniable, something rooted in real danger.
If the Marquess was truly the one who had poisoned him, then all of Cassian’s instincts and emotions made perfect sense.
It would also explain why Lia had such an aversion to him.
One of the ingredients in the poison he had been afflicted with was Saint’s Blood.
Cassian didn’t know how the Marquess had obtained it, but one thing was clear, it was undoubtedly connected to Lia’s mother in some way.
Lia’s sensitivity as a Saint must have subconsciously recognized that, which was why she instinctively rejected the Marquess.
If the Marquess had acquired Saint’s Blood, that meant he understood what a Saint was.
And for Lia, who was a Saint, such a man was a clear threat.
But… the question remained.
Why had the Marquess poisoned him?
How had he come to know about the existence of Saints? And in what way was he connected to Lia’s mother?
“Of course, whatever his reason, the fact that he poses a threat to my angel baby means I won’t let him go unpunished.”
Whatever the Marquess’ intentions were, he had already tried to manipulate Lia.
Before long, the carriage arrived at the duchy.
Lia had not woken up the entire way.
Her complexion remained pale, a clear sign that she was still unwell.
Cassian carefully lifted her into his arms, making sure not to wake her.
Carrying her, he stepped out of the carriage and headed straight for her room.
Not long after Cassian had placed Lia on the bed, the physician he had summoned knocked on the door and entered.
Under Cassian’s silent but firm pressure, the physician immediately began examining her.
Cassian hadn’t explained much about her condition, but the moment the physician saw her, he could tell something was wrong.
“Why is my angel baby in this state?”
Cassian had waited patiently while the physician conducted the examination. But the moment it seemed to be over, he immediately demanded an answer.
At Cassian’s question, the physician hesitated, unable to speak right away.
