~Chapter 36~
I couldn’t figure out what Latrine was thinking.
Latryne spoke in a faint voice.
“At the very least, please understand this. I did everything because I was worried about you, Litya.”
“What does that even mean… If you’re going to reject me, then please make it clear. It sounds ridiculous, but I really like you, and I can’t go on being around you like before…”
But Latryne just kept looking conflicted, saying nothing.
In the end, I couldn’t stand being there anymore and walked away.
But the only place I went to was the fountain in the palace courtyard.
Once I was alone, my mind started to clear up again.
Why on earth did I say all of that?
I guess there’s no going back to how things were with Latryne now…
Thinking about it, I don’t even know why I said those things.
If I really like Latryne… what then? Am I going to marry him or something?
Knowing what he’s dealing with… could I really handle all of that?
My head was spinning.
No—if I’m being honest, I could handle it.
If I were just an ordinary person, maybe not. But I’m Litya Alpress.
I believed I had the power to turn things around.
But what truly scared me was the thought of Latryne’s death.
I suddenly thought: If I let go of my feelings now, maybe it won’t hurt as much when that day comes.
…I really do like Latryne, don’t I…
At this point, that was the only conclusion I could reach.
Trying to clear the storm in my head, I went back to the room I was staying in.
I wondered if Sertien was sleeping by now.
Thankfully, Latryne seemed to have returned to his room, because he wasn’t around.
That was a relief.
In the state I was in, I couldn’t bear to face him.
Feeling a little guilty, I decided to peek into the room to check on Sertien quietly.
It was dark and silent—he must have been asleep.
Is she sleeping with her blanket on?
If he wasn’t, I was planning to cover him properly. I stepped inside as quietly as I could.
There he is. The blanket…
As I reached to cover him, I suddenly noticed the pain-stricken expression on his face—and I was so shocked I called out his name.
“Seri? What’s wrong?”
But even when I called, Sertien just kept suffering in silence, sweating coldly.
No matter how many times I called his name, he didn’t respond.
I put my hand to his forehead—and it was so hot, it felt like I was touching fire.
…I didn’t even realize he was this sick…!
I hated myself for not noticing how sick he was.
How could I have been right next to him and not seen it?
How could I say such harsh things to a child who was this unwell?
I felt so ashamed.
At the same time, I was overwhelmed with fear that something terrible might happen to Sertien.
I was about to cry.
If anything happened to him, I knew I would never forgive myself.
But I didn’t know what to do—so I just stood there helplessly, panicking.
My mind went completely blank, and I rushed to Latryne’s room.
Maybe he would know what to do.
I forgot all about what had just happened between us and ran to his door, knocking frantically.
“Latryne… Latryne!”
He must’ve been shocked to see my tear-streaked face when he came out.
“…Litya…? What’s wrong?”
“Latryne, what do I do… Seri…”
That was all I could say, but Latryne seemed to understand that something was wrong with Sertien.
He looked stunned for a moment, seeing me crying, then gently pulled me into a hug and patted my back.
“You’re in shock. It’s okay… Let’s go to Sertien first.”
“I… I said such thoughtless things… No, even worse—I was right there and didn’t even realize. He’s sick, and I didn’t notice…”
Latryne gently wiped the tears from my face as I kept crying.
“It’s okay. I’ll call a doctor. Can you go to Sertien first? I’ll be right there,” Latryne said.
I nodded weakly.
Latryne looked at me with concern for a moment, then quickly left to call the doctor.
I arrived at the room first and began wiping the sweat off Sertien, feeling anxious. After a short time, Latryne returned with the doctor.
Alongside him was Count Cloud, who seemed to have come after hearing the news, looking very worried.
“What’s wrong with him? His condition is really bad…”
The count seemed shocked as well.
Latryne immediately came to my side and took my trembling hand.
He tried to calm me as he looked at the doctor, who was examining Sertien.
“How is he?” Latryne asked.
The doctor, after examining Sertien, calmly looked at Latryne and said, “It’s a common infectious disease that spreads during this season. It’s almost over, but it seems your young master has caught it…”
“Can it be treated?” I asked this time.
The doctor looked troubled as he replied, “It’s not too difficult to treat if we have the medicine, but the problem is…”
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“The medicine is in short supply. We usually have plenty stocked at the palace, but since it’s at the tail end of the season and this year’s outbreak is unusually severe, we’ve run out of stock.”
“Is there really none left?”
“No… We’ve had to buy medicine from traders.”
I didn’t need to hear any more.
After hearing this, I made up my mind.
As I began putting on my coat, Count Cloud, looking startled, asked, “What are you going to do?”
“I’ll have to find a merchant who has herbs. We can’t just wait here. I’ll pay whatever it takes to get them,” I said.
“At this time of night?” he asked.
It was true that it would be difficult to find either herbs or merchants at this hour, but I couldn’t just sit still.
As I was about to leave, Latryne hurriedly put on his coat and said, “I can’t let you go alone. I’ll go with you.”
The doctor, perhaps concerned for us, quickly added, “It might be difficult to find herbs now. Even if the treatment is delayed, it’s not a life-threatening illness, so don’t worry too much.”
“I understand,” Latryne said as he took my hand and led me outside.
We rushed to find horses.
Latryne helped me onto a horse first and then mounted his own. He began urging the horse forward.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Let’s head to a street where many merchants gather,” I suggested.
Latryne seemed familiar with the area, and he guided the horse confidently.
We soon arrived at a busy street lined with shops, even though it was night.
Various merchants were still selling goods.
We searched through the merchants, trying to find one selling the medicine for the infection, but all we heard was that they were out of stock.
No matter how much money we offered, they all said they couldn’t sell it because they had none left.
Latryne was slowly losing his calm.
It seemed that the news of Sertien being sick was making him uneasy.
“It seems there really were a lot of patients this year. My older brother usually sets aside some of the stock for special cases, but judging by how empty the shelves are, this must be worse than usual…”
I replied, “Yes, my younger brother runs the largest merchant group, so he must have some herbs.”
Latryne asked, “Come to think of it, your brother…?”
“Yes, my younger brother is the one who runs the biggest merchant group.”
“I’ve heard of him. The second son of the Alppres family…”
My family consisted of two older brothers and me.
My parents had passed away when we were young, and my oldest brother, as you might know, inherited the family title and became a duke.
My second brother, who never liked staying in one place, had eventually left home and become the owner of the largest merchant group in the world.
He had such influence that even kings from different countries wouldn’t dare to treat him carelessly.
But he was always traveling around the world, so I rarely saw him.
Because of his personality, he didn’t like staying in one place, and that made him even harder to find.
It had been so long since I last saw him that I could barely remember what he looked like.
That was the story of my brother, but we were still unable to find any herbs.
Latryne and I were both completely exhausted.
We paused to rest for a moment, standing in a corner of the street, without saying a word to each other.
We were both tired, and we were too preoccupied with Sertien’s condition to speak.
After a while, Latryne said, “How about we go see His Highness? He might be able to help.”
“His Highness?”
Actually, before the sun set, I had received a message from Ered.
He had told me that he was staying at the largest inn right in front of the Imperial Palace and that I could come anytime if I needed anything.
Now seemed like the perfect time to ask for Ered’s help.
I nodded in agreement, and we mounted our horses again, this time heading toward the inn where Ered was staying.
While Latryne and Litya were out searching for medicine, Count Cloud stayed behind to care for the sick Sertien.
No one asked him to do it, but he couldn’t just leave him alone.
Though he didn’t say anything, Cloud had grown fond of Sertien and couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
Worried about Sertien, Cloud decided to step out briefly to get some water for him.
As fate would have it, Sertien woke up just as he left the room.
“Mom…” he whispered.
“Dad…?”
Sertien, feeling pain all over his body, called out for Latryne and Litya, but they were nowhere to be seen.
He felt abandoned, and, in his sorrow, tears threatened to fall from his eyes.
