Episode 139

It wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.

But by now, stealing the butler’s master key had become a routine for me.

I held the key, stolen by teddy bear, and crept silently out of my room.

The hallway was pitch-dark.

It was the dead of night, so that was only natural.

I tiptoed down the main staircase and made my way toward the guest rooms.

There, I stopped in front of one of the doors.

Grasping the doorknob, I turned it slowly—click.

The door was locked.

‘As expected.’

Marquis Tebron, both in this life and the last, was a suspicious, meticulous old man who always locked his door before sleeping.

Grateful that I had made teddy bear, fetched the master key just in case, I carefully inserted the key into the lock.

Clack, creeeeak…

Finally, the door unlocked.

Suppressing my pounding heart, I slowly slipped into the room.

As expected, Marquis Tebron was fast asleep on the bed.

I kept my movements as silent as possible as I approached.

“Mmm…”

Even in his deep sleep, he groaned lightly, likely from the pain.

Startled, I instinctively flinched, but after confirming he had settled down again, I cautiously checked his injured foot.

His left foot, which Grandpa Gordon had treated, was neatly wrapped in bandages.

However, there were several red spots, like polka dots, seeping through the white cloth.

It was easy to tell they marked the spots where the parasitic monster had burrowed through.

‘The bleeding hasn’t properly stopped.’

I quickly assessed his condition.

It was also evident from the tiny orange energy, the size of a bean, glowing faintly in his chest—an energy almost identical to Joshua’s.

Even if Joshua’s condition had improved somewhat, the hereditary disease passed down through the Tebron bloodline was nothing to take lightly.

Joshua still required regular medication prescribed by Grandpa Gordon and occasional healing from me.

As for Marquis Tebron…

‘Has he even been taking the medicine we sent from the duke’s household properly?’

Carefully observing the marquis’s condition, I slowly reached out my hand.

Even though I had come here secretly to heal him, actually carrying it out made my heart pound nervously.

‘Just stop the bleeding, like the first time I healed Joshua!’

Muttering to myself, I reached my hand toward his bandaged foot—

Thwack!

Suddenly, with a sharp sound of blankets being thrown aside, something grabbed my wrist tightly.

“Got you, you little thief!”

“Kyaaaah!”

I shrieked in shock.

I had been sure he was deep asleep!

But there he was, sitting up, his sharp gaze glaring right at me.

“If you thought I was some decrepit old man too sick to notice anything, you were sorely mistaken! I may be a worn-out relic, but you think I can’t catch a common thief?!”

“T-That’s…!”

“What could an old man possibly have that’s worth stealing…! You little thief, you need a proper beating to come to your senses! Hey! Anybody out there?!”

The marquis shouted thunderously, reaching for the pull-cord to call for help.

‘No…!’

If things continued like this, the duke would definitely find out that I had sneaked in to secretly heal the marquis.

I hurriedly tapped the wrist he had grabbed and shouted,

“I-I’m not a thief, Marquis!”

“Oh, sure. No thief ever calls themselves a thief! Should I just assume you’re someone who sneaked into another man’s room at night for a little sightseeing?”

“I-I have plenty of money! N-No, that’s not what I meant…!”

Biting my lip hard, I quickly blurted out my identity.

“I’m Belze!”

“…What?”

“The Saintess candidate! The one who defeated the monster earlier! The girl who said she stayed close to your grandchildren!”

Afraid he wouldn’t recognize my name alone, I hastily added more details.

At that, Marquis Tebron paused and looked me over carefully.

It seemed he hadn’t recognized me right away in the darkness.

After a long moment, he finally spoke, his face full of confusion.

“Why are you here…?”

“Well… I came to heal you.”

“Heal?”

“Yes. I snuck in without the duke knowing…”

With the hand he wasn’t holding, I pulled the master key out of my pajama pocket.

“I, um, borrowed this from the butler, hehe.”

Well, technically, I stole it.

I awkwardly showed it to him, forcing a grin.

“I was planning to patch you up real quick while you were asleep… Does it hurt a lot?”

“…Hah.”

The marquis just stared at me for a while, as if he was too stunned to even speak.

Then he realized he was still gripping my wrist tightly and quickly let go.

He continued to eye me suspiciously and muttered,

“…The old geezer physician already treated me. What are you healing me for?”

“You didn’t bring your medicine.”

“Medicine? What…”

“The heart medicine the duke’s estate sends every year.”

After it had been revealed that Joshua’s illness was a hereditary disease of the Tebron bloodline, the Kallios and Tebron households had shared medical information closely.

However, one of the key ingredients for the medicine was difficult to procure in the South, so the duke’s household had been sending it every year.

And actually, it had been my idea to suggest it.

It was one of the many things that had changed from my past life, where the marquis had basically cut ties with the ducal family before he came to the capital.

“How would you know about that…”

Marquis Tebron’s blue eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected statement.

Honestly, it was obvious.

If he had been regularly taking his medicine, there was no way his bleeding would still be this bad.

I looked at the marquis, a little puzzled, and asked,

“Why didn’t you ask Grandpa Gordon for your medicine?”

“…”

If he had even taken proper care of himself just during his few days at the duke’s estate, his condition would have been much better by now.

At my question, the marquis clamped his mouth shut stubbornly.

I didn’t expect a real answer anyway.

I had already experienced plenty of old men’s inexplicable moods in my past life.

Shrugging once, I placed my hand gently over his injured left foot.

“Since I’m healing you secretly, I can’t completely cure the wound. But the bleeding will stop, and the pain will ease a lot.”

“I don’t need it. This much is nothing—”

Ignoring his attempt at bravado, I quietly released my divine power.

Fwaaah—!

A light burst from my palm.

Since full recovery wasn’t my goal, the intensity of the power was much weaker than when I fought the monster earlier.

After a brief moment, I quickly withdrew my hand from his foot.

Flash!

The brilliant light that had momentarily filled the room disappeared, revealing the marquis’s wrinkled face once again.

As I intended, his expression looked much more relaxed than before.

I gave him a reminder.

“Tomorrow, make sure you ask Grandpa Gordon for some medicine. And get some iron supplements too.”

“Hmph.”

The marquis snorted and turned his head away from me.

At the same time, he muttered,

“…I refuse to give anyone an excuse to mock the head of the Tebron house for not even managing his own medicine.”

‘Huh.’

So in the end, it was his ridiculous pride that kept him from asking for it.

I stared at him in disbelief and replied with a sigh.

“Grandpa Gordon isn’t the type to care about something like that.”

“A noble must always be flawless in every way.”

“Most people don’t even know you’ve come to the capital, you know?”

“You insolent brat! Talking back to your elders like that! And why is that old geezer ‘Grandpa’ but I’m—”

“Yes?”

“Ahem, ahem!”

The marquis, halfway through scolding me, suddenly coughed harshly and fell silent.

I stared at him, waiting, but he didn’t seem inclined to continue speaking, his face twisted into a scowl.

Left with no choice, I changed the subject.

“If you really don’t want to ask Grandpa Gordon, should I bring you the medicine?”

“And how exactly would you do that?”

“I’ll just swipe a few doses when I bring them to Josh.”

“Hah. Didn’t you say you weren’t a thief? And yet here you are talking about stealing.”

“Hehe…”

I mean, after stealing the master key, stealing a little medicine was hardly a big deal.

Despite the unexpected accident of him waking up, I was relieved I had accomplished my original goal.

I politely bowed to the marquis.

“Since I’m done healing, I’ll be going now. Sleep well, Marquis.”

I gave him a deep, formal bow at the waist and trotted toward the door.

But just as I was about to leave, a gruff voice stopped me.

“…If you think this will make me see you in a better light, you’re sorely mistaken.”

I turned and glanced back.

The marquis was still sitting up in bed, scowling at me in displeasure.

In my past life, I would have just swallowed my words at such moments, but not in this life.

I stuck out my lower lip and fired back.

“I don’t think very highly of you either, Marquis.”

“W-What?!”

The marquis’s mouth fell open in shock, as if he hadn’t expected that answer at all.

He spluttered for a moment before barking back.

“…T-Then why the hell did you sneak in here to heal me, huh?!”

“Because if you got worse, the duke and Joshua would be really sad. And Edwin too.”

“Wh-What…”

“And if they’re sad, I’ll be sad too.”

“……”

“So I healed you. It’s not because I like you, Marquis.”

Of course, part of it was also to prevent him from meeting Diana.

But the biggest reason that moved me was the worried faces of the duke and Joshua.

The duke’s expression when he forbade me from healing the marquis had been painfully dark.

Even while they glared at each other like enemies, it was obvious the duke truly worried about his father-in-law’s health.

‘…Is that what family is supposed to be?’

Even if they bickered constantly or hadn’t spoken in years, they still worried deep down and felt upset when something went wrong.

I didn’t really know.

After all, I had never had a family before.

I could only guess by the way I felt when I thought about the people in the duke’s household.

The marquis, hearing my words, simply blinked his wide eyes without saying a word.

“Anyway, I’ll be sneaking in at night from time to time until you’re fully healed, so don’t be too surprised.”

Waving cheerfully, I turned on my heel and slipped out of the room.