Chapter 144
Warren, Arellin’s primary care physician, was in the midst of another major crisis.
‘How did I get here?’
He couldn’t figure out why. The next thing he knew, he was in a situation where he had to nurse a sick Arellin back to health.
The good news was that he wasn’t alone this time.
‘It’s good to have company.’
Halbern was rich. He had the priests of the temple, the healers of the tower, and the backup doctors of the council, all of whom he could call upon endlessly for their generous donations.
The problem was, Warren still felt the urge to throw in his resignation.
‘I want to retire, and I want to retire violently!’
It was hard enough when Mehen had drawn the line at being a temporary caregiver, but now that he was a full-time caregiver, Warren was feeling like a rag, stripped bare every day.
And then there was the newest addition to the family, Archduke Halbern.
‘No, no, no. I can take this. For the sake of my precious little hospital!’
But today, they have a new client, Client Three.
Ludwig, Regent of the Southern Empire.
“How is it possible that a doctor of such distinction doesn’t even know the name of his patient’s disease?”
“Uh, it’s…”
Warren didn’t quite understand the situation.
Who is this distinguished gentleman and why did he just pop up out of nowhere?
Well, that was none of the good doctor’s business.
“I’m sorry, do you have any idea how you’re related to…?”
“…”
Tsk.
Ludwig paused as he demanded to know why Arellin hadn’t woken up in a week.
A moment of silence.
“I’m her father.”
“It must be me.”
Valar corrected Ludwig. Warren couldn’t understand anymore.
‘Two dads?’
What kind of life have you been living, Arellin?
Ludwig and Valar glared at each other fiercely, leaving Warren confused.
“I am Sione’s legal husband, so of course I am Arellin’s father.”
“As long as Arellin is on the Halbern list, I am her father.”
“You’re using a straw man.”
“Who’s the one who’s actually using force?”
Ludwig laughed coldly. Valar rolled his eyes and smiled a smile that could mesmerize anyone.
The medical staff sandwiched between them.
Warren, the attending physician, and the Blessing Prayer Shuttle chaplain and Vital Magic Shuttle healer shivered.
“Aren’t we going to die today?”
“Don’t be a weakling, brother, and come back with more vigor spells.”
“Priest, I’m out of energy!”
“I’m done with all my blessings for the day…”
In the first place, the priest’s blessing and the healer’s revitalization spells are just a stopgap measure to boost Arellin’s self-healing powers when healing prayers and spells don’t work.
“Pretend, pretend.”
“It’s the sincerity that counts.”
The medics were trying desperately to make sure he didn’t get caught up in the murderous atmosphere and die today.
Mehen stops by from his rounds and sees the dads fighting in front of the patient and congratulates them.
“You’re both loud and unhelpful, and I wish you’d leave.”
The two were kicked out without any defense.
***
The Halbern mansion was in disarray.
Arellin was still unconscious, though her condition had improved; Valar and Ludwig had been at her side through the night for over a week; the Knights of Saren had returned in a haphazard fashion; and the Regent’s vassals had arrived.
Mehen decided it was time to clear up the situation that had been buried in the urgency of Arellin’s medical care.
“So what is this about, My Lord?”
“Your tone is stiff again.”
“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”
After the celebrations in Arellin’s chambers, Mehen dragged Valar to his office.
He was disheveled from not sleeping for over a week, but he looked decadent and seductive.
Even at times like this, Mehen found the hard-working smugness a little irritating.
“So, explain to me, My Lord, why we have uninvited guests in Halbern.”
Valar opened his mouth at the blunt question.
“Protesting at the border with soldiers in tow.”
“I know that far.”
“That didn’t work, so I organized a kidnapping.”
“…?”
“We infiltrated Castle Locke to execute the kidnapping, but Arellin was sick and collapsed, so we tried to bring her back, but we were caught.”
“…??”
“But instead of letting me go, he said he would come with me.”
“???”
‘What did I hear?’
Are they crazy?
Mehen was confused by the flow of events that didn’t make sense to his normal mind.
Still, he understood how he had gotten back to the mansion so suddenly and quickly.
He took the gate the right way.
Well, it was the fastest way.
“And what about the troops on the border?”
“Well, I haven’t decided yet.”
“…”
Mehen winced for a moment, but then remembered that Valar hadn’t slept a wink in a week and held it in.
“You should go and rest. Get some sleep, and then you will collapse as well.”
“I don’t think I can sleep…”
“Why, are you insomniac again?”
“No.”
Valar shook his head.
“I just feel like I’ll die if I don’t see Arellin get up.”
She couldn’t sit still now, unable to explain his unexplained anxiety. Uneasy because he couldn’t see her.
Was she already dead?
“She’s not dead. I know because it’s happened before. She’s just, like, really sleeping.”
“…”
“She’ll wake up when she’s done, so don’t worry too much.”
It’s not that he’s not worried about, but having Valar and Ludwig there calmed him down.
Still, Valar was uneasy.
“What if Arellin doesn’t wake up again?”
The way he looked, frightened and cowering, was so unfamiliar that Mehen couldn’t find the words.
It was always Mehen who had been so frightened, so afraid.
“I have sinned too much.”
Valar wrote bitterly.
“Is that why… This is happening?”
Sins? What sins are he talking about?
“Valar, what sin did you commit…”
“Mehen.”
“Huh?”
Valar’s eyes darkened.
“My father didn’t die of a disease.”
As if in confession.
“He died by my hand.”
The words came out of nowhere.
“I killed him.”
Mehen stopped moving. For a moment, he didn’t understand what he had heard.
“You never really thought it was strange? Halbern, my succession, the purges that followed. Really, never? A smart guy like you?”
“The, the thing…”
Mehen hesitated.
Not that he didn’t know, but there were things he willfully closed his eyes and ears to.
Things he didn’t know, but rather deliberately closed his eyes and ears to.
“Yeah, you knew it was weird.”
Mehen had no intention of teaching him this truth.
He wasn’t sure what kind of monster he’d become if he learned the truth and left disappointed in himself.
So the ‘old’ Valar had decided to keep the ugly truth behind closed doors and keep it to himself.
“Shall I tell you? About the real Halbern?”
A story that only Valar knows now.
Mehen, who always waited for his lord to speak first, could not resist the sweet temptation.
***
In a dreamlike daze, the faint remnants of her consciousness floated away.
When she regained consciousness, she thought she saw Mehen in a feverish frenzy, but she must have been hallucinating because she wanted to see him so badly.
She remembered her whole body hurting like she’d been beaten, but now she felt so cozy and warm, like she was being held somewhere.
Why…?
[──.]
Through her blurry vision, she could see someone’s white face.
Eyes the color of stone, as if they were made of rose stone. Platinum hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall.
‘Mom.’
For a moment, it felt like a dream.
She just stared at her in awe, wondering how anyone could be so beautiful and not be human.
[Baby].
A sweet, affectionate voice.
[You’re my everything.]
She opened her eyes as she felt soft lips touch her forehead and then fall away.
“Ah.”
It was a real dream.
She blinked dazedly.
“Huh?”
‘Why am I awake?’
She shook her head, then stopped at the familiar ceiling.
“Huh?”
Why does the ceiling look like her home?
