Chapter 31
The next morning, as soon as I woke up, the medicine Laches had sent arrived in my room.
There were various medicines to help with the cold, replenish energy, and strengthen stamina.
“All kinds of good medicine for the body.”
“I don’t think I even ate like this when I was in the Niriel family….”
I chose one of the energy-boosting medicines and went to find Celly. Celly, Cedric, and their companions were still confined to their rooms and couldn’t come out.
Since I brought a meal on a tray to give to Celly, I was able to enter the room without any problem.
“Leah!”
Celly, with dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn’t slept at all, rushed to me as soon as she saw me.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Leah, why…!”
“Celly.”
I put down the tray I was holding and calmed Celly down, who looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
“I’m okay. I didn’t catch a cold, and I’m not hurt anywhere.”
After confirming multiple times that I was fine, Celly collapsed, burying her face in her hands.
“Oh, please. Leah… If you’ve been harmed because of me, I’m really, truly…”
“You don’t think this incident is your fault too, do you? Cedric is the one who dragged me into the lake.”
“But because I cared about my work, you…”
“Yeah, I meddled in your affairs without your asking. Even though you didn’t want it… Celly, stop blaming yourself now. You’re not at fault at all in this incident. The victim is just a victim.”
I helped Celly, who had sunk to the floor, up and took her to bed.
“Do you remember what I told you before?”
“…About getting revenge on Cedric?”
“Yeah.”
As I nodded, Celly hesitated. It was only natural for her to think rationally instead of being driven by emotions.
Celly felt Cedric, as a noble, to be a formidable presence, and it was only natural that she couldn’t act recklessly, especially since she had two younger siblings to take care of.
Because she was someone with younger siblings.
“I’ll change what I said. You don’t need to get revenge on Cedric.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll seek vengeance myself.”
But I was different , All I had to protect now was my own life. Being born into a noble family, Cedric didn’t mean much to me.
“Leah, Leah! You, again, because of me…!”
“It’s not because of you. Have you forgotten? Cedric fell into the lake because of me. Surely you’re not telling me not to seek revenge, too?”
“…Leah. If you’re determined for revenge, I’d rather do it myself.”
Celly brought her fist to her chest with a determined expression.
“You’ve already tried to help me, Yet I still managed to put you in danger. I can’t let it happen again. I’d rather seek revenge against Cedric myself…”
“You’re repenting right now.”
At my indifferent response, Celly gasped and tightly shut her lips.
“Even if you want revenge… how do you plan to leave this room? I saw earlier that the door is being guarded.”
Embarrassed, Celly’s face turned red as if she hadn’t even considered it.
“And I don’t want those vile people wandering around the North. This is where you made me feel alive. I don’t want people like Cedric or Dettor roaming around here.”
They weren’t even worthy of being called people.
“Don’t worry,The duke seemed terrifying yesterday. I don’t want to be driven out either, so I’ll keep to the rules while I act.”
Of course, it was a lie. I had to say this to reassure Celly.
Relieved by my words of safety, Celly finally relaxed her stiff expression.
Watching her, I smiled and got up from my seat.
“Oh, and Celly, about your siblings. They’re in the North right now, right?”
“Yeah.”
“If you’re okay with it, how about sending your siblings to the capital?”
At my suggestion, Celly widened her eyes.
“T-the capital?”
The word “capital” seemed too difficult for her to even utter, as she chewed on her tongue.
“It’s generally hard to find herbs in the North. The nobles there don’t have a court physician, and getting treatment there is different from getting it in the capital. The medicine will be more effective if they’re treated in the capital.”
“I know that, but… the cost of living and housing in the capital is too expensive, and the cost of medicine…”
Celly’s voice, considering practical issues, gradually diminished.
Since I intervened in her life once, I had to take responsibility until the end.
“Don’t worry about that. If you’re okay with it, I’ll personally ask a physician I know.”
“A physician you know?”
“I’ll ask Dr. Pesol who wrote the recommendation letter for me to come here.”
“What?”
Even before I finished speaking, Celly gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.
“Surely, surely you’re talking about Dr. Pesol , who serves as the court physician for the Nirel family, right?”
‘’Lord Pesol?” It feels like such a reverent title, but…
“Whoa That Pesol, head physician of the Niryel family…”
“Leah, do you have a connection with him?”
Was it really that surprising? I nodded slowly with a perplexed expression.
It seemed like they were more impressed than when I said I would seek revenge.
I felt a twinge of wounded pride being overshadowed by Pesol.
“…Is Doctor Pesol really that famous?”
“Of course. He’s a genius in medicine!”
“Pesol?”
“He’s so skilled that he became the head physician… He even volunteers frequently, and they say he’ll drop everything to help anyone who’s sick. He once said he wouldn’t mind if he broke his body as long as he could save one more person.”
…Hmm, I think I saw glimpses of this when I read Pesol’s memories.
It seemed like a mythical hero tale, or perhaps they’re talking about someone with the same name?
I chuckled as I recalled the image of Pesol I usually had in mind.
“If he’s a medical genius, why didn’t he go to the palace? Why work for the Niryel family?”
“He said the palace restricts freedom of movement, and without noble permission, you can’t treat anyone else. That’s why. …Lea, don’t you know anything about the person who recommended you?”
I felt ashamed. I had only begged Pesol to get what I wanted.
“…Well, if he became the palace physician, he wouldn’t have been able to treat people in the slums with money he secretly took.”
As true as my desire to save more people was.
“Anyway, I’m planning to ask that doctor to treat and look after your siblings.”
“…!! Is that, is that possible?”
It should be. How much money did I give Pesol before coming?
“I told him to ask for help whenever needed.”
That wasn’t a lie, I really told Pesol to call me anytime he needed help.
“If you allow it, I’ll write a letter. Your siblings won’t need to worry about medicine or living expenses for now, so they can focus on paying off the debt.”
“Can I, can I really accept such kindness?”
Celly pinched her arm as if she couldn’t believe it. I grabbed her hand to stop her before she started pinching her thigh.
“I’m just returning the kindness you’ve shown me, You’re the one who ran around fetching medicine for me when I was sick, and you stood up to Master Hana so I could have a day off. That’s why I got punished alone. You didn’t even show a hint of regret.”
“Y-you knew about that?! I’m embarrassed…”
“When they said they would switch cleaning bedding and hallway cleaning… You said you had a friend to do it with me, but in fact, Celly, you did it alone.”
“…!! Did you know about that too?”
Celly felt embarrassed, muttering, “Who told you? How did you find out?”
“Celly, promise me something.”
“A promise? Sure, I’ll promise!”
Without even knowing what it was about, Celly nodded eagerly.
“You’re willing to promise without even knowing what it is?”
“If Leah wants it, then I’ll promise.”
“…Aren’t you trusting people too much, Celly?”
“I don’t trust people, Leah. I trust you.”
It was Celly sincere statement, not something said with intent. A smile formed at the lightly thrown sincerity.
“When I need your help someday, promise me you’ll help me no matter what.”
It was a promise made with the thought of when I return to Reperentia someday.
If Laches saves me, someday I might return to Reperentia.
“Is that all? Of course, Leah.”
Celly humbly promised with a tone as if asking if it was necessary to make such a promise.
“I promise, Leah. If you say you need my help, I’ll definitely help you. Not just once, but always.”
“That’s all I need, Then I’ll write a letter to Feros.”
“Thank you, Leah. Really, thank you…”
“I’m hungry, Let’s eat before the food gets cold.”
I patted Celly shoulder lightly and left the room. She seemed to warn me not to do anything dangerous, but I ignored it lightly.
I returned to my bedroom and wrote a letter to Feros, informing him that I would send one more child with a congenital illness and one more guardian, and asked him to take responsibility and protect them.
I told him to let me know the time and place to send the children, and I would send them.
After sending the letter, I spent the morning with Creamy and Cheese. And it was only during the afternoon rest time that I went to find Ronan.
Most of the knights at this time enjoyed their personal time, so it wasn’t difficult to find Ronan, who always trained during his personal time.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
After stopping his training and wiping his sweat with a towel, Ronan looked at me.
It wasn’t just Ronan. I could feel the eyes of all the surrounding knights on me.
I didn’t need to ask why. It was because yesterday Laches saved me in front of everyone.
“I don’t have much to gain from being so well-known.”
I pretended to tidy my hair, trying to cover my face as much as possible. As a maid, I couldn’t go around hiding my face…
What if someone recognizes me?
“Do I need permission from the Duke to come?”
Ronan’s gruff voice came from above as I struggled to cover my face.
“What permission from the Duke?”
“He asked to speak with you.”
“…He didn’t ask to speak with the Duke, he asked to speak with me.”
“Yes, So I thought I needed the Duke’s permission to come and talk to you.”
Ronan asked seriously, It didn’t seem like he was teasing me; he genuinely seemed to think that way.
“No… I don’t need the Duke’s permission. But Ronan, you need to make time for me.”
“If I say I don’t have time, you’ll be sad, and then the Duke will come. …Where should we talk?”
Ronan walked forward briskly. It seemed like in his mind, I was associated with Laches.
I let out a sigh and followed Ronan. We headed away from the training grounds towards a less frequented path.
“We can talk comfortably here.”
“We didn’t need to come to such a secluded spot…”
“I was worried you might say something like ‘you still have feelings for me,’ and if the Duke heard that, I might lose my life…”
“Who said anything about having feelings for you? …Wait, are you talking about me?”
Come to think of it, when I was following Ronan around trying to read his memories, there were misunderstandings because of my public rejection of him.
“I… I don’t have feelings for you, Ronan.”
“Please, keep that feeling.”
I sighed involuntarily.
Yeah, Northerners were always such strange people.
I got straight to the point.
“I heard you were once Cedric Hilos’s seedling.”
At the mention of Cedric’s name, Ronan’s forehead furrowed deeply.
I saw how much torment he went through from Cedric when I read his memories.
“I intend to drive Cedric Hilos out of the North.”
“Do you need my help?”
“Surely not, sir.”
I chuckled and reached out my hand towards Ronan.
“Whether we do it together or I give you the opportunity, it’s up to you.”
“…I see.”
Ronan ran his hand through his hair, Determination burned in his face.
“I really want to hear about it. I’d love to have a hand in driving that bastard out.”
