Chapter 49
Chade had gone to see her again, hoping to comfort her.
It’s fine. I’m getting better little by little, so you don’t need to worry, Chade.
Even in such a difficult situation, Adelia didn’t lose her composure. Instead, she tried to reassure him.
How could she act like that? Or was she simply so shocked by the situation that she couldn’t fully feel it yet?
He thought of various possibilities, but still couldn’t understand it.
Then, one night, while walking around late, Chade happened to notice light spilling out from the laboratory.
In that instant, he understood everything.
The one who felt the heaviest burden over all of this was her.
She was rubbing her tired eyes, completely absorbed in her research, constantly telling herself she could do it.
Her eyes, however, were filled with fear.
Of course, she must be afraid.
The moment Chade realized how much weight she was carrying as a doctor, a wave of bitterness washed over him.
…If only I could be of help to you somehow.
But no matter how hard he tried to think, he couldn’t come up with anything useful.
The only thing he could do was trust her and wait.
Suddenly, he found himself wanting to see her bright smile again.
Now that he thought about it, they hadn’t seen each other yesterday or today because they’d both been busy.
Even though they were staying in the same house, following her here, it had already been two days.
I can’t believe I’m acting like this after just two days.
He gave a small, self-deprecating laugh at himself.
Still, his curiosity about what she was doing remained, and in the end, he couldn’t resist getting up from his seat.
***
The Limone Viscounty residence was an old building, surprisingly large for a Viscount’s house.
But compared to its size, there seemed to be far too few staff members working there.
Perhaps because of that, the atmosphere between the family and the servants was unusually relaxed and informal.
Something you’d never see in the ducal household.
One person in particular caught Chade’s attention—the Viscount’s assistant.
Judging by his clothes, he was clearly a commoner, yet he spoke casually with Adelia, the Viscount’s daughter, and acted friendly with her.
The funny thing was, while this assistant spoke freely with Adelia, he acted as if he couldn’t say a word whenever Chade was around—almost as if he wanted to avoid talking to him at all.
It was then, whether by coincidence or fate, that Chade met the glasses-wearing assistant at the top of the stairs.
“….”
The man’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he only gave a brief nod before walking right past without a word.
His continued silence was irritating.
Perhaps that was why Chade, without thinking, impulsively called out to him.
“You there.”
The man’s footsteps stopped.
“Where’s Adelia right now?”
His face, partially hidden under messy bangs, turned toward Chade.
After a brief hesitation, the man simply shook his head lightly, offering no verbal reply.
Seeing him deliberately avoid speaking made Chade’s irritation rise.
“I haven’t heard that Viscount Limone’s assistant is mute.”
“….”
“Or are you protesting? Do you want me to leave this house because you don’t like me here?”
Even after that, the man showed no reaction.
“Or do the servants here not even know what insolence toward a noble is?”
At that, Verdick finally opened his mouth.
“…Do high-ranking nobles normally accuse someone of insolence just because they don’t get an answer right away?”
He stepped forward until he stood right in front of Chade and spoke quietly.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m neither a servant of this house nor a commoner. That means you can’t punish me, even if you want to.”
Not a commoner?
Chade’s gaze instinctively swept over the man’s shabby appearance from head to toe.
He knew that when a doctor was of noble birth, their assistant was also usually from a noble family.
But the man’s casual manner and rough clothing were nothing like a noble’s, so Chade had naturally assumed he was a commoner.
Then again, in this household’s atmosphere…
It was possible. Which meant he’d just insulted the man’s status—it was his mistake.
Reluctantly, Chade twisted his lips and said,
“Sorry for the misunderstanding. But you could at least try dressing properly.”
“Is appearance really that important?”
“…Well, people usually call that proper decorum.”
The two men, nearly the same height, stared at each other in silence.
Finally, Verdick spoke.
“That’s why I dislike you, young duke.”
“Dislike me?”
“Yes. You’re the complete opposite of the people in this house.”
“Heh.”
Chade let out a small, incredulous laugh.
This assistant was certainly bold.
“Adelia and my master are my greatest benefactors. And you… once threatened them.”
“….”
“Even if my master has forgiven you, I haven’t.”
Chade finally understood the reason behind the man’s hostility.
“I can guess why you’re staying here, but you should give up. Adelia won’t get along with someone like you.”
Chade was about to snap back when his eyes met the man’s blue gaze through the thick lenses.
…?
It was impossible, but those lake-colored eyes were oddly familiar.
He was sure he had seen them somewhere before.
While Chade stood there, momentarily dazed, Verdick made to walk past him.
“I hope you’ll remember what I said.”
“Wait.”
Chade snapped back to himself and called out again.
“Leaving after saying whatever you like tells me a lot about your personality. But that matter isn’t for you to interfere with.”
“….”
“If anyone’s going to be angry at me or demand compensation, it should be Adelia herself—not an overstepping assistant…”
He was just about to call him out for his arrogant behavior when—
“What are you two doing here?”
Adelia suddenly appeared behind Chade.
Both men turned toward her.
She glanced between them, perhaps recalling how Verdick had been sharp toward Chade before.
“You’re not fighting, are you?”
Chade quickly put on an easy smile.
“Of course not. I was just asking where you were.”
At that, Adelia’s expression softened.
“Oh? Well, I was at the annex.”
Then, as if she remembered something, she turned to Verdick.
“Oh, right, Verdick, I had something to ask you—”
“I’ll be going now.”
Without waiting to hear her out, Verdick turned and went upstairs.
“…What’s with him? Does he have something urgent?”
“Who knows. Maybe he’s tired.”
Chade smiled again, feeling satisfied.
After all, it was better for him if the man removed himself from the scene.
***
“Good morning, Mother!”
At first light, I went to the annex as usual to check on her condition.
“How are you? Still having trouble eating anything besides porridge?”
Mother slowly shook her head.
“No, swallowing food isn’t difficult anymore. Meat and fruit are still a bit hard, though.”
I glanced over her breakfast plate.
Just as she said, there was still some meat and fruit left, but the amount she was eating had definitely increased.
It seemed my suggestion of combining PPI and aspirin had been quite effective.
Well, it is the newest research finding even in modern medicine.
All those medical conference papers and journal articles I’d read in my spare time had really paid off.
On top of that, I had set a strict plan for her to eat specific amounts of food at regular times.
The reason was simple—
I needed to figure out exactly which foods irritated her stomach most, and what portion sizes were safest.
