Chapter 20
Michael oppa seemed ready to scold me properly, and I felt like a guilty sinner with no words, rubbing my throbbing cheeks and keeping my eyes lowered.
As I pondered where to start and what excuses to make, Michael’s long sigh echoed through the room. I pulled the blanket up over my eyes and watched cautiously.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on you, but there are no signs of fever or spots, so luckily it doesn’t seem like you’ve caught the illness. Consider yourself lucky.”
Maybe it was because I had been acting pitifully.
Michael’s voice was slightly softer than before, though his expression still looked like he wanted to give me a hundred playful smacks on the forehead.
“You wasted the whole day because of you. How are you going to make up for that loss?”
“You… you really stayed here the entire time?”
I asked in surprise. It was hard to believe that someone as busy as him, whose day could barely accommodate ten people, had stayed by my side all day.
Michael raised one eyebrow as if he couldn’t comprehend the question.
“Of course. You think I could leave someone who might have caught a contagious disease in other people’s hands? Since yesterday, the second floor has been off-limits to everyone except me.”
I was surprised, a little guilty, and, on some level, slightly touched.
I wasn’t sure whether to say thank you or apologize, so I muttered awkwardly,
“Uh, um… sorry.”
“Don’t think just saying ‘sorry’ will be enough.”
“I really am… sorry…”
Despite his disapproving click of the tongue, I sincerely apologized again.
At the time, I had acted recklessly, caught up in the hero complex of being the only one who could save those kids, without thinking things through. But taking in children with a contagious disease wasn’t a decision to make lightly.
As a member of the Christener family, it wasn’t just my personal matter.
If I had been unlucky enough to catch the disease, rumors could have spread that the Christener household was infecting others, affecting both the family and our trading guild.
Even if I hadn’t caught the disease, simply protecting and caring for those children could have sparked damaging rumors about our family.
Even minor rumors could have caused serious disruptions to operations and trade.
Realizing the potential worst-case outcomes of my rash actions, I genuinely reflected with a sullen expression.
Then, a thought suddenly struck me, and I sat up abruptly.
Terrible muscle pain followed the sudden movement, but I gritted my teeth and endured it, then asked Michael,
“Oppa, what happened to the kids?”
I remembered the last thing I saw before my memory went blank—the kids, completely healed, and the mysterious light that had flowed from my hand to them, absorbed like by Rixion Luhanes.
The kids, with their high fevers and spots gone along with the light, looked as if they were completely cured. That sight reminded me of when Jade healed me with divine power, making it even more confusing.
I was curious what that light was, but more than that, I wanted to know if the kids were really okay.
Rumbling.
As I traced my memories for answers, my oblivious stomach announced loudly that it was starving.
Though I had lived most of my life barely knowing shame, I was a little embarrassed now.
Michael let out a deep sigh. After two consecutive sighs, he stood abruptly, brought the silver tray from earlier, and placed it on my lap.
On the tray were a glass of water, some meat soup, and a clumsily made sandwich.
I glanced at him, wondering if he had made it himself, and he glared at me with a stern look.
“Even if it tastes bad, just eat it quietly.”
I knew this wasn’t the time to be eating, but I quietly picked up the sandwich and started eating. My hunger had reached a near-death level since I realized I was starving.
“Be honest.”
Watching me devour the soup and chew the sandwich aggressively, Michael said casually,
“Are you dating the duke?”
I almost spit out the sandwich. I barely managed to swallow it, stunned.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
I shouted, my expression and tone full of “why are you saying such nonsense?” Michael, annoyed, lowered his hands from covering his ears.
“No?”
“Absolutely not!”
I strongly denied it again, and Michael’s expression shifted to one of confusion, as if he himself was more embarrassed.
I was flustered and anxious. What could have happened while I was unconscious for him to say something like that?
“…Really not?”
Michael didn’t seem to believe me at all.
Just as I was about to reply, he sighed shortly and said,
“Well, if you don’t want to talk about it yet, that’s fine.”
“What do you mean ‘don’t want to talk about it’? I just said no!”
“Yeah, yeah. Got it.”
I thumped my chest in frustration, but all I got in return was a professional employee performance, pretending to soothe a troublesome guest.
“Anyway, make sure to thank the duke later.”
I frowned, wondering why he kept bringing up Rixion Luhanes when I was asking about the kids I had brought. The children’s safety mattered more than anything to me at that moment.
“The duke took in the children who had the contagious disease. He also brought you here.”
He clearly said “children who had the disease,” not “children who had recovered.”
Confused, I placed the sandwich back on the tray.
“They… haven’t healed?”
Michael gave me a puzzled look, as if to say, “What are you talking about?”
“So the kids… they’re not completely cured?”
“Riz, did you dream this?”
A gaze filled with concern, beyond mere scolding, was directed at me.
“What do you mean cured?”
He handed the sandwich back to me, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You know very well there’s no cure for the Red Plague. How could they possibly be healed?”
I grew increasingly confused.
“I heard you took the kids to the temple, thinking the priest’s divine power might help, but that was obviously nonsense.”
Listening to Michael, it truly felt like I had just dreamt everything. The only truth was going to the temple for Jade and receiving holy water. Everything after that felt like a panic-induced delusion.
Or maybe, as Michael said, it had been a dream.
The light flowing from my hand, the children’s recovery…
“All of that was really just a dream?”
How could it all be a dream? I looked around, bewildered.
And why is he talking about divine power instead of holy water? Rixion Luhanes would know everything, right? Did he deliberately hide the holy water story from Michael?
Maybe he even lied about the children, keeping it quiet to prevent rumors about the plague being cured by holy water.
“You need to rest a bit more.”
Seeing how restless I was, Michael pressed my forehead and laid me back down. I lay obediently for a moment, then sat up again. My body seemed more accustomed to the muscle pain now, so moving was easier.
“I have to see Rixion Luhanes.”
As I tried to get out of bed completely, he stopped me again.
“No, you need to rest. And…”
Knock, knock.
Just then, a cautious knock sounded at the door. We both froze and turned toward it.
“Albert, househead.”
“I told you not to come upstairs.”
Michael signaled me to stay put and walked to the door. When he opened it, the butler immediately apologized and stated the purpose of his visit.
“There is a guest downstairs.”
“A guest?”
Michael tilted his head and opened the door wider.
The butler bowed politely to both of us and continued calmly.
“Yes, His Grace Duke Rixion Luhanes has arrived.”
I rolled my eyes toward Michael.
Noticing my gaze, Michael raised one eyebrow at me.
“Ah! I’ll go! Tell him I’ll be right there!”
Before Michael could say no, I quickly responded. He shot me a look that clearly said, this kid…?
Regardless, I was focused entirely on meeting him immediately.
