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Chapter 49
“You’ve been visiting quite often lately, Miss Damia.”
“Yes, butler.”
The next day, Damia came to the Sarkis Ducal Residence.
“Sorry for coming without notice. You must be surprised.”
“Not at all. The Young Viscount and Madam would always be happy to see you. Didn’t they say to visit freely anytime?”
The old butler naturally led Damia into the Young Viscount’s study.
Damia clutched the basket in her hands tightly, following a step behind.
“Oh?”
After only a few steps, Damia came face-to-face with Cassian.
He seemed to have just been in the training yard. His coat was slung carelessly over one shoulder, and his shirt clung to his damp body.
Even the hair at the nape of his neck was slightly wet.
He wasn’t exactly undressed, but it was hard to know where to look.
“What are you doing so early in the morning?”
“Wow, training already?”
Damia deliberately raised her voice, pretending to be casual. She didn’t want him to notice her fluster.
“I asked why you came.”
Cassian leaned forward slightly, arms crossed, his expression clearly displeased.
“You didn’t come just because you were curious about your childhood friend, did you?”
He was unusually persistent today. Damia blinked awkwardly.
“For the record, your weak little childhood friend is still sleeping. Seems a bit lazy, doesn’t he?”
“Hmm…”
“I was thinking of sparring with him a little. Oh, is he a bit timid?”
A spar with the heir of the Sarkis family, the Empire’s shield, would feel like sheer torment to the other person.
“Hello, Young Viscount. Sorry, I just woke up a little while ago.”
At that moment, Arsen appeared behind her, looking fresh and clean as if he’d just bathed.
“You came because you were worried about me, Damia?”
Cassian quickly turned his head. His expression stiffened, as if he were biting down on a rock.
For a moment, he glanced between Arsen’s neat face and his own. His cheeks visibly flushed.
“I should probably go wash up first.”
“Eh? Young Viscount, wait! I have something to say!”
Cassian swept his disheveled hair aside as if it were bothersome.
Then, without saying another word, he turned and left.
“See you later.”
Though his tone was casual, his hurried pace betrayed him.
Arsen let out a small chuckle at the sight.
“Seems like he’s embarrassed because he’s unprepared.”
“Indeed. How unexpected.”
“Should I have come without washing up to match his mood?”
Arsen smiled, eyes narrowed delicately.
“You looked good either way. Pity.”
“…What did you say?”
Arsen’s composed face fell into a frown at the slip of the tongue.
Damia didn’t notice it at all.
Cassian called his personal physician into the study, at Damia’s request.
As soon as the doctor arrived, Damia opened a small box.
Inside was Ruby, a white snake with beautiful pink eyes.
“So you came to see the physician, not me.”
Cassian watched with a look of mild displeasure.
“Still, it’s not like you came to see that childhood friend of yours.”
Though his tone was indifferent, the corners of his mouth lifted faintly.
“Why would I worry about Arsen? You, Young Viscount, would take good care of him anyway.”
“Is that so? Well, it’s not really worth worrying about.”
“Arsen isn’t the type to just let things happen to him.”
“Are you praising him right in front of me?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
The physician, noticing Cassian’s reaction, cleared his throat nervously.
“Hmm, hmm! You mean the snake isn’t in its usual condition?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“There was nothing unusual during the examination, though…”
The doctor rubbed his chin slowly.
Even though the results showed nothing wrong, Ruby was listless, barely able to flick her tongue.
“Do you remember when this started?”
“It happened once about two years ago, but she recovered quickly then.”
Damia fell into deep thought, recalling what had happened back then.
“Are you sure the test results show nothing?”
“Yes, Miss.”
Even the physician seemed without any sharp answers.
After the Young Viscount dismissed the physician, only Damia and Cassian remained in the study.
“Young Viscount, I have something to tell you.”
By now, Damia held a glass vial containing dragonroot medicine.
She began letting small amounts drip onto the listless snake.
“What… are you doing?”
Before Cassian could finish speaking in surprise, Ruby began wriggling energetically.
“Could it be…”
“Young Viscount, do you remember when the dragons attacked our house?”
“Of course… I remember.”
Cassian, watching Ruby lick the medicine, responded a moment later.
“It took a long time to purify the residual magi in the mansion.”
Cassian nodded slowly.
“Ruby fell ill then too. I thought it was due to the change in environment… but now I think it was the magi.”
Even though the physician had said there was nothing wrong, Ruby had been weak—and reacted positively to the dragonroot medicine.
It seemed Ruby’s health depended on the magi.
“Perhaps the frequent monster appearances recently are because the magi have strengthened in the west?”
“Well, snakes are particularly sensitive to magi… but maybe she’s just pretending to be weak.”
Damia gently petted Ruby, who wrapped around her finger.
“But Young Viscount, your condition has been worsening lately too.”
“I’m the same as always. It’s not worse just because of recent days.”
“Don’t lie. I can tell just by looking at you.”
“……”
“Be honest, Young Viscount. You promised to show me your weak side too.”
“Are you saying my condition is also worsened because of the magi?”
Damia nodded cautiously.
He was cursed by the Radiant Dragon, so his body would naturally be affected by the magi.
If the magi were thickening across the entire west, his body could not escape its influence.
And indeed, he had been coughing up blood more frequently these days.
“If you ever want to hold hands, just say so.”
“…No need.”
Even knowing it was more of a medical act, her words made his ears burn.
“I also can’t stop thinking about Ms. Drury’s handkerchief. I should have investigated it more carefully back then.”
Cassian’s gaze lingered on Damia’s white, slender fingers, tending to Ruby.
He actually had something he needed to confess to her.
“I keep feeling like there’s something more. I don’t know why monsters are increasing all of a sudden…”
“Don’t worry. I was already planning to go on a sortie, so I’ll investigate.”
“Eh? You mean yourself?”
“It’s an order from His Majesty the Emperor. He told me to capture the monsters to understand the situation.”
“You’re going yourself? Even if the Sarkis Knights are called the Empire’s Shield, Young Viscount…”
He’s running out of time, after all.
Damia didn’t voice it, but Cassian understood perfectly.
His stomach twisted, yet he smiled calmly.
“I won’t be back for a while, but there’s no need to worry. It’s an investigation, not a purge.”
“Are you really going?”
“I’ll take plenty of the medicine with me.”
He approached the window and pulled the curtains wide. Narrowed eyes looked down at the garden.
In the center of the garden, a boy stared silently back at him.
Arsen Kadis.
The two of them stared at each other without moving, as if preparing for a standoff.
Cassian lifted one corner of his mouth, as if accepting the challenge.
“This won’t do. I’ll have to keep your childhood friend here.”
“Eh? The Young Viscount’s away, so why is Arsen here anyway?”
“Your gaze is insolent.”
“Are you just trying to find another ridiculous reason to scold me?”
Damia sighed.
“You actually like Arsen, don’t you? You’re holding him close on purpose.”
“Hah, let’s just say that’s true.”
“Are you serious?”
“Then try taking him back again, and see what happens.”
Though his tone was playful, his eyes were strangely serious.
