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Chapter 12
I don’t know what possessed me to run towards the children.
At first, I thought I should run away.
This wretched stage is not for me, but for the original female lead, Eunha. I thought I shouldn’t interfere.
The two children who suddenly appeared in front of me and Lyxion were one of the main event where Eunha reveals her power as a saintess to the world and her relationship with the original male lead, Lyxion, develops further.
I remember being impressed by Lyxion’s emotional line, who used to be disgusted and despised the children who were carrying the epidemic, being helplessly drawn to Ji Eunha’s kind and affectionate heart as she was the only one to help them.
This event was also deeply connected to Lyxion’s past.
Lyxion looks back on his past through those children. And through Eunha, he feels as if his childhood self was being healed, and he falls deeper and deeper into Eunha.
I remember all the details of that development. That’s why I thought there was nothing I could do, no matter how much I cared about those children and felt sorry for them.
I thought there was nothing I could do here, nothing I could do until Eunha showed up.
Both instinctively and rationally. I was definitely determined not to go up on that stage.
Even if Eunha wasn’t here and I want to help those children, I didn’t want to step in as a substitute for Eunha. I didn’t want to take her role.
So I cowardly tried to run away, leaving those poor children behind.
No matter how much I wanted to help those children, I couldn’t help them. I didn’t want to take Eunha’s place.
I kept making the same excuses and backing away.
Until I saw the children being verbally abused and insulted, rotten fruits and garbage thrown by someone brushing past their bodies, and their faces filled with fear as they tried to somehow protect each other with their small arms.
After that, my head was a mess. I couldn’t remember what possessed me to tear my dress, cover my mouth and nose, snatch Lyxion’s clothes, and run to the children.
When I came to my senses, I had already taken Eunha’s place, and after that, I was like, ‘I don’t know either’.
Let’s think later, let’s save the children first. I moved urgently with that thought.
I was prepared to be hit by a few stones, but fortunately, nothing else flew at me from the moment I jumped in.
Everyone was just watching from afar, bewildered by the intrusion of a noble lady in a dress.
Fortunately, the children were only startled for a moment. They didn’t fear or reject my hand, but stayed quiet. I saw them exchanging anxious glances, but I didn’t have the energy to care about that right now.
All I could think about was getting the children out of the midst of those evil people and protecting them.
More than anything, I could feel the children’s bodies burning hot like fireballs even through their clothes. My heart ached even more.
What surprised me in that situation was Lyxion.
“Lady Kristenner!”
That psychopath, no, sociopath, clearly not a human, suddenly approached me as if to protect me, trying to pull me away from the children.
“Lady Kristenner, get away from those children right now…”
“Ah! Don’t come near me! It’s dangerous.”
I shouted at him urgently when I saw Lyxion approaching us and reaching out to us.
I covered my mouth and nose, and seeing him approaching without any protection, my brows furrowed involuntarily.
Surely he wouldn’t be unaware of the children’s condition, and I wondered why he was being so careless.
I looked at him as if he were an annoying obstacle and then lowered my gaze to the children. I spoke to the children in a cautious voice, as if to appease them.
“Children, can you walk? To the carriage you see over there. Come on, let’s get up carefully. I’m never going to hurt you, so don’t worry.”
The children, wrapped in large clothes, slowly got up, glancing at each other. Then they began to walk, following my movements.
At that moment, I saw Lyxion, who had been standing still in the middle of the road, his pupils contorting with displeasure.
“Lady.”
“What?”
As he reached out his hand as if to stop me, I pushed it away with a slap. It was an involuntary gesture, as if I were brushing away something very annoying.
I was startled by my own actions and stopped, frowning.
The person in front of me was not someone I could treat so casually, but this was not the time to hesitate and argue about such things.
“If you have something to say, save it for later. Later.”
“….”
However, he didn’t seem to be backing down easily. Lyxion, who let out a short breath, gently grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the children.
“You need to see a doctor right away.”
And before I could even ask for help, he offered to help me himself.
His domineering attitude and the way he grabbed my wrist without permission were both unpleasant and infuriating.
However, it was also true that I was surprised by his offer to take the children to the doctor, and that he seemed different.
But despite the fact that my opinion of Lyxion was changing slightly for the better, I made a troubled face.
This was because I knew that taking these children to the doctor would be useless.
“No, the doctor is useless.”
I shook my head urgently and fell into thought.
If Eunha were here, she could have healed these children on the spot with her divine power, as it happened in the original story.
However, Eunha did not even exist on this earth. Even if I took these children to the temple, the priests’ divine power would not be able to cure them.
The only one who could cure the red rat plague was Eunha’s unique power.
Moreover, even if a cure were possible, I wasn’t sure if the temple would even use its divine power on the children of the slums in the first place.
“I’ll take you there even if you say no.”
“No, it’s useless to go to the doctor, don’t you understand?”
As Lyxion pulled me towards him again, I resisted with similar force and replied irritably.
Everyone in this land knew that there was not much information about the Red Rat yet, and that there was no way to cure it.
Even if it was later revealed who had deliberately spread this plague, what the cure was, and everything else, it would still be a long time from now.
Right now, even a child knew that there was nothing that could be done to cure these children.
So I frowned and retorted at his words to take the children to the doctor without a plan.
“Even if we go to the doctor, they won’t be able to cure them. You know that, right?”
Then, as I tried to approach the children again, Lyxion tightened his grip on my wrist and wouldn’t let go.
His grip was stronger than I expected. It was the first time I had encountered someone who wouldn’t budge even though I had put my mind to it.
I was quite surprised inside, but I didn’t show it on the outside. Instead, I looked up at him with a look of dissatisfaction, as if to ask why he was doing this, and he let out a short sigh before replying.
“I meant to take Lady Kristenner.”
“What? Why me? It’s not me, it’s these children who need treatment now.”
At my words, Lyxion’s brow furrowed even more. I made an impression as if I was about to go crazy with frustration.
“These children are infected with the plague. Get away from them right now. It’s a disease that has killed more than half of the residents of the excluded zone.”
“I know.”
I made an impression as if to say, “Don’t tell me you don’t know that.” Then, I twisted my captured wrist and said, as if I was even more frustrated.
“I’m fine, so you should get away from me. Cover your mouth and nose too. This is a disease that’s transmitted through the respiratory system.”
Lyxion didn’t say anything more. His hard blue eyes stared at me silently, as if he couldn’t understand at all.
Even though I wondered why he was suddenly acting like this again, it wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Before he could say anything else to hinder my actions, I took the initiative. I quickly approached the children, pushing them towards the carriage I had arrived in, and shouted at him, “I’ll take care of these children, so please go on your way now.”
Then, I also gestured to Sir Rachel, who was hesitant to approach, not to come any closer, and started to put the children in the carriage. After I had loaded the children, who were nervously watching, into the carriage, I was about to get in myself when a hand reached out and blocked my way. I turned to look at the owner of the hand, who I had become quite familiar with by now.
