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Chapter 6
After leaving Calix at the orphanage, Reina spent each day in growing anxiety.
There were far too many things to worry about.
She had to deal with Jonathan, who kept pressing her with questions after she returned alone, and once his leave ended and he departed, she then had to face the count and countess.
They found it strange that Reina insisted on staying at the orphanage to help run it.
She had to make the excuse that she simply wanted to ease the loneliness after Jonathan’s departure by keeping herself busy with work.
Only then was Reina able to go see Calix.
Maya opposed leaving immediately, citing the heavy downpour, but Reina was firm.
‘I’ve been receiving reports from Olivia about how Calix is doing, but…’
She was worried about his condition.
And for good reason—because in the original story, not long after meeting the female lead, Calix suffered from a severe fever.
Rushing to the orphanage, Reina ended up completely drenched, just as Maya had feared.
“Lady Reina, I’ll prepare some warm water first.”
Olivia took her soaked coat and stepped away, asking her to wait a moment.
At that moment, Reina noticed a child coming down the stairs, completely wrapped in a blanket.
‘What is he doing?’
The child’s steps looked unstable, and when he finally stumbled forward, Reina reacted instinctively.
‘That’s dangerous!’
Only after catching the child did Reina realize—it was Calix.
“N-no…!”
Muttering incoherently as he struggled, Calix suddenly went still.
“Calix?”
Reina’s expression turned serious as she grabbed his shoulders and shook him lightly.
His body was burning hot.
Not just warm—abnormally hot, like touching a blazing flame.
Startled, Reina lifted him up along with the blanket.
“Lady Reina?”
Olivia, who had just returned, widened her eyes.
“What is going on? Why is Calix—”
Realizing she had raised her voice, Olivia quickly shut her mouth.
The two quietly headed to Calix’s room.
“…Bill?”
Opening the door, Olivia’s eyes widened.
Bill had tried to hide under the bed, but he was too late.
“Why are you here?”
Olivia pulled him up and asked.
“Well, I…”
Bill trailed off, then shut his mouth tightly when he saw Reina.
‘A witch!’
He was horrified.
The children at the orphanage often called Reina a witch.
A frightening woman who would glare sharply if any child dared to approach her.
“Olivia.”
As expected, her voice was cold—befitting that nickname.
“Bring cold water and a towel.”
“Yes, ma’am. Bill! Come with me.”
After Olivia took Bill and left, Reina finally let out the breath she had been holding.
Why was that child in Calix’s room?
‘Did he see something?’
Though uneasy, Calix’s condition came first.
After laying him on the bed, Calix stirred slightly, not fully unconscious.
Soon, he curled up on his side, hugging himself tightly.
His frail body trembled with each labored breath.
Sitting beside the bed, Reina placed a hand on his forehead again, just in case.
It was still burning hot.
‘I should have them bring some herbs to reduce the fever.’
Just as she withdrew her hand and stood up—
“D-don’t…”
Calix spoke with difficulty.
“Don’t go.”
“……”
His unfocused eyes looked at Reina.
Perhaps because of the fever, his eyes appeared even redder than usual.
“I’ll be fine after I sleep.”
“……”
“It’s true. I’m not lying. So…”
His voice was desperate as he clung to her.
After a brief hesitation, Reina sat back down.
“I won’t go.”
“……”
“I won’t go anywhere.”
Calix let out a small sigh of relief.
His heavy eyelids fluttered before closing.
Reina carefully reached out and stroked his cheek.
She brushed aside his damp hair and cooled his flushed face with the back of her hand.
Perhaps her rain-chilled hands helped—his expression noticeably relaxed.
His rough breathing soon became steady and calm.
‘Calix…’
He must have endured things like this all by himself.
Reina looked at him, curled up as if he had no one to rely on but himself.
‘Let’s at least make him more comfortable.’
She gently laid him flat and covered him with a blanket, careful not to make him feel suffocated.
Then she slipped her hand under the blanket and held his.
His fingers twitched slightly, then slowly grasped hers.
It seemed unconscious, yet his grip was firm.
An instinctive act of seeking something to rely on.
‘If only divine power still existed.’
Divine power—the healing ability possessed by the priests of the imperial grand temple.
But their power had grown weaker with time, and now, no one was born with it anymore.
As Reina let out a quiet sigh, she suddenly frowned.
‘What is this?’
Calix’s once-clean clothes had turned dark, as if they had been rolled in dirt.
Feeling puzzled, Reina pulled back the blanket.
Both his top and bottom were covered in dust.
His chest and abdomen were especially black, as though rubbed with dark mud, with the grime spreading outward.
Reina checked the blanket. It was completely clean, inside and out.
‘Where did this come from?’
Carefully, she reached for his collar.
As she brushed the dirt away with her fingers, something strange happened.
The black particles—what she thought was dirt—vanished like smoke the moment she touched them.
‘I don’t know what it is, but I should get rid of it quickly.’
A chill ran down her spine as she dusted off his clothes.
She didn’t even need to apply much force—just waving her hand made the smoky residue scatter and disappear.
Even as Reina worked to remove it, Calix remained asleep.
Only after the unsettling stains completely vanished and his clothes were clean again did she feel relieved.
‘What on earth was that?’
As she tilted her head in confusion, Olivia returned.
“Lady Reina, the things you asked for—!”
She couldn’t finish her sentence.
Setting the tray down hastily, she burst into coughing.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Olivia, are you alright?”
“Don’t speak!”
Olivia urgently covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve and rushed to the window.
Throwing it open, she gulped in the cold air along with the rain.
“Are you… cough… alright, Lady Reina?”
After calming her cough, Olivia looked at her.
“The air is so thick and suffocating. And your lungs aren’t even strong to begin with…”
Reina looked puzzled.
‘The air is thick?’
If the room had been that bad, enough to make someone cough so violently, Reina should have been affected too.
But she felt completely fine.
Olivia, seeing Reina unaffected, looked confused.
“That’s strange. It was definitely…”
She muttered while scanning the room.
The murky air that had filled it earlier had completely disappeared—perhaps due to the ventilation.
Feeling uneasy, Olivia picked up the tray again.
As she soaked a towel in cold water, Reina placed a hand on Calix’s forehead.
“Is his condition very bad?”
Olivia asked while wringing out the towel, but Reina didn’t respond.
“Lady Reina?”
Still staring at Calix, Reina slowly spoke.
“His fever has gone down.”
“…What?”
“It was burning hot just moments ago…”
Murmuring, Reina checked his cheek and neck.
His body, once blazing hot, had cooled to a mild warmth.
She withdrew her hand.
Then she stared silently at her own hand.
The next day, after the rain cleared, Maya arrived at the orphanage with Reina’s belongings.
She quietly looked around the place where Reina would be staying for a while.
Compared to the Krollot estate, it was incredibly shabby.
‘Still… she was always struggling at the estate.’
Serving as Reina’s personal maid, Maya couldn’t help but realize that Reina was fundamentally different from the Krollot family.
No matter what others said, in Maya’s eyes, Reina was simply a kind and gentle lady.
One whose soft heart made her vulnerable to being hurt.
‘But I didn’t expect her to act this hastily because of that boy…’
Maya recalled how Reina had rushed to the orphanage without hesitation, even in a torrential downpour.
Reina had even had an appointment in the capital today.
‘It would’ve been easier to handle her business in the capital first and then come here.’
Despite knowing that, Reina insisted she couldn’t delay any longer and went to see the boy first.
‘Why does she want to help a boy she’s only just met…?’
And so secretly, at that.
Maya was worried, but as a knight, one must silently follow their lord’s orders.
Though she had become a maid after her family’s fall, she hadn’t lost her knightly spirit.
Steeling herself, Maya headed to Calix’s room with Olivia.
Reina was sitting beside the bed, watching over the sleeping Calix.
“Is the child sick?”
At Maya’s question, Olivia waved her hands.
“Oh, don’t even mention it. He had a terrible fever last night. Thankfully, Lady Reina arrived just in time to catch him when he fell down the stairs.”
Maya’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Just in time.
As if she had known beforehand that he would fall ill.
“The fever seems to have gone down now.”
Reina said as she stood up.
“Olivia, I’ll leave Calix to you. He’s sleeping soundly, so don’t wake him unnecessarily. And…”
“If it’s Bill, don’t worry. I’ll make sure he keeps his mouth shut.”
Reina nodded, then looked at Maya.
“Let’s go.”
As Maya followed her out, she glanced back at Calix and Olivia.
Her sharp instincts were warning her—
Something unusual was happening because of that boy.
