IDRML~13

Chapter 13

In the face of my blatant, annoyed gaze, Lyxion remained impassive.

“Yes, it is known to be transmitted through the respiratory system,” he said, a hint of amusement playing in his cool, gray eyes as he looked down at me. His smile, which was clearly feigned, accompanied his announcement.

“Therefore, I cannot allow Lady Kristenner to ride in the same carriage as those children. Lady Kristenner, you will ride in my carriage.”

His words were courteous, but the underlying meaning was clear: if I didn’t comply, he would force me.

While a part of me bristled at his command, I couldn’t deny the logic in his words. My makeshift face covering was hardly adequate, and the prospect of spending an extended period in a confined space with those children while potentially contagious was ludicrous.

Though I acknowledged the wisdom of following Lyxion’s suggestion for now, I wasn’t about to readily admit it.

“Consider it a token of your appreciation for lending you my cloak,” he said, as if reading my mind.

His offer made it difficult to refuse his kindness outright. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to be obedient. Instead, I tilted my head at him, feigning magnanimity.

“Very well, then.”

“Thank you.”

As he finished speaking, a genuine smile, not a feigned one, spread across his face.

A blaring alarm went off in my head at that moment. I didn’t need to delve deep to understand the significance of that warning.

I caught Lyxion’s smile in my peripheral vision, forcing myself to ignore the growing unease in my gut.

‘What can I do?’

From the moment I embraced those children, unable to turn a blind eye to their plight, I knew I could no longer fully detach myself from the stage of the original story.

But that didn’t mean I would be obedient follow along.

I pulled down the cloth that had been haphazardly covering my mouth and nose, glancing at the Lyxion ducal carriage rapidly approaching in the distance.

Ignoring Lyxion’s outstretched hand, I swiftly boarded the carriage as it stopped directly in front of us.

Lyxion hesitated for a moment before following me into the carriage without further reaction.

As the man who appeared to be a guard approached and closed the carriage door, I flung open the window connected to the driver.

“To the temple. As quickly as possible.”

Surprised by my direct order, the driver’s eyes darted to Lyxion.

Following his gaze, I turned to Lyxion. He met my gaze with an inscrutable expression before giving the driver a curt nod, signaling him to comply with my request.

I settled back into my seat with a thud as the carriage smoothly started moving.

Heeding my instruction to go as fast as possible, the carriage quickly picked up speed. The sound of my family’s carriage, along with those of the horses ridden by Rachel and the other guards, followed close behind.

I stared out the window, gnawing on my fingernails.

There was only one temple within the Imperial capital.

It normally took less than twenty minutes, in the time of my original world, to travel from here to there.

Surely, the children wouldn’t be harmed in that short amount of time. But time wasn’t the real issue.

The real question was whether a ‘cure’ could be found at all.

I chewed on my nails, racking my brain. I flipped through the pages of the book in my mind, recalling the details of the original story.

The Red Plague, an infectious disease that originated in the slums, the only ‘excluded zone’ among the twelve districts of the Kaiden Empire’s capital. It was now believed to have been an accidental outbreak, but in reality, it was a deliberately spread epidemic with a sinister purpose.

Initially, the Empire attempted to protect its ‘citizens’ by completely isolating the excluded zone, as the Red Plague was confined within the slums.

‘They didn’t even consider the people living in the excluded zone as citizens of the Empire.’

The ruthless measures taken by the Empire proved ineffective as the Red Plague continued to spread, even reaching the citizens the Empire sought to protect. This included the nobles, plunging the entire Empire into chaos. As the citizens began to criticize the imperial family’s inaction and incompetence, the Holy Kingdom stepped forward, claiming they could cure the Red Plague with the power of God.

They presented a plague-stricken individual and had him drink holy water imbued with divine power. The red spots vanished from the patient’s body, and his fever subsided as if washed away. This miracle-like event caused the citizens to fervently believe in the power of God.

Initially, the Holy Kingdom provided the holy water to the citizens free of charge, despite its high cost. With the support of the cured citizens, the temple’s influence grew exponentially. This tipped the scales of power, which had long been balanced between the Empire and the temple, in favor of the latter.

Around this time, Saintess Eunha appeared. Her presence, carefully nurtured by Michael in the Azalenta Desert, restored balance to the tilting scales of power.

Originally, the children I brought today were supposed to be the protagonists of the chapter where Saintess Eunha first realizes her power.

If Eunha were here, these children could be immediately freed from the red spots and fever that covered their bodies.

‘But the great Eunha is not here now…’

I pondered what I could do for these children in Eunha’s absence.

My head ached. The children had appeared too early. Even if Eunha hadn’t appeared, if they had only appeared a little later…

I could have bought the holy water containing the cure for the plague, even if it meant spending all my money.

But the problem was that it was impossible now.

As far as I remember, the Holy Kingdom and the temple did not distribute the holy water to outsiders at this time. No matter how much money was offered or how powerful the person was, they refused to sell the holy water.

The exact reason was not depicted in the original story, but I thought it might have been necessary for the process of creating the cure and putting it in the holy water.

“…Lady.”

Click, I bit my nails again.

In this situation, if I want to get the holy water…

“Lady Kristenner.”

My name, spoken as if it were being chewed, startled me back to my senses.

I lowered my bitten nails and raised my head. Only then did I see Lyxion’s face in front of me.

Lyxion’s gaze was not on my face but downwards. I followed his gaze, and a hand reached out and touched the tip of my hand on my knee.

“Fortunately, I’m on my way to the temple. Let’s go and ask for treatment right away.”

It was only after hearing those words that I realized my bitten nails were a mess.

The pain belatedly followed as I saw the blood oozing out. I awkwardly lowered my hand next to my knee.

“I’m following Lady Kristenner because you want to go to the temple, but…”

As I checked the wound, Lyxion calmly pushed my hand away and continued.

“The priests’ divine power cannot cure diseases. They can reattach severed arms and legs, but they cannot even cure common illnesses like colds.”

His gaze, which had been on my fingertips, slowly rose to meet my eyes. It was a gaze that asked many questions.

“Lady Kristenner must already know that.”

It was a tone as if he were pacifying an ignorant child. The look and tone of someone reluctantly humoring a child’s whim momentarily angered me, and I snapped back.

“I need holy water, not divine power.”

“…Holy water?”

Oops.

I immediately clamped my mouth shut, reflexively stopping the words that were about to spill out, my eyes meeting the curious gaze that followed.

Damn it, my impulsiveness is really getting the better of me. I bit the inside of my cheek, inwardly cursing my own carelessness.

I knew that my words and actions so far had been suspicious enough, but there was no need to add more unnecessary fuel to the fire.

“Why are you looking for the Holy Water? It wouldn’t be much different from divine power, would it?”

As expected, Lyxion shot me a questioning look. I awkwardly averted my gaze, feeling a pang of guilt.

However, I couldn’t just ignore the persistent gaze that followed me. So, I decided to try to salvage the situation.

“W-well, I just have a feeling that the Holy Water might be effective.”