IMMCFC 25

 Chapter 25

I, who had been secretly timing things, suddenly jumped up from my seat.

Then I began to act.

“Ah, right!”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Now that I think about it, I left something behind. Young master, I’m sorry, but may I step out for a moment?”

Just yesterday, when I said I would leave, Jaden had lightly whined for me not to go.

But at this moment, he brightened up as if he had found an unexpected opportunity.

“Yeah! Go ahead!”

“Thank you. I’ll be back in 10 minutes, so please take your medicine in the meantime!”

“Okay!”

His lively reply sounded cheerful, and his bright voice was pleasant to hear—but not at this moment.

‘This feels… unsettling.’

Still, I didn’t show it and simply walked out.

Ten minutes later.

After confirming enough time had passed, I returned to Jaden’s bedroom.

“Young master, did you take all your medicine?”

“Yeah, I took it.”

Jaden avoided my gaze slightly and answered in a more sullen tone than usual.

Not minding it, I approached him and sat right in front of him.

Now our eye levels were somewhat similar.

“How was it? It tasted good, right? I may not know everything, but I’m really confident in strawberry flavor. Hehe.”

“Yeah, it was… good!”

His tone was strangely awkward. The end of his sentence trailed off slightly.

Just a little more pressure should be enough.

“Really?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Can you tell me exactly how it tasted? I want to use it as a reference next time.”

I deliberately leaned closer and blinked my eyes wide, looking full of anticipation.

Jaden’s red eyes shook as if there had been an earthquake.

“Uh… well…”

“Yes?”

“Since it was strawberry flavor? It was really good. Sweet… You can just make it the same next time.”

He answered with slight hesitation. To others, it might have sounded normal—but not to me.

Got you.

“It seems you really liked the strawberry flavor.”

“Y-yeah.”

“But that’s strange. What I gave you wasn’t strawberry—it was grape.”

The moment the truth was revealed, Jaden’s composed expression collapsed.

“…Huh? What do you mean?”

“That candy was grape flavored.”

When I repeated it seriously, Jaden quickly tried to cover it up.

“Ah, right! Right! It was grape! I don’t eat candy often, so I got confused.”

Hmm.

I looked at him suspiciously.

“You’ve already been caught. And you’re still going to act like that?”

“N-no, I really ate it.”

He had lied so well earlier, but now his voice trembled.

Still, I chose not to scold him. I already had enough evidence anyway.

I took out a candy from my pocket and put it straight into my mouth.

Jaden was startled and grabbed my hand.

“Huh? That’s my medicine! Is it okay for you to eat it?”

He looked worried that it might harm me.

If this were really his medicine, it could indeed be a problem.

Since it was specially made for his dragon-blood constitution, it might cause issues.

But there was nothing to worry about.

Because this wasn’t medicine at all.

“It’s fine. This is actually just candy.”

Jaden looked confused, unable to understand why I had lied.

“There was never any candy-shaped medicine. This is a specialty candy from Heyron Village.”

As I spoke clearly, I slowly let the candy melt in my mouth. A sweet grape flavor spread across my tongue.

‘Alright… this should be enough.’

I stuck out my tongue slightly.

“And when you eat this…”

“Huh?”

Jaden tilted his head, trying to understand—but then suddenly widened his eyes.

“Huh? What?! Why is your tongue blue?”

“As you can see, this candy turns your tongue blue.”

“Ah…”

Jaden let out a small gasp.

“So, how about you, young master?”

Through the slight gap of his lips, I could see his tongue—it was not blue at all, but bright red.

At that moment, as I gestured for him to explain—

“I-I just…”

Jaden tried to make an excuse, but stopped.

A trace of sadness appeared in his red eyes.

Then, large tears fell.

“Young master… are you crying?”

Startled, I quickly stood up and moved closer.

“I-I’m not crying! Sniff.”

I didn’t mean to make him cry.

He was a brave child who didn’t cry even when he was in pain.

As I approached, Jaden flinched and roughly wiped his eyes with his arm.

“D-don’t come! Don’t look at my face!”

Like a wounded kitten hissing, the boy turned his head sharply, bristling.

“Sniff… I’m pathetic. Crying over something like this…”

His face was red with hurt pride, yet tears kept falling down his pale cheeks.

Seeing that made my heart ache, and I carefully reached out my hand.

“No, that’s not true. Young master, just for a moment—please look at me.”

“I don’t want to! Go away! Viola, you’re disappointed in me too!”

Jaden curled up, trying to avoid my touch.

“…I’m dragon-blood. Dragon-blood… shouldn’t get sick…”

The child struggled to control his emotions, breathing heavily. His reddened eyes looked pitiful.

“Someone like me is just a pathetic idiot. So…”

“You’re not pathetic at all. Our young master is kind and smart.”

“But that’s… a lie!”

No matter what I said, it didn’t seem to reach him.

This small child, covered in thorns to protect himself, didn’t need words—he needed warmth.

So I pulled him into a tight embrace.

“…!”

His small back stiffened in my arms.

“Let go…!”

Jaden struggled, but I held him even tighter.

His weak resistance soon faded.

Sniff… sniff…

With his face buried in my shoulder, he spoke in a muffled voice.

“…I lied. I didn’t want to rely on something like medicine.”

“Because I have to be strong. I’m dragon-blood… I should overcome it on my own…”

His voice became soaked with tears.

“What’s wrong with relying on medicine? Is that a bad thing?”

Even as I gently patted his back, I couldn’t understand.

Why would such a young child think this way?

This wasn’t dependence—it was normal treatment.

“Th-that’s something only weak people do…”

“……”

“But… sniff… I’m already weak. If I become even weaker, then…”

Jaden bit his lip and couldn’t continue.

His small shoulders trembled as he tried to hold back his tears.

“Hic…”

He rubbed his eyes harshly with his sleeve, but the tears wouldn’t stop.

“I won’t cry. I… I won’t cry. Hic.”

Even as he tried to hold it in, small sobs kept escaping.

‘……’

I quietly looked down at him.

Normally, I would comfort him gently and listen to his feelings.

I would tell him softly that everything was okay.

But not this time.

My expression hardened like stone, and my clenched fist tightened unconsciously.

Haah…

I took a deep breath, trying to suppress my anger.

“Who… just who told you something like that, young master?”