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Chapter 23
Bang!
But only for a moment. The instant he saw Pam lying there as though she were dead, the weight on Ronin’s heart returned.
Carefully, he sat beside her and called softly,
“Pam, it’s me. I know you’re suffering, but please open your eyes for just a moment. I brought some rice porridge and medicinal tea.”
“…Ugh…”
“Please, you have to stay conscious. You need to swallow at least this much… That’s the only way you’ll endure. Just one bite, one sip.”
At his plea, Pam slowly opened her eyes. But the fever had clouded her mind so badly that she couldn’t even focus her gaze.
Ronin gently lifted her up and let her lean against him. The problem was that he couldn’t move his hands.
What should I do? If I let go, Pam will probably collapse…
An unexpected person solved his dilemma.
“…Should I hand this to you?”
“Ah… Thank you, Lady Wyndham.”
Wyndham, who had quietly followed Ronin, picked up the porridge and medicinal tea she had set on the floor and handed them to him.
In truth, Ronin had been so consumed with saving Pam that he hadn’t even noticed Wyndham following him. There wasn’t time to hesitate, so he gratefully accepted her help.
“Hoo… Hoo…”
As if feeding a baby, he carefully blew on the porridge to cool it before offering it to Pam.
“Mmgh!”
Pam tried her best, but only half of what he fed her actually went down while the other half spilled.
As a result, Ronin’s fine silk clothes were completely stained, but he paid no attention to them.
His only concern was making sure Pam ate without choking and drank the medicinal tea.
“…Ha…”
How much time had passed?
Pam, who had been leaning against Ronin while slowly eating and drinking, finally opened her eyes again.
Unlike before, her gaze was clear as she looked directly at him.
“…Lord Ronin?”
She had even recognized him correctly.
Ronin slowly reached out and placed his hand on her forehead.
The blazing heat that had burned beneath her skin had noticeably subsided.
A mixture of relief and joy filled his face as he asked,
“Pam, are you alright? Does anything still hurt?”
“Not really, but…”
Grrr…
Instead of her mouth, it was her stomach that answered.
Blushing with embarrassment, Pam spoke clearly.
“I’m… hungry. Is there… ahem… anything I can eat?”
For someone who had been at death’s door to suddenly feel hungry and ask for food was an excellent sign.
Perhaps because of the medicinal tea, her mind was also growing clearer with every passing moment.
Only then did Ronin finally relax.
Closing his eyes, he offered a heartfelt prayer.
“Thank goodness… Thank you, Divine One… Truly…”
He had saved Pam.
And he wouldn’t be left completely alone in the North.
He didn’t know what dangers or hardships awaited them, but at least they had overcome one great crisis.
Just as he was collecting himself after everything that had happened, Wyndham, who had silently assisted him the entire time, stepped forward.
“Your Highness.”
“Ah, Lady Wyndham! Thank you so much. Thanks to you, I was able to save my maid—”
“No.”
She cut him off firmly.
“The one who saved your maid was you, Ronin Alistair.”
“And…”
Thud!
“Lady Wyndham! What are you doing? P-Please, get up! The floor is freezing.”
But Wyndham did not rise.
Instead, she bent even lower, bowing until her forehead nearly touched the ground.
“Please forgive my ignorance.”
“…No. Even if you choose not to forgive me, I deserve it.”
The end of her sentence trembled.
To humble herself like this before an Alistair…
It was the moment the dignity she had built over so many years began to crack.
She bit her lip tightly.
But the silence didn’t last long.
“If you must punish me, I will gladly accept it. So please…”
Slowly, she lifted her head.
Her eyes burned with determination, yet tears shimmered at their corners.
She blinked once.
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
“Lady Wyndham…”
“Please save the people of the North.”
Ronin was speechless.
The proud, stubborn Wyndham was kneeling before him.
The sight was so surreal that he couldn’t even think to stop her.
Only after several more tears struck the floor did Ronin finally come to his senses.
There was only one reason why the proud Wyndham would lower herself like this.
She wants to save the Northerners suffering from the same illness as Pam.
Ronin wanted the same thing.
Without hesitation, he asked,
“Are there many people showing these symptoms?”
“Every spring, about one household out of every five suffers from this affliction. Just yesterday alone, more than a dozen people collapsed with the fever.”
“…If you’ll allow me, I’d like to treat them as well.”
“They must be suffering.”
This time, it was Wyndham who was left speechless.
She had expected Ronin Alistair to refuse.
After all, how coldly had everyone treated him?
I was the worst of them.
Ronin Alistair had no reason to save the people of the North.
No bond had ever been formed between them.
To him, they should have been nothing more than enemies who excluded and mistreated him.
And yet…
Ronin Alistair willingly stepped forward to help them.
“I need to go back to the kitchen.”
“Please take care of Pam.”
“…Of course. Leave that to me.”
“Pam, I’ll be back soon. If anything hurts, promise you’ll tell someone.”
Ronin immediately began preparing more rice porridge and medicinal tea.
That wasn’t all.
He carefully taught the head chef and the physician everything he had learned.
He personally visited every patient and looked after them himself.
Though the work was exhausting and tedious, he never uttered a single complaint.
How can someone be like this?
He was an outsider.
The moment he arrived in the North, the unfamiliar snow and bitter winds had nearly made him collapse.
He was also a noble carrying the blood of the Alistair family—the very family that had produced generations of empresses.
Yet he worked harder than anyone born in the North.
And he expected nothing in return.
Just what are you doing all of this for, Ronin Alistair?
If our positions were reversed…
Could I have done the same?
Could I devote my time to helping people who hated me without asking for anything in return?
The answer came immediately.
…No.
I never could have.
Wyndham waited.
She remained there until Ronin had finished caring for the last patient.
There was something she absolutely had to say.
“Lady Wyndham?”
Ronin’s eyes widened in surprise at her unexpected visit.
After several days without proper sleep or even a chance to wash, he looked utterly exhausted.
Yet those pale blue eyes still sparkled.
As though he was genuinely happy simply to be able to help.
Looking at him—someone who sincerely cared for the people of the North—Wyndham reflected on her past actions.
Gathering all of her sincerity, she spoke.
“Your Highness… I offer you my heartfelt gratitude.”
“I truly don’t know how we can ever repay this kindness…”
“Kindness?”
“I only did what anyone should have done.”
“No.”
“That isn’t true.”
“For the past several days, no one in this estate has worked harder than Your Highness.”
“You gave everything you had to save the sick.”
“I…”
Ronin started to answer, but stopped.
Wyndham’s expression was far too sorrowful.
After a long silence, she spoke with a heavy heart.
“We have lived here our entire lives, yet we never discovered the cause.”
“…How can we ever face those who died so unjustly?”
“Please don’t say that.”
“Lady Wyndham, and everyone else, have already done so much.”
“It would have been impossible without all of you.”
“And besides…”
After hesitating for a moment, Ronin quietly added,
“The only reason I thought of this treatment was luck.”
“It worked this time, thankfully…”
“But I can’t expect the same result next time.”
“It was nothing more than good fortune.”
Lowering his head, Ronin smiled.
It was a smile filled with self-mockery.
No one doubted Ronin more than Ronin himself.
Even after devoting himself to studying theology and pharmacology, he remained deeply skeptical of his own abilities.
“Why waste your time on such useless knowledge?”
“Even if you never become an Omega, at least don’t be an idiot.”
“Whether it’s theology or medicine, your place is still beside someone’s bed.”
“As nothing more than an ornament to entertain them.”
“You’ve been distracted by pointless things again?”
“Tsk… Perhaps I should have pulled out something besides your fingernails.”
Those were the words the people around him had always spoken.
And Ronin had trusted their judgment more than his own.
But now…
The head maid of the North completely rejected that past.
Meeting Ronin’s eyes without wavering, she continued,
“No, Your Highness.”
“That was never luck.”
“If people truly come to their senses…”
“Then it is entirely because of Your Highness’s efforts.”
“You were the first to question what lay beneath the ice.”
“You personally prepared the medicinal tea and the rice porridge.”
“It was all your doing.”
As she continued speaking, Wyndham’s voice grew quieter and quieter.
Shame and regret washed over her until she naturally lowered her head.
“I, Marwen Wyndham…”
“…on behalf of all the servants…”
“…offer you our deepest gratitude.”
“And please…”
“Forgive us for the disrespect we have shown you until now.”
