STVS 19

Chapter 19

The young lady’s condition continued to worsen by the day.

I entered the room. Normally, I would have seen the young lady sitting at the table, but she wasn’t there.

Instead, I approached the bed, which was surrounded by layers of draped curtains. From inside, I could hear faint, uneven breathing. Lowering my voice, I spoke.

“Miss, are you awake?”

“……”

“Are you feeling any better? Do you think you can move?”

“……”

“You need to take your medicine… If it’s hard for you to move, should I come inside? I can feed you little by little—”

“…Give it to me.”

With a rustling sound, a small hand slipped out from behind the curtains. It was pale and painfully thin.

Swallowing a sigh, I carefully placed the medicine bowl into her hand.

After a while, the young lady extended the bowl again. It was completely empty.

“You can go now.”

“Miss, since you’re awake, wouldn’t you like to have some porridge? At times like this, you really should eat well. You hardly eat anything at all—”

“Go……”

The voice that was usually cold sounded strangely weak. I tried to persuade her again, but then gave up and spoke dejectedly.

“Yes… then I’ll step out. Just in case, I’ll leave the porridge on the table here. If you need anything, please call for me anytime. I’ll be right outside the door……”

“……”

“…Please rest well, Miss.”

Click.

I closed the door and stepped outside. A sigh escaped me.

Until not long ago, she had been raging wildly—yet now, she could barely even support her own body.

The only improvement, if it could be called that, was that she now took her medicine without fail. And that wasn’t entirely thanks to my efforts… it was only after changing the medicinal ingredients that the medicine finally began to work.

So this was the so-called “knowledge of the original work.” But even that was only temporary. As the phrase “stopgap measure” suggested, the effects of the medicine were minimal.

It only eased her pain for a brief moment after she drank it.

Still, that brief relief must have been precious, because the young lady never refused her medicine. Sometimes, she even asked for it first.

“Ah… ngh… medicine… hurry… please……”

“Yes, yes! Miss, just wait a moment! I’ll go get it right away—!”

I couldn’t tell whether sharing the original story’s knowledge had been the right thing to do, or a terrible mistake.

The physician seemed puzzled.

“Without a doubt, the medicine is taking effect… but something feels off.”

“What—what seems strange?”

“Once the medicine circulates, the energy should gradually disperse, but there’s no sign of that happening. No—if anything, when it seems like it’s dispersing, it fills back up again. Like a spring of water.”

“……”

“I don’t understand how this could be……”

Hearing that made my anxiety surge.

What if I gave him the wrong information?

Come to think of it, I didn’t remember everything about The Heavenly Lord’s King in detail. Naturally, my memories of So Yeon-ri were fragmentary at best.

What if I had misremembered something? What if I’d overlooked something crucial?

No. Don’t think like that.

I shook my head forcefully, trying to dispel the gloom creeping in. It was too early to despair. Nothing had happened yet—and maybe, just maybe, things would miraculously improve.

The So household grew busier than ever.

Various supplies were brought in, and unfamiliar people came and went frequently.

Among them, one particularly notable visitor was a monk. At first glance, he looked ordinary, but apparently he was a renowned master within the martial world.

When the monk saw me, he pressed his palms together and smiled gently.

“Young benefactor, you have been working tirelessly. This old monk may visit Lady So’s residence from time to time, so I ask for your understanding.”

“Of course, please come freely, Master.”

I later learned that this monk was someone the young lady had relied on since childhood. Having never seen a true master before, I couldn’t hide my amazement.

That day was slowly approaching.

As if the seizures were drawing near, the young lady began writhing in pain more frequently. The manor lord came rushing to see her more often as well—sometimes accompanied by the monk.

Then, after several days had passed—

“Bind her.”

The manor lord issued the order.

“…Pardon?”

I doubted my ears. But with a sunken expression, the manor lord repeated himself.

“You’ve heard about Ari’s condition as well. When a seizure begins, her convulsions become violent. In severe cases, she can injure others—or tear at her own body.”

“……”

“Tie her hands and feet firmly to the bedposts. We must restrain her movements as much as possible.”

When I saw the young lady again after a long while, she felt both familiar and unfamiliar. She had finally removed the veil and was wearing only a light cotton scarf. She looked far worse than I had imagined, and my chest felt heavy.

Her body was even smaller and thinner than I’d expected. Seeing her lying unconscious on the bed, my mouth opened before I could stop myself.

“D-Do we really have to go this far? She already looks like she doesn’t have any strength left……”

“……”

“This… tying her up like this… isn’t it too cruel? She must already be suffering, and restraining her like this—”

“Child.”

The manor lord spoke in a low voice.

“This is for Ari’s sake.”

“……”

“Now.”

In the end, I had no choice but to bind the young lady’s wrists.

My heart pounded violently. Seeing her lie there without moving, as if dead, made it worse. Just like when my mother collapsed—it felt as though she would never wake up again.

When I came to my senses, I was drenched in cold sweat. My hands trembled uncontrollably, and I couldn’t even remember how I’d left the room.

And then, that very night—

“Aaaah!”

The young lady’s seizure began.

* * *

“Let go! Let go of meee—!”

“Ari, get a hold of yourself! Ari!”

Shrill screams spilled out from the room.

I stood in the courtyard of Sonangwon, unable to stay still, staring at the door. The chief steward beside me looked equally anxious.

“Will she be alright? Miss Ari…”

“She will be. She has endured it every time so far.”

At that moment, only the manor lord and the monk were inside the room.

They said it was dangerous for others to be present, but even so, I hadn’t expected that not even the chief steward would be allowed in. At first, I found it strange.

But that thought didn’t last long.

As time passed, the screams from inside grew increasingly desperate.

“Ahh… ahhh—!”

It sounded like sobbing—like the dying cries of a wounded beast. The more I heard it, the more unbearable it became. Unable to endure it any longer, I turned to the chief steward.

“C-Can’t we use more medicine? Or maybe the paralytic powder you used on me last time—”

“We’ve already tried everything. The paralytic powder, the medicine—she took them right before the seizure began, but none of it worked. This is something the young lady must endure on her own.”

“…What if she can’t?”

For a moment, the chief steward looked at me with sorrowful eyes.

In that gaze, I found my answer.

The young lady would die.

So Yeon-ri would die.

Even as I thought surely not, my heart began pounding like mad.

That couldn’t be true. She hadn’t even met the protagonist yet, had she? I couldn’t remember exactly how old she was when she met the protagonist—but at the very least, she must have been older than she was now.

She wouldn’t die. Nothing would happen…

…Would it really be that simple?

I interfered with the original story when I possessed this body. I even revealed the medicine’s secret to the protagonist years earlier than in the original timeline… What if the future has been accelerated?

Then once again—

“Ghk.”

My vision blurred.

I staggered.

And in that instant, a fragmentary scene flashed before my eyes.

[“Hoh… to think I would see the Nine-Leaf Purple Ganoderma with my own eyes in this lifetime…!”]

Inside a shabby hut sat an old man with a long white beard, gazing intently at a medicinal herb with nine leaves.

The person sitting across from him asked,

[“Is it really that precious?”]

[“Of course it is! To martial artists, it may not seem especially valuable. Unlike other elixirs, it doesn’t greatly increase internal energy. But do you know why the Nine-Leaf Purple Ganoderma is called a divine herb?”]

[“I couldn’t even guess. Please enlighten me, Divine Physician.”]

[“Because it helps restore balance within the body. If one’s internal energy is skewed, it disperses and harmonizes it, bringing yin and yang into equilibrium. For those born with an excess of yin or yang, consuming this can instantly restore their broken balance.”]

[“……”]

[“It even repairs bodies weakened by distorted energy. For such constitutions, it is nothing short of a miracle cure. If that doesn’t make it a divine herb, then what does?”]

Suddenly, the old man’s voice faded, and he asked in confusion,

[“So… where did you obtain this?”]

“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly staggering—?”

“I have to go.”

“Go where—? Child, child!”

I started running.

I knew where I had to go.