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Chapter 63
“Is your body okay?”
On the way back to my room after dinner, Lumi approached me and asked.
He had tried a few times before to come talk to me, but the people who never left my side kept getting in the way, and every attempt had ended in failure.
“…I thought it’d be good if I also knew about your condition.”
He finished his sentence while subtly avoiding my gaze.
Because of Heresdon’s warning—and because Lumi had become uncomfortable—I’d kept my distance for a while.
Not just me; Lumi also didn’t come find me whenever I was alone.
So it had been quite a while since we talked like this, just the two of us.
“Yes. Nothing serious happened,” I said, nodding.
He was right; it would be better if Lumi also knew about my condition.
He had sharp eyes.
If we shared information, he might catch things I missed.
“I didn’t even take any medicine.”
More than anything, Lumi no longer felt as uncomfortable as before.
Had time softened things?
Or maybe the guilt he felt was something I could finally sense too.
Maybe both.
“Sleeping in late was an aftereffect of the awakening. If the awakening lasts long, I fall asleep like that afterward.”
“…I see.”
A faint frown formed between his brows, as if he were thinking about something.
“And this is something I learned for the first time myself… If I hold my breath during the awakening, I can avoid the smell of blood without physically distancing myself.”
Even when holding my breath, my heart would still hammer wildly.
I probably managed not to bite Idorian only because holding my breath freed me from the blood scent, even just for a moment.
“Of course, it’s hard to suppress the instinct to chase the scent.”
“I think so too. There’s a limit to endurance.”
When our eyes met, Lumi relaxed his expression and gave a small smile.
“But still, that’s a relief. You discovered a new method.”
I quietly studied Lumi, who looked genuinely relieved as if it were his own problem, and then nodded.
“Keeping distance is the first priority. If you can’t, then holding your breath is the next best option.”
We had somehow arrived at my room.
“And… would it be okay if I check the wound tomorrow morning? We need to see how long it takes to heal.”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“Here, gauze. It’s better if you change it before sleeping.”
He handed me some gauze he took from his pocket.
“It’s still bleeding through.”
“Ah…”
He must have been waiting to give this to me.
“Thank you, Lumi.”
It was something I had overlooked, but thanks to his careful attention, I felt relieved.
It made me realize anew just how much Lumi had been looking after me.
He gave a small bow, signaling he would leave.
As he turned away, I said once more,
“Thank you for taking care of me.”
If not for Lumi, my life here would’ve been much more unstable.
“…Yes. Sleep well, Penelope.”
Not long after I stepped inside my room, someone knocked.
Knock knock.
“My lady, it’s Uben… May I come in for a moment?”
When I opened the door, the child flinched and stepped back in surprise.
“Uben?”
As I tried to guess why he had come, my eyes fell on the cup he was holding.
“…May I come in?”
I nodded and stepped aside.
He shuffled in and glanced around nervously, eventually going to the side of my bed.
“Did something happen?”
“No… I just thought you might be thirsty.”
Considering how everyone had been giving me water at every opportunity for the past two days, I had already drunk plenty—but I didn’t bother saying I wasn’t thirsty.
Unable to find a proper place to set the cup down, he wandered around before carefully placing it on my desk.
Then he lifted a chair—one as big as he was.
He set the chair next to my bed and then moved the cup from the desk onto the chair.
Next, he took a few silver-wrapped packets from his pocket.
“These are chocolates.”
“Chocolates?”
“I found a box of chocolates before.”
Sure enough, they really were chocolates.
“His Highness told me to eat them.”
Uben added awkwardly.
“If you want more, I’ll bring you some.”
“…Alright. Thank you.”
Five chocolates were neatly lined up beside the cup.
I didn’t know how big the chocolate box he found was, but giving me as many as five was quite surprising.
Maybe because he had offered to be taken hostage in my place… his resentment toward me seemed to have softened a little.
After a moment’s hesitation, I gently patted his head.
Uben visibly flinched, but didn’t pull away and allowed it.
Knock knock.
He jumped in alarm—the knock at the door had startled him.
“T-Then I’ll go now! Good night!”
He hurriedly bowed, then ran out of the room.
Because he left the door wide open, I naturally locked eyes with the person standing outside.
“Did I interrupt something?”
He watched Uben’s retreating figure down the hallway.
“Can I come in for a bit?”
“Ah, yes. Please come in.”
Idorian entered and smiled faintly when he saw the chair by my bed.
“Uben shared chocolate with you.”
“Yes, he brought water too.”
“I see.”
Idorian picked up the chair and moved it closer to the head of the bed.
“It seems your kindness reached the child too.”
After a short pause, he continued,
“Actually… I overheard a conversation between you and Lumi before.”
Lumi being suddenly mentioned made me turn quickly toward him.
We usually talked about my physical condition…
“…A conversation?”
But we always made sure to speak quietly, or in a closed space where no one else could hear.
Idorian nodded lightly.
“You said you wanted seeds because of Uben’s lie. I was passing by the kitchen at the time.”
“Ah…”
Relief escaped me—what he heard wasn’t anything about my secret.
“I didn’t know you were aware of that.”
He had never shown any hint of knowing.
“Uben is helping you because your heart reached him too.”
Idorian sat beside my bed.
Then he shifted to the real reason he had come.
“But more importantly—aren’t you hungry?”
Unfortunately, not a topic that helped me much.
“It’s normal for me and Heresdon to eat more, but you eat even less than Lilia Swidi.”
For some time now, Idorian had been paying attention to how much I ate.
Before, Lumi would block people’s view, and Idorian hadn’t really been watching…
But once he noticed, it kept catching his eye.
“I’m eating plenty. I taste food while cooking and snack on a lot while preparing things.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat in the kitchen.”
My excuse didn’t work on Idorian, who’d been keeping watch near the stove lately.
“I eat when you’re not looking. Anyway, I didn’t know Your Highness was aware of the situation with Uben.”
I quickly wrapped up my explanation and changed the subject.
“You never showed it…”
“Because that’s what you wanted.”
Thankfully, the topic shifted smoothly.
“You asked for seeds even after learning we weren’t short on food—because you didn’t want Uben’s wrongdoing exposed.”
I nodded—then froze for a moment—but Idorian continued.
“So I didn’t expect you to work so hard in the fields.”
“Ah…”
“It would be difficult for anyone to do what you did.”
There were more than a few misunderstandings in what he believed.
“That’s not true,” I said with a modest smile.
There was no reason to reject his favorable perception of me.
More importantly, it was true that I had been helpful to the protagonist’s group.
A little misunderstanding was something I was grateful for.
It felt like all the effort I put into changing Penelope’s reputation was finally bearing fruit.
What was certain was that all of this worked in my favor.
Maybe… even if they discovered I was a zombie, they might show me mercy.
