THND 07

Chapter 7

“Duke, you’re bleeding…! Are you alright?”

All he had done was drink the tea brewed from the tea leaves I had brought, yet Duke Casiar suddenly coughed up blood along with a dry cough.

Startled, I hurried toward him to support him, but someone stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

“Please step back.”

The man had skin as pale as the snow-covered mountains and hair just as white.

Although his eyes had a gentle shape, the way he looked at me was as sharp as thorns.

Judging by the sword at his side, he seemed to be a knight, but I had never seen him before at the ducal estate.

Does he think I poisoned the Duke?

I only brought him tea that’s supposed to help with sleep.

The whole situation felt so unfair, yet it was as if my lips had been sealed shut. I couldn’t say a single word.

As I instinctively stumbled backward at the sight of the blood staining Duke Casiar’s hand, the white-haired man calmly examined his condition.

“Kyle. The physician.”

Supporting the Duke, whose face had turned deathly pale as he continued coughing up blood, the man called for Kyle.

“Your Grace! Did you take the sleeping medicine again? I’ll summon the physician immediately, so please carry His Grace to his bed.”

The moment Kyle saw Duke Casiar’s condition, his face turned grave.

He hurried off, seemingly to fetch the physician.

The white-haired man watching him reached out and stopped him by the shoulder.

“Lord Su, what is it?”

“Fanny.”

“Why are you looking for Fanny? Did you have something you wanted her to do…?”

At Kyle’s question, the white-haired man turned toward me.

Or rather, toward the floor beneath my feet.

Only then, dazed by Duke Casiar’s sudden collapse, did I notice the shattered pieces of the teacup scattered all around me.

So the reason he told me to step back wasn’t because he suspected me…

It was because he was worried I’d cut myself on the broken glass?

Carefully avoiding the shards, I looked toward where the white-haired man had been standing.

During the brief moment I had looked away, he had already disappeared, taking Duke Casiar with him.

“My lady, are you hurt anywhere?”

Kyle approached me with concern as I stood surrounded by the sharp porcelain fragments.

“No, I’m fine. More importantly… what about the Duke?”

“This happens from time to time. He forces himself to take extremely strong sleeping medicine just so he can fall asleep.”

“Coughing up blood… because of sleeping medicine?”

Come to think of it, Duke Casiar had mentioned yesterday that he’d fallen asleep after taking sleeping medicine.

Just what kind of medicine was it that it made him cough up blood?

“Yes. Please excuse me for a moment. Calling the physician comes first. Please don’t be alarmed, my lady.”

Kyle clasped his hands together as he looked anxiously at my half-frozen expression.

Don’t be alarmed?

Before I realized what he was doing, red flames ignited in Kyle’s hands.

At the same time, a pair of wolf ears sprang from the top of his head.

“Kyle! You have ears growing out of your head!”

“I’ll explain everything about myself after I send a messenger bird. Flamebird, please bring the physician to the ducal estate.”

Kyle blew gently on the flames in his palm.

The fire transformed into a bird and flew out through the window.

“You’re a mage too, just like Duke Casiar?”

“I can use magic, but I’m not a mage. As you can see… I’m half wolf.”

Along with his wolf ears, a fluffy reddish tail wagged behind him.

Kyle… is a wolf?

I’d heard that beastfolk existed within the Empire, though they were quite rare.

But this was my first time seeing one in person.

Normally, beastfolk lived together in their own communities, and among humans they were often treated little better than animals.

Because of that, many were abused or treated like toys.

I could never understand how anyone could treat another precious life so carelessly.

“…Are you disappointed in me?”

Kyle timidly glanced at my expression.

He was probably afraid I’d look down on beastfolk the way most humans did.

“Disappointed? Not at all. I don’t care if you’re a wolf, Kyle. To me, you’re still the capable person trusted by the difficult Duke Casiar.”

I wanted to reassure him.

And at the same time…

I wanted to encourage him.

To help him value himself just a little more.

“You’re accepting me exactly as I am… My lady really is a wonderful person. I, Kyle, swear that until the day I die, I will protect you with my life.”

I had only spoken honestly, yet Kyle looked at me with eyes glistening with emotion.

“You don’t have to risk your life for me. Your life is precious. Just keep doing your job the way you have been—that’s more than enough.”

“My lady… are you an angel sent down from heaven?”

His gaze held such pure sincerity that I couldn’t dismiss it as empty flattery.

“Unfortunately, I’m just an ordinary human. More importantly… could you tell me why the Duke coughed up blood?”

Embarrassed, I hurriedly changed the subject to Duke Casiar.

Kyle nodded without hesitation.

“His Grace’s condition has worsened because he’s been taking far too much of an extremely potent sleeping medicine. Unlike ordinary sleeping medicine, the one he uses is highly poisonous. If taken frequently, it places a tremendous burden on the heart. In severe cases… it can even cost him his life.”

“Then why does the Duke endure that kind of suffering just to sleep?”

Ordinary people could stay awake for at least a day.

Besides…

He had me now.

From now on, he could rely on my power if necessary.

I couldn’t understand why he would damage his own body just to force himself to sleep.

“Because… His Grace doesn’t want the people of the ducal estate to be put in danger because of him.”

Is he afraid of losing control?

But he should have been able to endure one day.

Even in the novel’s ending, when Duke Casiar went berserk, he managed to hold out for three whole days.

There was no need to force himself to sleep.

“His Grace lives with the obsession that he might once again lose the people precious to him for the same reason.”

‘Once again’…?

Does that mean he’d already lost someone important because of his rampage?

Come to think of it, the novel only mentioned that Duke Casiar’s insomnia would eventually cause him to lose control.

It never explained what had happened when it first manifested.

Who had he lost… that made him willing to gamble with his own life by taking that medicine?

“It’s a well-known story, so I’m sure you’ve already heard it, my lady, but…”

Kyle’s face darkened before he could continue.

“Judging from His Grace’s condition, I believe he’s been taking a sleeping medicine that should only be used once a week several times a day. The poison has already spread to his heart. If not for His Grace’s overwhelming mana protecting it, I’m afraid he wouldn’t still be alive.”

The physician’s diagnosis, after examining Duke Casiar with magic, was devastating.

Just being alive was already a miracle.

How much pain has this man endured all by himself?

After the physician left, I remained in Duke Casiar’s bedroom.

Whether because of the poison in his heart or not, he occasionally furrowed his brow in obvious pain.

Kyle’s story about Duke Casiar’s past resurfaced in my mind.

“His Grace lost both of the parents he loved more than anyone during that first rampage.”

Kyle had said Duke Casiar’s parents had raised him with boundless love.

Whenever he suffered from insomnia, they stayed beside him until he finally fell asleep, reading him fairy tales and singing lullabies.

But as his frail childhood body grew weaker and his insomnia worsened, Duke Casiar experienced his first loss of control.

His parents, who had remained by his side, desperately tried to suppress his power with everything they had.

In the end…

They died.

Overwhelmed by despair, Duke Casiar tried to take his own life.

The remaining servants of the ducal estate barely managed to stop him.

It took them countless days of comforting and supporting him before he became the Duke he was today.

It had taken an immeasurable amount of time to bring a dead soul back to life.

After hearing his story, I understood his feelings better than anyone.

To him…

The people of this estate were more precious than himself.

So precious that enduring pain severe enough to kill him meant nothing if it kept them safe.

Was that why he became so obsessed with Milter in the original story?

There had once been a time in my previous life when I had been just like Duke Casiar.

“Juhye… I’ve never regretted bringing you into this world. Not even once.”

After giving birth to me, my mother became seriously ill.

Even while suffering herself, she worried more about my feelings than her own condition.

To save her, I devoted everything I had to working from the time I entered high school.

After becoming an adult, I took on even more jobs, working day and night without rest.

But as time passed, Mother’s illness only worsened, while the debt from her hospital bills continued to pile up.

My body and heart were exhausted.

Still…

As long as there was even the slightest hope of saving her, I would have endured far worse.

In the end…

She couldn’t overcome her illness.

After dedicating my entire life to trying to save her, losing her made life itself meaningless.

I shut myself inside my room.

I stopped eating.

I stopped bathing.

Day and night, I did nothing but cry.

The only thing that comforted me during that time…

…was novels.

While reading them, I could briefly forget reality.

And this world I had transmigrated into…

…was one of those novels.

Maybe the reason I’d ended up inside this story wasn’t only because of Milter.

“No…”

Perhaps trapped in a nightmare, Duke Casiar writhed in pain.

Seeing him like that overlapped with the image of my former self, spending endless nights in tears, unable to accept my mother’s death.

I slowly reached out and placed my hand against Duke Casiar’s forehead.

He had suffered for far too long.

At least for now…

I wanted him to sleep peacefully.

Not long after my hand touched him, his breathing gradually steadied.

“You really leave me no choice. Seeing how deeply you fall asleep whenever I touch you… I guess my power hasn’t disappeared after all.”

Until Duke Casiar could sleep on his own…

I supposed I’d have to stay by his side.

Maybe because I’d been searching for Romaine since early morning…

Once I confirmed he was sleeping soundly, drowsiness overwhelmed me.

Maybe I’ll just sleep for a little while.

It’s still early… just a little.

Resting my heavy head against the side of Duke Casiar’s bed, I closed my eyes.

Chirp, chirp.

The cheerful singing of birds reached my ears.

Warm sunlight streamed in through the window.

Ah… I slept well!

I stretched with satisfaction.

After such a deep sleep, my body felt much lighter.

Wait… how did I get home yesterday?

I remembered helping Duke Casiar fall asleep.

But I couldn’t remember returning to my room.

Come to think of it…

Hadn’t I fallen asleep right beside him?

I didn’t remember waking up at all.

Don’t tell me… the place I’m lying in right now is…

My eyes flew open.

Slowly, I looked around before throwing off the blanket and leaping to my feet, my messy silver hair becoming even more disheveled.

Damn it…

This is Duke Casiar’s bedroom!