Chapter 10

Luciella slowly lifted her heavy eyelids.

An ivory-colored ceiling and a small chandelier came into view. Her body was wrapped in a warm blanket.

…Did I die?

The unfamiliar luxury helped clear her mind a little, and she slowly sat up.

“You should probably sleep a bit longer.”

A young woman’s voice reached her ears.

Turning her head, Luciella finally realized that Aila and Cain were sitting beside her bed.

Judging by the dark circles under both of their eyes, they had been watching over her for quite some time.

“Eat first. Then we’ll talk.”

Aila stirred the contents of a plate she was holding and scooped up a spoonful before feeding it to Luciella.

It was a creamy white soup.

The moment it entered her mouth, the luxurious aroma unique to pine mushrooms filled her nose.

“White pine mushrooms…?”

Thinly sliced mushrooms yielded beneath her teeth while rich cream burst across her tongue.

It was clearly a high-end dish.

“That’s right. Jerome caused quite a commotion after hearing that you collapsed and made it himself.”

Cain answered.

“I asked whether it was my fault for forcing you to take that ridiculous test… but apparently the answer is no.”

He lowered his head deeply, his brows tightly furrowed.

Like someone blaming himself.

“Would you like some?”

Unable to think of any other way to comfort him, Luciella offered Cain her spoon.

“You should eat it all yourself.”

“But it’s really delicious. He used Golden Olive Trading Company’s stock in exactly the right proportion. Did he watch me cook?”

Even while bringing another spoonful to her own mouth, she continued trying to persuade him.

At this point, he seemed like someone worth exchanging recipes with.

And Jerome making this soup felt like proof that he no longer disliked her.

That thought secretly made her proud.

Cain sighed again.

“Why do you look like that?”

“Why?”

Cain raised his head.

Luciella was staring at him blankly.

If you’re going to refuse the food, why are you making that face?

“Because…”

Cain muttered.

“Because I am garbage.”

“Huh?”

“After seeing you collapse, I still trusted only the physician at Nor Territory and didn’t even let you rest properly.”

He clenched his jaw.

“Aila told me your exhaustion wasn’t the only problem. The fingers that touched the poison-spine fish were injured, and your mana circuits were damaged as well.”

After finishing, Cain let out another deep sigh.

Ah.

He’s blaming himself because of me?

Luciella stared blankly at him and felt strangely awkward.

She had grown up receiving endless love from her mother.

But she had also spent her life wandering from place to place.

Whenever she was separated from her mother, she had learned to survive by taking care of herself.

If she got sick, she simply endured it and recovered.

Fainting after pouring out all her mana wasn’t particularly unusual for her.

After all, she had spent years working under a terrible superior at the lord’s castle.

But now—

an adult was worrying about her this much because she had collapsed.

Unfamiliar warmth made Luciella uncomfortable.

Seeking help, she glanced at Aila.

This is awkward. Please comfort him since you know him better.

That was what she meant.

“Exactly. The Baron deserves divine punishment.”

Contrary to Luciella’s hopes, Aila coldly drove the knife in deeper.

“If you brought her all the way to the ducal estate, you should have shown her to me first.”

She turned toward Luciella.

For a moment, she seemed like a completely different person as she smiled warmly.

“I removed all the poison remaining in your fingers. You seem to have built up some resistance from handling toxins often, so treatment was quick.”

She continued gently.

“As for your stamina and mana, I replenished them with medicine.”

Luciella looked down at her hands.

The wounds that should have remained, even faintly, had vanished completely.

Her body also felt lighter than usual.

I used a buff and handled poison-spine fish. How am I this healthy?

“And who exactly are you again…?”

Perhaps because suspicion was obvious in her eyes, Aila smiled again and extended her hand.

“You can just call me Aila. Though most people call me Doctor Luan.”

Doctor Luan.

A memory flashed through Luciella’s mind like lightning.

“Mom was so curious about why Bael kept dying that she tried all sorts of things in the game.”

“…What did you do this time?”

“Hey, I was a game player back then. Anyway, I wondered whether the people around him were the problem, so I tried killing them one by one.”

“…That’s cruel.”

“But when I killed Doctor Luan, Bael didn’t even survive three days. That’s when I realized this character was a genius too.”

So this is her.

The person who had kept Bael alive for the last two precarious years.

“Oh, right. I heard you actually drew your sword in the kitchen. What would you have done if the child had been frightened into fainting?”

Completely unaware of Luciella’s realization, Aila resumed verbally attacking Cain.

“Do you ever think before acting? Is Lord Bael the only precious person in the world? Do other people not matter?”

The criticism was far beyond what a subordinate should say to her employer.

Yet Cain simply lowered his head even further in agreement.

“I was trying to ask for a favor…”

“A favor? Maybe in words. But I bet you were glaring like this again.”

Aila narrowed her eyes and imitated him.

“I’ve told you before. With that expressionless face and those sharp eyes, when you speak like that, people don’t hear a request. They hear a threat. Look at you. Does this look like someone making a request? Stop staring like that.”

“…”

Awkwardly sitting in bed, Luciella watched Aila unleash a terrifying barrage of personal attacks.

Ten whole minutes passed.

After watching Cain obediently accept every word, she became certain.

Cain had never intended to threaten her.

He had genuinely been asking for help.

It was just that his naturally cold demeanor and blunt way of speaking made every request sound like a death threat.

“Let me say this again, child.”

After Aila finally finished her scolding, Cain spoke.

“You owe me absolutely nothing. If anything, I am the one in your debt.”

He continued quietly.

“The meal you prepared for Bael must have been extraordinary. Even his leg muscles moved slightly.”

He slowly lifted his head and looked at her.

His eyes were filled with deep guilt and worry.

“That is enough.”

“…”

“Ten years ago, I do not remember every word your mother said while standing beside me as I hovered between life and death.”

His gaze softened.

“But while watching you collapse, one thing came back to me.”

He paused.

“She said you were sick back then as well.”

“…”

“Because you made that bread called castella.”

Luciella remained silent.

“A dish that immediately restores stamina and mana.”

Cain looked directly into her eyes.

“It seems that preparing such food causes side effects to your body.”

Rather than answering, Luciella pressed her lips together.

Cain apparently took that as confirmation.

“I will never force you to do something like that again.”

His voice was firm.

“I swear it upon the name of Bellaon.”

He continued.

“And I will keep your ability a secret. If anyone learns of it and attempts to exploit you, then I—the one who brought you here—will stop them with everything I have.”

Luciella quietly stared back into his blue eyes.

He was still intimidating.

His large frame, cold aura, and overwhelming presence hadn’t changed.

Yet somehow, the concern in his gaze now put her at ease.

Rather than a threat, he felt like a shield.

And the fact that Aila had just spent ten minutes verbally destroying her own employer on Luciella’s behalf was strangely reassuring too.

So much so that the ducal estate already felt more comfortable than the lord’s castle where she had spent the last two years.

“We can continue the apologies later.”

Aila spoke while collecting the now-empty soup bowl.

“If you don’t mind, could I ask what you meant by the thing you said right before you collapsed?”

She looked directly into Luciella’s eyes.

“You said Lord Bael’s problem couldn’t be solved through food.”

“…”

“You said toxins were the real issue.”

Only then did Luciella remember the moments before she fainted.

And the symptom her status window had shown her.

[Symptom: Toxins circulating throughout the entire body.]

If the source of the poison is not removed, death is ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED.