I Became a Sick Nobleman

***

After checking several times to see if there were any sentinels around, he snuck into Ganien’s villa.

As soon as Ruel entered the villa, he met the knights who had arrived ahead of time.

They greeted Ruel with a gloomy atmosphere.

‘The morale… is enough to pierce the floor.’

—This body is uncomfortable in this atmosphere.

Ruel had similar thoughts.

It was the first time that he reflected on his pale appearance.

The mood was so serious that he wondered if he should have put makeup on to hid his drastic appearance.

“No matter who dies…”

When Noah opened his mouth, Cassion immediately hit the back of his head.

“Raise your heads!” From the back, Torto shouted loudly.

“Running away is a shameful act!”

At his words, Ruel stood still and inhaled Breath.

“But surviving is not something to be ashamed of. If you don’t forget who saved your lives, if you don’t forget who you faced, I don’t think you need to be ashamed anymore!”

Torto made eye contact with his men one by one.

“So, raise your heads!”

The knights raised their heads one by one at Torto’s sincere cry.

“Thank you! And I’m sorry!”

Ginger spat out his words like vomit.

He clenched his trembling hands.

The knights then bowed their heads, thanking and apologizing to Ruel.

That’s enough.

As long as they don’t forget the guilty and grateful feelings from Torto’s pep talk, it was enough to count as debt from the Royal Knights.

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t think too deeply about the matter.”

Ruel spoke calmly and smiled at them.

In an instant, their faces contorted and looked like they were about to burst into tears.

No matter how the story was spun, it was true that they, the knights, fled in the end.

But Ruel buried it.

He didn’t ask anything, he covered it up with trivial matters.

Ruel followed the butler to the room without looking back.

Until the door was closed, the knights kept their eyes on Ruel’s back.

Ttak. Ttak.

Multiple footsteps sounded in the hallway.

When Cassion held out his handkerchief, Ruel stopped and vomited blood.

Ruel was relieved to find that it was black blood.

His body, which had deteriorated due to the purification, seemed to be recovering again.

When the butler met Ruel’s eyes, he was surprised.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be nervous…”

—Uh…?

Ruel stumbled in a sudden dizziness.

Cassion caught him.

“Are you okay?”

He heard from Hina that Ruel vomited red blood.

Red blood was not good, it was not black blood.

He could see he was in bad condition.

Cassion said, supporting Ruel.

“Aris, Hold.”

“I’ll use it.”

Aris chanted a spell, and the butler looked around and suggested carefully.

“I’ll call a doctor.”

Cassion shook his head.

“That’s all right. Please be careful not to let any news out.”

Until yesterday, he was careful about his actions as the last attack was done by people who were not Red Ash.

‘It would have been nice if Fran and her sister Tierra came along, too.’

But they were ordinary people.

It was very disappointing, even though Cassion himself wouldn’t let them come on this trip.

“Alright, I’ll be careful.”

The butler walked ahead again.

—This body ate a lot.

Ruel didn’t say anything, but Leo spoke first as soon as he met his gaze.

—Yesterday, this body said the dirty stuff is the same size as the four paws of this body. 

Leo explained, waving his front paws.

‘You said three paws back then. Is it four now?’

—Are you sick from vomiting blood?

When Ruel shook his head slightly, Leo smiled and rubbed his face against Ruel.

“Ruel-nim, do you think you’re going to die…”

Pak.

As soon as Noah opened his mouth, Cassion hit him with his palm.

“No, what can I say…”

Pak.

It was impossible to avoid Cassion’s palm.

Noah sat on the floor after being hit on the cheek.

The butler looked back from the sound.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about it, he had a bug.”

Cassion smiled as he hid Noah’s face from view with his body.

***

“Then make yourself at home.”

As the butler bowed and was about to leave, Ruel called him.

“Can you call for Ganien?”

“Yes.”

As soon as the butler left, Noah opened his mouth thinking it was time.

“Are you deathly sick? It’s the first time I’ve seen you vomit blood like that. If Ruel-nim dies, the contract with me will be undone, right?”

“Before that happens, you’d better think about what loyalty means.”

Cassion smirked.

You’ll be very surprised to find out what the answer is after thinking about it yourself.

“Noah.”

Ruel, who sat in bed, opened his mouth.

Coughing followed.

He wanted to ask if he was dying again, but Cassion’s eyes were threatening, so he just answered. “Yes.”

“You have something else to do.” 

“Do you have any other tasks than chores as an attendant?”

“If you have to be specific, it’s part of the chores that you would do as a servant.”

“Another errand? Why is the head of the household like that… Ugh!”

Noah gripped his heart and complained of pain.

The words itself had strong meaning, so he was in pain to the point where of kneeling.

Ruel spoke leisurely, inhaling Breath.

“Are you good at running away?”

“…I am.”

“Can you protect yourself?”

“I am not so weak that I can’t protect myself. More than me, the lord… Ugh.”

“The poison you said you made. It will be spreading around in the underworld. Find out who bought it, where it went, and who is in charge of its distribution.”

“…?”

Noah opened his eyes wide.

What does this mean?

“I sold it because it was said to kill monsters. Why is it in the underworld? It wasn’t designed to kill people.”

“Ha…”

Aris sighed, sweeping his face with his hand.

“You should have limited the use of it by writing a contract or by imposing some sort of limitation. Do you think they’d keep their promise if you said so?” 

“…you’ll die if you eat it. I made it, but it’s no joke. They’ll die very painfully.”

“I… Cough, cough.”

Ruel put up with the rising heat and let him know.

“It’s a poison.”

Leo’s ears pricked up.

—If you eat poison, you will die!

Ruel pet Leo’s head lightly.

“Don’t joke around. You’ll die if you eat that. But the lord is not dead as of yet.” Noah’s expression was distorted.

Cassion searched his pocket and took out two small bottles. “One is your poison, one is an antidote I made.”

Noah hurriedly grabbed the bottles and opened the lids to smell them.

His eyes widened greatly.

His chest moved visibly over and over again as if he was suffocating, and he barely opened his mouth.

“This is my…poison, but it’s not the antidote I made.”

“It must have been expensive, right?”

Noah hurriedly handed over the bottle to Cassion at Ruel’s words, which he threw away as if he were being chased.

“You’ve never thought about who or how to use it. Wasn’t it just fun to sell at a high price?”

“It’s not my fault! If that’s the case, isn’t the blacksmith who made the weapon the bad guy?”

“Who blames you? There’s something else I’ve asked you to do.”

Gulp.

Noah swallowed his saliva.

This position was very uncomfortable now.

There was a person in front of him who almost died because of the poison he sold.

It was the first time he felt so uncomfortable.

Ting.

Ruel flicked the gold coins he had prepared.

Noah instinctively grabbed the gold coin.

“Can you do it?”

“I can do it.”

Noah’s mouth moved at will.

Looking at the gold coins, nothing came to mind, not even the poison.

He thought it was too late to get rid of the poison from the market, but he didn’t want to return the gold coin.

‘I put pressure on you and handed over the money, so I’m sure you’ll get it.’

Ruel raised the corners of his mouth at Aris.

Ruel-nim seemed to tell him that this is how to handle Noah.

Aris nodded slightly to show he understood.

“Then leave me.”

“Are you doing it right now? I wanted to take a rest today. We’ve come a long way.”

“Yes, it starts tomorrow. If you don’t want to lose the money you received, the results will have to be satisfactory.”

Ruel tried to inhale Breath, but this time he couldn’t resist and vomited blood again.

A handkerchief covered Ruel’s mouth.

Aris’ face frowned.

“I think Ruel-nim should start moving later than tomorrow.”

Ruel nodded instead of answering.

Cassion put a heat patch on with his other hand.

“What’s that?”

Aris pointed to the door, responding to Noah’s useless question.

“Get out, stop talking nonsense.”

“Even if you don’t tell me…”

Ting.

When Aris snatched the bouncing gold coin, Noah replied with a smile.

“I was going to go out even if you didn’t say anything. Ruel-nim doesn’t look well, so he needs to rest well. What’s wrong with my curiosity? I can listen to it next time, next time.”

When Aris pointed at the door again, Noah went out energetically without any further complaints.

“Well, I’ll wait outside.”

He bowed to Ruel and went to the door.

Creak.

The door closed and Cassion said.

“It started to get worse after you did Purification.”

—Yes! Since then, the dirty things in Ruel’s body has grown as big as four paws of this body.

“Since Ganien has spoken well to His Majesty, why don’t you take a few days off?”

“It’s okay because the power of recovery will come into effect soon.”

Ruel inhaled Breath with a short breath.

Knock. Knock.

“It’s me.”

“Come in.”

Ganien’s hair was messy because he had came in a hurry.

“On the way, I heard that there was an attack on Sir Torto. It can’t be Red Ash again. I definitely crushed their hideout.”

“It’s not the Red Ash. I think the aristocracy opposed this alliance.”

Ganien gripped the handle of his sword tightly.

Ruel glanced at Cassion, and he handed the earrings over to Ganien.

“I don’t know the geography of this place, so you should investigate. Among the nobles West of Selemina Forest, whether they bought or locally made these earrings, you should find someone related to them.”

Ganien, receiving the earrings, showing his mixed feelings.

“…I’m sorry. I got you involved in my country.”

“If you’re sorry, hurry up. The Red Ash can’t miss this good opportunity.”

If the Red Ash wanted a war between the three countries, it could not have let this opportunity go.

Ruel was sure they’ll make a move and eventually come to take his life.

“I’m looking for the Red Ash among the inner nobles one by one with the information you gave me, but is it increasing?”

“Yes.”

Ganien sighed deeply.

“It’s crazy.”

“Why don’t you take this chance and cut some of the branches off? There are many aristocrats.”

“I really want to. I’m good at cutting.”

“The day will come soon.”

“I hope this is a big catch, then it follows one after another.”

He shook the earring slightly.

“Anyway, His Majesty has understood and respects your situation. He wants you to take advantage of it. What do you think?”

Ruel bit Breath. It was a good decision.

When he disappears, he will naturally be able to see much further as black and white are separated.

He closed his eyes for a moment and smirked.

“I wonder if it’s about time to receive the gift.”

“His Majesty said to listen. He instructed me to hear what you wanted and ordered me to deliver it.”

Author's Thoughts

See you in February. Thanks for reading at Readhive. Don't forget to bookmark it if you liked it. Thank you very much ^^

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