Chapter 15

As late autumn set in, Raon came down with a cold. Shivering with chills, Raon quickly sat on the sofa and picked up the bell on the table to ring it.

At the sound of the bell, a neatly dressed man entered the room.

“You called for me, young master?”

“When did Dad say he would be back?”

“He said he would return in five days.”

Adrian was currently away. As the issue regarding the war reparations remained unresolved for too long, the current Duke Cassius had summoned Adrian. Expecting to be gone for a week at most, Adrian had left Raon in Aria’s care. That had been two days ago.

“I see. Sigh… I feel like my condition is getting worse. I’d like you to go get some painkillers and fever reducers.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The man answered promptly and left, returning shortly after with a white pill. Raon took the pill and swallowed it with some water before lying back down. His body felt even heavier than before.

“Then please, get some rest.”

Raon nodded at the servant’s words and fell into a deep sleep. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out, but he felt as if he were sinking into water with lead weights tied to his entire body. Despite having taken the medicine, there was no sign of improvement, so he managed to reach out and pull the bell cord again.

“Young master, you call—”

The servant who entered froze upon seeing Raon’s state. His face was flushed crimson, and his clothes were drenched in sweat.

“A stronger medicine than yesterday…”

Seeing Raon struggling so much that he could barely speak, the servant immediately walked out. However, he didn’t head for the infirmary; he went straight to Aria’s room.

“What? The child is sick?”

“Yes, his condition seems to be getting progressively worse. I gave him medicine yesterday, but… my apologies.”

The servant, who had brought stomach medicine instead of a fever reducer, waited for Aria’s response. A gold coin fell and rolled across the floor, landing at the man’s feet.

“Well done. Honestly, I’d prefer if he just died like this, though I suppose that’s asking too much. But I’ve heard that when a young child suffers from a high fever, their organs can be damaged and they can end up crippled… Ho-ho-ho.”

Aria laughed out loud, clearly delighted that the child—a thorn in her side—was ill. She then turned to the servant.

“Just make sure he doesn’t actually die. It would be suspicious if he suddenly kicked the bucket.”

“Yes, I shall follow your command.”

A smile bloomed on the servant’s face as he prostrated himself to pick up the gold coin. He then hurried to the dispensary and picked up actual fever reducers. He mixed a tiny amount of the medicine into the water Raon was to drink. Because he was being kept alive by only the barest margin, Raon continued to moan in pain. Tears welled in the eyes of the boy who suffered alone all through the night.

“Mom… hic… I want to see Mom…”

***

“Ow!”

While sewing clothes to bring on her next visit, the needle pricked Ramona’s finger. A drop of red blood immediately beaded up. Having nothing close by to wipe it with, she reflexively put the finger in her mouth.

“My fingers are going to turn into rags at this rate.”

Ramona frowned, having given up on finding her thimble. She had lost count of how many times she had pricked herself today. Business was slow, so she had spent the whole day sewing, but she found it impossible to concentrate. She stopped and decided to visit her neighbors.

“Sister, welcome. Anna went out to do some grocery shopping.”

Anna was out, but Brown was home.

“Is it your day off?”

“Yes.”

“Any letters from Raon?”

“Not yet. Ever since the Young Duke went to the capital, it seems the young master hasn’t been writing letters, or at least they haven’t reached me.”

As the heir to a Duchy, Adrian couldn’t stay in one place for long. Hearing that Adrian was away from home made Ramona feel inexplicably anxious. She paced restlessly.

“Never mind the letters, then. Have you heard any news about Raon?”

“Well, I don’t know the details, but I heard through the grapevine that the young master has been refusing his lessons… Some say Lady Neyno is trying to ‘discipline’ him… and there are rumors that he’s sick.”

Hearing Brown’s words, Ramona bolted upright. She wanted to storm into the Cassius Estate right then and there, but she forced herself to hold back. She wasn’t a member of the Cassius family, and since the master of the house was away, she couldn’t just show up uninvited. Even if she had the contract and the brooch, she only felt comfortable going when Adrian was present.

“Sigh… I’m sorry to ask, but could you find out more about Raon’s situation for me?”

“I’ll do my absolute best.”

She was the benefactor who had saved him from a life of being a pushover and helped him find happiness with Anna; he could do at least this much. Thus, after receiving Ramona’s mission, Brown went to work the next day and kept a sharp eye out for an opportunity.

“Why are you acting so suspicious?” Jacob, a supervisor whose personality was as rough as his hulking physique, frowned as he questioned Brown.

“That… I am so sorry. My stomach has been acting up since this morning, and I suddenly have these twisting pains…”

While sweeping the back of the Cassius Estate, Brown groaned and squeezed his muscles as if trying to hold back a disaster. He put so much effort into his acting that cold sweat actually broke out on his face.

“Hurry up and go, then. Tsk tsk. What on earth did you eat… honestly.”

The moment he got permission from Jacob—who acted like a king just because he had joined the job two months earlier—Brown sprinted inside. He moved quickly toward the area he had heard about from his colleagues.

He arrived at a room he had passed by before but never entered. A personal servant was standing outside, yawning. The servant began to fidget and looked around; once he confirmed no one was watching, he slipped away.

Seeing this, Brown darted inside. He didn’t even have time to look at the room as he searched for Raon.

“Young master?”

Seeing someone lying in the bed, Brown rushed over. He pulled back the heavy canopy to find Raon groaning, drenched in cold sweat.

“Ugh… B-Brown… Uncle?”

Raon’s eyes were bloodshot and hazy with fever.

“Are… are you hurting? Does it hurt a lot?”

“It… it hurts. It hurts, but… don’t tell Mom. Mom will worry…”

Seeing the boy shivering violently with chills, Brown rushed into the bathroom. He filled a basin with cold water and soaked a towel. He wiped the sweat from the boy’s body and placed the wet cloth on his forehead.

“Just wait a little bit. Uncle will bring medicine soon.”

Seeing Raon so pitifully neglected, Brown headed straight down to the infirmary. Since he didn’t know who in the estate was on Aria’s side, he decided to keep Raon’s illness a secret. Perhaps because he had been running, his own body was flushed and sweaty.

“Excuse me… I suddenly have a fever and feel terrible. Could I get some medicine?”

Servants of the Cassius Estate could get free medicine from the dispensary if they were ill. Knowing this, Brown obtained medicine suitable for his “symptoms” from the doctor.

“By the way, if someone with a smaller frame were to take this, how much should I reduce the dose?” “About half should do, but why do you ask?” “Oh, no reason. I just thought I might lose weight suddenly… Anyway, see you later!”

As Brown stepped out of the dispensary to head back to Raon’s room, he saw a familiar face and waved urgently.

“I heard you were working here, but this is the first time I’ve run into you.”

It was Baylor. Adrian had personally scouted Baylor after noticing his famous speed on the battlefield. However, because the estate was so vast, even people from the same neighborhood rarely crossed paths while working.

“Listen, you know the child our Sister raised is the young master here, right?”

“I saw him from a distance the other day and was shocked. But why?”

“He’s bedridden right now, and no one is looking after him. I’m afraid something terrible will happen, and I want to tell Sister, but I’m not fast enough on my feet…”

Before Brown could even finish his sentence, Baylor had vanished. He had clearly sprinted off to find Ramona.

Relieved to have run into Baylor, Brown hurried back to Raon’s room. He split the medicine he had received in half and dissolved it in water.

“Raon, drink this. No, you have to drink it. If you don’t, I’m going to tell Sister that you’re sick.”

The threat worked perfectly on Raon, who hated nothing more than worrying Ramona. The boy opened his tightly shut lips. After feeding him the medicine and changing his towel, Brown let out a deep sigh.

Even with the medicine, he wouldn’t recover instantly. Every time the sick child let out a ragged breath or a pained moan, Brown anxiously changed the water towel.

“Hang in there, Raon. I’m sorry this is all I can do for you.”

“U-Uncle… hic…”

“It’s okay. You’ll be okay… just hold on a little longer.”

Raon shivered as he struggled to speak through his hot breath. To help with the chills, Brown climbed onto the bed. In Ramona’s stead, he pulled the child into his arms to share his warmth.

Back when Ramona used to leave the child with him to go to work, Brown had mastered the art of putting him to sleep. He gently patted Raon’s back. As the medicine finally began to take effect, Raon leaned against Brown’s chest and slowly drifted off.

“Sister needs to get here fast.”