Chapter 17

As soon as she finished speaking, Ramona grabbed one of Coma’s arms with her callous-hardened hand and twisted it behind his back. As he screamed in agony, she grabbed him by the hair and forced his face toward her.

“Say what you said again. Say it, you bastard.”

“G-gaaah!”

“You dare tell my child, who fainted from pain, to die here? You’re the one who’s going to die here, you piece of work!”

She kicked the back of his knees, forcing him down, and as he collapsed forward, she lightly—but precisely—stepped on his “sensitive center.” With just the right amount of force.

“Urgh!”

Coma let out a final gasp, foamed at the mouth, and passed out cold. The men present, including Baylor, who had witnessed the raw scene unfold in an instant, all instinctively pressed their legs together.

Now they understood why Emile and Branson liked Ramona so much. Seeing how merciless she was once she identified someone as an enemy, Baylor etched a new motto deep into his heart: Never, ever mess with Ramona.

Just then, the knights arrived late on the scene. Ramona bit her lip hard and pulled something from her coat.

“Tell your Young Duke exactly this! If he’s going to run things this poorly, he shouldn’t even dream of seeing our Raon again. And I’m taking the child back according to the contract, so don’t even try to stop me.”

She threw the contract toward the knights blocking her path. No matter how they looked at it, the handwriting and signature belonged to Adrian. The knights flinched as they read the second clause.

“Wait a moment. Please, calm your anger. My Lady, I am…”

“Are you Sir Milan Onyx? Raon’s swordsmanship instructor?”

“Pardon? Yes! Yes, that is correct.”

Seeing that he matched the description in Raon’s letters, she had asked just in case. Sir Onyx nodded immediately.

“As a swordsmanship instructor, shouldn’t you check on your student at least once when you hear he’s unable to attend lessons despite living in the same house?”

“I apologize. That was my oversight. You are right to blame me.”

Sir Onyx didn’t make excuses; he gave a clean apology. His crime was believing Aria’s word when she said Raon would be focusing on other studies instead of swordsmanship for a while.

“A knight arriving this late when something happens in the estate… I don’t think I can trust our child to such a dangerous place ever again.”

“My apologies.”

Sir Onyx apologized for the delayed response as well. He knew Ramona had arrived, but he hadn’t imagined things would escalate this far, so he hadn’t come out sooner. By the time he rushed over and saw Coma incapacitated after being stepped on in his “unfortunate place,” he realized Ramona was no ordinary woman, but it was already too late.

“Sir Onyx, are you one of the people brought in by that redhead?”

“Absolutely not. We are the Arab Knights, who have sworn absolute loyalty to the House of Cassius. we joined through formal examinations.”

“Good. Then take this.”

Ramona fished something out of her pocket and tossed it. Sir Onyx blinked as he caught a transparent bead.

“I’m trusting you with this, so give it to your Young Duke when he returns. To Adrian Cassius himself, not anyone else!”

Holding the recording stone, Sir Onyx nodded, overwhelmed by Ramona’s sheer presence. She marched past the knights and out of the mansion.

“Ramona, you already finished your business— Raon? What’s wrong with him? Is he in bad shape?”

“Yes, he’s very sick. We need to get home immediately.”

Seeing Raon slumped and unconscious—likely out of relief the moment he was on Ramona’s back—Thomason looked horrified. He didn’t ask why Raon was coming out of there. If he had any wits, he’d know. He had heard the rumors that the Young Duke of Cassius had recently found his bloodline.

“Sister, get in! I’m staff here, so I have to stay and work.”

“Right, thanks, Baylor. I’ll make you something delicious next time.”

“You don’t have to make me anything, just please, go easy on men’s… ‘down there.’ It hurts just to watch.”

Ramona climbed into the carriage Baylor held open, pulled the child into her arms, and whispered to herself.

“I’m crossing the line big time today. You’re all dead— ahem— I mean, I’ll help you receive the call of the God Jue. God Jue, I’ll be sending a few people your way in the next few days, so please just take them. Don’t send them back and pollute this world again.”

She had lost her cool earlier and used harsh language, but now that she held Raon, she tried to watch her words. Stroking the child’s face, which was still burning with fever, she bit her lip.

“If they took a child who didn’t want to go, they should have treated him better and nurtured him. What is this? What are the servants there even doing! Do they think he’s beneath their notice just because he isn’t their own kin?”

The more she thought about it, the more upset she became. She looked at Raon with pity as he groaned even in his unconscious state. He was a child so precious she wouldn’t mind if he was the apple of her eye, and he had never been ignored like this anywhere else. No, she had raised him properly so he couldn’t be ignored. She never dreamed he would receive such treatment in a noble house that had claimed him as their own blood.

“Was everyone just acting when I visited last time? Good heavens, our Ugly Prince’s face has become so gaunt.”

As she wiped the cold sweat from Raon’s brow with a handkerchief, Thomason drove the carriage with careful consideration. Since there was a sick child on board, he couldn’t enjoy the speed and overspeed like before.

It took several times longer than the trip there, but they finally arrived. Thomason opened the door, and Ramona quickly stepped out with the child on her back.

“Thank you so much for today. As for the fee…”

“Forget it. I got to enjoy a high-speed thrill thanks to you. It was quite refreshing. But do you need anything else? Should I go buy some medicine?”

“Ah, no. I have medicine. But there are some supplies I need. I’d be grateful if you could get them for me.”

As soon as Ramona listed the supplies she needed, Thomason vanished with his carriage. If there were a race for fast carriage driving, Thomason would surely take first place—he was incredibly fast. He demonstrated fantastic cornering even on curved roads, never hitting a single object. Seeing him calculate everything in his head, Ramona thought he might be a true genius.

“Mmm, Mom…”

“I’m sorry. Let’s go inside.”

Carrying the sick child into the house, Ramona laid Raon on the bed. She immediately set a bowl of rice to soak in water while wiping the child’s body with a lukewarm towel. Every time she wiped him, he let out a faint groan, and Ramona bit her lip, frustrated that there was so little she could do.

“Ah! The medicine from earlier…”

Taking out the medicine Brown had put in her pocket, she dissolved the broken pieces in water. Seeing that it was already halved, it seemed Brown had already given him a dose.

“Raon, our Ugly Prince! Let’s take a little more medicine.”

“N-no… I don’t want it…”

He was acting spoiled because he was sick. Ramona let out a soft sigh at the childishness that always surfaced when he was ill.

“Just a little more. Please? If you take this, I’ll make you something yummy.”

Ramona never made empty promises. Hearing this, Raon gulped down the medicine and looked at her with eyes reddened by the fever.

“Just wait a little bit. Mister Thomason is on his way with some things. So, will our baby take a nap?”

“Yes…”

Though he said he would sleep, Raon’s eyes didn’t close, filled with the anxiety that Ramona might disappear if he closed them for even a second. His small, feverish hand gripped Ramona’s sleeve and wouldn’t let go. She patted his stomach and whispered in his ear.

“It’s okay. You can sleep peacefully now. I’m not a dream, so I won’t disappear.”

At the sound of the voice, softer and warmer than a mother’s embrace, Raon’s eyes finally began to close. As the sick child fell asleep, his grip on her sleeve loosened.

Once she was sure he was fully asleep, Ramona stepped out of the room and let out a deep breath.

“How much pain must that little one have been in all alone? How sorrowful must it have been with no one to look after him?”

The thought of the young child suffering alone for days made her blood boil. She wanted to head back to the Cassius Estate immediately and hurl every insult imaginable at Adrian and Aria. She barely suppressed the urge to turn them into spicy marinated pork. She didn’t have time for that now.

“Ramona! I bought what you needed!”

Thomason, the speed demon, must have arrived, as he shouted from outside. Ramona quickly grabbed some money and went out to take the supplies from him.

“Thank you so much, Mister.”

“I only did what needed to be done, so keep your money. I feel like my stress is all gone after enjoying that speed for once. That’s enough for me.”

“No. You have to take this, or Mrs Marie might just blow a hole in your head.”

“Oh, right. Well, then I’ll take it gratefully. And don’t worry, I won’t say a word about Raon. I have some tact, you know.”

Thomason took the money, promised to keep quiet about Raon, and drove away.