Chapter 33

Luatisha collapsed at the same time as she vomited blood.

The collapse of the small body seemed very slow in the eyes of Ixion.

His body moved as fast as an arrow that left his previous position.

Sneaking, Ixion, who arrived next to Luatisha in an instant, accepted the falling child’s body.

It was only then that surprised reactions came out from people around me.

“Oh my god!”

“Lady! Oh, my. Blood, blood! Doctor, doctor! Call the doctor right away!”

It was literally a mess as if a war had occurred.

In the midst of the noisy commotion, Luatisha thought.

‘No… Don’t be flustered. I’m not sick, my health is good, it’s true.’

[Immunity increases!] 

[It relieves fatigue!]

[The back of your body becomes softer] 

[Quest <The Way of the Good Reader (1)> has been completed] 

[1,000 cash will be given as a reward]

The notification window in front of me was evidence.

‘But why does it feel like my back is stabbed by the devil? Are you giving me medicine and sickness at the same time?’

Luatisha opened her mouth, feeling the back of her mouth loosening, which she had previously vomited blood.

“Ixi…on, I, I’m really o, okay…”

She couldn’t finish her words and lost strength in her  body.

“·······sha?”

Ixion’s lips were chapped as if he couldn’t believe it.

However, the big eyes that had always looked straight at him did not open again, tightly closed.

“Luatisha! Luatisha!”

Ixion cried out for his youngest sister’s name.

‘Hey, stop shaking me. It’s making me cry.’

[The headache recovers!]

My head is ringing.

I felt uneasy when I saw Ixion who was so surprised,

‘You always gave me a hard time.’

I wanted to say it’s okay again, but my mouth didn’t move.

Soon Luatisha’s consciousness subsided deeply.

* * *

“You don’t know the cause?”

“I, I apologize, sir.”

At the same time as the words ended, a black magic was formed in the hands of the Duke of Paeraton.

“Trash that doesn’t even play its part is not necessary anymore.”

“B, bear with him, sir!”

Anna boiled her knees, blocking the doctors lying down.

The bright red eyes turned to Anna.

He was about to kill him.

Anna swallowed her dry saliva.

She didn’t step forward to save the doctor’s life.

“I want to catch these people right away, but the priority is to treat my Lady. Anyway, they are one of the best doctors in the duchy. Without them, there is no one to look at the lady’s condition.”

Duke Paeraton’s gaze turned to the lying doctor.

His forehead wriggled as if he didn’t like it, but the black magic on the Duke’s hand disappeared.

The doctor, who survived by all means, breathed a sigh of relief and carefully opened his mouth.

“S, sir. As a result of the examination, the youngest lady is healthy. She’s in better shape than right after the kidnapping incident.”

“But why did my daughter vomit blood and faint?”

“That·····.”

It was a problem that even a skilled doctor could not clearly answer.

However, if the cause is unknown as before, the neck will fall this time.

The doctor’s brain worked urgently.

“The human body is mysterious. Especially for the lady, the blood vessels of the Paeraton is in her. No matter how little magic there is, it is likely to be different from ordinary humans.”

I wonder what nonsense it is, but it worked for the Duke.

“······My daughter’s mind is definitely special, unlike other humans.”

“Yes, so I think her body is also special, so I think it’s throwing away the bad energy that has accumulated in her body.”

The explanation was too long.

Feeling suspicious, the doctor hurriedly made excuses from his mouth again.

“A, aura users get rid of the impurities and trepidation accumulated in their body through releasing the Aura. I think it’s similar to that.”

“Getting rid of the impurities requires a high level of concentration for aura users to do. Of course, it must have been exhausting with her young body. It is the same for ordinary people to fall into a deep sleep for recovery. Maybe that’s why.”

It was made up by thinking hard to live, but it wasn’t that wrong.

This man wasn’t useless but a very exceptional doctor.

“The conclusion is?”

“At this state, the lady will wake up safely.”

Honestly, I don’t know the cause at all, but it was clear that the youngest princess was safe, so the doctor replied in a fairly firm tone.

Duke Paeraton sighed low.

“Get back.”

Finally, the doctor sighed in relief at the permission that he was dismissed.

It was the moment when he was about to leave the room with his back bent.

“If there is a problem with my daughter,”

the frosty voice of the Duke of Paeraton held him back.

“You’ll think it’s better to die.”

His bright red eyes flashed and stared at the doctor.

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir.”

After the doctor left the room, Duke Paeraton approached the lying Luatisha.

The child’s edgy face looked really comfortable as if she were in a deep sleep.

“By the way, you never let me rest.”

Not only was she almost kidnapped, but this time she collapsed with blood.

It’s not just that.

At the very least, after coming back from the war, aren’t you trembling with fear that you couldn’t even eat your food.

I thought that everything would be resolved if I brought her, fed her well, and dressed her up, but wouldn’t it be different if I were by your side?

She always reached out to ask for a hug.

She wants me to put her to sleep, feed her, and hold hands.

There were so many things she wanted.

Then, later, she cried saying that she hated me and that I wasn’t her dad.

Such an annoying kid.

I have three other children, but this is the first time I have such a child.

“But I still want you to…”

Pat, the hand stroking the hair of a sleeping child was as careful as touching glass that would break if touched.

“Luatisha Paeraton.”

Just by pronouncing the child’s name, I feel like I’ve eaten  something sweet in my mouth.

It’s unbearably addictive even though I don’t like sweet things.

“My daughter.”

Blood.

A child who continues his own blood.

What is this feeling to have such an existence in the world?

“If it’s you, you can sway me for the rest of your life.”

* * *

Duke Paeraton, who had been by his daughter for a long time, came out.

In fact, he wanted to stay with his daughter until she woke up, but he couldn’t.

“Ixion.”

The child, who was crouching in front of the door, looked up.

The face, which had always been grinning and smiling lazy, was devastated as if it had been hit by a storm.

Because of this guy, he had no choice but to come out.

Because of the aura of Ixion, who has not moved a single time in front of him since Luatisha was moved to the room.

“Dad…”

It was his first time.

The third son, who was so confident that he was arrogant, called him with this completely helpless expression.

“It’s because of me.”

A lost child-like face.

“I kept drawing magic in front of her…”

Ixion’s hand grabbed his clothes tightly.

“Even if it’s not offensive magic, the magic itself is a burden on the child’s body, but I kept using it even though I knew it.”

The boy was regretting for the first time in his life.

“······Do you remember why I sent Luatisha to another place?”

“Yes…?”

“Newborn beings are vulnerable to external stimuli. Magic, which can be said to be an agglomeration of mighty power, is truly lethal.”

Young Paeratons cannot completely control its power, so it is bound to spill magic implicitly.

At that time, there were three young Paeratons in the duchy.

The three sons of the Duke of Paeraton.

“Luatisha, who was not born with magic, could not protect herself. So she was sent to her mother’s house.”

“Although there’s something missing in my explanation.”

“What?”

“If I were in the Castle, I would have been able to protect Luatisha from the magic you release.”

Ixion raised his head when he said that.

“But I had to go to war because of my pledge with the emperor. Luatisha was sent to Marquis Tarenka because there was no Duke of Paeraton to protect her. Tho, she’s in this castle right now.”

It was a simple but heavy word.

It is said that no matter how much Ixion sheds magic, he cannot do any harm to Luatisha under the protection of the Duke of Paeraton.

“B, but I didn’t just let it out implicitly. I even covered her with magic.”

I did that on purpose, too.

I’m just doing a test.

Without knowing what he wanted to test so much.

I could only see the reason now.

‘I wanted to believe you.’

I couldn’t believe she was approaching me like nothing.

I wanted to confirm if she meant it when she said she wasn’t scared and wanted to be close.

‘If I already checked it and believed it well. What am I going to do with it?’

I don’t know.

No, I actually knew.

‘So I want to love her as much as I want.’

For that reason.

I couldn’t be this foolish.

He was just afraid of himself.

If I just trust her…

I’m afraid I’ll get hurt if I love her.

So I kept checking.

There must be a reason to believe, whether it is real, or not.

‘I made that little girl so sick because I didn’t want to be hurt.’

It was useless.

Ixion actually believed in Luatisha for a long time.

Because I already love her.

“········you.”

The deep regret covered the boy’s red eyes.

“Ixion.”

“You’re arrogant.”

Rather, he even scolded him.

“No matter how much you poured out the magic. Do you think I won’t be able to protect my daughter properly?”

A sharp smile was caught in Duke Paeraton’s face.

Ixion stared blankly at his father.

He’s so arrogant.

But who dares to say that he is arrogant in the face of the Duke of Paeraton?

Ixion’s face, which had been desolate, began to come alive.

“No! It’s definitely not!”

Ixion jumped up from his seat.

He had been crouching for a long time, but the boy’s face was full of vitality like a flower soaked in spring rain.

Ixion, who seemed to go straight inside, actually faltered in front of the door.

It was only after Duke Paeraton nodded his head that he opened the door as if determined.

And then he went in.

To his youngest sister’s room, who he couldn’t go visit so he was just hanging around outside the whole time.

Duke Paeraton looked at the back of his third son without saying a word.

It felt weird.

It’s my first time feeling it.

* * *

Something cool wrapped around my cheek.

‘I feel good.’

The room was heating up to the point of sweating.

I smiled in my sleep and rubbed my cheek against the cool thing.

Flinch.

The object hardened for a while and wrapped my cheek a little more clearly.

‘······But what is this?’

It seemed to be the hand of a person who was slowly losing his power.

‘Anna? Or is it dad?’

I lifted my eyelids full of drowsiness.

But the person wrapping my cheek wasn’t Anna or my dad.

‘Ixion?’

Why is this here?

He always locked the door even when I went to him.

The question was brief.

‘That’s right. I collapsed.’

I slept so soundly that I forgot for a moment.

Far from being sick, I was very light, so my memories began to come to mind vividly.

Come to think of it, the last time I saw him before I collapsed, Ixion…

‘had a face that seemed like he was going to cry.’

I stared at Ixion from afar.

“What are you looking at?”

Ixion frowned and spat out.

‘Did I see something wrong then?’

There’s no way that a feisty kid looked at me like he was going to cry.

While trying to get up, I found a wet towel on my head and a thermometer next to Ixion.

“Ixion, were you nursing me?”

“…”

“Really?”

“·······You’re weak, so there’s nothing I can do about it!”

Ixion turned his head around and got angry.

At first glance, his earlobe was red.

‘No, what do you mean weakling? I’m totally healthy.’

As I was smiling my lips, Ixion turned on the bed light in the side table.

His bright face was haggard than usual.

‘Did you really keep next to me?’

I was a little surprised.

‘I wouldn’t have had a fever.’

He kept measuring my body temperature in case the fever would rise.

Wiggle.

I wiggled my fingers for no reason.

It was the first time I was cared for by such a family.

‘······Although I wasn’t sick,’

I looked at the remaining notification window.

[The flu is going away!] 

[The intestines are getting stronger!] 

[Less fat in your intestines!]

It was a very annoying ability, but I was still happy that my visceral fat decreased.

It’s not another reason.

I glanced at Ixion.

‘Maybe, Ixion isn’t such a bad person.’

He kept taking care of me and cursing me that he seemed like he wasn’t a bad kid.

“Luatisha.”

“Huh?”

I was surprised and looked at Ixion.

It was the first time that Ixion called me properly.

Ixion stared at me for a long time, frowning.

When he barely opened his lips, he closed it again.

Ixion didn’t say anything, but I heard everything he was going to say.

“I’ll kill you if you die.” 

“No, I won’t kill you. Open your eyes.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“········I wanted to be close to you, too.”

As I woke up completely, Ixion’s voice, which I heard in my sleep, rang in.

I don’t know what kind of life Ixion has lived.

How would I know?

‘But I know there’s something wrong with this little boy.’

Ixion is a fool who doesn’t even know if he’s hurt.

Like me in my previous life, this kid wasn’t really big either.

‘Ixion, I have been alone for a very, very long time. So I really needed someone else. I prayed every day, saying, ‘I wish there were someone by my side’.”

But I didn’t know why I needed it so much.

I was just convinced as if I were thinking,

‘It’s because I’m lonely alone,’

but now I realized why I needed someone else so much.

‘Being together makes one stronger.’

It allows you to get up again even if you stumble or fall.

It gives me a very happy and warm heart.

You can be sure that you’re a very precious person because your heart is full.

‘Ixion needs someone like that, too. Someone to be with.’

A hard ground to step on.

“Ixion.”

“·······why.”

“I need Ixion.”

Ixion’s expression became strange.

“Can you be my brother?”

The red eyes containing me shook finely.