Chapter 42

Chapter 42

“…… Thankfully it wasn’t as busy as the farming season when it started. If it was time for active outdoor activities, the west would be done for.”

“Well, I also don’t know the cause, but how do we find a solution…. Hey, tell me what you’ve discovered.”

Viscount Voldewon summoned his subordinate to report to him about the village that had quickly changed into a terrible tragedy.

It was the result of an investigation completed by sending one of his subordinates over to the Grand Duke’s territory for fear he will also catch the sickness.

I can see that he carefully phrased his words before speaking in front of a child like me, but I could understand that it’s an unimaginable tragedy despite that.

‘It’s really terrible.’

It was a disease in which after a short amount of time, blood will ‘explode’ out from all over the body, and the victims will die of excessive blood loss.

It has a greatly contagious nature, people who died in the village were from spread out corners, not very close to each other.

Like a huge red river was formed throughout the village.

From the side, I saw Deleign frowning as he listened.

‘Somehow he’s used to it….’

I felt like this disease was familiar as if I knew about it. Even though I shouldn’t know of such a disease.

I focused and concentrated my mind on the contents of the original book, pressing down my temples, it seemed like something memorable coming to my mind little by little.

『Blood was collected in the whole town, and it was like a lake. It was a sickening sight known by the name of ‘Ruby Lake’.

It was accurate to say that it wasn’t a Ruby lake, but Blood Lake.

“How can there be such a terrible thing….”

Azuela shed tears as she saw the terrible sight. Her teardrops were like those of a saint.』

This…… this was the disease that allowed Azuela to be praised as a Saint.

‘Why is this already here…….?’

Ruby Lake’s disease appeared in the middle of the original story. Even though it wasn’t made by the Grand Duke, it also wasn’t a disease technically. Thinking about it carefully, it was a case of poisoning.

It is a poison that causes a person to die from excessive bleeding. Azuela found a way to find the culprit and turned him in using her powers.

Due to this incident, the owner of the Grand Duchy also changed…

I turned my head and looked at the Grand Duke and hugged him.

“Shushu?”

It was because of the scary thoughts that came to mind.

The origin of the poison used to create the Ruby Lake event was from the Empress’ palace.

But Azuela was convinced that the poison was released from the Grand Duke Vaillot’s estate, and he was the villain.

After being confronted by Azuela, the Grand Duke Vaillot admitted his wrongdoings, turning himself in, and in the end, was executed by the method of beheading.

Sitting next to me was my oldest brother, Wyndert, looking at me anxiously.

It wasn’t surprising to say that the mentions of the Grand Duke decreased a lot after that in the novel, moreover, Azuela continued to act as she pleased.

‘That’s why my dad disappeared!’

The Grand Duke at the peak of his youth had to undergo such generational changes…

In the midst of my confusion at the resurfacing memories, I hugged the Grand Duke.

As my rediscovered memories became more vivid, my body trembled as if I was shaking like I was being blasted by a cold wind.

“Shushu, Shushu. Did you feel sick all of a sudden? Bring Kamih Baden!”

(T/N: editor-nim, I don’t know what should I use here because the name sounds feminine but the doctor is male 가미 Gami/Gammy/Gummy/Kamih, or you can use what you think is better)

(E/N: I like Kamih, it suits the naming sense used for the other characters)

The Grand Duke hugged me tightly with an anxious expression. He was worried I might be having a fit of seizures, just like when I fell down before.

“N-no, it’s okay. I was just a little scared….”

“Shushu’s still a baby, so she must be scared!”

As I replied, trembling, Deleign lightly touched my cheek and shouted out a complaint.

Immediately, the voice that had been talking about the epidemic quieted in no time.

Because I was scared, they thought I had heard about the scary economic situation occurring.

That’s not what I was scared of. I’m afraid that the Grand Duke will disappear, as well as my efforts of building a relationship with my new loving family going down the drain.

“What if Dad and my brothers also get sick? Are my friends in the orphanage alright?”

I was scared, so my tears fell. The Grand Duke shook his head right away to soothe me when I asked him with tears in my eyes.

“Everything is fine. It will all be resolved soon.”

He said with a smile, but it wasn’t reassuring.

‘No! We can’t solve it without Azuela!’

Until Azuela comes out of the Imperial Palace, only then will this epidemic that no one can solve will be stopped.

However, the problem is that it occurred several years earlier. It was impossible for the six-year old Azuela to come out of the Imperial Palace and solve this problem.

“I think she was too shocked.”

Seeing my white face, Wyndert gently stroked my back with an anxious expression.

“Shushu, I was wrong. I brought you with me….”

Deleign was also blaming himself, pacing back and forth.

It seemed that my expression really wasn’t good.

“I’ll take you to your room now. Or, do you want to sleep with Dad tonight?”

“No….”

I shook my head at the grand duke’s friendly suggestion. In any case, I couldn’t stubbornly hold onto and distract someone who was working on an important and urgent job.

“I want to go with oraboni.”

“Oh…… As I thought our Shushu would depend on…… Ah, I know!”

I chose Deleign whom I came with earlier.

Deleign was very satisfied with my choice, but quickly closed his mouth after receiving Wyndert’s stinging glare.

In fact, I picked him because he’s not doing anything at all… Leaving their anxious gazes behind, I went back to my room still depressed about it.

What do I do now? I can’t bring Azuela from the imperial castle.

If this goes on like this, the Grand Ducal territory and house will end no matter what.

‘I was thinking that everything would be okay as long as the Empress can’t easily reach me…… ’

An unexpected problem always pops up.

The closed door opened again, while I was nervous with my fingertips hovering anxiously on my lips.

It was Deleign hugging a large pillow.

“Oraboni?”

“Are you okay, Shushu? Let me sleep with you today!”

Before I could even react, Deleign had already climbed on the bed.

I was trying to think of if I should refuse him so I could think, but when I felt his weight on the other side of the bed, I nodded lightly.

“How are you? I didn’t know you would be so scared. Don’t worry about it! Your brother will protect you so that no illnesses will ever come near you.”

Deleign hugged me tightly and boasted once again.

Brother, how do you plan to control an illness? Honestly, I’m much more worried about my family than if I get sick.

‘Uh? By the way…… It’s not a disease, it’s poison.’

Unlike in the original, what could be the reason the villain behind the poisoning released it on the Grand Ducal’s territory?

‘I’m sure someone has poisoned the water.’

In the original work, the well was poisoned and annihilated the village.

The method wouldn’t have changed because it was poison disguised as a disease.

‘Why did the date change?’

It doesn’t make a difference if it changed by a day or two, or by a month or two, but it changed by several years.

Could the novel have been changed so drastically?

In the first place, such a big event was to place emphasis on the power of Azuela, the original heroine!

‘What should I do with this incident without Azuela?’

Besides, the villain had changed. The Grad Duke obviously had no idea.

First, if the Grand Duke was the mastermind, why would he release it in his own territory? He wouldn’t deliberately damage his territory and then lie about it.

“Perhaps….”

What if the original Grand Duke was framed?

What if the poisoning event was purposely devised to reduce the prestige of the Grand Duke?

“Huh? What?”

Listening to my murmurs of contemplating, Deleign turned his head to me.

I stared at Deleign’s face, hesitantly opening my mouth.

“Oraboni, if there is someone who is framed, who is the real culprit?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That…… book! I’m talking about a book I’ve been reading recently!”

Deleign, who nodded at my excuses, frowned slightly and opened his mouth right away.

“Isn’t the first person who said, ‘That person is the culprit!’ the real culprit? Or else they are the person who will benefit from the one who was framed.”

Deleign’s words instantly cooled my head.

Azuela was the first person to point to the Grand Duke as the culprit. Who will benefit from the disappearance of the Grand Duke…… It’s the empress!

‘Perhaps, did she poison the Grand Duke’s territory to get rid of him……?’

So many people died because of that.

This is the world in a novel, and all the dead people were extras in that novel.

In the end, I know that it is only an incident to highlight the abilities of the female protagonist.

Nevertheless, I instinctively bit my lip because it was so horrible.

I would love to say this world is only a place inside of a mere novel, but I can’t.

‘This…… Is this what a heroine would do?’

Usually, the main character of a novel is on the side of justice, isn’t it usually something like that? So it wasn’t me who was a bad person in the story, but they were originally the wicked people?

If the empress and Azuela were the main culprits, they were so evil it was so hard to regard them as humans.

Killing people so you can show off your abilities and be praised. The Imperial Family even kills their own people!

‘What I read….. in the novel was it really correct? This kind of thing was in that book?’

How on earth did I end up reading that?

Originally, I didn’t know about a lot of the things I learned in this life so I had no idea.

‘Because of the empress… ’

If those foul accusations were really made by those two in the original, this incident can also be connected to them.

Considering the fact that their target was the Grand Duke in the original, she must’ve been dissatisfied with the Grand Duke.

Since the Grand Duke is the representative of the middle-class nobles, it was clear she was trying to reduce his power but it could also be related to me, that’s why her plan was so abrupt this time.

‘Just why? Venting your anger because you didn’t get my spiritual power?’

Or is Azuela thinking of coming out of the Imperial Capital again?

It wasn’t yet clear why they did this. How can I solve it, what will happen in the future?

“I’m scared…… ”

I think this is because of me, but I don’t know how to fix it.

That said, I read in the book that this is not a plague, it’s poison, and the empress is a bad person.

Deleign hugged me tightly as I was muttering.

“Alright. I will protect you from being scared of anything.”

I’m scared of losing this warmth.

Instead of Tutu, I hugged Deleign and nodded.

“Y-young lady.”

After lunch, I was about to go to the massage room, but Franc whispered to me wanting to talk to me in private.

“What’s up?”

“She really asked.”

Teacher Rima has made a move!

Franc’s face was pale. It seemed that the teacher was really a bad person.

Maybe she approached Franc and tried to do something bad. Having resentment towards me for appointing her as my direct maid.

“Okay, let’s go back to the room!”

“Young Lady, but your eyes are swollen……”

Nina, who stood next to her and saw her asking to talk in private, tried to dissuade me with a displeased face.

Last night, I slept while having a hard time, and my eyes were swollen and puffy like a goldfish.

(E/N: I’m assuming they mean puffy like the telescope eyed goldfish (google it if you don’t know what it looks like). It’s like an exaggerated description if you’re wondering why she says puffy like a fish.)

Nina, who was furious, decided to massage my face because I still hadn’t recovered by lunchtime.

‘But handling Teacher Rima is more important than my puffy eyes.’

Unfortunately, it was strange that the nobles left the next day after visiting last night.

If it’s something to do with the empress, maybe I could get even a small clue from someone who’s working on solving the poison out there.

“There is no guest I need to meet after all. It’s alright even if my eyes are swollen.”

After I asked Nina for a hot pot of tea, I took Franc and headed to my room.

Even after entering the room, Franc’s complexion didn’t improve at all. It seemed like she was terrified.