Chapter 84

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 84

Chapter Title: The Mad Doctor

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After sending the ceremonial robes back, I trudged along.

"Ouch, my poor bones."

After several days of hardship on top of uncomfortable bedding, all my strength had drained away.

My throat felt a bit scratchy, and my whole body was aching faintly. As I rubbed my neck, my skin felt hotter than usual, so I nodded to myself with a soft, "Hmm."

You’ve come, haven’t you, cold?

I’ll stuff myself silly and sleep the whole day!

I always caught a cold or flu during seasonal changes, so I knew exactly how to bounce back fast.

I should ask for some cinnamon honey tea.

With that in mind, I headed to my room—only to find the lights on. Curious who might be inside, I tilted my head and opened the door.

My room was packed with people. Lea and three maids, plus Henri and Ishak.

"Little One..."

The maids called out to me oh-so-gently. Wondering what was up, I waited patiently for them to continue, but they bit their lips over and over, struggling to speak.

Seeing the maids' dejected faces and Lea's rigid expression, I shrugged.

Everyone must be torn up over Mireyu.

They’d all been thrilled thinking the little bird had returned, so their hearts must be breaking now.

"Everyone, please go..."

I meant for them to pull themselves together and come back later, but the maids and even my brothers wore nothing but pained looks.

Henri approached and gently brushed under my eyes.

"Yeah. Call for us when your heart feels better."

As expected, everyone’s hurting over Mireyu.

I gave a tiny nod.

Once everyone had left, I changed into my nightclothes and sat on the bed.

As I started to slip under the covers, I noticed the room felt warmer than usual.

Lea’s touch really makes all the difference.

She knew exactly when I was suffering, what I hated and what I loved.

Tomorrow, I should tell Lea and the maids how thankful I always am.

I tugged the bell cord and asked a servant to bring cinnamon honey tea. I took my cold medicine from the drawer along with the tea, made sure to down it all properly, and drifted off to sleep.

How much time passed?

"...nim!"

"Little One!!"

Noisy voices erupted around me, and suddenly my body felt like a blazing fireball. On top of that, I couldn’t breathe properly.

It hurts...

The harder I tried to force air in, the tighter my lungs squeezed.

I barely pried my eyes open to find family and maids crowding the bed.

Lea urgently propped my body halfway up, and the doctor poured a thin liquid into my mouth. Bitter taste. Medicine.

I pieced together what was happening without much trouble.

The honey in that cinnamon tea must’ve been haro flower honey.

It was right around the time haro flower honey first hit the markets.

The problem? I was allergic to haro flowers.

Even the scent alone made my whole body itch and break out in hives.

If elza tree blossoms were a boon for those with divine power, haro flowers benefited those with magic power.

Very rarely among divine power users, consuming haro flower products triggered allergic reactions—especially in those with high-purity divine power.

High purity also meant superior purification ability.

In the process of purging impurities—like magic power—from the body, allergy-like symptoms would flare up.

Mina had put it this way:

[It’s like how you get a fever when you catch a cold. Your body raises the temperature to drive out the virus.]

I didn’t realize it was haro honey because of the cinnamon smell.

My breath was catching so badly I thought I’d suffocate. I wheezed roughly—hiss, whoosh—over and over.

"Little One, stay with us! Don’t fall asleep. You have to keep breathing consciously!"

The maids wailed desperately.

It was the first time I’d been this sick since arriving at the castle, so everyone was utterly shocked.

"Do something!"

Ishak grabbed the pacing doctor by the collar and bellowed.

"B-but I can’t for the life of me figure out why...!"

"What kind of doctor doesn’t know that?!"

"It’s not a cold. And it doesn’t seem like a food allergy either... Honey and cinnamon are favorites of the Little One’s, aren’t they?"

It’s the haro flower! Guys, haro flower! Save me!

I strained to say it, but my swollen throat wouldn’t let any sound through.

My vision was going hazy. This was really bad.

Daddy, watching me with a stony face, spoke to the knight standing by.

"...Bring Taylor from the underground prison."

"Taylor, sir...!"

The knight gasped in shock, but Daddy’s eyes stayed locked on me.

"Fetch him. Tell him if he heals my daughter, I’ll restore his status."

"Your Grace—"

"Now!!"

At Daddy’s roar, the knight and servants bowed their heads low.

That was the last thing I saw before my eyes slowly drifted shut.

"Little One!"

"Little One, please!"

People screamed my name, but I couldn’t cling to my fading consciousness any longer.

When I came to, I kept my eyes squeezed shut in a daze. I was too scared to open them. The pain had vanished completely, just like that.

What if I regressed...

What if I woke up in the Empress Dowager’s room, in the cradle again? What if my arms were stubby like linked sausages once more?

But then—

A strange chuckle poked through: kuk.

"If you’re awake, why not open your eyes?"

I cautiously lifted my eyelids at the unfamiliar voice.

A young man with jet-black hair like a crow’s and clear blue eyes thrust his face close.

"Eek!"

I shoved him away in shock, and he clutched his chin with a frown.

"That’s harsh. I went and saved your life. Now I’m hurt."

He said it with a sly, roguish grin.

"Who are you?"

He propped his elbow on the chair armrest and lazily rested his chin in his hand.

"Who am I?"

What was with this weird guy?

A quick look around confirmed it was my room in Duvered Castle. No regression—thank goodness—but how was a total stranger in here?

After pondering, I eyed him and ventured, "By any chance..."

"...Mr. Taylor?"

He flashed a grin. A smile eerily like Henri’s.

"I’d prefer you call me Uncle."

Oh my god.

Daddy had actually let this lunatic treat me.

This man went by many names.

Daddy and Lord Javelin’s youngest brother.

The illegitimate son born from the late duke’s one-night mistake.

But the most infamous was...

The mad doctor.

The psycho with the “hand of God” was him.

"It’s been ages since I last saw a haro flower allergy. You’ll make a fine priest someday."

The rare haro flower allergy among divine power holders wouldn’t be discovered for another seven years or so.

He knew back then?

Actually, Taylor Duvered had been locked in the underground prison for nearly ten years on the late duke’s orders for trying to poison Daddy multiple times—so technically, he’d known for over seventeen years.

"So, what’re you gonna do for me, your life’s benefactor?"

"...Daddy said he’d restore your status."

"Not Theodor—you. The one who owes me her life."

"Money?"

He snorted a laugh.

Of course. With his status restored, he could reclaim the fortune the late duke had set aside for him.

More than that, this genius doctor would have people crawling out of the woodwork, money in hand, begging for his help the moment he stepped outside.

"Then... umm..."

As I mulled it over, Taylor lightly grasped my chin.

"How about a kiss from my cute little niece?"

What?

His face drew near. Toward my lips. Just as they hovered on the brink of contact...

"You mad bastard—!"

A dagger streaked from the doorway like lightning. Taylor leaned aside to dodge, but whoosh! Ishak leaped in and slammed a kick into his face.

"Ugh!"

Taylor tumbled from the chair with a yelp and stared up at wildly furious Ishak—and Henri, striding in behind him with a hardened face.

"Isn’t that a bit much? To your uncle after ten years apart."

"Quit yapping. Get out before I skin you alive and sell the hide. Saving the kid is your one chance to walk away."

Taylor shrugged and stood. Seizing the opening as Ishak grudgingly stepped aside, he planted a smack! on my cheek.

"You’re begging to die...!"

As Ishak finally drew his sword, Taylor fished a medicine packet from his jacket’s inner pocket.

"Looks like you’ll be handing me more chances to live pretty often."

"What?"

"This little chick needs my prescriptions to make a full recovery."

"...!"

Ishak clenched his sword, but Henri held him back.

"Not until Leblain’s better."

"Damn it."

"Once she is, I’ll rip your limbs off."

Henri fixed Taylor with eyes burning quietly.

Taylor shrugged again and leaned right up to me.

"I’ll leave today’s dose. When I drop off tomorrow’s meds, you kiss me."

He flashed that sly grin.

Blackmailing me with my own life?

I glanced at my brothers and whispered.

"A haro flower allergy clears up with one injection, though?"

The grin that had plastered Taylor’s face all along finally slipped away.

"How do you...?"

"Still no leads on the Meria grass you’re hunting for antibiotics?"

"...!"

"I know where it is."

Taylor flinched and stared at me.

That’s how you blackmail, punk.

I beamed and said.

"Get up quietly and leave before I burn every last scrap of Meria grass in the empire. And close the door behind you."

Taylor backed away from me, staring like he’d lost his mind. After a long, intense gaze, he let out a low kuk-kuk chuckle.

"You’re really something."

"..."

"This is bad. I actually like you."

He muttered it, winked a farewell, and left the room.

Closing the door tight.