NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 156
In the end, O’Neill decided to stay at the Bouser’s mansion.
And for good reason.
Rudrick would have to return to the North anyway.
He said that it would be better for her to stay with him if he had to go back to the Duke’s mansion in the North.
‘If that’s the case, why don’t you just leave her here as you did before,’
I wanted to retort, but O’Neill’s next words silenced me.
— “It’s not like he’s going to go back up north and never come back, so I’m thinking of forming a unit.” — “A unit?” — “Yes. Because of the distance, we’ll only be able to move a few people like we did this time, but I thought it might be useful, and we can bring others with us. I wonder if there are some people you left behind in the North, too?” — “People I left behind in the North.”I was a little taken aback when I heard the words.
As she’s said, in my haste, I left Jeron, Hestia, and others in the North.
I didn’t have a clue how to bring them back, and I was grateful when she said she would take care of it.
Still, I hesitated, like a person with a lingering regret, and then I asked.
— “If that’s the case, wouldn’t my mansion be more…” — “Oh, but the person who travels back and forth most would be…”Her words left me speechless.
In truth, I knew how right she was.
Now that I had won the business right, I had no work left in the North, and Rudrick still had to return and finish the expedition.
It would be more accurate if Rudrick had a portal for travel, like when he came to the capital in haste, like today.
It goes without saying that O’Neill, the only person who could create a magic circle for the portal, was with him.
In the end, I had no choice but to agree, so I smiled and waved at them until they got into the carriage together, or rather, until the carriage was out of sight.
The problem was after they left.
‘Mind your own business!’
It was only much later that I started to care, like crazy.
To be honest, I was already bothered before that.
Why does he allow O’Neill’s approach so easily, even though he doesn’t usually allow others to invade his territory?
Worse still, why was she riding with him in the carriage, and why were they sitting so close together in the carriage?
And how it’s been days since they left, and I haven’t heard from them!
“Aww!” “Hic!, Miss, what’s wrong?”The maids, who were tidying up the room, turned to look at me as I clutched my head like a lunatic.
I quickly lowered my hands and smiled awkwardly, realizing I’d made a fuss again.
“Oh, it’s nothing…”The maid servant’s eyes narrowed as I realized this was my second time having breakdowns in a row.
But it wasn’t the first time I’d made such a fuss in Averine, so they were quick to glance at me with suspicion.
I sighed heavily, finally calming myself, but my mind was still racing.
‘Why does it bother me?’
It was my childhood wish that he would meet the original heroine and live happily ever after.
He goes to find his love, I go to find mine.
Even now, that thought hasn’t changed. No matter how much he has feelings for me, I don’t have feelings for him.
I almost hoped that Rudrick and O’Neill would fall in love at first sight and change his mind, just like in the original.
‘But now…’
Why do I imagine them standing side by side like this?
I let out another deep sigh as the thought of them standing next to each other disturbed me.
I knew that the people around me would be worried if I continued to behave like this, but I couldn’t stop myself. Furthermore, I could only hope that the feeling would go away in time.
But my agitation only increased.
“Does he have a stomachache?” “Huh?”That’s when Hestia told me the shocking news.
Before O’Neill left in the carriage for the Bouser mansion. I had asked for one more thing.
After all, as she said, I had come to the capital alone and in a hurry.
I asked her then,
‘Would you be so kind as to bring them to Averine for me, if only for a little while?’
O’Neill readily agreed, and I pointed to Hestia and Jeron first.
After all, they were the ones I needed most.
And when they finally returned to the capital. I explained the situation to the worried pair, asking Hestia in passing, “
Can you confirm that my father is safe?”
— “I’m sure he’s okay, but just in case. Can you check him on him one more time?” — “Sure. It’s okay.”In truth, the words were spoken without much concern, for Dahlia had seen for herself that he was fine.
I just wanted to check and make sure and give him some medicine in case he was feeling weak after his illness.
But what Hestia said was unexpected.
“No matter how you look at it, he didn’t collapse from exhaustion. It’s more like… It’s more like he collapsed because of the lingering bacteria…” “What do you mean, lingering bacteria?” “Miss, perhaps…”Hestia turned to me with a stern face.
“Has the Duke ever… contracted the plague?”For a moment, I froze.
“…What?”For a moment, I couldn’t interpret her words.
A plague. Who?
No way… My father?
“No way.”But he hadn’t come back from the war in one piece.
When they wrote to each other, he never said anything about being sick, and when he came back from the war, he said nothing had happened…
“Did he say that?”No, on second thought, he didn’t.
Not in his letters, not when he came back.
He just said,
‘The epidemic was over, and I was able to return quickly,’
but he never mentioned that he was sick or anything.
Come to think of it, hadn’t he been… late with his letters before?
My anxiety grew increasingly and finally went to see him, panting.
“You’ve been busted.”I had to face my father, who smiled smugly.
“Busted? What do you mean, busted?” “Dahlia, even if I’m your dad, it hurts a little when you hit me like that…” “Is this what your ploy to get away with, this?!”Seriously, my eyes were spinning when the truth hit me.
Thanks to Hestia, who was there to support me, or I might have collapsed on the spot in shock.
That’s how much of a shock it was to me.
‘Is this how my father died?’
I had already experienced my father’s death once before in a dream.
I ran around for a while trying to save him, trying to end the war somehow before anything happened to him, and I was afraid every day that something bad would happen to him.
But he’d already had the plague once?
“…When did you catch it?” “Don’t worry too much. That was a long time ago, and now that I’m so healthy, it’s more important to be around my family…” “Shall we go tell Mother?” “When you sent the letter.”Apparently, my threat had worked, and he told me the truth.
To be honest, he didn’t really know he had been affected by the plague.
He thought he had a cold because of the occasional aches and pains and a lingering cough. He never thought he had contracted the plague.
But the realization came when he took the medicine I sent him. Suddenly, he vomited up blood and collapsed, and that’s when he lost consciousness.
“Your illness must have been quite advanced.” “Pretty far along?” “You don’t react that badly to the initial medication, but the fact that you vomited blood… you probably had some internal injuries, which explains why you collapsed…” “…”“
Haha…”At my cold glare, my father broke out in a cold sweat and quickly averted his eyes, and I sighed heavily.
“So it was Rudrick who saved you back then?” “Yeah. By his grace.” “So you two conspired and hid it.” “No, it’s not that…”As I questioned my father, I felt like the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together.
Why Bouser was at the negotiating table instead of my father, and why Rudrick himself headed the organization.
Having helped my father, he must have realized that I had sent the medicine, and if so…
‘Did he also deal with the men who were following the top?’
I looked straight again, knowing I’d have to ask him properly later, and there he was, looking strangely restless.
Somehow I knew what he was going to say, so I narrowed my eyes.
“I’m sorry. You must have been worried.” “…” “I wasn’t trying to hide anything. I just didn’t tell you because I thought I’d be fine by then… and I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily, but I didn’t realize it would hit you so hard.” “I’m sure I’m not the only one?” “Yeah. I know, so…”He smiled apologetically.
“You won’t tell your mother, will you?” “I knew it.”I closed my eyes tightly.
I could see why my father would say that. Furthermore, I didn’t know what would happen if my mother, who was even more hypersensitive than I was about my father, found out the truth.
After all, she had been depressed for a while during the war.
I closed my eyes for a long time, lost in thought. I crossed my arms and was deep in thought when I suddenly opened my eyes and said.
“Next time, please don’t hide it from me.” “Of course.” “I know I’m important to you, too. Would you want me to hide the fact that your precious daughter is dying?” “No.” “Right? I care about you too, and it’s natural to not want to lose someone you care about, but if you find out when it’s really too late… you know what I mean?” “I’ll keep that in mind.”I paused for a moment, letting the words rush out of my mouth, then gazed up into my father’s face.
He’s looking genuinely sorry, and he’s responding to my words with such sincerity that it’s almost silly.
“Ugh.”I ended up laughing.
And my father’s face brightened in response to my embarrassed laughter.
“Okay, Dad,”I said, my voice lighter, as if I couldn’t help it.
“I see, Dad.” “And for Claire…” “I’m sorry.” “Huh?”I exclaimed, running straight out of the room.
“Mommy!!!”Rudrick turned to see a woman looking up at him.
A woman who had been acting suspiciously since she first appeared.
And even now, countless other women are still suspicious.
“
What?”He frowned in disbelief.
This was the same woman who hadn’t said a word from the time they left Averine until they arrived at Bouser’s Mansion.
When she smiled shyly in front of him, he looked at the window with a stiff expression and looked like a different person.
But he wasn’t particularly interested in her either, so he quickly lost interest. He thought he was doing a good job of organizing the movement after that.
Out of nowhere, she said,
“Shall I help you?”