Jepeto searched for the luggage he had loaded in advance. A faint crease had formed between his brows.

It was not difficult for him to find the tea leaves placed deep inside the bag.

“.......”

Was Ren really suffering from an illness? Had the duke’s daughter noticed it early on and sounded him out through Hugh just now?

“No, surely not!”

Jepeto, who had been wearing a serious expression, burst out laughing and shook his head.

It was too sudden and absurd, wasn’t it? And the time Ren had spent with Lady Coco had been extremely short. If Coco could notice it, there was no way Jepeto himself would not have noticed. Ren was weak, and he had mental issues like trauma, but he had no “illness.”

But at that moment, something flashed through Jepeto’s mind.

Before they had arrived at Tempesto Village, back when they were staying at the Blue Dragon Inn, Ren had collapsed. Ren, carried in on Luman’s back, unable to come to his senses because he could not breathe. At the time, Jepeto had judged Ren’s symptoms as an acute stomach upset. He had reason to. Ren had a weak constitution that made him prone to such attacks, the symptoms matched, and once he was given medicine, he quickly {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} stabilized. Also, since Ren had previously collapsed from a trauma-induced seizure, Jepeto had thought the mental issue had overlapped with it that time. Ren’s condition was that complicated.

But what if that had been a symptom of illness?

“There’s no way!”

Jepeto shook his head again. But unlike before, his expression had sunk. When he thought that Lady Coco would not have asked for no reason, an unpleasant feeling sprouted in his chest.

“And why did I look for these herbs?”

What he held in his hand was an herb that was extremely difficult to obtain because it was rare, but had no real effect. He had been curious why Ren had something so rare, so after picking up what Ren dropped and asking him about it, Ren had grown very angry. Later, perhaps sorry for getting angry, Ren had told him he could simply keep it.

When Jepeto asked whether it had some effect he did not know about, Ren had snapped that there was no such thing, that it was only an herb used for tea and he should stop worrying about it. The image remained clear in his memory.

Jepeto carefully wrapped the herbs in a handkerchief and tucked them into his clothes.

After stepping down from the carriage, Jepeto looked around, then approached the man who caught his eye.

“Um.......”

“Hm?”

Peruan turned his head at the presence and, recognizing Jepeto, acknowledged him. His sparkling amethyst eyes showed curiosity.

“It seems you have something to ask me. Tom, would you give us some space?”

“Young master. You and I are practically one body.......”

“You’ve been at my side so long your wit has improved. But please don’t say things like that. There is only one person I would like to be bound to as one body.”

Tom, worn down by overwork, seemed to have lost his mind and had begun occasionally picking up the sort of lines Peruan often said. Peruan, who had answered with an amused look, shook his head and made his eyes moist. The “one person” he referred to was probably Ren.

Seeing those purple eyes grow damp and glitter, Tom shuddered and withdrew. He had tried to tease him and failed to get even the original stake back.

“Speak freely, Doctor. Ah, I’d like to take this chance to greet you properly as well. I heard you took good care of Ren. Are you traveling with us all the way to the capital?”

“Yes. I believe so.”

Jepeto answered hesitantly. After all, he was merely a physician from a small village, so facing a noble was uncomfortable. The Heroes were frightening and intimidating too, but after going through crises and traveling with them, he had grown somewhat used to them. Peruan was different.

Even during a rough journey, Peruan wore a luxurious formal uniform that looked fit for a ball, along with jewelry that was obviously extremely expensive at a glance. In one of his ears dangled a splendid earring strung with amethysts, something Jepeto had not seen before. Every time Peruan moved, it made a clear sound.

Including his strange and slick manner of speech, from head to toe, he was exactly the strange noble Jepeto had imagined.

“I see. Then please visit my estate with Ren sometime. I’ll entertain you grandly.”

Peruan smiled with his eyes curved, but Jepeto felt as though a blade flashed inside that smile. His tone was polite, yet arrogant, as if pressing down on him.

Jepeto could not bring himself to say either that he understood or that he disliked the idea, and he closed his mouth. Peruan, gazing at the nervous physician, was calmly thinking that this was the normal reaction.

Ren did not care that he was a noble and treated him comfortably, so he had briefly forgotten.

If I take him to the estate and tell the count I want to marry him, will he oppose it after all?

While continuing that absurd train of thought, Peruan realized Jepeto was still working his mouth.

He had something he wanted to say, but could not easily say it, and yet he remained where he was.

If he had come to Peruan, it was probably something related to Ren. Judging by how he was hesitating and still stubbornly trying to speak, it must be important.

And Jepeto was a physician.

‘Did he notice?’

From Peruan’s perspective, it was neither good nor bad. They would arrive at the capital late, but Peruan was a man who could enter the royal castle, had the ability to sneak Ren away for a while, and could fully take responsibility for whatever came afterward.

Ren had refused him, but Peruan intended to take him to his estate even if he had to deceive him, and try treating his illness. There was no role a country physician needed to play.

But if the physician had noticed something, it would not hurt to know what it was.

With a gentle smile on his lips, Peruan called to Jepeto.

“You came to me because you have something to say, didn’t you? Speak comfortably. Our party will soon split up, won’t it? If you regret not saying what you should then, it will be too late.”

“......After meals, Ren.”

Jepeto trailed off, unable to choose the proper way to refer to him.

“He’s called the young count.”

“I heard he visits you, young count, and drinks tea.”

His face tense, he stumbled through the words. When Peruan nodded, Jepeto raised his head and looked at him. Fear was plain on his face.

“By any chance, are those tea leaves this?”

Jepeto took the handkerchief from inside his clothes and showed him the tea leaves wrapped inside.

“Who knows? I don’t brew it myself, so I wouldn’t know.”

Peruan answered vaguely. He did not particularly want to share Ren’s secret.

“Rather than doing this, let’s ask Ren.”

When Peruan tried to call Ren, Jepeto shook his head.

“Ren seems not to want anyone to know. This is something I’m looking into privately...... only because I’m worried about him.”

Jepeto shook his head in alarm. Seeing the worry shadowing his face, Peruan decided to be generous. It would not likely happen, of course, but if Ren fell ill, having someone who knew about this might help.

“Now that I look, it does seem to be the same.”

Peruan narrowed his eyes and examined the herbs closely, then nodded. He could already tell by scent alone and had no need to look carefully, but he did it for Jepeto’s sake.

“......Thank you.”

Jepeto left with a startled expression.

“Haa. It would be nice if he came with us all the way to the capital.”

Peruan deeply regretted bringing only Tom as his escort. If he had brought the person he had left behind in the capital, he could have sent them along with Ren!

“How was I supposed to know I would meet an angel in a place I came to catch human garbage?”

Peruan murmured with an enraptured expression, then shook his head.

“Young master, where are you going?”

“To prepare tea to serve my angel.”

“......Yes. Please go on, then.”

Tom had to work hard not to make a bizarre expression at his words.

***

“He knows something!”

Jepeto sighed and fidgeted with the tree. Peruan’s eyes had been the eyes of someone who knew the truth. Setting aside the intention of that man, who had seemed as if he would say nothing, then changed his mind and tossed out that “it was the same,” Jepeto’s chest was too stirred for him to know what to do.

Then was his guess that Ren was suffering from an illness correct?

It might not be anything serious, but Jepeto’s intuition told him this was a fairly major problem. And yet the Heroes seemed to know nothing about it.

And Jepeto thought that Luman and Temar were far too unstable for him to readily inform them of this matter.

This party, including Ren, was strange and unstable.......

The way they dealt with incidents looked strange to Jepeto.

From Dell Belkerman to Ren’s kidnapping and the bunker incident.......

Every single one was enough to leave a great shock on a person’s entire life. But Ren’s party had an utterly bizarre attitude toward such incidents. They acted as if such things were something they experienced every day, and soon moved on as if nothing had happened. It felt as if the only thing that mattered was that they were alive. While recovering, and even after recovering, there was no time to sort through the events they had experienced.

Jepeto was merely a physician from a small village, but because he was a physician, he had seen many people who had faced misfortune. He was an insignificant commoner, but physicians were rare, so people came even from neighboring villages.

Those who experienced a major incident always ended up telling the story afterward. For any event that shook a life, no matter what kind of event it was, a period of mourning was necessary.

But Ren’s party did not open their mouths about an incident once the moment had passed. They only cared about the follow-up. As if they had simply tripped on the road, and once they brushed off the dust and stood up, that was the end of it. Their affairs seemed to be treated almost that way. Even Ren himself.

Jepeto, who had felt subtly strange each time, now understood clearly through this incident. Ren, Luman, Temar...... they did not know how to face their emotions. To a degree that looked very serious to him as a physician.