“Shh.”

His throat felt as rough as if it had been scraped with sandpaper, and his insides felt as though they were burning.

Peruan’s voice sounded like something heard in a dream.

Tears fell drop by drop from Ren’s eyes. At those clear tears, falling like dew, Peruan closed his mouth.

Ren could not swallow even half the warm tea. Most of it spilled. Seeing the tea wet his lips and run down his neck, Peruan took a clean handkerchief from inside his coat. Then he soaked the handkerchief with tea and laid it over Ren’s lips.

Ren was still twisting his body and breathing harshly, but he looked better than before.

“As expected, our bond must be something extraordinary.”

To keep himself from losing consciousness, Ren listened to Peruan’s useless chatter. His insides churned, screams tried to tear out of him, and his whole body howled, but Ren endured it. He could not let himself scream so disgracefully. Ren was bearing the pain through nothing but spite and stubbornness.

“Don’t you think so? Before I leave, God has blessed us so we may spend even a little time together. Ren, however, I do not wish for your illness to be what ties us together. So I suppose I must create many other bonds between us. It can’t be helped.”

What the hell was he even talking about?

Listening to meaningless words seemed to loosen the tension a little. The stinging in his throat slowly began to settle too.

A knock sounded, and Jepeto entered carrying a bowl of medicine. When he saw Ren with his eyes open, he started and hurried over in quick little steps. The medicine in the bowl sloshed and splashed. Peruan frowned, but said nothing.

“Ren! Ren.......”

Jepeto could not bring himself to ask Ren, barely conscious as he was, whether he had a chronic illness. He only handed the medicine bowl to Peruan and stared at Ren with eyes full of things he wanted to say. But Ren’s gaze was fixed on Peruan. In his haze, he seemed not to know who had come in or who was looking at him.

“Ah.”

Peruan let out a soft sound as he looked into Ren’s eyes, blurred with pain. His tears showed no sign of stopping. Peruan checked the temperature of the medicine, removed the handkerchief, and fed it to him.

Ren slowly drank the medicine down. Jepeto stood by the door and watched.

***

A group arrived at the lord’s castle with a terrifying momentum. The gatekeepers, having received word, hurriedly opened the gates to welcome the guests. Walking at the very front was a young girl of noble bearing with purple hair. She strode forward without caring that the sharp wind was tangling her hair. Her pace was so fast and her expression so frightening that the servants lowered their heads and quickly moved aside. Her eyes were fierce enough to feel almost murderous.

“Lady Gannion.”

Hugh cautiously called out to Coco. He was afraid her anger and distress might damage her health. He had been about to fumble together some comfort, to tell her Ren would be all right, but at Coco’s gaze, he shut his mouth.

Tears were brimming in those violet eyes. Coco had not cried even when she heard of the duke’s death. In noble houses, there was no such thing as familial affection. And the first person to open her heart had been Ren. She had finally found a friend she could speak openly with, and she had been busily looking into anything she might be able to do for him. Coco had certainly been making preparations in her own way, so why had this happened?!

“Lady Coco! Who am I? Don’t worry. And the supreme god is rather biased, you know! Look at me, see how capable I am! Ren is a child with clear Aras as well, so he will not be taken away so easily—augh!”

“You......!”

“My lady. Please calm yourself. Priest Kirky, my apologies.”

Coco had struck the back of his head without warning. Her hand seemed to have moved first because she had no idea what to do with all the resentment and anger inside her. Seton stopped the duke’s daughter and politely apologized to Kirky. Looking at Coco’s face, full of grief and outrage, Kirky grinned brightly as if he had no sense at all and shook his head.

“Hehe. Our young lady is cutest when she’s throwing a tantrum! Now, let’s hurry. We have to go save Ren! I am the proud successor of the High Priest, after all. Trust me, Lady Coco.”

Kirky winked and fluttered his hand. His pure white priest’s robe swayed sacredly. Coco closed her mouth and lowered her head. After Kirky patted her shoulder, they moved on.

Then they saw a man kneeling in the garden. It was someone they knew well.

Coco narrowed her eyes and ran to him.

“Luman? Why are you like this?”

“.......”

“I asked what you’re doing! Shouldn’t you be going to Ren? What are you doing?!”

Luman sat frozen as if he could not hear Coco’s voice.

How could there not be a single useful person here! Coco trembled with anger. She had felt reassured when she saw how much Luman cared for Ren, and yet in a crisis like this, he was just sitting there like an idiot! Coco was huffing, about to press him again, when a deep voice cut through Hugh’s attempt to stop her.

“What did you just say?”

It was Temar.

***

“It would be better if you didn’t hold back, Ren. Even this stubborn side of you is lovely to me, so what am I supposed to do?”

“Stop...... talking nonsense.”

At the answer that came back, Peruan smiled in satisfaction.

But his eyes were cold and sunken. Peruan was trying to judge rationally before he acted.

Had Ren recovered enough strength to speak? Or had he forced those words out?

Peruan was afraid of what might happen if he carelessly fed him the sweet jelly. When Ren had suffered his seizure in the bunker, there had been no other way, so Peruan had hurriedly found the medicine and fed it to him. This time was different. If the medicine had simply been in his pocket, he would have given it to Ren at once, but....... And to his eyes, this seizure looked far more severe. Ren’s effort not to let out even a breath was far too suspicious. That was why Peruan could not readily feed him the sweet jelly. The physician’s warning that, if taken incorrectly, it might block his throat had not been said merely to scare him.

“I have the medicine you took last time. Can you take it now?”

The rims of Ren’s eyes were red. His tears had barely stopped, but his pale green eyes were still full of moisture, as if veiled in mist. Ren slowly shook his head.

“If I pass it to you by mouth, can you take it?”

Ren likely did not remember, but Peruan had fed him the medicine that way last time too. While Ren was unconscious, Peruan had done it in desperation because there had been no other method.

But this time, Ren shook his head again.

“It worked well last time. Why won’t it work now? Ah. I should have cared for you better.”

Peruan sighed dramatically. Ren did not even have the strength to laugh. He blankly counted the patterns on the ceiling, and at times listened to Peruan’s nonsense to forget the needle-like pain stabbing through him. His voice sometimes sounded as soft as silk, and sometimes like a buzzing insect. Peruan’s mysterious violet eyes sometimes looked like beautiful jewels, and other times like ore gone cold and dead after losing its light. The scene before Ren’s eyes kept shifting between sharp and blurred. Ren fought not to lose consciousness. He felt as though something terrible would happen if he did.

More frightening than the pain was fear.

He was afraid to face the terror rushing over him like waves. If he lost consciousness, he might never wake again. The more ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ afraid he became, the more Ren clutched Peruan’s hand as if tearing at it. Peruan said he was happy Ren was holding on so tightly, then whined that it hurt, but there was only tenderness in his voice. He did not let it show that he was suffering from the sight of Ren. Ren was not aware of it, but that side of Peruan reassured him. As his heart gradually settled, Ren dragged out another thought to keep himself conscious.

Why had it suddenly become so serious?

The disappearance of the warning signs was definitely a bad sign.

Ren traced back through his memories and recalled what the old apothecary had said.

‘When it hurts so badly you feel like you might die, eat this sweet jelly. But its medicinal properties are strong, so it is like poison. You must be careful when you eat it. Do you understand, Ren?’

The sweet jelly...... Was it because of what he had eaten in the bunker? Then was this not a seizure, but toxicity showing itself?

If that was the case, it was actually a relief. The old apothecary had written the instructions for taking the medicine on paper and given them to Ren, but Ren had not read them closely. He had only assumed he could eat it roughly as needed.

God, so all this commotion now was the result of that tiny bit of neglect!

Ren found himself pathetic, and ridiculous...... and relieved.

His illness had not suddenly worsened. It was probably the toxicity of the sweet jelly.

‘No wonder. I had a feeling I shouldn’t eat it again.......’

Once his mind calmed, the pain in his body felt a little more bearable too. After all, if his usual seizures felt like his body was being ripped apart, today’s seizure was...... pain that squeezed his heart and pressed heavily over his whole body. Like being crushed like a bug.......

“Ren. What are you thinking about? When I’m sick, I think of the fairy tales my mother read to me as a child. My favorite is ‘Malarian Next Door.’ With a peaceful face, he shares kindness and talent with his neighbors, but in truth, every night he cries from the grief of losing his younger sibling. A beautiful story, isn’t it? A human who hides his own sorrow and smiles while sharing joy.”

Peruan continued speaking while carefully watching Ren. He seemed to have keenly noticed that Ren’s mind had grown even slightly calmer.

“Are you surprised? Well, I do like flashy things, so perhaps a fairy tale like ‘The Crow’s Treasure’ would suit me better.”

Peruan curved his eyes and smiled brightly. His eyes glittered like jewels.

Ren felt Peruan’s body heat, felt the chest against his back rise and fall whenever he spoke, and sensed himself gradually growing more comfortable. But his heart was beating with a strange unease. As if Ren had forgotten something important.

“The medicine...... I took last time...... was strong.......”

After catching his breath for a long while, Ren continued.

“The toxicity...... is strong.......”

Peruan listened carefully to Ren’s panting words and nodded.

“So this seizure is from that medicine’s side effects. I understand.”

Peruan looked at Jepeto, who was still by the door, almost glaring at him.