The Servant in the Horror Game is Suspicious Chapter 48

After defeating the Wraith of the Blind Servant, Jade was able to obtain three healing potions.

The healing potions were tiny. He had imagined large glass bottles, but they were nothing more than small thumb-sized vials filled with a white liquid. On the plus side, it made them easy to hide.

Despite their size, however, the power of the healing potions was potent. It was truly astonishing how his body felt perfectly fine literally overnight. It claimed to heal external injuries, and it really did: his broken arm, as well as the scrapes on the back of his hand and his knees, were all neatly recovered.

The problem was Ian. Even after taking the potion, Jade continued to pretend he was hurt, acting out a slow recovery, but apparently, it wasn’t enough. Ian observed Jade’s movements with a sharp, piercing gaze.

“You’re recovering quite quickly.”

“Pardon? Ha, haha… right? I guess so. Lucky, isn’t it?”

“It is lucky.”

Still, Ian didn’t show much of a reaction beyond saying it was a relief if he had recovered. Only Jade, feeling guilty, let his hand twitch.

“Meow…?”

After getting past Ian, this time it was Buster who tilted his head beside Jade’s arm with a strange look in his eyes. Jade had intentionally kept bandages wrapped around the back of his hand to hide the healed wound since it had been quite deep, but the creature flapped his wings as if even that was suspicious.

At this rate, he wondered if his acting skills were the problem. He really was terrible at performing or lying.

“Eat this, Buster, man.”

“Myang!”

Jade expertly diverted Buster’s attention with food. This morning, he tried to recreate butter-roasted baby potatoes.

He didn’t have butter, so he substituted it with oil and sugar. Lightly searing the diced potatoes in oil and rolling them in sugar made them sweet and greasy—the perfect taste of the secular world.

They say persistence pays off. Compared to the days when they only ate mushrooms, this was nothing short of heaven. There was still no protein, but they weren’t starving.

Today’s meal used the last of the potatoes, but there were still pumpkins, lotus roots, and a small amount of onions and carrots left. Of course, mushrooms were available in abundance.

“What should I make for lunch?”

He could actually afford to have such thoughts now. Should he make pumpkin soup and eat it with fried onions? Dipping the fried onions into the soup seemed like a pretty good combination.

“Is it okay to move like that?”

“Ah…!”

Jade, who had been skillfully handling the ingredients, jumped in surprise. He had unconsciously moved his fractured arm with total freedom. Trying to act a part he wasn’t born for just wouldn’t settle into his body.

“I think it’s because I rested for a few days. Maybe it wasn’t actually cracked.”

Feeling guilty, Jade made an excuse before anyone could even ask.

“It looked quite swollen, though…”

“Hahaha, I’m just naturally prone to swelling. It was just a bruise, but I was being a bit of a baby about it.”

Having dodged the question haphazardly, Jade headed toward the fireplace using the firewood as an excuse. Seeing the warmth lingering in the villa, it seemed like he’d only need to light the fire briefly at night starting tomorrow.

Truly, a complete spring had arrived. It was colder than the springs Jade knew, of course, but his breath no longer clouded, and the snow on the road had almost completely melted.

The problem was that as the warm winds blew in, the time he had left gradually dwindled.

It had been exactly four weeks since they received the last supplies. Jade looked out the window several times a day. He was anxious that someone sent by the Linwood family might show up.

The time to kill Ian was approaching. No, since Jade had decided not to kill Ian, it would be more accurate to say the day he would become a fugitive was drawing near.

‘Maybe I should just take Ian and run away together.’

No, that wasn’t it. That was far too dangerous. There was no telling what hardships might lie in wait on the road. And it might end up obstructing the future of Ian, who was destined to become a Duke.

“Ian, do you want to try going to the village with me tomorrow?”

He couldn’t delay it any longer. It was time to put the plan he had been plotting into motion.

Originally, he had planned to get seedlings and supplies to create a small vegetable garden in front of the villa. When Ian’s birthday came, he wanted to make him a cake and prepare plenty of the sweet foods Buster liked.

Was that all? After tending the garden and hanging new curtains, he had planned to change the bedding in Ian’s bedroom.

He had even wondered what it would be like if they could keep living together. Spending spring and summer together, then preparing for winter by harvesting crops from autumn. He thought it would be lovely to buy a few storybooks and read them together.

‘That was a crazy thought.’

He had absolutely zero sense of danger. Planning a vacation in a place like this.

Now, the goal had changed. To make sure Ian could endure as well as possible and to leave him fully equipped to live alone. That was Jade’s new plan.

“Is there a village nearby?”

Ian came down from the study with a map of the Northern region. The village was far from here. It was a distance that couldn’t be covered even by walking a full day, and there wasn’t even an inn nearby.

Furthermore, there were no carriages or horses at the villa. That was exactly why Malderic had thrown Ian here. So that he couldn’t even escape on his own.

However, Jade was in no position to be picky about the details. He scratched his head and smiled at Ian, who was tilting his head in confusion.

“It’s far, but not impossible. We can’t just stay in the villa forever.”

In the game, players would stop by the village before heading here, the final hurdle. It was a long distance, just as Ian said. Walking would take more than a full day, but they had to go regardless.

“…How about we go in the summer instead?”

“That’s…”

Seasonally, that would have been better, of course. A Northern summer was like early spring in other regions, so they could pack light.

But it was too late. Jade couldn’t be here in the summer. Someone from the family would arrive this week or next; he might be able to stall for a bit, but he wouldn’t be given much time.

“Now is the perfect time. Since it’s spring, the market will be worth seeing.”

“Hmm…”

“The snow has melted, so it’ll be tough, but we can make it. We’re out of potatoes, too, so we need to buy more.”

“There are quite a few other ingredients left. And won’t new supplies arrive soon?”

They wouldn’t. The Linwood family didn’t expect Ian to be alive by next month.

“The supplies are small in quantity and poor in quality anyway. Besides, I’m too scared to go into the forest now.”

When he spoke while intentionally shivering his shoulders as if in terror, Ian seemed to agree and nodded slightly.

“What is there that the two of us can’t handle? Don’t you think?”

Jade pulled his mouth into a broad, refreshing grin, as he always did.

“…Fine.”

Eventually, Ian gave a reluctant nod. Having gained Ian’s consent, Jade began preparing to head down to the village.

While Jade was packing a simple bundle, Ian returned to his room and stood before the mirror.

Today, Ian had received new clothes from Jade. They weren’t actually brand new, of course, but old clothes Jade had found here and repaired.

Jade was skilled with his hands. He could take a few rag-like pieces of fabric and whip them into something like new clothes in no time. He liked these clothes too. The sleeve length was perfect and the fit was comfortable. Above all, the fabric, which had thinned out for spring, wrapped around Ian’s body pleasantly.

“The village, huh…”

Ian looked down out the window. All he could see were scrawny trees and a desolate, deserted wilderness.

This was an area that even hunters didn’t visit. There probably wouldn’t even be an inn on the way to the village.

And yet, he felt a bit of anticipation. From the moment he was born until now, Ian had always been confined indoors. The main estate and its garden were the full extent of the radius allowed to him. Passing through the plaza a couple of times to visit the Imperial Palace was his only experience of going out.

Of course, he had mingled with the children of other noble families as a matter of obligation, but they usually came to the Linwood Ducal estate. His education was also conducted inside the mansion by private tutors, so going out was always like an unknown territory to him.

Ordinarily, he would have been busy preparing for next year, when he would make his social debut, but he had thought even that would be impossible after being confined to the villa. Even if he hadn’t been abandoned here, there was no way his uncle would have allowed Ian to enter high society.

If anything, Ian didn’t think the present was so bad. He had never been interested in social circles or family affairs to begin with, and lately, life in this villa felt quite decent.

It wasn’t cold and silent like before. He didn’t have to stand on a razor’s edge in the sharp atmosphere of the main estate, and even if it was just mushrooms, heartfelt food was placed before him.

He was curious about the village, too. The Linwood estate was a place managed too perfectly. His father was a clean-freak who couldn’t stand a single blemish or flaw, and his tendencies were reflected in every corner of the mansion. A place called a village might be better than the cold, picture-perfect luxury he’d known.

But more than that, the real reason he decided to go down to the village was…

‘What is there that the two of us can’t handle? Don’t you think?’

It might have been because of those words.

“Us.” Jade was truly strange. He said such nonsensical things with a straight face and total audacity. Sometimes his nerve was staggering. How could Ian and Jade be bound together by the word “us”? It was truly a ridiculous thing to say.

“……”

Even as he thought that, the tips of Ian’s ears turned red. He found himself clearing his throat for no reason and adjusting his clothes.

Ian had no curiosity about the world. He lacked interest in everything, and as a result, nothing was fun. Swordsmanship, horseback riding—it was all boring. Even hobbies that other noble children would be interested in were just dull activities to him.

But he was curious about tomorrow. It had been like that every day lately. He became curious about the food Jade would make the next day, and the things that would happen at the villa. It was the same now. He began to feel curious about the journey they would take together tomorrow. Not just tomorrow, but the summer, the autumn, and the winter that would come again.

He had intended to pack light, but when he actually finished, he had two bundles. They ended up that way because he packed blankets and outer coats in case they had to spend the night on the road, along with simple food and items to take to the village to sell.

“Meoooow!”

And Buster was currently throwing a tantrum while hugging his box.

“You don’t even go inside that! You said you didn’t need it before!”

“Myack! Myak!”

Jade had clearly asked for Buster’s permission a few days ago. Buster had been playing with a fur ball and hadn’t shown any real interest. When Jade said he would sell it, hadn’t he answered with a “Myang”?

But now that Jade was trying to pack it into the bundle, he was clinging to the box and wouldn’t let go.