I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 129

 

The three pursed their lips hard.

 

The outcome was expected, but it was different to be informed by the doctor himself.

 

Sylvia finally burst into tears and buried her face in the Duke’s arms. The Duke closed his eyes tightly and patted her on the back.

 

Carson’s body trembled slightly. The tendons in his neck stood out.

 

Around his body, mana pulsed erratically, as if to indicate his emotional state.

 

He wanted to bring Rex Begonia to him right now, to tear him apart. But he couldn’t.

 

“How is Rex Begonia? Is there any sign of him?”

 

Sylvia asked, and the Duke slowly shook his head.

 

Rex Begonia had been missing for a week.

 

His mysterious disappearance occurred precisely after his and Leen’s encounter.

 

Carson had gone to visit the Duke of Begonia the evening Leen staggered out of the healing center.

 

But Rex Begonia had already vanished, and though he sent men to search for him, he could not find him.

 

Carson muttered with regret, “…I should have cast a tracking spell.”

 

“He’ll be caught soon enough. You’re making it impossible for him to live in the Empire.”

 

Duke Lysianthus declared all-out war on the Duke of Begonia and placed a bounty on Rex Begonia’s head.

 

Lysianthus’s unorthodox actions stunned the people.

 

With Rex Begonia’s disappearance and his crimes unexplained, criticism of Lysianthus grew louder.

 

Revelations about Rex Begonia followed.

 

There were frequent assaults on staff and abusive language.

 

What everyone thought was a secret began to come to light.

 

In particular, the revelation that he had murdered the former Duke of Begonia and fabricated a suicide note caused a stir.

 

The irony was that the Duchess of Begonia was the first to come forward and expose him.

 

“You were quick to cut off his tail.”

 

“Don’t you think it’s funny how you’re groveling at my feet, begging for your life?”

 

Well, you’re about to be doomed anyway.

 

Carson added in a small voice, his eyes blazing.

 

The nobles wanted to know what had happened between the missing Duke of Begonia and Lysianthus.

 

Lysianthus answered none of them.

 

Many feared that the quarrel between the two Dukes had escalated and sparked a firestorm.

 

But surprisingly, no harm was done. 

 

The winners and losers were too clear from the start.

 

The festering Duchy of Begonia, which was already in shambles, began to unravel after the disappearance of the head of the family, Rex Begonia.

 

The remaining siblings of Begonia, however, sought to claim the Duchy, which led to widespread discord.

 

In the meantime, Lysianthus bought up the entirety of Begonia’s faltering commercial support base.

 

Though in decline, Begonia was one of the leading houses of the Lagras Empire.

 

This whale swallowing the whale was bound to get everyone’s attention.

 

Of course, not everyone was just idly watching.

 

“The imperial control has increased, and they are interfering, citing unheard of laws.”

 

The Duke narrowed his brow, as if he had expected this, but it had become a nuisance.

 

“Sooner or later, I’ll have to send a warning to them to stop interfering.”

 

It was an odd remark, but no one thought him strange.

 

Then it happened.

 

Suddenly, the tightly closed door creaked open and Leen emerged.

 

The three of them stared at her in bewilderment.

 

Leen’s eyes narrowed slowly at the sight of the three of them huddled in front of my room.

 

The room was enchanted with soundproofing, so she couldn’t hear their conversation.

 

But how to explain the fact that three people were huddled in front of her door with serious faces…

 

As they stared at her, Leen smiled faintly.

 

“You’re here because you’re worried, right?”

 

“Leen…”

 

“I’m fine. No, I wasn’t fine, but now I am.”

 

They looked at Leen with faltering eyes.

 

Leen was half right, mostly wrong. Her eyes, which looked as if they could shatter if struck, had regained some semblance of normalcy, but the sunken cheeks and wounded faces remained the same.

 

Leen, too, seemed to recognize the contradiction in her words and spoke up, a little awkwardly.

 

“I have a favor to ask.”

 

🍃

 

“Please go where we went during the day.”

 

“Alright.”

 

The coachman, who had been summoned out of the blue in the middle of the night, started the carriage without asking me for any other reason.

 

Even after the carriage left, I couldn’t calm my nerves.

 

Moreover, without my reassuring Carson by my side, my panic began to rise again.

 

I hugged the vials I had brought with me and thought of Carson.

 

Still, I felt better than I had when I faced Rex Begonia.

 

Back then, I’d been gripped by fear, unable to maintain my sanity.

 

Now I was content just to be able to think of something else. I came in the Duke’s carriage, so it would be reported that I was out and about.

 

“He will be very angry…”

 

Still, if he was angry, it wouldn’t be all bad. It would be proof that he was worried about me.

 

He wouldn’t know where I’d stopped, since I was going to be dropped off near the clinic and walk there.

 

It wasn’t something I had to hide, but I knew that if he found out my destination was the clinic, he would ask questions about what was wrong with me.

 

Even if I told them I was there to give them medicine, they wouldn’t believe me. With my mind racing, it didn’t take long to arrive.

 

I got off the carriage and hurriedly walked to the clinic.

 

As I walked in, the staff at the counter asked me.

 

“Are you ill?”

 

“I’m not sick… I’m here to see Nancy.”

 

The employee clapped her hands as if realizing something.

 

“Oh, I see, why she didn’t clock out, she was waiting for a friend. Nancy is in the break room.”

 

She was waiting. I felt a rush of guilt. I felt sorry for her, as she clutched at a thread of hope, even though her eyes were full of resignation.

 

The medicine I brought was not a cure. It would only slow down the progression of the disease.

 

Maybe she was suffering from something else entirely.

 

As I walked into the break room, I saw Nancy slumped in her chair, dozing off.

 

I shook her shoulder, pushing down the compassion that was trying to rise.

 

“I’m back, Nancy.”

 

Her eyelids lift and she smiles groggily.

 

“You’re back?”

 

“Sorry, I’m late.”

 

“No. I’m just grateful you kept your promise.”

 

Her face held no falsehood. I quietly held out my hand to Nancy. She took it, a little touched, and stood up.

 

“Come with me. My father is at home.”

 

“Is your house far from here?”

 

“Not more than five minutes’ walk.”

 

It didn’t seem worth the carriage ride.

 

Following Nancy, I tilted my head as I realized we were heading in the opposite direction from the doorway.

 

“This isn’t the way out.”

 

“Oh, in our house, it’s much faster to go out the back door.”

 

🍃

 

“Sis!”

 

“Sister!”

 

There was still time to go to sleep.

 

As soon as we entered the house, her siblings came running. There were at least five or six of them, if I counted correctly.

 

“Oh my goodness, what are you guys still doing up?”

 

“We were waiting for you!”

 

“I told you to go to bed when it’s late, not wait.”

 

The boy puffed out his still-flabby cheeks.

 

“How can I sleep first when my sister is working her butt off?”

 

“Big sister, are you sleeping with a friend?”

 

“Whoa, you’re like a princess in a fairy tale, you’re so pretty!”

 

Nancy put her hands on her hips with a stern look in her eyes.

 

“Stop, stop! Our Lien is tired, stop looking at her, everyone goes back to bed!”

 

“Leen? Hmph, you don’t mean the one my sister always sings about… Ugh! Ugh!”

 

Nancy, who had mercilessly shut the mouth of her ten-year-old sister, laughed hysterically.

 

“Hahaha, what did I do? Shut up, no, be quiet and go inside when I’m saying nice things.”

 

After cleaning up the mess, Nancy said shyly.

 

“It’s cramped, isn’t it?”

 

“No, it’s crowded and nice.”

 

“Well, that’s nice of you to say.”

 

I meant it. I started to retort but decided against it and followed her meekly.

 

“This is my father’s room.”

 

Nancy, who had brought me here before one visit, hesitated when we arrived.

 

“It can be a little gross to look at…it’s me and my siblings, it’s my dad, and it’s okay to see his disease progress slowly, but….”

 

“I see,” I replied, trying to look as nonchalant as possible, and reached for the doorknob.

 

With a little effort, the door slid open with ease.

 

As soon as it opened, a familiar smell assaulted my nostrils. It was a foul odor that I couldn’t believe was coming from a living person.

 

As I slowly walked in, I saw Nancy’s father lying in a hospital bed.

 

I knew it at a glance. Nancy’s father had the same disease that had killed my parents.

 

And that he couldn’t use his hands at all.

 

The hand holding the vial trembled.

 

A face grotesquely gouged into the shape of a skull.

 

Arms and legs that were already half rotted away and immobile.

 

A wave of nausea washed over me as the images of my parents and Nancy’s father overlapped.

 

Death was coming.

 

🍃

 

As she opened the door and stepped out, a girl came into view.

 

It was the same child who had interrupted Nancy earlier.

 

“I heard from my sister, that Leen is a great herbalist. She said there’s nothing she can’t cure.”

 

The child gripped my sleeve gingerly and looked up at me with eager eyes.

 

“…Sister, you can heal my dad, right?”

 

The desperation in her voice coursed through my body.

 

I felt a terrible sense of helplessness. I saw in her the old version of myself when my parents were sick.

 

But then, and now. There was nothing I could do.

 

‘I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to lie.’

 

But I also didn’t have the courage to be honest with this little child.

 

That there was no cure. It’s too late to do anything about it.

 

And that your dad would soon die.

 

How could I say that out loud. To this innocent child who doesn’t know anyone.

 

How could I?

 

I took the child’s hand in mine and said, choking up.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

 

I could not cure this disease.