Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136

 

I widened my eyes in utter confusion.

W-Wait, what does he want me to take off?

“Clothes? You want me to take off my clothes? Here? Right now?”

Unlike me, who was thoroughly flustered, Liyeon was as calm as could be.

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“A-A problem…”

‘There were a whole lot of problems!’

For starters, the problem was that I was a woman.

Apparently, Liyeon was speaking so casually because he naturally assumed I was a man, but in reality, that was far from the truth.

At the moment, I just happened to be disguised as a man.

‘It’s not like I deliberately hid it…’

Thanks to the Flower-Glutton’s infamous reputation, people naturally assumed I was a man. Perhaps because I often went around looking like a beggar, no one could even imagine that I was a woman.

Occasionally, women who knew my true gender had said, “The Flower-Glutton is a woman,” but the minority opinion was bound to get drowned out by the majority. 

Besides, being mistaken for a man was actually rather convenient for me, so I had simply left things as they were…

‘But I never expected a situation like this to come up.’

And there were plenty of other problems besides that.

How could I take my clothes off in front of a strange man? How was I supposed to explain my circumstances? And then there was the awkwardness that would inevitably develop between the two of us…

“What are you doing?”

In the end, Liyeon spoke up after waiting as long as he could.

“I have absolutely no interest in your body, so hurry up and take it off.”

No, why did he have to put it like that!

“Well, even so…”

“The wounded area is larger than I thought. The clothes covering the burned area have been burned through and torn open as well.”

‘No wonder my back felt so breezy.’

“Your clothes are old and dirty. If you keep wearing them, the wound could become infected. It would be more hygienic to take them off and treat the wound instead. Then we can wrap your back with cloth.”

“I-I see…”

“If you understand, hurry.”

‘Take them off.’

Liyeon didn’t finish the last part, but I could almost hear his voice like an auditory hallucination.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

‘Ah, shit. Do I have no choice?’

Although I secretly resented him for rushing me like that, I could understand why. He was only saying it because he was that worried about me. Even now, he kept paying attention to the wound on my back.

But even so, I couldn’t just strip naked right in front of him.

Everything needed to be done in the proper order, didn’t it?

First, I would calmly reveal that I was a woman. Then we could discuss the matter of taking off my clothes. If necessary, I could even cut away only the torn portion…

“Um, you see, there’s something I want to tell you…”

“Tell me after you take it off.”

“Come on, why do you keep rushing me? Just listen first. You might change your mind once you hear it.”

“What?”

“Well, actually…”

I…

When I got that far.

I suddenly froze completely.

For some reason, my heart was… beating far too fast.

At first, I thought it was because I had seen Liyeon’s bare face. I thought my body felt particularly exhausted because so many things had happened.

But that wasn’t it.

My heart began pounding harder and harder.

My breathing rapidly grew labored, and every muscle in my body stiffened. Soon, my entire body became hot as though I’d been submerged in boiling water, only to turn cold as though someone had poured ice over me.

Before I knew it, I was drenched in cold sweat. I knew these symptoms well.

This was…

Thump.

At the same time, I felt a tremendous tremor from my lower dantian.

I clenched my teeth.

‘Of all times, it had to happen now…!’

 

***

 

Liyeon looked at the Flower-Glutton with concern.

As he watched the Flower-Glutton keep hesitating, there was only one thought in his mind.

‘I need to treat him quickly…’

For some reason, he felt increasingly anxious.

The reason the Flower-Glutton had been injured so badly was ultimately because of Liyeon.

Because he had let his guard down.

The Flower-Glutton had comforted him, saying it wasn’t his fault and that, if anything, that man was the culprit. But Liyeon knew.

If he hadn’t let his guard down, things wouldn’t have turned out like this. He should have kept a close eye on that man until the very end.

No, normally, he would have done exactly that. If he had, he would have noticed the man throwing the bomb beneath himself when he blew himself up. But at that moment, his eyes had been focused solely on the Flower-Glutton.

When the man charged at the Flower-Glutton, Liyeon’s heart had involuntarily dropped. Even though he had learned how to maintain an unwavering state of mind, and even though he knew the Flower-Glutton was stronger than him, it had happened anyway.

Fortunately, the Flower-Glutton had read the man’s intentions and managed to avoid the bomb. Perhaps because he was so relieved by that, Liyeon had failed to look beneath him.

‘…No.’

That was an excuse. In the end, it was all because he had been lacking.

‘Pathetic.’

So when he realized he had some golden wound medicine, he had been relieved. If he treated the Flower-Glutton with it, he could at least make up for his mistake a little. But perhaps because his own impatience had made him rush the other man too much, the Flower-Glutton’s reaction was strange.

“……?”

The Flower-Glutton was silently looking down.

After saying, “Actually…,” he had been unable to continue. He had remained completely still, as though he were troubled by something.

Liyeon watched him, waiting for him to continue speaking.

The wound was quite serious. His back was charred black, the outer layer of skin had peeled away, and blisters were rising. Blood was still trickling from the wound along with discharge. His clothes were already soaked through with blood.

If he didn’t treat it quickly, the wound would only worsen. How was he planning to endure it then? And why did he keep pretending he was fine like he was now…?

The thought made his chest feel tight. Liyeon urged him again.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but first…”

‘Let’s treat the wound.’

Just as Liyeon was about to finish speaking…

“Ah.”

The Flower-Glutton suddenly shot to his feet.

Liyeon unconsciously looked up at him. For some reason, the Flower-Glutton’s eyes looked unfocused.

“Ah… I can’t.”

“What?”

“My wound… Uh, I do need to treat it, but… let’s do it later. Later.”

“What are you suddenly talking about…?”

Liyeon frowned. But the Flower-Glutton seemed even more flustered than he was.

“I, um, I suddenly have something urgent to do. Ah, something I forgot just occurred to me… Just, just give me a moment. I’ll be right back. Just wait here. I’ll go over there for a moment, so if you could wait…”

The Flower-Glutton rambled incoherently, seemingly without even knowing what he himself was saying. Then he hurriedly headed somewhere.

Liyeon stared at him in bewilderment. He had no idea what on earth was wrong with him. But he didn’t even have time to think about it.

“Flower-Glutton!”

The Flower-Glutton had fallen forward.

Liyeon immediately rose and rushed toward him. But as he tried to support the fallen Flower-Glutton, he suddenly froze.

The Flower-Glutton was already unconscious.

As though suffering terribly, he clawed at his chest and stomach and writhed in agony. His body spasmed several times as though he were having a seizure, and then he dug his fingernails into the ground and scratched at it desperately.

“Khk, kk…”

“Flower-Glutton, wake up. Hey!”

“Hng…”

Eventually, tears began to flow from the corners of his eyes.

Liyeon felt as though his heart had dropped into his stomach.

Why? Why was this happening all of a sudden?

He had seemed fine just moments ago. No, perhaps “fine” wasn’t the right word, but at least he had seemed like he could endure it. They had even been talking.

And yet, suddenly, he was suffering like this.

Had the wound on his back worsened? Was he only now properly feeling the pain? Why on earth…?

At that moment, a certain memory came to Liyeon.

That day, in the forest.

The words the thoroughly drunken Flower-Glutton had muttered as though drunkenly rambling.

“Yeah. It’s just… just so stuffy here. It’s hard to breathe, like someone’s pressing down on me. Sometimes, it feels like my insides are boiling…”

‘Could his chronic illness have flared up?’

Back then, the Flower-Glutton had said that it hurt enough to kill him, but that he didn’t want to die.

After hearing his lament, Liyeon had thought he must have a serious chronic illness. But he hadn’t truly realized the gravity of it.

The Flower-Glutton was simply too bright and lively for someone with such an illness.

Seeing how lively he was, Liyeon had naively thought perhaps it wasn’t that serious, or perhaps he had found a way to get better…

‘I was wrong.’

“Medicine…”

A faint voice came from below.

Liyeon hurriedly looked down at the Flower-Glutton. He was gasping for breath as he muttered.

“Medicine… some medicine… medicine…”

“My… my clothes… medicine, medicine…”

The Flower-Glutton couldn’t finish his sentence and instead let out a groan. But Liyeon understood what he was trying to say and immediately reached out.

Then, just as he slipped his hand inside the man’s collar and searched through his clothes for the medicine bottle…

Whoosh!

“……!”

Liyeon immediately yanked his hand away.

His fingertips trembled.

His eyes slowly widened, filling with confusion.

With a trembling gaze, Liyeon looked at him…

‘No.’

At the person he had thought was him.

Could this person…?

“You… you…”

“……”

A trembling voice escaped his lips.

“…You were a woman?”