Chapter 124: Fever and Promises
There was no mention of this in the novel. The author seemed to have deliberately omitted the backstory of the snake curse. Both Sue’s curse and the high priest’s curse were things she had discovered on her own in this world.
‘Capture him alive… Alive… How? Will Ten come back to the townhouse then? What about Melaine? The errand boys? An and Pete? Will the followers be freed from the brainwashing? No, does brainwashing magic even exist? Acrea said there was no trace of illegal magic…’
Her head spun as her mind filled with unanswered questions.
Was her choice right? Was she on the right path?
But there was no oracle waiting for her at the end of the path she had chosen.
“Ah… What am I even thinking…?”
She felt nauseous. The academy hallway was warping and swirling around her. Her body felt like it was burning, her heart pounding in her chest. Her vision started to flicker.
“Lady Byron!”
Someone grabbed her arm as she stumbled forward.
It was Soran Halo.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah… Halo…”
Sue slowly raised her head at her urgent voice. Halo’s worried violet eyes came into view, blurry.
“Your face is bright red.”
Halo said, pulling Sue up. This wasn’t the Sue she was used to seeing. Her usual straight posture and wary eyes were gone, she was so weak that she was leaning on Soran Halo.
Sue touched her forehead, it was burning hot.
“Let’s go to the infirmary, I’ll help you.”
“No, I’m fine.”
She instinctively shook her head at Soran Halo’s suggestion.
But Halo didn’t back down and gently grasped Sue’s weak wrist. She pleaded,
“I know, my brother has been sick a lot. You’ll collapse if you keep going like this, Lady Byron. Please let me help you. I won’t even acknowledge you after this.”
It was strange that the one offering help was pleading so desperately. But Halo couldn’t just ignore Sue Byron.
After their trip to Crimea, as Sue had declared, a large amount of holy water had been delivered to Halo’s room every month.
There was no sender’s name on the package. Most of the students in the dormitory assumed it was a gift from Grand Duke Lopetrefer, but Halo knew it was from Sue.
She had wanted to thank her. But as Sue had declared, she really didn’t want to have any conversation with Halo. Moreover, she never once bragged about sending the expensive holy water for free.
Sue didn’t reveal Halo’s secret to anyone, but she also completely avoided her.
Halo knew that. She was a little disappointed, but she figured it was better to respect Sue’s wishes. But the intelligent Halo also knew that now wasn’t the time to worry about such things.
“Lady Byron, please.”
Halo called out Sue one last time, her voice firm. Sue’s ironclad wall crumbled.
“…Okay.”
Ironically, Sue was weak to the protagonist’s persuasion. It wouldn’t have been difficult to push Halo away and pretend she was fine. Even the feverish Sue Byron could do that. But she didn’t. She was sick, and the most trustworthy girl in the world had reached out to her.
Halo smiled faintly, seeing Sue completely surrendering to her.
“Thank you.”
For letting her repay her debt, even a little.
Her clear voice was unmistakably Halo’s.
***
The sixth-year building and the Graduation Building each had a large infirmary. But the students rarely used them. If they were sick, they would just go home or see their personal doctor, who was waiting for them in the dormitory.
So it was normal for the infirmaries to be empty.
…But why wasn’t it empty today?
“Byron! What’s wrong with your face…?!”
There were two unexpected people in the infirmary. Sue knew both of them, but it was hard to believe they were in the same room together.
“Noel…”
Sue wondered if she was hallucinating, her vision blurry.
“Lady Enzhe Lopetrefer…!”
Until Halo gasped in surprise.
Hella, the infirmary teacher, was nowhere to be found, as usual. So Noel was wrapping a bandage around his arm by himself.
And then, she saw Enzhe Lopetrefer, sitting on the bed in the middle of the room, reading a poetry book.
“Are you sick?”
Noel, seeing Sue staggering, immediately dropped the bandage and rushed towards her.
“She has a fever. I wish Teacher Hella was here…”
Halo explained the situation, looking around, but there was no sign of Hella.
Enzhe completely ignored the commotion. She was aloof, even on an infirmary bed.
Sue, exhausted, slowly erased Enzhe from her mind.
Noel and Enzhe existing in the same space. She wanted to believe it was just a fever dream.
“You really do have a fever. Do you have a cold?”
Noel, after taking her temperature, helped her up. He led her to a bed while Halo searched Hella’s medicine cabinet. But it was difficult to find fever medicine among the countless bottles and vials. Even though she had reviewed her pharmacology lessons countless times, the terms and appearances were more complicated than she had thought.
“I’ll find it.”
Noel, seeing Halo struggling, quickly found the fever medicine and handed it to Sue.
“Drink this, you’ll feel better after you sleep.”
“…How do you know this?”
Sue asked, swallowing the bitter medicine.
“I know the basics.”
Noel replied, pulling the bed curtain closed. To block Enzhe from Sue’s view.
“I learned it in pharmacology class and during Knights training.”
I see.
Sue nodded and lay down on the bed, exhaling. She felt a little more at ease after pulling the blanket over herself. Noel finally relaxed his tense expression.
Halo, standing next to Noel, looked down at her with worry.
“Are you okay, Lady Byron?”
Sue slowly closed her eyes at her clear voice.
“Thank you for bringing me here, Halo. I think I’ll be able to rest now. You can go now.”
Even though she had forgotten about it, Sue didn’t want to leave Halo in the same room as Enzhe.
Halo, understanding the situation, nodded without hesitation. She also felt like there was nothing more she could do.
“Yes, get some rest, Lady Byron. And thank you.”
She didn’t specify what she was thanking her for. But they both knew what Halo’s words meant.
Before leaving the infirmary, Halo curtsied slightly to Enzhe, who was still sitting on the bed in the middle of the room.
“Lady Enzhe, special recruit Soran Halo offers her belated greetings. Blessings of the Empire.”
“Yes.”
Enzhe replied curtly, her eyes still on her book.
Now there were only three people left in the infirmary.
Noel, who had been wrapping a bandage around his arm, Enzhe, who was still reading her book for some reason, and Sue, who was now drowsy.
The silence in the infirmary was heavy, and neither Sue nor Noel dared to speak. It was undoubtedly because of Enzhe Lopetrefer’s presence. In the end, it was Enzhe Lopetrefer who broke the heavy silence.
“Sue.”
Enzhe, closing her book, finally stood up. She gently pulled back the white curtain of Sue’s bed.
“Lady Enzhe…”
Her emotionless black eyes looked down at Sue indifferently. She completely ignored Raines Noel, who was standing next to her.
“You don’t look well.”
Her tone wasn’t concerned. Sue forced a smile. Enzhe looked back and forth between Sue and Noel, slowly. The curtain fell back into place as her gaze met Noel’s unwavering blue eyes.
“You’re all so foolish.”
Melaine has become a fool too, so now it’s just you left. Take care of yourself.
With those words, the clicking of her heels faded away, until she disappeared from the infirmary.
Now there were only two people left.
“Noel, did you talk to Lady Enzhe?”
Sue asked quietly, her breathing shallow. Noel shook his head.
“Not a word.”
“I see…”
Her voice was weak. Sue spoke again, her eyes closed,
“Why is your arm injured?”
“I got a scratch during the swordsmanship evaluation. I don’t have a personal doctor anymore, so I have to use this place.”
Noel joked, but Sue felt a pang of guilt.
Noel was no longer a Skia, and his mansion and territory had been mostly confiscated.
He was currently living in the academy dormitory. And he didn’t even have a proper doctor anymore.
It was her fault.
“Byron, you can sleep now.”
But Noel, as if telling her not to worry about such things, carefully tucked her in.
Sue’s eyelids fluttered open. A blurry blue figure was all she could see. She stared at it for a while, then suddenly said something strange,
“Noel, what are you going to do during summer break?”
“Summer break?”
“Yes.”
Noel thought for a moment at her sudden question.
“Well, I wasn’t assigned to the Barrier Defense Inspection unit this year. So I’ll probably just be training in the capital.”
“Really? Then why don’t you come to Emnon with me?”
“Emnon?”
Sue nodded enthusiastically.
“Emnon has a beautiful sea.”
“Ah… Right.”
Noel tried to recall. Emnon was the region he had been assigned to during the Barrier Defense Inspection, and he had met Sue there. But he hadn’t had the time to admire the sea back then.
“That sea… It reminds me of you, Noel.”
Sue said, her voice distant, as if she was speaking in a dream. She would probably forget she had said that when she woke up.
Sue Byron would.
Cant wait to tear off that pretentious mask