Chapter 84
84
After sending the Chairman back, I trudged along.
'Ugh, my whole body aches.'
I'd been through a lot these past few days, and the sleeping arrangements weren't comfortable either, so I felt drained.
My throat felt a bit scratchy, and my whole body seemed to ache slightly. I touched my neck and noticed my skin felt warmer than usual, so I nodded to myself.
'Here it comes, a fever.'
I should eat a lot and sleep all day!
I usually get a fever or a cold during the change of seasons, so I know how to get back to health quickly.
'I should ask for cinnamon honey tea.'
With that decision made, I went to my room, but the light was on. I tilted my head, wondering if someone was there, and opened the door.
My room was full of people. Leah and the three maids, Henri, and Isaac.
"Baby Bird..."
The maids called me very cautiously. I wondered what was going on and waited quietly for them to continue, but they couldn't speak easily and bit their lips several times.
I shrugged, seeing the maids' mournful faces and Leah's stiff expression.
'Everyone must be upset about Mireille.'
They were all so happy when they thought the Baby Bird had returned, so how painful must it be for them.
"Everyone, go..."
I meant for them to take some time to recover and then come back, but the maids and my brothers all looked heartbroken.
Henri came to me and gently brushed my eyes.
"Yes, call us when you feel better."
'It seems everyone is having a hard time because of Mireille.'
I nodded slightly.
After everyone left the room, I changed my clothes and sat on the bed.
I was about to get under the covers, but the room was warmer than usual.
'It's nice to have Leah's touch.'
She knew everything about what makes me suffer, what I dislike, and what I like.
'I should tell Leah and the maids that I'm always grateful tomorrow.'
I pulled the bell cord to ask the servant to bring cinnamon honey tea, and with the honey tea, I carefully took some cold medicine from the medicine box in the drawer and fell asleep.
How long had it been?
"...Baby Bird!"
"Baby Bird!!"
I heard noisy voices around me, and then I felt like my body was burning. Not only that, but I couldn't breathe well.
'It's painful...'
The more I tried to breathe, the tighter my lungs felt.
I barely managed to open my eyes and saw my family and the maids around my bed.
Leah urgently raised my body halfway, and the doctor poured a thin liquid into my mouth. Bitter. It's medicine.
I could easily guess the situation.
'The honey in the cinnamon honey tea must have been Haro flower honey.'
Haro flower honey is first released around this time.
The problem is that I'm allergic to Haro flowers.
Even smelling the scent of Haro flowers makes my whole body itchy and causes a rash.
If Elza tree flowers are good for people with Divine Power, Haro flowers are good for people with magic power.
Among people with Divine Power, there were very rare cases where eating things made with Haro flowers caused allergic reactions. This happened to people with high Divine Power purity.
Having a high Divine Power purity also meant having excellent purification abilities.
In the process of purifying impurities (magic power) that entered the body, they showed allergic symptoms.
Mina said about this-
[It's similar to getting a fever when you have a cold. Your body raises its temperature to fight off the virus.]
-like that.
'I didn't know it was Haro flower honey because of the cinnamon smell.'
I felt like I was really about to die, so I gasped for breath several times.
"Baby Bird, stay awake. Don't fall asleep. You have to keep breathing consciously!"
The maids said, as if wailing.
It was the first time I had been this sick since coming to the estate, so everyone seemed very surprised.
"Do something!"
Isaac grabbed the doctor's collar, who was fidgeting, and shouted.
"B, but I can't figure out the reason...!"
"Why doesn't the doctor know that!"
"It's not because of a cold. And it doesn't seem like a food allergy... Honey and cinnamon are what the Baby Bird usually enjoys."
Haro flower!
Everyone, it's Haro flower!
Please save me!
I tried to speak, but my throat was so swollen that my voice wouldn't come out.
My vision was blurry, and I thought something really bad was going to happen.
Dad, who was looking at me with a stiff face, said to the knight who was waiting nearby.
"...Bring Taylor from the underground prison."
"Lord Taylor...!"
The knight shouted in surprise, but Dad's gaze was fixed on me and wouldn't leave.
"Bring him. Tell him that if he heals my daughter, I will restore his status."
"But-"
"Now!!"
At Dad's roar, the knight and the employees lowered their heads.
I saw that scene as the last thing before I slowly closed my eyes.
"Baby Bird!"
"Baby Bird, please!"
People called me as if screaming, but I couldn't hold on to my fading consciousness.
When I regained consciousness, I was blankly closing my eyes. I was too scared to open them. Because the pain had completely disappeared.
'What if I regressed...'
What if I woke up again in the Empress Dowager's room, in the cradle, and my arms were short and stubby again, like sausages?
But then.
I heard an unfamiliar chuckle.
"If you've regained consciousness, why don't you open your eyes?"
At the sound of the voice I heard for the first time, I stealthily lifted my eyelids.
A young man with raven-black hair and clear blue eyes was sticking his face close to mine.
"Eek!"
Surprised, I pushed him away, and he grabbed his chin and frowned.
"That's too much. I just saved you. I'm hurt."
He said that while grinning slyly.
"Who are you?"
He leaned his chin languidly, resting his elbow on the armrest of the chair.
"Who do you think?"
What is this strange man?
Looking around, I saw that it was my room in the Dubled estate. It was a relief that I hadn't regressed, but how could a stranger be in my room?
After thinking for a while, I looked at the man, saying, "Could it be..."
"...Lord Taylor?"
He grinned. It was a smile that looked a lot like Henri's.
"I'd prefer you call me uncle."
Oh my gosh.
Dad finally had this crazy man treat me.
There were many names for this man.
Dad and Javelin's youngest brother.
A bastard born from the previous head's one-night mistake.
But the most famous name was different.
'The Mad Doctor.'
The psycho who was said to have the hands of God was that man.
"It's been a while since I've seen a Haro flower allergy. You'll be quite a good Priest."
It would be about seven years later that the Haro flower allergy, which rarely occurs even among people with Divine Power, would be revealed.
'He knew that from this time?'
No, Taylor Dubled had been locked up in the underground prison for nearly 10 years by order of the previous head for trying to poison Dad several times, so to be exact, he knew it more than 17 years ago.
"So, what are you going to do for me, your savior?"
"...Dad said he would restore your status."
He chuckled.
Well, now that his status has been restored, he will be able to reclaim the wealth that the previous head had returned to him as his share.
Above all, this excellent doctor would have people from all over the world carrying money and begging him to help them as soon as he went outside.
"Then, um..."
As I was thinking, Taylor gently grabbed my chin.
"Shall I settle for a kiss from my cute niece?"
What?
Soon, Taylor's face came closer. To my lips. Just about to touch.
"You crazy bastard-!"
A dagger flew like lightning from the doorway. As Taylor tried to dodge, Isaac, who had leaped forward, kicked him in the face!
"Ugh!"
Taylor, who had rolled off the chair with a scream, looked at Isaac, who was very excited, and Henri, who was walking in behind him with a stiff face.
"Isn't that too much? To your uncle whom you're meeting for the first time in 10 years."
"You're talking nonsense. Get lost before I peel off your skin and sell it. I'm giving you a chance to live because you saved the kid."
Taylor shrugged and got up. Then, in the gap where Isaac was telling him to get lost and clearing the way, he kissed me on the cheek!
"You want to die...!"
As Isaac finally drew his sword, Taylor took out a bag of medicine from his jacket pocket.
"I think I'll have to give you a chance to live often in the future."
"What is it?"
"This Baby Bird will have to keep getting my medicine prescribed to fully recover."
"...!"
As Isaac clenched his sword, Henri grabbed him.
"Not until LeBlaine gets better."
"Damn it."
"I'll tear you limb from limb after she gets better."
With that, Henri looked at Taylor with quietly burning eyes.
Taylor shrugged and came close to me.
"I'll leave today's medicine behind. When I come to give you the medicine tomorrow, you'll kiss me."
Then he smiled slyly.
'Are you threatening me with my life?'
I looked at my brothers and whispered.
"Haro flower allergies can be cured with just one injection, right?"
The smile disappeared from Taylor's lips, which had been smiling all along.
"You, how did you..."
"Have you not even found a clue about the Meria grass you're looking for to make antibiotics?"
"...!"
"I know."
Taylor looked at me, startled.
'This is how you threaten someone, you idiot.'
I smiled brightly and said.
"Quietly get up and leave before I burn all the Meria grass in the Empire, which is not much. And be sure to close the door."
Taylor, who had moved away from me, looked at me as if he was out of his mind. After looking at me for a long time, he chuckled softly.
"This is really fun."
"..."
"This is a problem. I think I'm really going to like you."
Taylor, who muttered that, raised his eyebrows and greeted me before leaving the room.
Be sure to close the door.