DKVM Ch 14

Chapter 14

“Are you…okay?”

She looked a bit startled.

‘I’ve never seen Rahel look like that before.’

And…

Her hair was disheveled, and she was dressed in the same clothes she wore when she was training.

‘Ah, well. Rahel doesn’t know about my illness, does she?’

I haven’t revealed my illness to Rahel or the duke yet.

My illness is a perfect match for Rahel’s ability to absorb mana from the world around her and make it her own, so revealing it would be an easy way into the Duchy.

The problem was that to reveal my illness, I would have to reveal that I knew Rahel’s condition.

‘It makes sense to try to hide it because people don’t usually want to play with a sick child…’

But Rahel’s condition was a closely guarded secret.

If I revealed that I knew of it, that would definitely make me a suspicious character.

‘I was going to tell them when I’ve gained the duke’s and Rahel’s trust when I’m close enough to know Rahel’s condition…’

I didn’t expect I would collapse!

“I’m sorry, miss. I know you’re very surprised, but it’s not that serious, I’ve been like this for years-”

“…You’ve been sick for years?”

In my haste to reassure a startled Rahel, I blurted out, “Actually, I was sick, but I hid it!” and then realized that I had blurted it out.

But the water was already spilled, and the words were spit out.

I glanced over, and Rahel’s expression had turned grim.

‘I messed up…’

She was obviously upset that I had hidden my illness.

“So, you fainted like this every time?”

“Ah, no! I’ve never fainted before. I usually get sick for a little while and then get better… maybe twenty minutes?”

I added the explanation, thinking that the more serious my illness was, the more she would feel bad for me for hiding it…

“…So you were sick earlier, even before you came to me?”

Somehow Rahel’s expression became even more serious.

Suddenly, I panicked.

‘No! I’m not going to lose my friendship here for being a blabbermouth!’

I desperately tried to think of a way out of the situation.

Rahel was the first to speak up.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?”

I could read the emotions in her eyes now.

Not frustration, not anger, but…

“I thought you were…dying because of me.”

Fear.

Fear and guilt filled those eyes.

‘She was worried about me.’

Even if she becomes a bloodless, tearless villainess, that’s a story for the distant future.

That story hasn’t happened yet.

All I see in front of me now is the innocent heart of a child who cares about her friend.

The moment I realized that,

Rahel was no longer a fictional character to me, but a ‘real-life friend’.

At the same time, I remembered the things I wanted to say to Rahel before I collapsed.

Now was the time to say them.

“Actually, I’ve been waiting because there’s something I wanted to tell you, Princess.”

“…Something you wanted to say?”

I looked straight into Rahel’s blue eyes because I wanted to show my sincerity.

“I’m not afraid of you, Princess, even if you are the child of a traitor.”

“….”

“That’s not your fault, you didn’t do anything wrong, you’re just being treated unfairly.”

“….”

“If your friend has been wronged, you’re supposed to believe them and help them, not run away, so…”

I squeezed Rahel’s hand as I said this.

“I’m going to stay by your side.”

I meant it.

I wanted to comfort this child’s wounds, regardless of the fact that my life was on the line.

Rahel stared at me with shaky eyes, then lowered her gaze to our clasped hands.

But she didn’t pull away.

‘Ah, well. First I must tell her about my illness.’

A normal doctor would not have been able to diagnose my illness.

It’s a mana-related disease, and only a mage can diagnose it.

So Rahel would have been worried without knowing what my illness was.

That’s when I tried to explain my illness to Rahel before she got more worried.

*knock, knock*

There was a knock on the door and I heard the butler’s voice.

“Miss, do you mind if I come in for a moment?”

“Come in.”

I tensed as I watched two people enter the room.

‘Are they going to accuse me of hiding my illness?’

But contrary to my worries, the butler checked on me first.

“I heard you had a fall. Are you feeling better, Vivian?”

“Yes, thanks to the Lady for calling the doctor so quickly.”

“That’s a relief then.”

But the nanny’s expression as she looked at me from the butler’s side was somehow meaningful.

‘Something’s not right.’

And that hunch was not wrong.

“I think you should rest at home until you’re better. You might make yourself worse if you try to do too much when you’re sick.”

“Th-Then are you telling me not to come to the mansion in the meantime?”

“Of course, we’ll do everything we can to help you get better so you can come to the manor.”

My heart sank.

The butler had spoken as if it were for my benefit, but in reality, he was trying to keep me away from Rahel.

‘A sick child with an unknown illness would not be good for Rahel’s emotional state.’

It would be even more dangerous if it was an undiscovered contagion.

Now I understood why the nanny was looking at me with a smug expression.

But.

‘My illness is good for Rahel.’

Perhaps the doctor hadn’t diagnosed my illness as I suspected, but if the duke knew of my illness, he would want to keep me by Rahel’s side.

But there was one problem.

‘I don’t think they’ll take my word for it without hearing from an expert.’

The duke would probably want to diagnose my illness for sure, but I doubted that the duke had a wizard who could diagnose mana-related illnesses.

If they didn’t, they would have to go through the cumbersome process of bringing in an outside wizard to diagnose my illness.

‘Worst case scenario, they’ll get tired of the process and just throw me out and be done with me…’

In any case, there was only one course of action I could take in this situation.

The moment I opened my mouth to tell her about my illness.

“Miss, I just looked through my magical medical books and-”

Without warning, the door burst open and a bespectacled man about my father’s age walked in.

I recognized him instantly as the duke’s physician who had examined me.

When the doctor saw the butler and the nanny, he apologized with embarrassment.

“Oh, I apologize. I just found out what the child’s illness is and wanted to tell you as soon as possible…”

Rahel’s eyes widened, as did those of the butler and nanny.

“You found out the name of this child’s illness?”

“Yes. The child’s illness is not contagious.”

“Then?”

“It’s mana overload. The symptoms match.”

I cheered inwardly at the doctor’s words.

‘Just when I needed a second opinion!’

This was a great help for me, but there was one person who felt differently.

The nanny’s face contorted in horror.

Because…

“In other words.”

The fact that my illness was mana overload meant,

“We can cure this child’s illness.”

Because my illness would be very helpful to Rahel, the mana absorber.

* * *

“So, the child’s illness is mana overload?”

Karlz asked after hearing Owen’s report.

“Yes, Sir Brian has confirmed it.”