The doctor uttered a muffled voice. “Your Highness has contracted Nisephor! It looks like it’s already been developed!”
The doctor looked as if he had fallen ill. Silence filled the whole barracks.
“No way. I, the grand duke, was holding a sword not too long ago. I was chasing after monsters that ran away with their tails tied up. The number of monsters that I had killed was numerous. But why….”
“I’m sorry, Grand Duke.”
Misfortune made a surprise attack on the grand duke without anyone having an idea about it.
“Take a look again. You’re the one who’s going to get that disease! I didn’t have any of those symptoms.”
“The result is the same. I’ve already tested a couple of times, too.”
The doctor swallowed his saliva. “Nisephor develops without any initial symptoms. Only after a long incubation period…”
“That’s…” Arthur, who had spaced out, rose up off the bed and shook his head.
That can’t be true.
Thanks to his children, who kept chasing him and asking him about his health since they were young, Arthur had never gotten drunk to the point that he became unconscious. He had been avoiding everything that was not good for his health….
Since he was a knight, He didn’t neglect his training. He was always careful when he fought whatever wave had broken out.
“I’m fine.”
“I don’t think so.”
Arthur shook. It was as if he was like a giant falling tree and fell slowly.
The knights supported the leaning Arthur.
“Your Highness, Grand Duke!”
No way.
It’s too soon.
The children are still…… They are not even married and ready to stand alone in society.
He couldn’t even hug Alexid and Louella properly since birth. He wanted to see his children have their own daughters and sons. He didn’t even have a chance to play a good grandfather.
Now, he couldn’t live a long and healthy life as he promised his children he would.
Arthur clenched his teeth. He tried to stand up, but he couldn’t put any strength into it.
Nisephor took away the strength of his body as if he was something as thin as paper. He couldn’t walk or move as he wanted.
‘Dad, please stay healthy for a long time!’
I promised.
‘Dad… you can’t die.’
Louella, who was holding her pinky finger at him, and Alexid, who was sniffling with tears in his eyes, came to his mind one after another.
‘Don’t get hurt this time, and come back in good condition. Arthur, I’ll be waiting.’
What do I do, Merce?
What am I really going to do?
Arthur closed his eyes slowly. The pillar that Arthur dedicated to the Leander family had stood firmly until now. But now, it has collapsed.
Without anyone knowing, all of a sudden, it did.
* * *
Gerald looked for Billiers, holding back his nervousness. How could he walk back to the academy when he just left a few days ago?
Gerald smiled coldly.
The students’ eyes were on Gerald, who was walking fast. The atmosphere around him was so cold that no one could even talk to him.
That’s what Gerald did all the time he was in school. When anyone talked to him, he only gave them a cold look instead of an answer. As a result, there was no one who tried to get close to him.
Gerald walked fast ignoring the students around him.
“Billiers!” Gerald yelled as he opened the door at Billiers’ laboratory.
Flora, who was seen hugging a book, blushed. Billiers, who was devoted to his research, revealed himself.
“……Flora?” Gerald murmured Flora’s name. “You.”
“Oh, Gerald.”
Flora picked herself up when she noticed Gerald. “Flora, give me a minute. I need to talk to Billiers.”
Flora nodded at Gerald’s words. Gerald’s facial expression was extraordinary.
Flora whispered to Gerald in a low voice. “You have to think of me, I came here first.”
She didn’t know if Gerald heard her. The important thing was that Gerald seemed angry in some way.
Flora tilted her head and left the lab, “Billiers.”
Gerald’s voice sank low. Gerald closed the lab door tightly.
“Say it.” Billiers said with a quizzical look.
Gerald was especially strange today as he noted.
“Are you working on the mechanisms of Nisephor? Any progress?”
Billiers shook his head and answered, “I wish I could get the monster’s body myself.”
He could even find out that the disease, Nisephor, was associated with monsters. As they went back through the history of patients, that was the only thing they found in common.
Those who had experienced monster waves were highly likely to develop the illness.
But monsters were supposed to be burned right after the war.