Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Isabella quickly spotted two stones lying nearby. Then, without warning, she acted on impulse. She abruptly lifted her skirt and, without hesitation, began cutting her cotton petticoat.
“My Lady! What in the world are you doing?!”
Startled, Baal grabbed her arm to stop her. But Isabella brushed him off lightly and replied with calm indifference.
“I told you, I’m giving emergency treatment.”
“What does that have to do with tearing up your petticoat?!”
“What, should I just leave him bleeding like this? It’ll only take a moment, so stay quiet and watch.”
Baal could only stare in disbelief. Meanwhile, Isabella tore a strip of the fabric, wrapped it around one of the stones, and laid another piece over a flat stone. Then, using the smaller, fabric-wrapped stone, she began to pound the herbs.
Crack! Smack! Crack!
Though she wore thick black gloves for gathering herbs, the shock of each strike still passed through her small, delicate hands. Still, she didn’t stop until the raw herbs were properly crushed.
Once the fibrous plants had softened, she gathered the mash and applied it to the boy’s wound. Ideally, the crushed herbs would have been dried and ground into a powder for better hemostatic effect, but this was the best she could do for now.
Isabella then took another long strip of cloth and wrapped it around the boy’s side like a bandage, tying it tightly.
“Baal, let’s get back to the manor. We need to neutralize the poison as soon as possible.”
She tried to lift the unconscious boy with a grunt, hoping to get him onto Baal’s back. But the size difference was too great. She couldn’t lift him no matter how hard she tried.
Baal, who had been silently watching his master struggle to care for a human, let out a long sigh and approached the boy lying limp as a corpse.
“I’ll do it, so stop straining yourself and step aside.”
With that, he grabbed the boy by the scruff with his teeth and flung him onto his back like luggage. Isabella gasped in alarm.
“Baal! You can’t handle a patient so roughly!”
But Baal, who couldn’t care less about any human other than his master, replied indifferently.
“Live if he’s meant to live, die if he’s meant to die. Now hurry up and get on.”
He sounded almost petulant.
Isabella shouted, “Baal, you really—!”
“If you don’t get on now, this human really is going to die.”
Cutting her off bluntly, Baal jerked his head toward his back.
As much as his attitude annoyed her, he wasn’t wrong. So in the end, Isabella climbed up quickly without further complaint.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the manor. Isabella grabbed the nearest skeleton servant as they passed and shouted,
“Bring my father immediately!”
The servant ran off without a word to fetch Edwin. Isabella carried the boy into the nearest room and laid him on the bed.
But not even three minutes had passed when—
BANG!
“Where’s my daughter?! How badly is she hurt?!”
“Sis! Did you get into trouble again?!”
Hilda and Lloyd burst in, panic-stricken.
“Roy, move.”
Edwin followed behind, gently shoving Lloyd aside as he blocked the doorway. He was carrying two large bags like a traveling doctor.
“Dad!”
Isabella’s face lit up the moment she saw Edwin, her worry for the boy written all over her. But just as she ran toward him, Hilda blocked her path.
With trembling, pale hands, Hilda began checking her daughter all over, her expression growing more and more horrified. Soon, her voice erupted in rage.
“Good heavens, look at all this blood! And your clothes… what kind of b*st*rd did this to our precious daughter?!”
It was a natural reaction. Her daughter had left the house fine that morning and returned in torn, blood-soaked clothing.
But that wasn’t the most urgent issue right now. The real concern was whose blood it was.
Isabella held Hilda’s hand, gently patting it to calm her down, and quickly turned to Edwin.
“Mom, I’m not hurt at all. Really, I’m fine. But Dad, please, you have to save him! I think he was hit with a poisoned weapon, but all I could do was stop the bleeding…”
In that moment, she felt it clearly.
She was still too lacking, her skills incomplete, her strength insufficient. Crushed under the weight of that helplessness, her shoulders drooped.
Then Edwin gently patted her head and spoke with a warm smile.
“Bella, why are you looking so down? You must’ve been terrified, but you didn’t run away. You did everything you could, and that makes me proud. Now, leave the rest to me.”
She looked up to find him beaming with pride, his expression like a balm soothing her inner turmoil.
Edwin walked past her and approached the bed. He removed the makeshift bandage and inspected the wound. Then, without hesitation, he dipped a finger into the blood and tasted it.
“Dad!”
“Edwin!”
Isabella and Hilda cried out in unison, startled.
Whether due to his dark magic or family lineage, the direct descendants of House Hellen were highly resistant to most poisons. They knew that. Still, it was impossible not to worry.
But Edwin raised a hand to stop them.
“Everyone out. Amon, I’ll need your assistance.”
Had the poison soaked deep into the wound? Edwin’s voice, once gentle, now carried a serious edge.
Uneasy again, Isabella grabbed the hem of his coat.
“Dad… can he be saved? Is it a deadly poison?”
Edwin opened one of his bags and inspected the dozens of herbs inside. Picking up a sharp surgical knife, he turned back to her.
Then, with that same kind smile, he asked, “Bella, do you trust me?”
“I do. I trust you, but…”
She trailed off, her voice uncertain.
It had already been well over ten minutes since the boy was poisoned. Sweat poured from him like rain, and his face had grown even paler than before.
As she watched in growing dread, Edwin stepped into her line of sight.
“Hmm, then let’s make a deal. If you take a warm bath and eat a hearty meal, I’ll save this boy.”
“W-What?!”
“There’s no time. Even now, while we’re talking…”
“Fine! I promise!”
She didn’t need to hear the rest. Realizing her presence might only get in the way, Isabella quickly left and closed the door behind her.
But she couldn’t shake her anxiety. Feet stuck to the floor, she stared at the closed door, unable to move.
Then Lloyd appeared and suddenly tugged on both her cheeks.
“Roy?! What are you doing?!”
“Your face looked so stupid I couldn’t help it.”
“What?!”
She glared at him, flustered.
Lloyd just shrugged with a cheeky grin and asked, “Why are you so worried? You know what kind of man Dad is. Did you fall for that guy or something?”
“Wh-Who fell for who?! I just…. don’t want the person I saved to die, that’s all!”
Isabella’s voice rose higher than intended, feeling caught off guard. Lloyd squinted suspiciously.
Under his probing stare, Isabella turned around and casually walked away.
“Oh right! I promised Dad I’d take a bath! I’d better hurry.”
She darted up the stairs and into her room. Leaning against the door, she let out a heavy sigh and muttered,
“Sigh… too d**n perceptive.”
Her father, Edwin, was the Empire’s greatest doctor and pharmacist, recognized unofficially even by the imperial court. Thanks to the mana-rich terrain of the Hides Mountains, their land teemed with rare herbs, giving rise to a sophisticated herbal tradition passed down only within their family.
Edwin was the sole heir to that knowledge.
She had no doubts about his skill. She just… didn’t want to lose it.
That single ray of light piercing the shadows of the forest.
‘Please… don’t let that light go out!’
Hands clasped, she prayed with all her heart.
— — —
Hours later.
After washing off the blood and forcing down a bit of food, Isabella returned to the boy’s room.
Had the treatment ended?
She peeked through the slightly open door. Inside, Amon was packing up the medical supplies, and Edwin was removing his gloves.
“Dad, is it over?”
At her voice, Edwin turned, crossed the room, and knelt in front of her.
“There you are, Bella. Yes, it’s done. Did you eat something?”
“I did. More importantly… how’s he doing?”
She glanced over his shoulder at the boy on the bed.
Edwin gently patted her head.
“He’s going to be fine. The poison’s been neutralized and the wound closed. Just stay by his side and watch over him.”
“Yes! Leave it to me! I brought him here. I’ll take full responsibility for his care!”
She clenched her fists with determination. Her tiny hands made for an endearing sight.
Chuckling, Edwin stood and added as if just remembering, “Ah, right. The poison came from Avagon, a plant that causes severe paralysis. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Then, hiding his fatigue, he left the room with Amon.
‘Avagon…’
The name sent a chill down her spine. She froze for a moment before approaching the bed.
The boy lay still, like a corpse resting in a bed of black roses.
Isabella reached out and placed a finger under his nose. Unlike earlier, when his breaths had been short and shallow, they now came in steady rhythm.
“…Whew.”
Finally able to relax, she looked down at the boy’s bandaged side.
“Unbelievable…”
She scrunched her nose at the bitter stench of herbs and blood.
Avagon – one of the deadliest banned herbs. It looked like nothing more than dried coral, but it caused respiratory paralysis so severe that death could occur within twenty minutes to an hour. It had long been used as a tool of torture or murder, slowly choking victims as their lungs burned from within.
The boy’s upper body was covered in old scars, as though he had survived such horrors before.
“He looks so young… Fourteen, maybe fifteen?”
Without thinking, she reached toward his sleeping face. And in that instant…
Thud! Slam!
Her world turned upside down.
……
T/N: He was awake! Could that be Cedric?
