Chapter 44

There was no need to say anything. Sometimes, the warmth shared between us was more certain than words. This thought tickled my heart. After savoring the warmth for a moment, I gently pushed Altair’s chest to create some distance. When I lifted my head, Altair’s face was very close. The pomegranate juice I had intended to wipe off was still on my cheek. I chuckled and reached out to carefully wipe the pomegranate juice while asking,

“Did you not come to see me for a few days because you thought I was still angry?”

I really was curious, but as I spoke, I could feel a hint of disappointment seep into my words. I hadn’t noticed it myself, but it seemed that his not coming to see me had been subtly bothering me. It felt like I was pouting, and I felt embarrassed, so I bowed my head deeply. Altair lightly touched my forehead with his finger.

“I did come.”

When I lifted my head, rubbing the spot he had touched, he brushed my hair back and added in a softer voice than before,

“When you were sleeping. I came to check on you then. Seeing an uncomfortable person’s face wouldn’t help with recovery.”

“Oh, I wasn’t uncomfortable!”

“But...”

As I hurriedly contradicted him, Altair frowned and tilted his head, clearly recalling the moment when I had coldly turned him away.

“T-that wasn’t because I was uncomfortable... Well, I was uncomfortable, but not for that reason...!”

As I rambled and tried to explain, the confusion on Altair’s face deepened. I hesitated, unsure if I should tell him the truth, but finally spoke cautiously.

“I... saw it. The letter you wrote.”

“Letter?”

“Yes. The one in your coat pocket.”

“Oh.”

When I accurately identified the letter, Altair’s tightly closed mouth slowly opened.

“How did it end up in your hands...?”

“Mrs. Liti was washing your coat. She found it in the pocket and told me it seemed to be for me.”

At my words, Altair’s face turned slightly pale.

“Luckily, Mrs. Liti is illiterate and doesn’t know we are from Lupes!”

I quickly added, worried that she might have seen the letter written in Lupes, but Altair’s face remained pale, suggesting that something else had upset him.

‘Then, why...?’

As I blinked and stared at Altair, he sighed and covered his face with his large hand.

“I was planning to finish it more beautifully.”

“A letter? How could you make it more beautiful?”

“On good paper, with pretty ink, and a gold-embossed envelope...”

As Altair listed his plans with a sigh, he suddenly lowered his hand, which had been covering his face, and his eyes sparkled.

“So, give it back. I’ll finish it properly and give it to you.”

“No way! I like it just as it is.”

“But it’s not fancy and it’s rough. I can make it fancy.”

‘It’s the roughness that makes it feel like Altair...’

But before I could voice this reason, Altair scanned me from head to toe, as if looking for the letter.

“Where did you put it?”

“Do you really think I’ll tell you?”

“Hmm.”

Feeling the danger, I pulled back and shook my head, causing Altair to let out a strange sound and narrow his eyes. He looked like a predator about to pounce, making my shoulders tremble.

“I absolutely won’t give it to you!”

As I glared, determined not to give in, Altair’s lips curled up slightly.

“From your reaction, it seems you’re carrying it with you.”

“Th-that...!”

His accurate deduction left me speechless. I was at a disadvantage here! Realizing this, I quickly stood up and turned to head home, where my allies were waiting. I didn’t even need to run to find them. A somewhat dazed-looking doctor was already there, looking at Altair and me.

“Your body temperature could drop again, which could be dangerous.”

After a moment of stiffness, the doctor slowly approached and draped a thin blanket over my shoulders. I must have been a bit cold without realizing it, as the warmth of the blanket made my body relax.

“Thank you...”

As I thanked him and glanced around, I noticed that Altair and the doctor were engaged in a strange power struggle. Feeling helpless, I was about to stomp my foot when a savior appeared unexpectedly.

“Oh, sir? Why are you here?”

A voice from the village alleyway caught our attention. Turning my head, I saw a man in foreign attire waving at the doctor. His hat was pulled down low, and the emblem on the carriage behind him confirmed his identity.

‘A merchant?’

I couldn’t tell which merchant guild he belonged to, but the carriage had an emblem of a gold coin, a common symbol for large merchant guilds. The man took a small box from the carriage and approached the doctor with a smile.

“I was on my way to the clinic with the medicine you ordered, but I found you here. We might have missed each other otherwise.”

“It must have been hard to get. Thank you for your efforts.”

“That’s the job of a merchant. If you need any more medicine, let me know before we leave. I’ll bring it next time.”

The merchant’s hearty laugh made the doctor smile awkwardly.

“I don’t expect any new orders for a while.”

“But didn’t you say you were researching something? You’ve been looking for medicine, haven’t you?”

“Yes. I was researching a cold medicine... but the circumstances aren’t favorable.”

“Oh...”

The merchant’s voice trailed off, seemingly sympathetic to the doctor’s lack of progress. Whether he was lamenting the doctor’s stalled research or the loss of a good customer, I couldn’t tell.

‘A cold medicine, huh. I didn’t know such research was possible.’

In the world I came from, cold medicine was common. You could easily buy cheap cold medicine at any pharmacy. But here, the medical standards were not high, and many people died from minor illnesses like colds, especially commoners who had difficulty seeing doctors.

‘I remember this from a novel.’

During a severe flu epidemic that spread across the empire and the continent, killing many people, Prince Orca, who had been pushed to the sidelines, appeared with a solution and quickly gained attention. A doctor he met while convalescing in a rural area had developed a medicine to treat the flu, allowing the empire to stabilize faster than other countries. After this incident, Prince Orca’s popularity among the commoners soared. His heroic deeds on the battlefield further cemented his status as a hero among the commoners. Of course, he was still often dismissed as “just the third prince” among the nobles.

‘And the doctor Prince Orca brought was also hailed as a saint and gained a lot of popularity.’

With a kind appearance and excellent looks, many people believed the doctor was a saint sent by God. As I recalled these familiar memories, something felt oddly off. Cold medicine. A doctor with a saintly appearance. A hidden talent in a rural area. These keywords strangely overlapped with the person in front of me.

‘Eh... eh...?!’

It didn’t take long to realize that this wasn’t just a feeling.

“Lion!”

The name of the saint flashed through my mind and slipped out before I could stop it. The sudden exclamation made the doctor, who was sending off the merchant with a bitter smile, and Altair, who was following me, frown in confusion.

“Why my name all of a sudden...?”

“Is your name really Lion?”

“I thought I introduced myself clearly.”

“You only said you were a doctor! Not a suspicious person!”

No matter how hard I tried to remember, I couldn’t recall hearing his name. Even if I had, I wouldn’t have thought this ‘Lion’ was the same as the ‘Lion’ from the novel. In response to my protest, the great doctor Lion, who would be hailed as a saint in the future, shrugged and bowed casually.

“Then let me introduce myself again. I’m Lion. I’m a doctor and run a clinic in this village. Is there a problem?”

“No, there’s no problem...”

There wasn’t, but the unexpected revelation left me speechless, and Lion’s expression grew increasingly strange.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Huh?”

“You’re looking at me like I’m a strange animal.”

“Oh...”

Meeting a character from the novel, who was now moving vividly in front of me, was always surprising. It was the same when I met Altair and other major characters from the novel. But I couldn’t just stand there dazed. If I wanted to prevent the future antagonist, Prince Orca, from gaining influence, I needed to act. Lion, who had played a significant role in helping Prince Orca, was one of the top five most important figures.

‘So, before the bad guy gets him...’

We’ll take him! With that decision, I grabbed Lion’s hands.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

As Lion tried to pull his hands away, I became even more anxious. Unorganized thoughts swirled in my head, finally forming a coherent sentence.

“Please be my doctor!”

“...What?”

The abrupt and poorly thought-out request left Lion speechless. Despite feeling embarrassed, I continued.

“You’re researching a cold medicine, right? I want to help you continue your research! In Eilsford!”

Lion’s face, which had been filled with confusion, changed. He became serious and carefully examined Altair and me, trying to understand the true nature of my proposal. I swallowed and looked at Altair. This was a great opportunity. Lion had a terrifying misunderstanding that Altair had killed his parents, and there seemed to be a hidden truth in that misunderstanding. If I could bring him to Eilsford, I could not only prepare for the future tragedy but also uncover the hidden truth about Altair’s past.

‘So, Altair, help me out!’

They say a couple is of one heart. Though he didn’t say anything, Altair seemed to understand my intentions from my gaze and nodded, stepping forward. As Lion watched Altair warily, Altair grabbed my wrist, gently pulling me away from Lion, and tilted his head to one side.

“If you follow Nadia’s proposal, there won’t be any bloodshed.”

“That’s a threat!”

Especially since Lion already had a misunderstanding about Altair! I was flustered and started hitting Altair’s chest. But Altair only frowned, as if he didn’t understand.

“You were asking me to threaten him with your eyes.”

“How could you interpret it that way... It wasn’t at all!”

It seemed we still had a long way to go before we could truly be of one heart. As I argued with Altair, a small laugh echoed. It was Lion’s laugh. Blinking in surprise, I saw Lion take a deep breath and look at Altair and me in turn.

“I’ll listen to your story. I don’t know about the other side, but this lady’s story... I find it quite trustworthy.”