Chapter 4
The number of people who recovered from their illnesses after taking herbs was small but definitely existed.
So this time, I had to go to the Snow Mountain and find those herbs at all costs.
Although expensive, I gathered the best-grade artifacts by spending the allowance I had saved so far.
There was a bit of a verbal sparring with a friend at the Magic Tower during the process, but Evelyn didn’t miss the chance for a shocking acquaintance discount.
“I have to get ahead of my uncle before he moves.”
Since he found out yesterday that I am a Sword Master, he’ll probably be quiet for a while.
But my uncle, who has been scheming to somehow make Haint into Count Beret ever since my brother collapsed, won’t be able to hold out for long.
I have to visit the Snow Mountain and come back as soon as possible before he starts stirring up the retainers.
“Miss!!”
I heard Tina’s panting shout from afar.
“Tina? What’s wrong?”
Tina’s face, getting closer, was full of anxiety and tears.
“L-Leonel Master is in danger!! Hurry—!”
Before Tina finished speaking, Evelyn’s body jumped forward.
As she ran up the hallway, startled servants’ faces appeared, but there was no time to care.
Evelyn went straight up to the third floor and caught the sound of crying from afar.
“L-Leonel! Please! Sob sob!”
Her mother’s heart-wrenching scream made Evelyn’s heart race anxiously.
“No.”
Her brother couldn’t die.
Unlike before, Evelyn couldn’t run but forced her trembling legs to move toward her brother’s room.
“Mother?”
Standing at the door of her brother’s room, she called out to her sobbing mother.
“Evelyn.”
Slowly, thick tears fell from the eyes of Countess Beret.
Even Tammi’s face, as pale as death, was staring at the bed, and Evelyn could only open and close her mouth without saying a word.
“Now that I can do something for my brother, why… why is this happening?”
Evelyn, sure that something was wrong by her mother’s endless tears, murmured in panic.
“Tammi! What happened to the priest?!”
Her father’s shout came from behind. Evelyn blankly watched him pass by her side.
“A high priest has been dispatched from the temple.”
“Why did his condition suddenly worsen?”
Count Beret reached out to check his son’s body. His body, growing cold and stiff, seemed to be signaling the end.
Slowly exhaling, he gathered his wits and started rubbing his son’s body to raise his temperature.
“Evelyn, your brother seems cold. Will you help?”
“Count!”
At the count’s call to his dazed daughter standing by the door, Tammi tried to stop him in horror.
“Come here.”
The count gave a cold warning glance toward Tammi and calmly called his daughter.
“Evelyn, don’t worry and come here.”
Hearing her husband’s words, the countess wiped her tear-soaked face with a handkerchief and beckoned her daughter.
Looking at her daughter’s pale face, she remembered that Evelyn was not the only child she had to protect.
“God…”
Praying fervently inside, she managed a smile toward Evelyn.
“It’s alright. Leonel will be okay.”
As Evelyn’s unsteady hand touched Leonel’s body, the countess suppressed the urge to brush her daughter’s hand away.
“Leonel is a strong child. He will endure this too.”
At Count Beret’s words, Evelyn fought back tears swelling in her eyes and pressed her brother’s thin leg.
The fading breath, the slowing chest movements.
Everything seemed to be signaling the end.
Brother.
Please live.
Evelyn began slowly pushing her aura into her brother’s body.
Since sexual energy and magic revive people in a similar way, maybe aura could help as well.
There was no other way.
If her energy could keep her brother alive, she was willing to drain all her blood and give it to him.
Whether it was just her imagination or not, the parts she touched gradually felt warmer.
Until the priest arrived, Evelyn burned herself out until thick sweat flowed.
“Sigh, finally some relief.”
At her father’s voice mixed with relief, Evelyn nodded.
The high priest requested from the temple was paid two months’ worth of living expenses for the Beret family and left.
Her brother’s breathing and condition had finally returned to normal.
The priest who had visited this morning apologized for the urgent worsening of the situation and promised to treat him for free tomorrow morning.
During that time, Evelyn made up her mind.
She must leave immediately, even today.
She hadn’t expected her brother’s condition to deteriorate so suddenly.
It was her mistake to optimistically believe she’d have more years.
“Evelyn. Tomorrow, I will announce you as the heir.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened at her father’s unexpected words.
“No. The heir of the Beret family is Leonel, my brother.”
Evelyn shook her head at her father’s calm voice.
“I’m not qualified.”
Her uncle’s harsh words weren’t completely wrong.
Because of the rumor that she was cursed, no family proposed to her. Brothers, friends, and servants were hurt or died one after another.
And the most serious was the death of her close friend, Eil. Because of that, the Russell Counts and the Beret Counts were completely at odds.
No matter how much she said it wasn’t her fault, no one believed her.
“Now we have to give up on Leonel. I will announce you as the heir. We have done wrong to you until now.”
Count Beret wiped his face, about to contort with despair.
Although he had said he would wait for Evelyn, he fully realized the seriousness of the situation today.
“That’s impossible!”
Evelyn shouted at the clear sign of giving up.
To give up on her brother was truly impossible.
“I’ve thought that maybe holding onto Leonel was just our greed.”
Countess Beret tightly gripped her dress to hide her trembling hands as she looked at her daughter’s wavering eyes.
Even though her daughter was alive, she had to protect her.
She couldn’t deny her husband’s words. She checked Evelyn’s exhausted face from staying by Leonel’s side until just a moment ago.
The shabby table in the sitting room, Evelyn’s training clothes about to fall off, and her husband wearing clothes tailored a long time ago.
The huge amount of money donated daily to the temple to keep Leonel alive.
The high priest who came to treat him gave a disapproving glance around the sitting room.
If this continued, there would soon come a day when they couldn’t even pay the servants’ wages.
“We are already mentally prepared.”
Count Beret and his wife exchanged glances and faintly smiled.
They had endured for a long time.
“No, Mother.”
Facing her parents’ resolution, Evelyn buried her face in her hands.
Her aching voice echoed through the sitting room. She could not forgive herself.
Cursed Evelyn Beret.
She should have died instead. She should have worn gloves. No, gloves wouldn’t have helped either.
Her brother said it didn’t matter.
“It’s not me. I told you I wasn’t wrong.”
“The heir of the Beret family is Leonel Beret.”
Evelyn raised her head, her voice breaking.
“Yes, that was true. But like the Baron said, we cannot let the Beret family collapse in our generation.”
At her father’s gentle voice, Evelyn pressed her burning eyes shut.
“Give me a few months, no, just one month.”
Her bright golden eyes stared at the Beret couple.
“What do you plan to do?”
“I will find a way to save my brother.”
“Before Baron Quartz pushes for your marriage at the family meeting, you will be announced as the lesser count.”
Count Beret shook his head. First, it was more important to name Evelyn as heir.
He wanted to say more, but the countess fell silent at the unwavering look in her daughter’s eyes.
“I will go to the North.”
Evelyn revealed the plan she had been secretly making.
More worry was a luxury she could no longer afford.
More important than her marriage was her brother.
Before he dies, she had to find a way to save him.
“Please trust me.”
“My child, haven’t we already been to the Snow Mountain?”
“Yes, no matter how much you are a Sword Master, the Snow Mountain is dangerous.”
The Beret couple tried to stop their daughter in a sweat, but Evelyn was determined to return alive.
Crumple.
The paper in a large hand was crumpled beyond recognition.
“What does the royal court say?”
At the guard’s curious question, Elliot nodded.
“Another rejection?”
“Yes.”
Elliot frowned as he recalled the contents of the letter, his eyes full of disbelief.
