~Chapter 72~
A few days passed.
Right after we returned to the mansion, I fell into a weak sickness. In the end, by the duke’s strict orders, Zerox’s personal physician was dragged all the way to Ipsun.
I learned the results of the kidnapping case half-asleep, overhearing the adults’ conversations.
Licht, Titi, and Olivia returned home safely. All the criminals were caught and thrown into prison.
Asha nearly became another suspect in the case, accused of approaching the girls, but thanks to the testimony of Licht and the children, she barely cleared her name.
As for me, I just slept and slept, as if to refill the strength that had been drained out of me.
“Looks like you’ve caught a cold. Rest well for a few days…”
Borvel, after carefully examining me, said it was just from being drenched in the rain.
A cold.
So when I finally let go of the tension I’d been clinging to… something like this could catch me.
Half-dreaming, I thought faintly as the chill pressed on my forehead.
Why won’t the fever go down?
Why am I crying so much?
An anxious voice buzzed in my ears.
It was strange. Even in sickness, I kept crying. My eyes burned with fever, tears spilling out.
But if I were honest… it was whenever I felt Dad’s touch.
Every time he touched me, the tears came.
“Suddenly calling him Dad? It feels weird.”
“You liked it when we adopted her.”
“Well, yeah, but she doesn’t act like a normal kid.”
“Right, she’s always watching people’s moods. Feels cunning somehow… not like I expected.”
Past-life memories stormed through me.
Hearing those voices through the bedroom door, I had wanted to argue.
You’re the ones who made me walk on eggshells. Then why adopt me at all? You should’ve just bought a doll.
But instead, not wanting to return to the orphanage, I kept my head down and stayed silent.
“Children with adoption history need love and care the most.”
When those words came from my second parents through their internet broadcast, I was wandering a dark alley, clutching my empty stomach.
They weren’t openly cruel like the first ones, but…
“I’m sorry. Life got too hard, we can’t keep you.”
“You never called us mom or dad anyway. That hurt our channel. Wasn’t this house uncomfortable for you too?”
I’m not an item to borrow and return when convenient.
I wanted to scream, but I didn’t. Enduring had become routine.
After two abandonments, back at the orphanage, I stumbled upon a novel.
A ruined land, a hero rising again, planting his sword in the earth. That scene gave me comfort.
Could I ever rise again too?
But I had no sword, nothing. Too weak, too small to endure the storm of life.
I read and reread the first volume, the one with Leviathan. When he died, I wept into my blanket.
If I were you, I would’ve felt so wronged.
To endure so much, only to die in vain.
“That’s why… I wanted to protect you.”
Maybe that’s why I reincarnated into this world.
Honestly… I was a little glad.
Yes, it was harsh and painful, but for once I felt like I had the chance to change something.
So from the battlefield onward, I tried—just a little—
To help you.
…
…
Wait.
A thought struck me through the haze.
When I went back to the orphanage…
Didn’t I give up my phone? The public computer was locked too.
Then how did I even read that novel?
At that moment—
No.
A familiar voice swept away the illusion.
Darkness spread before my eyes, endless.
Not yet.
In the center of the dark, a single bright light floated.
“Who are you? Why are you speaking in my head?”
And then I realized.
It was the presence inside me—the magical knowledge, the one called Wisdom of Wizeria.
“What do you mean, not yet?”
It’s not time. But… yes. These memories—I’ll return them now.
The light flared. I squeezed my eyes shut as it burst around me.
Spinning, spinning—then stillness.
I was back in my old life.
Crying under the orphanage blanket, phone glowing by my pillow.
Why was I crying?
Because my favorite character had suddenly died.
Why had he died?
At last, the mist cleared.
Now I knew the answer.
He was killed.
“The price of opposing our king is death.”
A man in white priest’s robes, a brand carved into his right arm…
A royal court magician.
Khalid slowly opened the bedroom door.
He stepped lightly toward the sleeping Rubian.
In the moonlight through the window, sweat glistened on her round forehead.
“….”
He spotted a wet cloth and gently wiped her face. She groaned softly, trapped in a nightmare.
“Don’t be sick.”
Khalid bit his lip, carefully holding her small hand.
“If you’re sick… I don’t know what to do.”
He pushed mana into her, but her brow stayed furrowed.
“I’m sorry. Because of me…”
He had promised to protect her, yet she suffered again.
Khalid sighed deeply, blaming himself. Then—
“…Ruby?”
Her eyelids fluttered open.
“You’re awake? Your eyes…”
A fierce red glow whirled in Rubian’s pupils.
Khalid frowned.
Whenever she used Wizeria’s power, her eyes turned like that. She could pull impossible spells straight from the sea of wisdom.
Because of it, people thought her eyes were naturally ruby-colored. Useful for hiding, perhaps. But to Khalid—
“Damn.”
His stomach turned.
So she was never given a single moment of rest.
Her power had been exploited endlessly. Maybe that was why her growth had stalled.
The thought alone made him want to tear everything apart.
“…Khal.”
Her weak voice broke the silence.
“Don’t strain yourself. Did you have a nightmare?”
He held her hand tighter. Her drowsy gaze lifted.
“Sleep again. I’ll stay. Or… should I call the Duke of Jebert?”
At that, her small shoulders trembled. Her eyes, now blue again, filled with tears.
“Why are you crying? Are you in pain?”
Rubian shook her head.
“In the dream… someone died.”
“Who?”
“Leviathan…”
Khalid froze.
“A magician killed him… but I don’t know who… I don’t know…”
She whispered incoherently.
“Ruby, calm down.”
“I have to find out…”
Khalid thought she was delirious with fever. He quickly pushed more mana into her.
Her rambling faded, and she weakly closed her eyes again.
“…Have to save Leviathan…”
Her forehead burned again as he touched it. Her head dropped limply.
For the first time in years, Khalid felt utterly powerless.
“I really wish I could take the pain instead.”
Guilt and fury twisted together in his chest.
If only he hadn’t let her slip away at the hot spring…
That night dragged on endlessly for the boy.
