Chapter 108

Chapter 108

“My Daddy?!”

Rere scurried from the room after gulping down the food in a hurry. I also followed Rere in great haste.

“Wait for me, Rere.”

“Hurry up, Big Bunny! Rere is really nervous right now…my heart beats really fast!”

Rere had stopped running at my call and continued bouncing around confusedly when she couldn’t overcome her anxiety. So I clasped her hand.

“It’s alright. Don’t worry. Daddy is gonna be fine!”

“I know right? I’m glad that Big Bunny said that.”

Rere put a lot of strength into her grip, unable to hide her anxiousness.

“But Daddy will quickly wake up if Rere comes to see him.”

“Really? May, how is Daddy?”

“He passed out and was unable to get up. He passed out this morning. I didn’t tell you the whole story because… he told us not to say anything in case it happened again…” May’s words trailed off, and she bowed her head before us.

“You should have said something earlier.”

“T-That’s because…he forbade me from telling anyone because he didn’t want to worry his family…”

May slurred the end of her sentence as she sped up her pace, and we followed her to the Duke’s room.

I thought it wasn’t a big deal because he was sick the day before, but May’s pale face made us anxious.

‘He was okay when he came to our room this morning.’

I couldn’t believe he’d fainted after looking fine just a few hours before. I had an uneasy feeling in the back of my mind. Luca wasn’t even available, and I was worried that things would only get worse. So I tightened my grip on Rere’s hand.

Then we arrived in front of the Duke’s room.

“Daddy!”

Rere burst into the room without hesitation. As expected, the doctor was already in the room treating him.

“How is my Daddy?”

“As of now…there’s no particular symptom.”

“…Then why can’t he get up?”

“W-Well, yes. I’m doing everything I can to find out.”

“When did you start treating him?”

Rere clung to the doctor, barraging him with questions.

“I-I think it’s been an hour?”

“But why don’t you know yet?”

“Th-That’s…must be because of my lack of expertise.”

“You’re a quack, totally a quack.”

“T-That can’t be. I’m not a quack.”

Rere climbed onto the Duke’s bed and pulled up his eyelids.

“Why don’t you get up when you don’t even have a fever? Are you sleepy, Daddy? Why are you sleeping so silently? I heard you got better yesterday. You didn’t even come to see me.”

Unlike before, Rere stroked the Duke’s cheek while speaking in a subdued tone.

“Stupid, foolish Daddy…Get up. Why won’t you get up?!”

Rere, who rarely cried, burst out crying.

“Is it because I always say mean things to you? Is this why you won’t open your eyes? Is it because you hate me? I won’t say mean things anymore, so please open your eyes, Daddy. I heard you got better yesterday…Why didn’t you come to see me? Why?!”

“Rere…”

Rere wiped away the tears she could no longer hold back. Watching her like that, I went to her and hugged her.

“Rere…”

“I miss you, Daddy. I promise not to be rude or call you annoying, so please open your eyes. I wish you’d just say you’re fine.”

Come to think of it, Rere hadn’t spoken to the Duke directly since he fainted. Even yesterday, Rere was sleeping when he came, so I understood her frustration.

“Your Daddy is going to wake up soon.”

“But..But he didn’t wake up. Mom..Mom…what if…what if something bad happens to Daddy? What if he can’t open his eyes…”

“No way, Rere. Rere is always sick, but your eyes are open right now. I’m sure he’ll wake up as well.”

“I know, but…”

Rere’s cheeks had turned red as she cried with her head raised in my arms.

“Rere.”

“Hmm..”

“Do you have a fever? Are you sick now?”

“…A little…But it doesn’t hurt as much as my Daddy.”

“No. Lie down first.”

I quickly grabbed the child. The doctor pulled back the blanket, as if anticipating the situation.

I placed Rere on the bed. Rere’s body grew hotter in that short period of time. When I hugged her, I could feel the heat.

“Are you okay, Rere? Hm?”

“Uh…my eyes are a little blurry, but I’m okay. But will my Daddy be okay?”

“Just think about yourself, Rere.”

“Allow me to examine her.”

“I hate quack doctor…I hate him…I want Daddy to get better. I want to see my Daddy.” The child grumbled as she clasped the Duke’s hand.

Meanwhile, the doctor quickly treated Rere.

“You seem to have a fever again. I’ll give you some medicine.”

“If I take medicine, won’t I fall asleep again? Rere misses Daddy.”

“Rere, don’t worry and take your medicine. I’ll wake you when your daddy regains consciousness.”

“Really? Are you really going to wake me up?”

Rere stared at me with tears welled in her eyes.

“Don’t worry. I’ll wake you up for sure.”

“Uhm..okay. Give me the medicine. I’ll take it.”

“Our Rere is a good girl.”

“When Daddy wakes up later, he’ll be worried if he sees Rere is sick. So Rere must recover quickly after taking the medicine.”

The child scrunched up her eyes in a big smile as she snatched the medicine from the doctor and swallowed it at once. And soon, Rere fell into a deep sleep.

“Does the medicine contain a sleeping potion?”

“Yes, it does. There’s nothing better than having a good rest.”

With a bitter face, the doctor flicked his eyes between Rere and the Duke.

“I might be a quack as the young miss said.”

“Why’re you saying that?”

“I’ve been looking after the young miss for a long time, but I have a feeling she’s only gotten worse.”

“That’s only natural. You don’t know what sort of disease she has. Rather, it’d be strange if you could cure her without knowing her exact disease.”

The doctor looked somewhat sad when I said that.

“I really want her to get healthy. As a doctor, I was initially intrigued by the disease, but now all I want is for the young lady not to suffer.”

“I’m sure she’ll get healthy. We’re going to make it true.”

I wanted to pour out everything I knew, but it wasn’t the right time yet.

‘It’s no use to blame himself… Rere is clearly sick because of her fluctuating emotions.’

I was even more certain because of this incident. But it wasn’t a normal situation no matter how much I tried to register.

It was impossible that a child, who was initially fine, could have a fever that led to convulsions in a matter of seconds just because of her fluctuating emotions.

“Thank you, Madam.”

“So please rest assured. I will visit the temple library often to research her disease.”

“I’ll do my best, too.”

The doctor’s face immediately brightened, as if he found my words encouraging. Perhaps because of this, he treated Rere and the Duke with much enthusiasm, and rose from his seat 30 minutes later.

“I don’t know why His Grace couldn’t regain his consciousness…but the young lady will be alright.”

“Thank you.”

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

When he finally left the room with a small salute, only the sound of Rere and the Duke’s breathing filled the silent room.

As I sat still, all sorts of thoughts raced through my mind.

“Is that really the cause of your illness, Rere? But everything just fits so perfectly that my assumption can’t be wrong.”

The way Rere only said mean things and refused to get along with others might be her coping mechanism. Rere might not be fully understood, but she realized such a reaction was happening in her body and tried to suppress her emotions as much as possible. Having grown up in such a twisted family, I came to understand where Rere’s personality stemmed up from.

“So…What should I do?”

I wanted to run to the library right away and find out if such a disease exists.

What kind of nonsense is this?

I hunched my back and buried my head between my legs.

“I would rather it was a different disease…”

I assumed it to be much better if that was the case, but I was really driven to despair on this one.

“Is it a mental disease, or…”

The darkness flooded in. Now I doubted if a solution really existed.

I pretended to be calm in front of the doctor, assuring him that we could save Rere. But in reality, I was unsure.

Rather, I thought that Rere would be better off living as a villain as depicted in the novel.

If that’s what it will take for her to stop being swayed by her emotions.

“I have a lot of things I want to teach you. I want you to see the world through the eyes of colorful emotions… Rere, my baby.”

The Duke had been lying behind Rere and suddenly sat up as I was lamenting sadly while stroking her messy hair. As soon as he woke up, he made eye contact with me.

“Leona.”

I froze for a moment hearing the voice that was different from the Duke’s.

“Leona…”

Their voices were the glaring difference between the two identical people, Luca and the Duke.

And unlike the Duke who rarely called me by name, Luca always called me Leona.

“Huh…”

“Leona.”

“Why are you calling my name suddenly?”

“Because that’s how I always called you.”

There was another thing that separated the two.

The Duke did not use honorifics, while Luca spoke formally to me.

Just like now.

“….”

“Aren’t you going to answer me?”

“Don’t tell me….are you Luca?”

At that moment, I caught his gaze.

“This is me, Leona.”

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