Chapter 11

“Poison in his body… Actually, that’s something Aila has been saying for a long time.”

Cain spoke slowly.

“At first, we suspected poisoning. Then we wondered whether Bael’s body was having an abnormal reaction to something. But we were never able to find the cause.”

Aila nodded with a dark expression.

“We replaced everything Lord Bael used—his bedding, utensils, books, even the servants attending him. We thought perhaps the location itself was the problem, so we even moved him to Sir Cain’s villa for a while.”

She gave a bitter smile.

“Later, I even started suspecting myself as his physician and avoided seeing him personally for several months.”

There was someone even more thorough than Mom.

Even though she already knew the answer, Luciella asked anyway.

“Did none of it help?”

“We never found the source of the problem.”

Aila lowered her gaze.

“The best we can do is keep him alive with herbs that have general detoxifying effects. As a physician… I suppose that makes me a failure.”

She bit her lip tightly.

Cain’s eyebrow twitched.

“Don’t say something so foolish. If it weren’t for you, that child would already be dead.”

“…If I can’t save Lord Bael despite being here, then I am a failure.”

A deep sigh escaped her lips.

Luciella quietly watched Aila.

For a moment, Aila’s figure overlapped with her mother’s.

The mother who had tried dozens of times before Luciella’s transmigration and still failed to save Bael in the game.

Because even her mother had never discovered where Bael’s poison came from.

Bael Bellaon.

The first time Luciella heard his name, she had been three years old.

He often appeared in the bedtime stories her mother told her.

He was her mother’s favorite character from the “original story.”

And he was a character who might have saved the Empire if only he had survived.

Her mother had said she never gave up hope and tried every possible method to save him.

But she always failed.

A tragic genius who lost both parents in childhood, was praised as the Empire’s most promising youth until the age of twelve, then contracted an unknown illness and died before reaching adulthood.

That was the unchanging scenario assigned to him.

“Couldn’t you just pick another character? Why did you like Bael so much?”

When Luciella asked, her mother answered with sparkling eyes.

“Well, your mom wanted to grab the strongest character and clear the game as quickly as possible. My parents never gave me enough allowance, so I had way too many part-time jobs—”

“You told me that already. You said you were always tired.”

“That was because I kept meeting terrible bosses. Surprisingly, after I graduated college and got a job as a food engineering researcher at a big company, things went pretty well.”

“I know that too. Mom says it all the time.”

“Did I tell you about Assistant Manager Park? The guy who dated both Deputy Lee and the new employee at the same time?”

“Oh! Wasn’t he flirting with people at client companies too? Tell me that story first!”

“I’ll tell you the workplace drama later. Anyway, Bael Bellaon had absolutely ridiculous potential.”

“…”

“His combat ability, intelligence, magic, even physical capabilities—every single stat was perfect. His appearance score was worth two million points. Players constantly tried to clear the game using Bael and always failed.”

Naturally, Luciella was familiar with the rules of both worlds.

Words like points and players coming from her mother never sounded strange to her.

“But the really strange thing was this.”

Her mother’s voice had grown quieter.

“Even right up until the moment he died, Bael’s stats kept increasing. It was almost like… that was simply how he was designed.”

Now that she had met him in person, Luciella realized her mother’s words weren’t entirely accurate.

More precisely—

she could see the truth hidden behind that “design.”

Bael hadn’t simply been born with immense potential.

He had never stopped trying to stand up on his own until the very moment of death.

If he couldn’t use his legs, he used his arms.

If his arms weren’t enough, he squeezed every drop of mana from himself to make up the difference.

That determination was what had created the overwhelming power she witnessed in his room.

“I shouldn’t have said such things in front of a child.”

Aila forced a smile as she looked at Luciella.

“As you can see, I’ve been unable to find a solution for Lord Bael’s illness.”

Her voice trembled slightly.

“I only brought it up because he reacted to your cooking… and because it seemed like you recognized the poison. I thought perhaps you might know something else…”

Her words trailed off.

Cain remained silent.

But his expression was no different from hers.

The pain both of them were suppressing was obvious.

Luciella couldn’t bring herself to tell them that Bael would die.

Hearing about him through her mother’s stories had been one thing.

Seeing him in person was another.

She had witnessed his desperation and his wounds firsthand.

She had felt the warmth in him when he ate her food.

She had seen the panic on his face when she collapsed.

He was just a child.

A child who wanted to live.

“…Does Bael not eat?”

After a long silence, Luciella asked.

Cain shook his head.

“No matter how delicious the food is, he barely touches it. Going several days without eating is normal for him.”

“…”

Then the toxins were probably affecting his sense of taste as well.

And if the symptoms continued despite him starving himself for days, the poison probably wasn’t entering through food.

Luciella summoned her status window mentally.

Status Window. What exactly is the poison inside Bael’s body?

[Answer Impossible: Insufficient analysis authority.]

Is the source of the poison somewhere in his room?

[Answer Impossible: Information exceeds search range.]

Irritation surged through her.

Her mother’s status window was practically omnipotent.

This miniature version was endlessly troublesome.

Pouting, Luciella asked one final question.

If I find and remove the cause myself, can you at least tell me when it’s gone?

[Notification: Request accepted.]

[A message will be displayed immediately when the status change is detected.]

Cheapskate.

Still, it was better than having no method at all.

Luciella took a small breath.

There was only one thing she could do.

Investigate personally.

“Please let me observe Bael for a few days.”

“What?”

Cain and Aila both looked up at her simultaneously.

Disbelief filled their faces.

But beneath it, a tiny spark of hope flickered in their eyes.

“If you’re planning to make another dangerous dish—”

Cain began.

Luciella shook her head.

“I won’t.”

She answered firmly.

“I’ll cook ordinary meals for the sake of maintaining my stamina, but aside from that, I’ll just observe him.”

She had to try.

Bael Bellaon was the child her mother had fought to save.

And he might one day save the Empire.

Luciella loved the Esseled Empire.

She had accepted that she might have to flee the country someday if the Crown Prince inherited the throne, just as her mother predicted.

But that wasn’t what she wanted.

If Bael could save this nation—

if he could save Luciella’s homeland—

then she had to do everything she could to save him.

More than anything, she had seen something in Bael.

Because I saw him desperately struggling to survive.

Even if his life felt empty.

Even if he still hadn’t found meaning.

He had never once chosen to give up.

A powerful will toward something could become an incredible force in achieving it.

That was a belief her mother had repeated countless times.

Which was why her mother never gave up.

Even after learning the Empire was heading toward destruction, she struggled until the very end to change the outcome.

She searched endlessly for Luciella’s father, trapped somewhere within the dimensional gap.

That was the way of life her mother had taught her.

“I’ll answer whether I know something more later.”

And hadn’t her mother once told her—

“Our daughter! You summoned the Mini Status Window! Your mom always wanted one before transmigrating.”

“But Mom was a food engineer. You couldn’t really cook.”

“I never expected I’d end up with a daughter like you, Luci.”

Her mother had always said that sometimes Luciella accomplished things she herself never could.

So there was only one option.

She had to try.

So that I can save him.

And perhaps—

so that he could truly save the Empire.