Chapter 24
I headed straight to the pharmacy and immediately began reviewing the stack of documents I had previously received.
The thick folder was none other than Jaden’s medical records.
‘I already heard a brief summary of his condition…’
But that still wasn’t enough.
Since he was a child patient, I wanted to be extra careful in case I had missed something.
But as I was carefully reading through the documents, something felt off.
‘…Something is definitely strange.’
Although Tamutar disease was known to be incurable, Cain hadn’t completely given up on treating it.
‘That’s why I managed to obtain the needleleaf herb in the first place.’
Over the past few months, Jaden had been prescribed medications made from it. Even if it wasn’t a complete cure, it should have at least suppressed his symptoms to some degree…
‘Why is Jaden’s condition still this severe?’
It was as if he had never received any treatment at all.
One possibility came to mind… but—
No. I need to confirm this immediately.
Jaden himself was too young and might not know—or might be hiding something—but there was a way to check.
‘His assigned maid would know something.’
I quickly stood up and headed toward Jaden’s room.
However, the maid’s waiting room was empty. When I stopped a passing servant to ask, I received a surprising answer.
“Oh, um… Miss Celia hasn’t come in to work yet.”
“…Pardon? Not come in yet?”
The sun was already high in the sky. I asked again, wondering if she was unwell, and the servant answered in a cautious, almost whispering voice.
“Well… she’s still sleeping. She tends to get angry if we wake her.”
“…Then what about the young master’s breakfast and medicine?”
“I took care of it instead. Miss Celia is often late like this…”
Where should I even start?
When I first entered Jaden’s room, I thought the environment was messy—but it seemed that wasn’t just my imagination.
My head throbbed, but my task remained unchanged.
After waiting a full two more hours for her arrival, I finally heard the click-clack of heels echoing from the end of the hallway.
She walked in leisurely, dressed as extravagantly as ever.
The moment she spotted me, Celia’s brow furrowed deeply, as if she had stepped in something unpleasant.
“What are you doing here?”
“Miss Celia, I have something to ask you for a moment.”
“Tch. Honestly, this is why commoners are unbearable. No manners, no appointments, just showing up whenever they want. Do you even know how busy I am?”
She waved her fan in front of my face irritably.
Normally, I might have let it go to avoid conflict.
But this was not something I could ignore. Jaden’s health was at stake.
So I gathered my courage and spoke more clearly than usual.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t come here to meet the Count’s daughter.”
“What?”
“I came to see Jaden’s assigned maid. This is a work-related matter.”
“Unbelievable…!”
Her face instantly flushed red.
“And? What do you want? Trying to pick another fight with me?”
“I’m not trying to pick a fight. I’m asking about the young master’s medication.”
“Medication?”
Celia let out a mocking laugh, as if it was absurd.
“Are you my supervisor or something? Who do you think you are, coming here to question me?”
“I’m not speaking as a superior. I’m speaking as his pharmacist. I noticed something strange in the records…”
“So you’re suspicious of me?”
She scoffed, glaring at me.
“What, you think I skipped giving him his medicine or something?!”
“…That’s not what I meant.”
“Then why bring it up?! I’m the one taking care of him, aren’t I?”
She even poked my shoulder with her finger.
My head started aching again, but I forced myself to stay calm.
“No, I’m not trying to accuse you of that. I just wanted to know if there were any reactions or unusual symptoms when he took his medication…”
No matter how politely I asked, it didn’t work. Her eyes were already filled with hostility.
“Excuses! What, are you just trying to find something to report to Conrad?”
Apparently, she still hadn’t gotten over a recent scolding from Conrad, and now all her anger was directed at me.
I swallowed a deep sigh.
Even if Celia disliked me, her refusal to cooperate was a problem. This wasn’t about pride—it was about a sick child.
“…There seems to be some misunderstanding. But still,” I said calmly, trying to soothe her.
“Miss Celia. Let’s put our personal feelings aside for now. This is about the young master’s health. I need accurate information to treat him, so please—”
“Enough!”
She cut me off sharply.
“I did my job properly! I put the medicine in his room every single time! Whether he took it or not is not my problem!”
“…Then you never confirmed whether he actually took it?”
“What? Do I look like a nanny? You think I have time to watch him take every dose? Do you know how hard it is to deal with a child?”
She snapped, but I didn’t care about her tone anymore.
I had already gotten the information I needed.
I immediately returned to the pharmacy and fell into thought.
‘As expected. Jaden has probably been secretly avoiding taking his medicine…’
But why?
I recalled the feverish state he had been in days ago.
His body had been burning with an extreme fever. It was a miracle he had survived it at all.
Then a voice echoed in my memory.
“Do I really have to take medicine…? I don’t feel sick right now…”
At the time, I assumed it was just a child’s ordinary complaint.
But what if it wasn’t that simple?
‘I need to find out what’s really going on.’
That is where treatment begins.
After forming a rough plan, I immediately stood up.
I gathered my supplies and headed toward Jaden.
“Young master. I brought something a little special today.”
“Medicine…? Mm.”
Jaden, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly slumped down dejectedly. I quickly forced a brighter tone.
“You don’t seem to like medicine, so I made something extra special this time.”
Ta-da!
I opened my hand to reveal the medicine I had been hiding.
Round, candy-like in shape, even wrapped like sweets—it looked more like candy than medicine.
As expected, Jaden tilted his head in curiosity.
“Is this medicine?”
“Yes! It’s Viola’s special candy medicine!”
I smiled brightly and continued explaining.
“This is something even you can take easily. It’s not bitter at all—actually really tasty. When I stayed in Hailon Village, kids would line up just to get this…”
I exaggerated a little to spark his interest. Like a pure child, Jaden perked up his ears, but then pouted.
“I’m not that much of a kid.”
“Correction—it was popular enough that even adults lined up for it.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
He gave me a doubtful look, which was so adorable I almost reached out to pat his head—but stopped myself. I still had work to do.
“Anyway, you just need to take this today. Much better than bitter powder medicine, right?”
“Mm.”
“You can take it right now.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
As I met his gaze with a gentle but firm expression, his eyebrows twitched slightly.
Still, he obediently took the medicine I offered.
‘Right now? Right now…?’
