Chapter 20
‘What should I do?’
After a brief hesitation, Ronin walked toward them.
It felt extremely awkward, but there was no other way to reach his room except by passing that staircase.
“Is something going on?”
As soon as Ronin spoke, the group of servants scattered in panic. And rather than answering, they slowly backed away. Ronin looked around in confusion.
But it wasn’t just the people he had spoken to—everyone who met his eyes avoided him. As if he were some kind of plague.
‘I… I shouldn’t have stepped in after all…’
As shame flushed his face and he began to turn away, a faint voice called out.
“Ro, Ronin…!”
Ronin finally realized that the figure at the center of the crowd was a person—and his maid, Pam, at that. And that her condition was clearly very bad.
“Pam!”
Ronin forgot his embarrassment and rushed to her. He didn’t even notice the servants stepping further away from him. All that mattered was Pam’s safety.
He supported her, who was nearly collapsing, and asked urgently,
“Pam? What’s wrong? Where does it hurt—”
“My body… ugh… it hurts so much… I’m going to—urk!”
At that moment, Pam vomited. Sour bile soaked Ronin’s silk clothes. Even in her dazed state, she apologized.
“I’m… sorry…”
“Don’t worry about that. Good heavens—since when has this been happening? Your forehead is burning!”
“Since this morning… it’s been getting worse… ugh… worse…”
Pam’s voice grew weaker, her strength fading. Ronin didn’t hesitate any longer and shouted toward the servants.
“Someone call a physician immediately!”
*****
Since the nearest room was Ronin’s chamber—and because no one wanted to bring the sick Pam into their own room—Pam was carried into Ronin’s quarters.
Since no one else was willing to carry her, Ronin had to carry his maid himself. Strangely, he only felt relief.
‘For once, it’s useful that I’m not an omega.’
Almost as if answering his thoughts, the physician arrived with an assistant. They had cloth covering their mouths and noses, just like Lady Wyndham had done before.
Ronin waited anxiously. And when he noticed the physician and assistant exchange glances, he could no longer stay still.
Clinging to the physician as if to a lifeline—even though he already half-guessed the answer—he asked,
“Is Pam… is my maid going to be alright? She was perfectly fine until yesterday, but suddenly she developed a fever and became like this.”
Perhaps because most of their faces were covered, the physician’s eyes were especially easy to read. They were filled with pity.
“Your Highness, how familiar are you with the North?”
“I’ve been trying to learn. But why do you ask…?”
Ronin’s voice trembled, as if anticipating what would come next.
“It is difficult for me to say this, but…”
With that preface, the physician began a long explanation.
For generations, the North had fought against extreme cold. People from the Central lands might think of monsters when they heard of the North, but for Northerners, the true enemy was not distant beasts—it was the freezing cold that numbed hands and feet.
This war against the cold had lasted over a century. Thanks to the efforts led by Duke Riophric, they had managed to overcome it, if not perfectly, then at least partially.
But the real problem began after that.
At some point, people began collapsing with high fevers. Countless lives were lost, and no one knew why. Once the fever started, patients would waste away for days before dying.
People wanted to overcome this fever as they had overcome the cold, but there were too few clues.
After many sacrifices, only one thing had been discovered: the number of cases increased when spring arrived and the snow began to melt.
Nothing else was known. Once infected, people collapsed helplessly and never rose again.
Because of this, the people of the North feared the coming of spring more than blizzards. Far more people died from fever than from freezing.
“…Therefore, Your Highness, it would be best to prepare yourself mentally. This endemic illness can harm people even indirectly.”
The physician’s eyes were dark, filled with a mixture of pity, sorrow, and helplessness.
Looking at that expression, Ronin suddenly understood.
‘Ah… so that’s why Lady Wyndham…’
Now he understood why Lady Wyndham had acted so rudely—and why the servants had avoided even approaching him after hearing about the fever.
‘They must have thought I might be infected too… They didn’t want to catch it.’
Knowing this, Lady Wyndham now seemed almost courageous. Even cloth over the mouth and nose could not fully prevent infection.
‘She probably knew that better than anyone.’
And yet she had still come to this room. Otherwise, another servant would have had to come in her place.
She had chosen to take the risk herself—to protect the North she loved, and Riophric.
Thinking that far, he also remembered the first person who had visited his room. The one who had appeared almost by accident in his otherwise empty chamber: Kallion Riophric.
‘Maybe even Lord Riophric…’
Now it was clear. The man who had no connection to him and seemed to dislike him had likely come that night because—
‘He thought I might be carrying this fever. He came to check… and I didn’t even realize.’
The embarrassment from that night was something he could never erase. A cold fear spread through him, as if he had crossed an irreversible line.
But that fear did not last long.
Pam, the young maid who had just been told she might be facing death, suddenly broke into sobs.
“Sniff… I don’t… I don’t want to die… it hurts… I don’t want to die here… how did I even end up here… cough!”
“Pam!”
Her coughing turned violent. Ronin rushed to her, abandoning all composure, and realized she had coughed up blood.
Pam’s face went pale as she saw it. It was clearly not a good sign.
And Ronin’s heart grew heavier.
Even if she had not been particularly kind to him, Pam was the only person his family had sent with him. If she died from this fever, he would truly be alone in the North.
‘And she’s so young…’
He looked at her youthful face. Even now, sick and pale, she had only yesterday been full of life.
But there was no time to grieve. Her life was flickering like a candle in the wind. He had to find a way before it was too late.
‘Think… think… When did Pam start getting sick? The symptoms?’
She had been fine until yesterday. He remembered her going out early in the morning, saying she would work.
Ronin tried to recall the conversation they had then. That was the only time he had been separated from her—so if anything had happened, it must have been then.
