Chapter 6
It wasn’t like she was kicking and screaming.
She simply opened her round, adorable eyes and spoke calmly, which somehow drained all the anger from him.
‘…Was she a patient too?’
No one in their right mind would dare to wake him up—someone even the attendants didn’t mess with.
Still, he couldn’t do anything to this tiny thing.
‘Damn it, damn it! She looks like she’ll snap in two!’
Just chubby cheeks on a skinny twig of a body!
Sure, he could’ve lost his temper and taken it out on her.
But in the end, he didn’t.
Because of his second brother.
‘It’s not your fault.’
The three brothers had all become afflicted with incurable conditions, but he hadn’t forgotten what his second brother had done for him.
Besides…
The bruise he had left on Heuk Biyu’s wrist that first day still hadn’t faded.
‘Damn it, stupid brat. Calls herself a healer, but can’t even fix her own hand?’
Heuk Birang kept grumbling, pretending not to realize Biyu hadn’t healed herself on purpose.
Heuk Birang walked off in long strides, completely ignoring whether the damn kid was trailing behind or not.
“Uncle, where are you going?”
“To sleep. Why?”
“After sleeping that much already?”
“…”
“You said you’re not sick. I guess you just really like sleep!”
“Like I’d enjoy it?!”
Trying to insist he was healthy had only made him sound like a lazy bum who liked sleeping too much.
‘Ugh, I can’t even snap at her…’
Besides, Heuk Birang knew.
The real reason he couldn’t bring himself to deal harshly with this little girl… was because of his daughter.
He couldn’t see her face, but—
‘She’d probably be walking just like that now.’
She might even be calling him “Dad” by now. His expression twisted.
‘Annoying little brat.’
“Uncle! Uncle!”
The game of tag went on for three more days.
“Damn it! Fine, FINE!”
Heuk Birang finally gave in.
“What do you want?”
“Take your medicine!”
And then, upon hearing Biyu’s words, he thought:
‘Just knocking her down wouldn’t be too bad, right?’
Then even if his second brother got mad, he’d have a good excuse.
‘It’s not like I’d kill her. Just a little push…!’
How dare a brat who wasn’t even a certified physician—just some overconfident amateur—try to force him to take some mysterious medicine?
He seriously considered smacking that soft forehead.
“Just drink this!”
Only then did Heuk Birang finally look at what his niece was holding.
Now that he thought about it, she had been clutching it the whole time, like a little sparrow hopping after him.
“…You’ve got short legs. Why are you carrying something as big as yourself?”
“’Cause it’s the only container that could hold it?”
He hadn’t really been asking out of curiosity.
“Drink it.”
It was a potion bottle—something he’d seen often during his days as a mercenary.
“You trying to poison me?”
“Huh?”
“You want me to drink unapproved medicine from an untrained, uncertified little quack? Yours?”
“Yup!”
Why was she answering so cheerfully?
“Uncle.”
He didn’t respond. No doubt she’d just say more nonsense.
“If I said it’s poison, would you still drink it?”
“What? Ha. Sure, go ahead. Sometimes I wish I were dead. Let’s try it.”
He didn’t mean a single word of it.
He had a daughter, after all—his precious little bunny. How could he truly want to die?
Still, there were times when living felt so hard, dying seemed easier.
“Really? Dying’s not that hard, you know.”
Her innocent expression made him feel strange.
“So, don’t say things like that so carelessly.”
“…”
“Our family… saves people, remember?”
As he fell silent, Biyu smiled brightly.
“You’re not gonna believe my diagnosis anyway, right? So at least try the medicine.”
At that, the child reached into another bottle she had brought. Water lifted and floated midair.
“You’ve got nothing to lose.”
And once again, she splashed water on him.
“You little—”
“Twelve years ago, it first showed symptoms. At the family estate’s Yonghyeonjeon, in front of everyone.”
“…”
Biyu looked into empty space.
“These days, when you fall asleep… it’s for about three days? Recently, it was five days straight. And you only wake up for maybe an hour at a time. It’ll keep getting worse. Didn’t you know it gets even worse if you skip meals?”
Heuk Birang’s eyes widened.
“It’s all true, right? That’s my diagnosis, Uncle.”
“…”
“You can’t trust it… because you’ve only ever met those frauds who call themselves doctors.”
The girl gave a sly smile.
“Trust me.”
At that moment, Heuk Birang saw someone else overlapping with Biyu.
‘Love and healing are similar, you know. They both need attention.’
The same lilac-colored hair as this child.
A graceful beauty who always gave him advice on love.
His second brother’s wife.
‘Trust me, young master.’
‘I’ll cure you, I promise.’
The most brilliant person he had ever known.
“I told you I’m good at healing, Uncle.”
If she were alive, she might’ve been able to heal not just him, but also his older brothers, maybe even her own husband.
She had been a phenomenal doctor and apothecary.
Heuk Birang pressed his lips together.
“…Give it here.”
Huh? What just happened?
I was stunned.
I quickly tried to open the potion bottle, but the lid wouldn’t budge!
‘Ugh, what if he changes his mind?!’
I kept struggling, but then the bottle flew out of my hands.
“Tsk.”
And with one smooth motion, Uncle popped the lid open easily.
I stared in despair, like a squirrel who just lost her acorn.
“If I drink this, you’d better keep your promise and stop bothering me.”
“Okay!”
I didn’t know why he changed his mind, but—
‘Thank goodness I made that potion.’
In the eastern garden, there was an abandoned herb patch. But despite being abandoned, there were still some decent herbs growing.
Thanks to that, I’d been able to make this first medicine.
“Blegh! What the hell did you put in this? This is poison, isn’t it?! You little brat!”
He drank it in one gulp, then, shocked by the taste, dropped the bottle.
I didn’t care that he was choking and grabbing his throat.
“Oh, it’s empty!”
I picked up the bottle and shook it proudly.
“Yay, our Uncle drinks well~ Want a candy?”
“Shut up! Tell me the truth! You’re trying to poison me, aren’t you?! You damn brat!”
What nonsense.
In the Eastern Continent, people worship dragons.
And some humans, blessed by dragons, are born with unusually strong bodies.
My dad was one of them.
That’s how he could survive without eating, only sleeping—any normal person would’ve died already.
‘His body doesn’t even respond well to poison, and yet…’
Medicine that’s good for you always tastes bitter. That applies here too.
“Well then, bye-bye, Uncle!”
“Hey, hey! Where are you going? Hey! Explain yourself!”
Explain what? Just be grateful I gave you a cure-all potion!
Several days passed.
His niece kept coming by.
She followed him around with the strange medicine he had tried once already.
Clearly not poison, since he hadn’t died—but it tasted like it was!
He seriously debated.
“Want a candy?”
“…No thanks.”
Maybe he should have taken it.
The difference now was that once he drank the potion, she left without any fuss.
Just what was this brat up to?
Most kids would cling to adults out of loneliness.
‘They’d ask to eat together, or to be tucked into bed…’
But this girl? She had no interest in anything except giving him medicine.
“Tsk.”
Heuk Birang was a man with no trace of a conscience.
“Why won’t the bruise go away?”
All because of that damn tiny wrist—the bruise still hadn’t faded.
“Sigh… Damn it. I can’t even sleep now. This is bugging me!”
And then… he froze.
He realrized something disturbing.
His narcolepsy had gotten worse three years ago. And ever since then—
‘Have I ever stayed awake for more than two hours?’
He glanced at the clock.
…It was 2 PM when he opened his eyes.
Now it was 5 PM.
‘I told you I can heal you, Uncle.’
Only one thing had changed in his tightly wound, hamster-wheel of a life.
Heuk Birang leapt to his feet.
That damn brat.
He stormed out with heavy steps.
“Hmmm.”
I stared at the leaf in my hand. It reflected a faint blue when held up to the sunlight.
“Hmm, yeah…”
Good ingredients were hard to come by.
Though our family had once been famed across the Eastern Continent and still held healing prestige here, the herb patches were all overgrown.
The problem was, the east wing where I lived had long since been abandoned, so nothing was maintained.
‘Still not enough for what I need.’
Just then, I felt a strange sensation and turned my head sharply.
