The voice of the individual flowed into my head and somehow, the mere sound managed to distort my vision. With my sight out of control, everything in front of my eyes became fuzzy and dark.
I could feel my heart beating against my ribcage, racing against the emerging dizziness in my head.
âChild.â
âAhâŠâŠâ
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
The sound of my heart pounding filled my ears. My lungs felt tight and I couldnât breathe. The dizziness was maddening and my vision just kept getting darker and darker.
I could feel the world spun around unceasingly. My feet staggered andâŠ.
Thump!
I fell on the cold hard floor with a thud.
ââŠâ
âBlaine!â
I could hear Henryâs and Isaacâs voice nearing the room. Before they could arrive, my mind was already lost in my final thoughts.
âWho the hell is that person?â
âWhy did I feel so nauseous when I heard the voice?â
***
How much time has passed� I tried to open my eyes and moved my body, but my eyelids felt like it was sewn tight and my hand weighed a ton.
âWhy hasnât she opened her eyes when thereâs no problem with her? Did you check her thoroughly? Answer me unless you want to die!â
âCheck her again. Find out why she fell. If you canât, donât even think of leaving this room alive.â
My ears were soon filled with thundering angry, impatient voices.
âStop it, Henry, Isaac. â
âIs that the dukeâs voice?â
A dull sound of footstep was heard in the pin-drop silence. The footstep finally stops. A sudden shriek pierced everyoneâs ears and barrage of pleas followed.
âIâm telling you, sir! Thereâs nothing wrong with her! She is healthy!â
âThen why isnât she awake yet.â
âBu-but really!â
âIf you canât wake her up, Iâll cut off all of your throats. â
âWhat?!â
Out of shock, I opened my eyes wide. It didnât feel as heavy as before.
âBlaineâŠ!â
âLeblaine!â
Two blurry shadows started to form under my hazy sight. It was Henry and Isaac.
âNo, why are they here?â
I scanned the room as I blinked my eyes to dispel the thin fog cloaking my sight. I was lying on the bed, while Henry and Isaac were glued to my bedâs sides. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Leaâs figure behind them. Thirty doctors were kneeling on the floor and standing in front of the doctors was the duke with Nos behind him.
âDyuke.â (Duke.)
I called him, but my voice was hoarse, yet still the duke managed to hear my voice. He came to my bedside immediately.
âAre you all right?â
As I nodded, a relieved sigh came out from the dukeâs mouth. Soon after, he turned his head towards the doctors. I let out a deep sigh in my mind.
âThankfully, I woke up in time.â
The child of fate who was sent from the church collapsed at Dubbled, so the doctors were called to check on the child. Unfortunately, they werenât able to diagnose whatâs the issue and why I blacked out.
But me fainting wasnât their fault. Itâs my fault for sneaking into the room.
The duke opened his mouth.
âNow that Leblaine has woken-â
Yes, I would like to let the doctors go.
âKill all the doctors. â
âWhat?!â
I stared at the duke in shock. The doctors werenât better off than me. Everyone could see the trembling of their limbs in the room.
âThereâs no use for incompetent people who couldnât even find out why a child fainted.â
Henry and Isaac, next to the duke, were looking at the doctors with cold eyes. It could be seen from their unchanging expression that they were supporting the dukeâs decision.
âWhat are you both doing?!â
âYour Excellency, please reconsider your decision.â
Nos tried desperately to persuade the duke to let them off, but Dubbled was adamant and nothing could change his verdict.
âIf you try to call other doctors to the estate, itâll take a good two weeks.â
âSo?â
âWhen the little missâ body is in trouble again, there will be no doctor to look after her?â
The duke frowned. When Nos saw the dukeâs reaction, he realized that his words had worked. Seeing a ray of hope, Nosâs face brightened.
I didnât want Nosâs efforts to dissuade the duke down the drain, as an effort to back him up, I quickly made up an excuse for the doctors.
cwuld helwp.â (Duke, I wasnât sick. Itâs because of the divine related stuff, thatâs why the doctors couldnât help. If I was sick, surely doctors can help.)
When I said so, I looked pleadingly at the duke,
Everyoneâs eyes in the room turned towards me and the duke. The doctors wore hopeful expressions as they looked at me as if they had found their savior.
I could only roll my eyes and cover my mouth as I fake a cough.
ââŠCough!â
ââŠ!â
The dukeâ eyes widened before he gave out a thunderous roar.
âIsnât it a cold? Go and treat her!â
âHurry!â
More than thirty doctors rushed to my bed in a perfect line. After that, I spared no effort to act as if Iâve caught a cold and all the doctors were relieved that they had avoided the dukeâs death penalty.
***
The desperate childâs lie was eaten by the duke and the doctors were fortunate enough to save their life.
Of course, the doctors who were experts saw through my trick. When they checked on me, they immediately found out that the cold was only an act. Perhaps thatâs why whenever they saw me, they would call me with gratitude, âChildâŠ.â
Seeing their tearful expression, my jaw dropped.
Dubbled Castle Medical Center, in particular.
âLittle miss, I, Adam Morr will definitely repay this favor.â
âIâve been married for ten years and my wife is pregnant with our child. Without your aid, I would have died without ever seeing my first child,â
he continued.
âLittle miss, youâre my benefactor.â
Itâs a good thing that I saved these innocent doctors. Most of them were a husband and father of a family. If they were to die, their family would surely be devastated.
âBut what is that voice?â
The voice appeared from time to time since Iâve touched Newt.
âWas the stone cursed?â
Whether I was cursed or not could be found as soon as I went to the priest, but I really didnât want to get involved with the church in any way.
I had been asking around what had happened after I blacked out. Apparently, it was Isaac and Henry who moved me right away from the west wing. Both of the children have been scolding the doctor when they couldnât find out my sickness.
âIt was unexpected.â
Especially Henry.
The same was true for duke who has always been cold-hearted.
âYou guys donât hate me.â
On the contrary, wouldnât their feelings be more like a favor? I covered my mouth with both hands and laughed cheerfully. All the time, I used to chase them around and build up good feelings was worth it in the end.
When I got adopted, it was like heaven to me, but obstacles would come as I grew older. The real child of destiny will be revealed in the future. Soon after that, Iâll be the sacrifice in a ritual to seal evil spirits and this was not something Duke of Dubbled had a say in.
âHow much money do I need to save up for the future?â
I crawled up to the bed with my elephant bag.
âOne, two, three, âŠ, twenty five.â
I looked at the piling coins with a happy smile and put them back in the bag.
âWhen Iâve accumulated enough money, Iâll go to the information guild and make a fake ID.â
I should do this as soon as possible. Soon, around one year later, the law will be revised and the guild workers will be more attentive with the local residentâs data.
âIâm short on time and I canât depend on a single source forever. If this keeps on going, The money Iâve amassed would be far from enough.â
It was time to create slush funds. I couldnât make gold slush funds like Henry, but I could look for other ways to make money. I grinned and looked at the calendar.
âA wanted criminal is coming to Dubbled soon.â
The amount of the bounty is enormous because he was involved with an incident at the imperial palace. If I hand him over to the authorities, I would be awarded for capturing him.
Even a child could earn the reward.
But how did he come into Dubbledâs castle again? I heard he got caught while working in the estate. Was he one of the servants?
âNow that I think of it, finding him would be a breeze. I just need to check on all the new servants in the estate.â
Just as I was about to leave the room, a soft body collided into me.
âOuch!â
Lea was standing in front of me, she was rubbing my red nose and scanning my body for any injuries. As it was only a small bump there was no bruise on my body. When Lea saw that I was fine, she released a relieved sigh.
âYouâre up early today, little miss.â
Lea asked affectionately and I replied brazenly,
âYes!â
âIâm glad youâre so energetic in the morning. By the way, where are you going?â
I couldnât possibly tell Lea that she was going to visit the servantsâ lounge to check on the servantsâ list.
I shifted my eyes and murmured.
âLibwary.â (Library.)
âDidnât you borrow a lot of fairy tales yesterday?â
âI wawnt a new woneâŠ. studwy! Iâm gwoing to study!â (I want a new one⊠study! Iâm going to study!)
Leah wrapped one cheek with her hand, pondering, before she nodded her head in approval.
âI see. Youâre getting close to learning letters. Iâll tell the duke right away. Heâll give you a good teacher.â
âNo!â
I already learned the Imperial language three times. Itâs not necessary at all.
However Lea said proudly, âYouâre very admirable, little miss.â
I felt despair at the idea of having to learn the Imperial language from scratch in my fourth life as well.
***
When the duke heard the news he immediately sent Leblaine a teacher. He was the alumni of the School of Medicine and was ranked the first when he graduated. He also was the youngest person ever to pass the infamous imperial administrative examination and was experienced in teaching nobles.
âNos.â
Of course, the famous teacher that taught Henry and Isaac as well.
âDownât you have wowk?â (Donât you have work?)
âLittle miss⊠If you could see how many papers were piled up on my desk, youâd be shedding tears with me.â
Nos murmured with misty eyes.
I couldnât imagine how much work would Nos have, especially with the recent incident. That mustâve added more workload for him.
Heâs really pitiful. Working with such a cold-blooded and demanding boss.
âNow, letâs start the class. For our first meeting, you should learn the Imperial alphabet first. Look at this card, please.â
Nos was undoubtedly a capable man. He was not only good at handling documents, but he was a competent teacher as well. His explanation was smooth and his examples were on point, no wonder all the children under his education could learn quickly.
âCome on, little miss, repeat after me. Game.â