Chapter 9 – Missed You

The meeting was very different from what she had imagined.
On the way back, Laila recalled the duke, feeling relieved as the tension left her limbs.

“I failed…”

Regardless of the results of her work, the words he said kept ringing in her head.
While carefully making her way back to the spot she had snuck out from, Laila couldn’t think of anything else.
When she finally arrived in front of her destination, Laila quietly murmured to herself.

“You’re a villain.
It’s ridiculous.”

She wanted to describe him differently, but this was the best she could do.
She was flabbergasted.

“The medicinal effect…”

The medicinal properties of the always sweet painkillers had to stay in effect until they actually arrived at their location, but the effects were already weakening.

‘It’s probably around that time.’

She thought about the time before she was reborn—when her illness had become more severe.
The time when the use of superlative treatments didn’t work on her body.
Now, her illness was becoming increasingly worse.
It had gotten to the point where Laila could visibly see the effects of it on her body and knew she was going to die.

‘It’s okay.’ 

Laila paused, then took one of the painkillers she had been holding in her chest.
She didn’t have the courage to go see the family doctor, so she relied on a cheap and poisonous painkiller that she was barely able to afford with the money she earned while mending others’ clothing.
It was difficult to get one’s hands on these painkillers, so she had to take them sparingly.

‘If I didn’t have these, I wouldn’t even be able to move later.’

It wasn’t just her movements that would be affected, she would also suffer a lot from the tremendous pain.
Laila’s eyes clouded a little.
It took some time for the painkillers to take effect.
Before the medicine kicked in, her body had been devoured by a sudden sharp pain and she felt as if she was going to collapse with her back hunched over.

‘Please, not here,’ she thought. 

Laila ignored the cold sweat that ran down her back as she rushed to return to her place.
All of a sudden, someone reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.
Shocked, Laila turned her head to the side, her eyes widening slightly as she recognized the person who stopped her.

“Where are you running off to?” Rakiel Estevan, the younger of the twin brothers, asked with a scary smile on his face.

Act 2.
The Beginning of Change

Rakiel Estevan was the second son of Estevan Duchy and the younger of the twin brothers.
He was skilled at swordsmanship and although his speech was somewhat rough in the original text, he was unable to focus on anything and was tormented by it.

He was very friendly and warm towards those he liked, but was sick of Laila.

“Broth—”

Laila almost referred to him by the name she always said unconsciously, but stopped herself.
Rakiel’s face twitched for a moment at her actions.

“What? Why don’t you finish what you were saying?”

“…” 

She didn’t know what else to call him.
More importantly, she wondered why he was there.
Laila wanted to desperately know and found that she couldn’t tear her eyes off of her brother’s face.

“Why are you gazing at me like that?”

Rakiel smiled, revealing his white teeth.
At the same time, Laila could hear the sound of his teeth grinding together.

“Look at you, what is this? Did you go out like this? Why are you running around with a cheap piece of garment on?” 

For a moment, Laila couldn’t breathe and just stared at him silently.

“What? Is this for real? Why are you looking at me like that? You look like a beggar.”

Rakiel’s laughter disappeared from his face as he was about to mock Laila, when he looked at her with wide eyes.

“Huh…?” 

Her inconsistent breathing was proof that Laila was holding back her cries, but it was no use since tears were streaming down her face.
She had never cried in front of her brother before.
Rakiel was flustered and didn’t even realize that he had already let go of her arm.

‘This is not what I planned.’