Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss-Chapter 123: Consumption And The Third Great Calamity
Now that Ren was thinking clearly, he could see it. His father had been preparing all along. Preparing for a war.
If the man had made overt preparation, it would've raised questions among the nobles of Albion and could end with him being summoned to the capital, to defend his actions before the king.
But his father was smart. He was preparing in ways that wouldn't raise any suspicion. He'd had the castle defenses charged discreetly, the pillars on the roof fed with blood.
He'd had Ren make sure the defenses around the village and castle were up to par.
There was an increase in the number of squires recruited and they were still being trained at the castle, staying longer than normal squires.
Not just that, but his father had also been buying up more food than usual, storing them up.
Taken separately, there was nothing unusual about Lord Ross' actions. But taken together, Ren could sense what his father had in mind.
His mind went to the coin that was currently on its way to the border. It had been three days since the coin had left. He couldn't wait for it to get to the border and for him to begin his scouting. Just four days remaining.
For now, it was time to visit his fiancee. He'd been so busy that he hadn't been able to visit since they'd visited the field of roses.
With a grin on his face, he teleported, appearing right in Lilith's room.
"What the?"
He was at Lilith's side in a flash. "What happened?!" He glanced up at Elias, who stood solemnly, before looking down at Lilith in concern.
Her pale skin had grown healthier when she'd drunk the antidote for the Penny Prince's poison at the capital but now… her skin was the palest he'd seen it. If she grew any paler, he was sure they'd be able to see her internal organs.
She looked sick, her lips blue as if she had hypothermia. She was shivering slightly and her eyes were closed. She looked asleep.
"She's sick." Elias said.
"I can bloody see that. What happened to her? She was fine a few days ago." Ren touched her forehead and almost yanked his hand back. "Fucking hell!" She was burning up!
Her fever wasn't anywhere near the level of a normal human. It was as if she was on fire!
"After you guys came back from wherever you went, she fell ill. We think it's consumption."
"Consumption?!" Ren stared at Elias incredulously. Lilith has Tuberculosis?! "So, what can we do about it?"
He knew that while healers could regenerate body parts, they had a hard time curing illnesses. There was just something about viruses, bacteria and fungi that resisted the power of bloodbinding.
That was why people could still grow sick and die from it in this kind of world. Why his mother was still as frail as she was.
"Nothing." Elias answered with a sigh. "Lilith rarely grows sick but when she does, it usually goes really fast." He explained.
"There was a time I was sick with the flu and passed it to Lilith somehow. It took me three days to even begin feeling better but Lilith was better in an hour. She went through everything that I did in three days in the space of that hour."
"Her Soul Dominion does this to illnesses, so there's nothing we can do about that. It's currently fighting the consumption and we can only wait and see."
Ren gritted his teeth, his hands wrapped around Lilith's. She had to be okay. He glanced back up to Elias. "How long do we have until she's better?"
"With how long she's been sick, I think it'll take her a few weeks."
"Shit." Ren cursed, running a hand through his hair. People died from tuberculosis, especially in a medieval world like this. And it wasn't as if he had an idea of how to create even something as simple as Penicillin.
But this was Lilith. There was no way she'd die. It was practically impossible. The third and strongest of the three Great Calamities erased from the world by tuberculosis? Nah. Impossible.
"Ren." Lilith called out, faint and weak.
His head snapped down to see her eyes fluttering open. "Lilith!" He moved closer, speaking urgently. "Are you okay?"
"Move back, Lord Ren." Elias stepped forward. "There's a high chance you could contract it!"
Ren ignored him, focused on Lilith.
"You're here." She whispered, a weak smile on her face. "You didn't leave me."
Foll𝑜w current novels on fɾēewebnσveℓ.com.
"Of course, I'm here." Ren whispered urgently to her as her eyes slowly fluttered close, her energy spent. "I'll never leave you, Lilith. Never."
Silence filled the room as Lilith slipped into sleep once more. His hand clutched hers tighter, ignoring the way it burned. She'll pull through this. If anyone could, it was Lilith Underwood.
"WHERE IS HE?!" A roar split the air and the door banged open.
Ren was on his feet as Lord Underwood stormed into the room. The man's eyes immediately landed on Ren. "You!" The man snarled, his eyes dark and the veins in his neck bulging.
"Me?" Ren blinked in confusion, pointing to himself.
Lord Underwood moved fast, grabbing Ren's collar, raising him as he dashed forward, pinning him to the wall. "You!"
Ren coughed as his back slammed into the wall, his shirt digging into his neck. He could easily phase out of the man's grip, but he could see pain more than fury in the man's eyes.
"Where did you take my daughter to?! What illness did you give her?!" Lord Underwood snarled, the alcohol on his breath hitting Ren. "ANSWER ME!"
Ren's hand gripped the man's hand, unable to speak. There was nothing he could say to soothe the man.
"ANSWER ME?!" The man roared. Then, as if a switch flipped in his brain, he realized what he was doing to Ren.
He released his grip on Ren's collar, eyes wide as he stumbled back.
Ren began coughing as air flooded his lungs and just as he stumbled to his feet, Lord Underwood turned and strode outside the room as fast as he had come.
"I'm sorry." Elias said in the quiet of the room. "With Octavian missing and Lilith now sick…" He trailed off.
"I understand." Ren said softly, looking in the direction the man had left in.
Lord Underwood was getting worse.
