I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18

8. Moonflower Inn

The moment I heard the name Moonflower Inn, I remembered where my other self had seen the Innkeeper Woman’s face before.
It was when my other self was twenty years old.

— Sherry, did you see this newspaper article?
— Young Miss, you always read the morning paper first. How would I know? What does it say?
— The owner of the Moonflower Inn was seriously injured trying to save a child from an almost fatal carriage accident. For a commoner to have their photograph printed in the paper, it must have been quite a severe injury. Do we still have any of this month’s allowance left?
— You’re asking if there’s money left to sponsor anonymously again, aren’t you? Yes, there is. Our young Miss of Stone House has so few desires.

I tugged gently at Father’s trousers. He patted my head, then flicked his thumb and ring finger together. This was one of the secret signals between Father and me.
Flicking the middle finger meant a reminder to keep competence hidden. Flicking the ring finger meant—.
‘Coordinating our actions?’
Father spoke to the discouraged Innkeeper Woman.
“Come to think of it, we had a rather light lunch. Berry, Theon. Are you hungry?”
“I’m fine—.”
“Yes! I’m very hungry!”
Though I had no memory of eating a light lunch, I raised my hand to affirm Father’s question.
“I see. Does the Moonflower Inn have a restaurant? We’re looking for a place to eat.”
“I… beg your pardon?”
“We might happen to see a sick child while we’re eating.”
Since we couldn’t visit the inn under the pretense of seeing Anne’s Younger Brother who was ill, we would visit under the guise of having a meal instead.
The Innkeeper Woman’s eyes glistened with tears. She had understood Father’s meaning.
“Of course! It’s a wonderful establishment. Our inn.”

***

Moonflower Inn, first floor.
Reytan watched the boy on the bed trembling violently across his entire body. Younger than Berry Quartz Trabel, the child was also smaller in frame.
Berry Quartz Trabel examined the boy’s condition intently, then said she would step out.
Perhaps painful memories had surfaced for her.
“….”
Reytan spoke to the Innkeeper Woman standing nearby.
“The medicine prescribed by the physician had no effect?”
“It’s gotten worse. The biggest problem is his body temperature dropping. Even now, if you touch him, his skin is as cold as if exposed to winter wind. According to someone who lived nearby, the medicine he originally took used to work….”
“There might be a prescription at Anne’s house.”
“Ah, that could be. I heard her belongings are still there untouched.”
Color returned to the Innkeeper Woman’s face at Reytan’s words.
Since the Knights had cast the boy out with nothing, there was a possibility the prescription remained somewhere in the empty house.
“If you find it, have someone bring it. For now, I’ll send another physician—have him examined. This should cover the costs.”
“This much?”
The Innkeeper Woman’s eyes widened at the seven gold coins Reytan handed her. One gold coin was worth one million Cona.
“The medicine won’t even cost one gold coin.”
“Use the remainder for lodging if there’s any left.”
Reytan turned his gaze back to the boy, as if he had nothing more to say about the coins.
The sight of the small child lying in bed, groaning and suffering, was not a distant matter to Reytan.
The same was true for Theon standing beside Reytan.
“….”
Theon had been standing quietly beside Reytan since earlier, gazing at the bed.

“Mother!”

It was beneath the summer sun. His mother had collapsed suddenly one day and spent months unable to leave her sickbed.
Each time he saw his mother’s strength fade and her body wither, Theon feared she would leave him forever. Yet he did not show it.
He was eight years old. Theon trained in swordsmanship alone, helped his grandparents with their duties in spare moments, and spent all other time at his mother’s side.
Then came that day.

“Oh, my child. Just hold on a little longer…. Just endure a little more….”
“Dear! The physician has arrived!”

It was when his grandparents had briefly stepped away to greet the physician.
His mother, who had been gasping as if her breath would fail, gripped his hand tightly with her own.
It was a strength that could not have come from someone about to die.

“Theon, I have something to tell you.”

Wheeze—. Wheeze—.
Each time she spoke to me, it felt as though a knife scraped against the walls of her throat. The ragged, labored breathing seemed to claw at Theon’s eardrums as well.
Theon urged his mother to stop speaking, but she pressed a small pocket watch into his hands and continued.

“It’s something your father left behind, long ago. Until you can stand before him of your own accord, don’t let anyone discover it.”

Father? There was so much I wanted to ask. But those were my mother’s final words.
“Gasp…, hah….”
Ragged breaths burst from Anne’s Younger Brother’s lips in his distress. They sounded just like my mother’s breathing.
Reytan, noticing the subtle shift in Theon’s expression, sent the child outside.
“Go stay with Berry.”
“…Yes.”
Theon left the room.
Sniffle.
Theon gently touched the tip of his nose, then pressed his eye sockets firmly with his palms. Good. The tears receded.
As he looked around the inn for Berry, a Knight standing guard in the Corridor spoke to him.
“Theon, looking for Miss Berry?”
“Yes. Where is she?”
“Out back of the inn. She’s playing house with some other children there.”
Playing house? Theon tilted his head in confusion and walked in the direction the Knight had indicated.
Berry was seven years old, but she didn’t seem the type to engage in such childish games without reason.
The Berry that Theon knew was childlike yet mature, and sometimes it felt as though she understood far more than he did.
Berry playing house? He couldn’t quite picture it.
“Berry.”
In the courtyard, Berry was grinding something in a mortar. She had been chattering away with the Knights, but at Theon’s call, she lifted her head and grinned.
There must be a reason for what she’s doing.
Seeing Berry’s characteristic bright and mischievous expression, Theon became certain. It was a conviction born purely from intuition, without any clear justification—but Theon knew his instincts were usually sound.
“Master said to stay with me.”
Theon quietly took a seat beside Berry. Being near her brought him a sense of ease.
He felt something similar when with Reytan, but since he was his master and a legendary figure who had risen to the exalted rank of Grand Master, tension was inevitable.
To be honest, I still didn’t know why he had accepted me as his disciple. I had asked him this morning when training began, but his answer was cryptic: “I saw the wind.” Nothing more.
“Is that so? Then would you grind this for me? I’ll go pick some herbs!”
“Sure.”
Theon accepted the mortar Berry handed him without hesitation. The small wooden mortar from the inn’s kitchen released a fresh, bitter aroma that assaulted his senses—the scent of juice being pressed from the already-ground herbs.
Berry quickly added freshly picked leaves to the mortar. The tips of the green leaves bore a reddish tint.
“I’m counting on you.”
“What are you making?”
At Theon’s question, Berry giggled.
“Medicine.”
“Medicine?”
“Yes. Anne’s Younger Brother is very ill, so I’m going to make medicine for him!”
My goodness, our Miss Berry has such a generous heart.
The Knights nearby praised Berry affectionately. They simply admired the child’s compassion for a patient, but no one truly believed this was actual medicine.
Theon nodded.
“I see.”

***

‘Twenty-Month Sickness.’
That was my diagnosis the moment I laid eyes on Anne’s Younger Brother.
I had suspected the illness from the symptoms the Innkeeper Woman described, but what confirmed it was the triangular ears twitching between the crimson hair.
It was a rare disease among the Wolf Tribe. Parched lips scraped against fangs, leaving blood and wounds that never ceased; no matter how much the surrounding temperature rose, body heat only plummeted, causing relentless chills; and blue bruises appeared and disappeared across the body without reason. These were the hallmarks of the affliction.
It was called Twenty-Month Sickness because patients died exactly twenty months after infection.
‘I didn’t know Anne’s Younger Brother was a half-blood Wolf Tribe member. Since Anne is human, one of their parents must be different.’
Whatever the circumstances, now I understood why Anne worked as a spy under her aunt. This illness was still rare, with no proper cure available, so the best approach was to use medicines effective against individual symptoms to alleviate them.
That’s why the medicine was so expensive. Even though the cure was everywhere around us.
‘If I harvest it myself, zero cona! If I buy it at the market, about 500 cona?’
The cure for Twenty-Month Sickness was absurdly simple compared to the suffering and death it caused.
Consuming juice extracted from the leaves of a two-year-old Moonflower for five consecutive days would eliminate all symptoms, and taking it regularly each year would prevent any recurrence.
‘Now the problem is how to get him to take it—’
I ground the leaves in a mortar while carefully observing the Knights’ expressions. They were playing along with my claim of making medicine, but if I actually tried to feed this to Anne’s Younger Brother, they would all jump up and stop me without question.
It would look like nothing more than trying to feed a patient sand-shaped rice balls that a child made during pretend play.
‘Hmm, I think sneaking it in secretly would be best!’

And my plan had fallen apart.
Now, while Father hadn’t finished his meal at the restaurant, was the perfect opportunity! But Theon refused to leave my side for even a moment.
I tried everything—saying I needed to use the lavatory, claiming I’d left something in the carriage—but unlike the Knights who fell for such excuses, Theon wore an expression that made it clear nothing would work. He had appointed himself my shadow.
“Theon, I’d like to be alone for a bit….”
“Master instructed me to keep watch over you.”
It was hopeless. I circled near the bushes where I’d hidden the mortar, racking my brain for a way to slip into Anne’s Younger Brother’s room with it.
It’s on the first floor, so maybe through the window… but my head barely reaches the windowsill.
“Are you going to throw away the medicine?”
“Huh?”
I spun around sharply.
“You made that medicine earlier to give to the maid’s younger sister, remember?”
“Oh….”
Was he joking? I studied Theon’s face carefully, but there wasn’t a hint of jest anywhere on those handsome features.
“You actually think the medicine I made would be effective…?”
“Isn’t it made from medicinal herbs? I assumed Master ordered you to make it. Just like when you said you were hungry earlier. It would be difficult if Master had to do it personally.”
“Oh. Right.”
A perfect excuse had landed in my lap.
I eagerly seized upon Theon’s words.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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