The World Mistakes Me for Terminally Ill - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The World Thinks I’m Terminally Ill Episode 023

“Don’t put your loyalty on a scale anymore. That’s not something you can put a price on.”

“….”

“A few mere gold coins can’t replace a shining person like Sir Jeron, can they?”

This is the treatment you rightfully deserve.

‘Of course. How precious are trained knights? Lunein only has twenty of them. We need to cherish every single one.’

That’s what I meant to say, but the honest knight’s eyes shook strongly.

“That….”

He bit his lips tightly and bowed his head.

“…Thank you.”

“Good. Seeing that you’re here at this time, you must be on leave or taking a half-day off?”

“Yes, I’m scheduled to return in the afternoon.”

“Then when you return, tell the other knights to get medical checkups. I see that none of them came. You can’t just work them hard because they’re sturdy.”

If even one of them fell ill now, the already compromised security of the estate would surely collapse completely.

‘Your bodies don’t belong to you alone.’

So they absolutely had to stay healthy, healthy above all.

That’s what I meant by my nagging, but Jeron spoke with an even more solemn expression than before.

“I will definitely convey that message.”

“Yes, please do.”

I parted ways with Jeron and left the Medical Center.

The street scenery was showing off the beauty of late spring.

Though there weren’t colorful flowering trees like in the capital, the year-round snow-capped mountain scenery provided a unique charm.

As I walked while admiring it, I heard the sounds of daily life.

“Isn’t life better these days than before?”

“That’s right.”

Those words gave me a strange feeling.

How should I put it? A sense of accomplishment? It was something like that emotion.

‘Right, it’s definitely correct to revive the Northern Region. With me here, how can we be last place in the livable estate rankings? Absolutely not.’

I ground my teeth remembering Lunein, which ranked 101st in the [101 Most Livable Estates Rankings] I saw in a gossip newspaper article recently.

Just wait three years. I’ll make that ranking number one.

Because I was walking while burning with determination inside, I missed their next conversation.

“But isn’t all this happening after Bella came to the castle?”

“That’s right.”

“I heard she’s incredibly famous even in the capital… She wouldn’t go back to the capital, would she?”

“Oh, surely not. She’s a Lunein now.”

“Right, a Lunein. The great Lunein.”

“Actually, I’m worried about something else. I heard from my in-law’s relative’s eighth cousin who’s a stable keeper at the Grand Duke’s Castle that Bella has a serious chronic illness. Just the other day, she even coughed up blood.”

“My goodness, is she very sick?”

“That’s what worries me.”

Rumors about Elisia’s health were secretly spreading throughout the capital city.

‘Why is this plaza so run-down? Is this statue from a thousand years ago or what? Does this fountain even work?’

Of course, I was too busy clutching the back of my neck at the shabby state of the capital city that caught my eye once the castle maintenance was roughly finished to notice.

‘There’s no choice. Let’s tear it all down and rebuild.’

Money is indeed the answer.

Only money can save Lunein.

I headed toward the train station construction site with thoughts like a cult leader.

“You’re here.”

Elisia arrived exactly on time for the appointment.

The waiting knights hesitated when they saw the Duchess speak first.

‘His Grace greeted her first…?’

‘Wasn’t that honey-dripping voice something he only used with the Duchess?’

Of course, Elisia didn’t notice the knights’ silent shock.

To her, this taciturn father-in-law was ‘a wonderful and adorable father who can share my hobbies.’

Not knowing Jerkhal’s other side, she smiled brightly and asked.

“Yes, Father. Am I late?”

“No.”

The wind blew, making Elisia’s brilliant golden hair flutter.

The knights found themselves unconsciously captivated by the vividly colored hair rarely seen in the Northern Region.

Seeing that golden hair naturally brought back memories of the banquet hall.

The moment when intense confidence shone like a halo from that small, delicate-looking body.

“But what is that?”

“This?”

When he asked his daughter-in-law, who was undoubtedly the most glamorous person he’d ever seen, Elisia lifted up a palm-length magic gun and said.

“It’s my weapon.”

A brief silence fell.

“…Isn’t that a gun? Why do you have that?”

“I have to protect myself. Shooting is the only self-defense technique I learned.”

Though it looked more like a work of art than a weapon, a gun was still a gun.

Jerkhal was momentarily at a loss for words seeing his daughter-in-law come out with a gun despite him and the knights being present.

‘Does she not trust me?’

Well, to Elisia, he would still be a stranger.

Jerkhal Runein was the unfortunate family head barely holding onto a great family that was increasingly declining.

A hundred years is time for three generations to change. The glorious past was too distant, and he had carried a heavy burden since birth.

The enormous burden of having to revive the family.

‘…This child said she would break that chain.’

Though Elisia spoke of it as if it were nothing, to Jerkhal it was a shock that turned his perception upside down.

In his youth, he too had been quite spirited. He had attracted investment to the Northern Region and done everything he could.

But everything ended in failure, and he was left wandering the frontier with only the mission to ‘protect the Northern Region.’

Now no one speaks of Lunein’s recovery. Just as he had grown weary, others had grown weary too.

‘That’s only when there’s history.’

‘I think this place is a castle built from dragon bones.’

But naturally, someone appeared who spoke of such things.

Someone who made him remember what he had forgotten due to being soaked in resignation for too long.

The pride of being with the greatest family. It was inevitable that Elisia, who spoke of a thousand years of history, would strike his eyes like lightning when such shining things were fading from him.

Perhaps because he had been waiting for someone to say such things all along.

‘Besides, the child is quite sociable.’

Usually, people couldn’t even make eye contact with him.

He couldn’t push away a daughter-in-law who approached him warmly with desserts she said she made herself.

“Um, perhaps….”

He was about to say: Don’t you trust me? Even though I’m a pathetic family head who couldn’t protect the family, my personal martial prowess isn’t lacking. I can protect you.

“Oh, is it too conspicuous?”

Elisia tilted her head and spoke as if she understood.

“Then I should change its appearance. The other estate residents might indeed be frightened.”

The moment she said that, the magic gun transformed into an elegant parasol.

Jerkhal asked in surprise.

“Is it a magic tool?”

“A magic tool, you could say. Yes, it’s a self-defense magic tool.”

Though Elisia made a slightly subtle expression for a moment, she gave an affirmative answer.

She smiled brightly.

“Now then, let’s depart, Father!”

Then she quickly linked arms with Jerkhal.

Jerkhal was flustered.

This was none other than the Duke of Runein. There was no way anyone would touch his body so casually.

‘Normally I would have pushed them away—’

But his opponent was small, sweet as honey, and his daughter-in-law.

As he hesitated, unable to push her away, Elisia stood on her tiptoes and held the parasol over his head.

“The sunlight is harsh.”

“I am a warrior. This much is nothing…”

“I know Father is the strongest and most wonderful person in the world. But people aren’t made of steel. Everyone gets dazzled by bright light and feels fatigue from exhaustion.”

And as she smiled with her eyes crinkling, Jerkhal found himself speechless.

In the end, he awkwardly adjusted his posture to match Elisia’s height.

“Ahem.”

Laughter could be heard from behind.

When he turned around sharply, the knights pretended not to notice.

He couldn’t identify the culprit who had mocked him—or so Jerkhal felt—because he was pulled away by a small force before he could.

Such a small force that would fall away if he applied even a little strength.

Yet like the sun’s gravity pulling in stars, Jerkhal was drawn by that force.

“Let’s buy something delicious on our way back! I heard milk pudding is all the rage in the Capital City these days.”

“…Alright.”

However, he did not know.

“Let’s do that.”

That he would be unable to keep that promise with the child.

He never knew.

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