Chapter 33. The Incident That Should Never Have Happened

“Cough!”

Plop. A red object fell between her dry fingers.

Where her gaze unconsciously lowered, a disorderly round mark had formed.

Rasiel momentarily found it difficult to identify the red circle and turned her head toward the mirror.

“Ah……”

The clearly reflected image in the mirror was chilling.

She thought this must be what a vampire looks like after drinking blood.

Unfortunately, however, she was not a vampire, and this was blood she had coughed up.

The moment Rasiel realized she had coughed up blood, she felt as if her heart had dropped to the floor.

A loud warning alarm buzzed in her head, signaling an emergency.

And the word that crossed her mind declaring this emergency was ‘tuberculosis.’

At the word flashing through her mind, Rasiel turned pale and her face crumpled.

‘What should I do? What should I do?’

She had no time to feel any discomfort in her throat or deeper inside.

Rasiel found herself stomping her feet involuntarily, more overwhelmed by what might happen because of this than by her physical abnormality.

‘If I really have tuberculosis…… What if I’ve infected others?’

An even greater fear than before washed over her.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, and she felt like she might cry at any moment.

Just then, a knock sounded.

‘Hic.’

Rasiel looked at the door as she hastily drew in a breath.

“Wh-who……”

“Miss, it’s Jane. You need to go to the memorial banquet.”

“Ah. Yes! J-just a moment.”

Rasiel quickly bent down to wipe away the bloodstain on the floor with a handkerchief, then ran to the bathroom and locked the door.

“Miss? Oh? Are you in the bathroom?”

“Yes.”

Still anxious despite having locked the door, Rasiel turned on the faucet to wash her hands and wipe away the blood around her mouth while repeatedly glancing at the door.

“Would you like me to help you?”

“N-no.”

“The young masters are waiting to go together with you.”

At the news Jane brought, Rasiel’s face turned even whiter.

With a clear sense of dismay on her face, she hurriedly spoke while checking if there was blood anywhere else.

“Um…… could you tell them to go ahead without me?”

“Pardon?”

Jane was puzzled by the unexpected request.

Hearing her questioning voice, Rasiel confirmed that no blood had gotten on her dress, took a deep breath, and stepped away from the sink.

“I’m just, really too nervous. I think I’ll attract more attention if I go with my brothers. Couldn’t I just slip in by myself?”

Rasiel poked her head out of the bathroom, pretending to be calm as if nothing had happened.

“This is supposed to be an occasion to formally introduce you, Miss. Wouldn’t it be better to enter together?”

“I know…… but I want to attract as little attention as possible.”

Rasiel picked at her fingertips with a troubled expression.

Having spent several months with Rasiel, Jane knew her habits and decided to back off for now.

“I’ll relay your message.”

“Thank you, Jane.”

“It’s nothing.”

After Jane left, Rasiel returned to the spot where she had bled earlier.

She carefully examined whether anything had been left uncleaned.

“This spot is fine, but what about the handkerchief?”

She wasn’t sure if the blood would wash out well.

Rasiel went back to the bathroom and took out the hidden handkerchief.

The handkerchief stained crimson red was horrifying.

Her expression twisted as if she had witnessed something terrible.

“No. It can’t be tuberculosis. The recent examination showed no problems.”

Rasiel pushed away the approaching anxiety and scrubbed the handkerchief vigorously after soaking it in cold water.

Fortunately, since it hadn’t been left unattended for long, the blood washed out of the handkerchief quickly.

Rasiel held up the handkerchief to the light to check, wrung out the water once more, and placed it in the laundry basket.

She made sure to hide it among other laundry items.

Only then did she exhale the breath she had been holding.

“Ah.”

As she breathed out several times—haa, haa—the sensations she hadn’t felt due to her shock all rushed in at once.

Rasiel grabbed the laundry basket and sank to the floor, overcome by a heavy dizziness that didn’t seem likely to subside easily.

Unable to stand up right away, she closed her eyes tightly and took deep breaths while still holding onto the basket.

Trying to convince herself that she would be fine.

“Oh my! Miss. Are you feeling unwell?”

Jane lowered herself and gently placed a hand on Rasiel’s shoulder.

Startled, Rasiel opened her eyes and hastily offered an excuse.

“I-I slipped. While being clumsy.”

“Oh dear. Are you hurt anywhere? Did you scrape your knee or twist your ankle?”

“I’m fine.”

Jane hurriedly lifted the hem of Rasiel’s dress.

The thin legs hidden under the dress were revealed. Since she hadn’t actually slipped and fallen, there wasn’t even a single bruise.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re injured. Still, you need to be careful. The bathroom is a place where water is used, so you could get seriously hurt if you’re not careful.”

“Yes. I’ll be careful.”

“Shall we get up?”

Leaning on Jane, Rasiel carefully stood up.

Perhaps because she had been sitting for a while, the ground didn’t ripple nor did the sky spin around.

Her throat felt dry and uncomfortable, but there was no severe pain.

That was fortunate, if anything could be called fortunate.

‘For having coughed up blood, my physical condition doesn’t seem too bad…… but what if it happens again?’

She worried about how long she could keep this a secret.

She had managed to get through it somehow this time, but there was no guarantee she could do so unnoticed next time.

Rasiel bit the inside of her mouth to hide her dismay.

‘What should I do in this situation?’

In the past, there would have been no question of hiding or not—she would have simply endured it without thinking.

That’s what everyone living on the streets did.

Either it got better with time, or you got used to it, or it worsened until something went wrong.

But now, this was no longer life on the streets.

Suddenly, she remembered what the Emperor had told her.

‘Mosteros will protect you like their own blood and pour affection on you through their tight bonds. Don’t refuse it. Use them. They’re people who want that.’

‘That’s right, now I have a family, a family.’

Many things had changed from before.

In this changed environment, kind people were by her side.

Perhaps it was she who was still clinging to the past.

Rasiel clenched her fists and her eyes shone.

She thought it would be better to reveal what she had been hastily hiding out of shock.

Now that she had people to discuss with and find solutions together, that seemed like the better choice that wouldn’t worsen her illness or the situation.

“I need to go to the banquet hall.”

“Would you like to go now?”

“Yes. I have something to tell the four of them.”

“Let me just fix this ribbon and I’ll escort you.”

Jane untied the ribbon in Rasiel’s hair.

She wrapped it around her head like a headband, made a pretty bow shape, and tied a knot.

“All done. Let’s go.”

Rasiel nodded and cleared her throat with a cough.

She touched her rough throat and left the room, heading toward the grand banquet hall.

⁕⁕⁕

Standing in front of the banquet hall, Rasiel unconsciously gripped Jane’s hand tightly.

“Are you nervous?”

“A little.”

She had never even imagined that she could come to a place like this in her lifetime.

The unfamiliar environment naturally brought tension, making her swallow dry saliva.

Through the gaps where light leaked out, fine melodies flowed, mixed with cheerful conversation.

“Shall I announce you?”

“N-no. No.”

Rasiel shook her hand so vigorously that her wrist might have dislocated.

“I’ll just slip in through the open door.”

“Then do so.”

Rasiel climbed the three low steps with her gait that had changed over the past few months.

Moving lightly, Rasiel peered inside through the open door gap, visibly tense.

The banquet hall was already filled with most of the people who needed to be there.

The groups of people weren’t paying any attention to the entrance.

Rasiel slipped into the banquet hall while everyone was absorbed in their own affairs.

Despite her eyes having adjusted to the light while peeking inside, it was still dazzling when she entered.

The pouring light flickered, making her vision dizzy.

“Miss.”

Rasiel shook her head while closing her eyes.

Jane slightly supported Rasiel’s back with a worried expression.

“I-I’m fine. Just a little……”

Rasiel opened her eyes and blinked, trying to focus.

After some effort, her eyes adapted to the new and unfamiliar world.

Rasiel deliberately walked along the edge of the banquet hall, looking for familiar faces.

Her gaze, scanning up the banquet hall, soon fixed on one person.

Even among people dressed so lavishly that it made her eyes roll, Rapellian stood out distinctly.

‘Young Master.’

Though he was always impressive, today he was dressed particularly splendidly, surrounded by numerous people.

“Jane, let’s go over there……”

Rasiel was about to approach him but stopped in her tracks.

There were notably many women around him.

She didn’t know what they were talking about, but the atmosphere seemed quite cheerful.

‘They’re real ladies.’

Unlike her, they were healthy and beautiful with luxurious hair elegantly styled—women who anyone would call ladies.

Rasiel shifted her gaze from him to look at herself reflected in the window.

Even from the blurry reflection, she seemed unable to match even their toes.

Though she had done her best to dress up, it felt rather unsightly, like traces of trying too hard to look good.

Unable to look at her ungainly self any longer, she turned her head to look at her feet.

‘It hurts.’

Her stomach, which hadn’t been hurting before, began to throb.

More precisely, it felt like her heart area was aching.

Why would her heart hurt when she had coughed up blood?

She took a deep breath into her painfully tingling chest, but even the air entering deep into her lungs felt painful.

It didn’t seem to have hurt this much when she coughed up blood, but now it was unbearably painful.

“Miss?”

Sensing something amiss, Jane slightly lowered herself to meet Rasiel’s eye level.

“I……”

As she raised her head to answer Jane’s call, her eyes met Rapellian’s from across the room.

He drew a curve on his lips with a feeling different from usual.

With a strange sense of distance, Rasiel felt her heart sink.

“I, I want to go back……”

Rapellian was making his way through the crowd toward her.

But for some reason, Rasiel didn’t want to face him.

Her heart wanted to turn back and leave the way she had come.

At that moment, suddenly, a high-pitched ringing sound pierced her left ear, and a terrible headache struck.

“Ah.”

Rasiel frowned, clutching her head.

“Miss!”

Rasiel staggered, unable to answer the call.

Whether it was because of the lights on the lavish chandelier, the peculiar smell of various perfumes mixed together, the heat emanating from people, or the strange emotion rising within her.

The floor rippled like waves, and the ceiling spun around.

Her stomach churned, feeling like she might vomit everything she had eaten at any moment.

“Ugh!”

“Miss!”

‘Ah, it’s not the world spinning, it’s me……’

The moment she realized this, Rasiel lost all strength in her body and fell backward, losing consciousness.