Chapter 167
“Edwin?”
Lynette let out a sharp sound before she realized it.
The scrawny boy gave a faint groan.
“Are you alright?! Edwin!”
She knelt on the floor and grabbed Edwin into her arms.
His weight felt as light as he looked.
Even when Lynette doesn’t have much strength, she could still lift him up.
Through his tangled hair, she could see his pale face.
“Edwin!”
She called the boy’s name for the third time, but there was still no answer.
When she brushed his messy hair aside from his white forehead, she felt his burning skin.
Lynette’s eyes widened.
She urgently placed her hand on Edwin’s forehead.
His fever felt like it was boiling.
His eyes had already lost focus, and his lips were so dried out they were cracking apart.
“Miss?”
The innkeeper seemed to have spotted her crouched at the entrance and approached with a puzzled voice.
‘What do I do?’
She bit down on her lip.
She had just told herself she shouldn’t get involved, yet here she is meeting him again like this.
But she couldn’t drive out a sick child.
Lynette lifted Edwin in her arms.
He’s thin, yes, but he still had some weight, though not enough to make him impossible to carry.
“Whose child is that, Miss?”
“He has a fever. Please bring some cold water and a towel.”
The innkeeper stared blankly for a brief moment, then went inside without asking any more questions.
Returning to the room, she laid the boy on the bed and checked his burning forehead again.
The innkeeper soon came up and handed her a basin of cold water and a towel, then carefully asked a question.
“Shall I call a doctor?”
“Yes, please.”
“What’s going on?”
Sillian approached through the open door, as if he sensed something had happened.
The man frowned slightly when he saw the boy lying on the bed.
“He has a high fever.”
“…He came all the way here?”
“Yes.”
Lynette wrung out the towel tightly and wiped the boy’s burning skin.
Sillian let out a sigh and slowly came closer.
She parted her lips and explained, almost as if making an excuse.
“He collapsed in front of the door. I couldn’t just tell a sick child to go away.”
Without a word, Sillian took the towel from her hand and cooled the boy’s fever himself.
When she stepped aside, he lifted the child’s body.
The moment he removed Edwin’s shirt, Lynette let out a small gasp.
“So there is a reason for the fever.”
The man muttered with a sigh mixed into his voice, then laid Edwin back down.
“Why? who…?”
A trembling question escaped from her lips.
She knew he wouldn’t have the answer, but she couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“I suspect the Count.”
He answered calmly, then wiped the boy’s body and face again with the cold towel.
As she stared at the small body covered in long red marks, she turned her head away.
His back, his chest.
Even his arms were a mess. As if someone had beaten him without restraint.
From elbows to wrists, the welts were especially bad, likely from trying to shield himself.
Edwin let out a faint groan as the cold towel touched his skin.
‘There’s no one else but the Count.’
Even if Edwin had been stripped of his title and deemed useless, he is still the former Count.
The servants might bully him, but they wouldn’t beat him like this.
Lynette squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them.
She staggered slightly and slumped into a chair.
Sillian glanced at her briefly, then continued tending to the child.
She fixed her gaze on the corner of the room, unable to look directly at the countless red marks on the child’s body.
“Why would he do this?”
It wasn’t a question seeking an answer.
Sillian seemed to know that too, offering no pointless reply.
‘Was it because he went outside? Or because I bought him food?’
If a child in this condition had wandered around the streets, someone would have noticed.
Judging by the fact that no one did, he must not have been outside at all.
Well, even if the man had succeeded in taking the title, he wouldn’t want anyone to know that he’s abusing the former Count.
Lynette bit her lip hard.
She didn’t know what had caused the beating, but she felt partly responsible.
Even if Edwin sneaks out, it wouldn’t have mattered if he had gone straight back without meeting anyone.
But he met her, received food, and had even been escorted to the entrance of the manor.
‘I shouldn’t have done that.’
But even if she returned to that moment, she knew she would reach out again.
Even if she knew that he’s the former Count.
She was lost in thought, frowning, when Sillian lightly tapped her.
Startled, she lifted her head.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Only then did she realize that the doctor had arrived.
The middle-aged man examined Edwin’s body, then looked at both of them with a suspicious expression.
As if wondering whether they were the ones who had beaten him.
Unsure whether to explain, Lynette glanced at Sillian.
He must have noticed the doctor’s suspicion as well, yet he said nothing.
Lynette kept her mouth shut as well.
There’s nothing she could say.
Rather than offering clumsy excuses and making things worse, it would be better to just let him imagine whatever he wished.
“Other than the fever, there doesn’t seem to be any major issue. I don’t think any bones are damaged…”
After handing over the medicine, the doctor collected his fee and left.
“It’s fortunate that there doesn’t seem to be any serious harm.”
Sillian spoke calmly as he lifted the child’s body up and gave him the medicine.
Then he cooled the fever again with the cold towel.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.