'Poison-'
Ian grabbed the edges of the table with his back bent, shivering non-stop. He could faintly hear Alaric's voice, calling out his name in confusion, yet there was no way Ian could respond. It was already too hard for him to breathe. He struggled a little bit to finally let out a breath with a dry cough, feeling his insides burning and melting.
Drops of red liquid dripped down his chin and wet his white shirt. More blood trickled down as he kept coughing as if having a fit.
'The tea was poisoned? How? Why?'
"Gasp- cough!" It got a little bit easier for Ian to breathe after coughing a few times. While curled up and panting for air, he slightly raised his head. What he saw was a pale, panicked face, and an expression close to tears.
"I-Ian, this, ah?" Alaric got up, reaching out his hand towards the servant, but retracted it in haste and took a few steps back.
'Bro I'm dying do something, why are you running?!'
"Cough!"
There would usually be a few servants and guards in the room, but as everyone was preparing for the departure, there were only Ian and Alaric inside.
"Is there- Is there anyone? Hey? Someone?"
At Alaric's shout, the door slammed open and a bulky man rushed inside.
"Young master are you alright-" Laim, who had drawn out his sword and was ready to battle, froze on his spot upon seeing the scene. The blue-haired servant's body, which was covered in blood, tilted to one side and fell off the chair.
"Ian!" The young master grabbed the boy's body and shouted at the guards, "Call a doctor! Call someone!"
A few of the guards ran out to call the doctor while Liam approached the servant and pulled him out of Alaric's arms. Changing the body's position, he held the panting boy in a way that'd prevent the blood from blocking his respiratory tract first before checking his pulse.
"Young master, are you alright? Do you feel uncomfortable somewhere?"
"M-me?" Alaric wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. "I'm fine, he's not! Ian suddenly coughed blood! What's the problem? Was he sick? Is he alright?"
"Cough!"
Liam looked back at the blue-haired servant, frowning.
"It's poison, young master. You two ate the same food so if the food was poisoned, you too are in danger."
"Ah?" Alaric blinked a few times before shaking his head. "No, no I'm f-fine!"
"What is the problem?"
Someone entered the room at that moment. He was the young master's personal doctor who held a bag in one hand and ran to Alaric's side. Liam was the one who answered him.
"The servant has been poisoned."
"Ah..." the doctor's expression eased. "It's the servant, not the master? This seems to be poison, young master, are you alright? Let me check you first."
'Broooo this servant here might dieeee!!'
"Cough cough!"
Ian wiggled in pain, biting his lips to suppress his groans. Through the corner of his eyes, he watched the doctor grab Alaric's wrist to check his pulse instead of him, who was the one that got poisoned.
"I'm fine! I'm seriously fine! Check Ian first, you have to check him first!"
The flustered Alaric pushed the doctor away. The bald man shifted his position and glared at Ian with a disgruntled face. How can the household's next heir's personal doctor treat a mere servant? It was such a humiliation to him. However, it was an order from the young master so he couldn't disobey.
"The poison... It's severely damaged his internal organs."
'Bastard! What do you mean by internal organs? It's my mana veins that have burst!'
The structure in which mana circulated inside a mage's body was similar to the routes that Aether cruised in. They weren't exactly the same but the overall system was built on the same base. If a human being had neither Mana, Aether, or Aura, then the system wouldn't grow and the pathways wouldn't outline themselves.
Ian had no mana, but the basic structure inside his body was long built-up and grown, so a poison that was meant to attack the mana veins of a mage could also damage him, though not as much as a mage would get hurt.
'This poison was different from the one used in my previous lives.'
This time, the poison directly attacked the vines while the usual toxin caused them to gradually weaken and fall apart over time. It seemed like the addition of the pill wasn't needed to cause the harmful reaction but rather, the opposite.
Everyone knew that Alaric consumed medicine to calm his chaotic mana, which was so unstable that he couldn't even use it as a mage, and that the pills were made to weaken the mana.
'The tea was changed this time... And also the pills...' So, could it be that the two of them were designed to cancel the other's effect for a few days until the patient was in a grave condition with no way to be saved?
Ian's thoughts raced while he was being examined by the doctor, the same person who'd poisoned him. He really wanted to punch the bald man's face, but he neither had the power nor the energy to do so.
"I'll give him some herbs and pills, but I can't guarantee that he survives. I need time to find out the type of poison and prepare the antidote."
The man sighed and shook his head. He was acting well.
'My condition isn't severe...'
He wasn't a mage so the poison wasn't that effective, and he had consumed it only once and not on a daily basis. In addition to that, he had just started a new round and his Aether was still weak, thus the energy circulation system wasn't fully developed.
'Aether has started healing me... I won't die by this, but it's still annoying.'
"I-is it that bad?" His master looked to have completely believed the doctor's words.
"He needs to rest and consume the medicine that I'll send over. I need to hurry up and go if we want to save him."
'Bro is so dramatic!' Ian followed the doctor's movement with his eyes. 'Shouldn't you give me something to stop this poison or whatever before leaving? Hey? Act properly! It's so obvious that you don't give a shit about a lowly servant's life!'
"Ah! Y-yes!" Alaric on the other hand, was the opposite of the doctor. "Do you have pain? Can you breathe? Do you see me? Hey, mister guard, can you put him on that bed? The doctor said that he needed to rest."
Ian was starting to feel bad looking at the man's genuinely worried face.
"That bed? It's your bed, master. I'll take him back to the servants' residence."
"Why does it matter? Just lay him down!"
"Yes!"
The next second, Ian's body was laid on top of an extremely comfortable bed.
'Hmmm... this is so soft...'
Ian's body was still in pain and he found it difficult to breathe, but not to the extent of making him severely ill. In order to play sick, he closed his eyes and lay silently on the bed.
'This is so comfy... I'm happy I got poisoned.' This was worth it! Ian gave himself a thumbs up. 'But how come the doctor changed his murder method? Was he ordered to?'
The person behind all of this was probably no one but Alaric's older sister, the count's firstborn child. It wasn't an unknown fact that the young lady disliked her brother, but few people actually dared believe that the girl would attempt to murder Alaric. This wasn't the first time something like that was happening nor would it be the last time, the young lady would continue her evil plans until she achieved what she wanted, her brother's death.
In many of the noble families, the firstborn child would become the heir to the family and inherit the title and responsibilities of the household, however, there were few noble families that passed their titles to the first son of the family if the oldest children were girls.
Young lady Elaria was one of the unfortunate noble girls who lost all her rights in the county to her little brother. However, Elaria wasn't someone who could easily accept that fact. After trying everything and still not getting the result she desired, she resorted to a new form of attempt, murder.
The doctor who was assigned to look after Alaric was one of the people who worked under her. His plans on killing the man succeded in Ian's previous lives. After Alaric's death, Elaria inherited the title of the countess as she'd always wished, however, as she'd never been educated properly nor had any descent assistants, she wasn't fit for the position. Every time she became the countess, the county was faced with its downfall and soon, got devoured by other noble families.
Ian wasn't a royal servant who'd do anything to save his lord nor did he have the time and energy to dwell on the matters of a county, however, if he ever found the time and opportunity, he'd try to help his master survive and succeed the title. He was raised in this place, after all. He didn't like to see it ruined if he could.
'But it's unlikely that she managed to form a new plan this fast. Was she already prepared? Could this be the original way she wanted to attempt murder, but in my previous lives, she changed it after knowing that Alaric was invited to The Empire...?'
While Ian was deep in thought, he heard a knock on the door. Through the corner of his stealthily opened eyes, Ian saw an old man rush into the room. Ranger looked around for a second before striding towards the bed and leaning closer to him. Ian shut his eyes again before he got caught.
"I-Ian? My god..."
'Mmm... Why is your voice like that?'
"Sniff! Sir Ranger, sniff!"
'Noo why is Alaric crying???'
"Ian? Is he unconscious? Can you hear me? Ah, my goodness..." Ranger's voice shook the moment he touched Ian's forehead which was wet with sweat.
Ian's entire body was wet with cold sweat. He was too ashamed to open his eyes. The old man's hand caressed Ian's head gently.
"Young master, what are you doing? Give that to me."
"No! It's, sniff, it's my fault that this happened so, sniff, I need to at least do something."
"Please just give it to me. It's my responsibility."
"Hic, but..."
'What are you guys talking about?...'
A cold, damp cloth touched his chin at that moment. Ian almost flinched. Someone was cleaning the dried blood on his face. Ian shivered slightly.
"Young master, are you sure you aren't hurt as well? Did you get checked?"
"Yes!"
"It's... Uh... I can't tell if it's fortunate that Ian was the one who got poisoned. It's good that you are alright, at least. We should check the items that he ate to see what was the source of poison..."
Alaric's sniffling was still heard, but he didn't say anything else. Ranger kept cleaning Ian's face and after he was done, he whipped his sweat, stroked his hair, and loosened his clothes.
"Was I harsh on you today? I was really planning on punishing you after work..." Renger whispered, his voice low and gloomy. "I'm sorry. I should've been more careful... Even if not you, then the young master would've gotten poisoned... One of my sons would've gotten hurt anyway..."
Ranger heaved a deep sigh.
'Not hurt, he would've died!'
Ranger has lived in this place for a long time. For as long as Ian could remember, he always took care of younger servants, especially the children. Ian was bought and brought to this place as a slave 12 years ago, when he was only 9, and Ranger was the one who took care of him throughout that time. He basically raised Ian.
It was also true for Alaric, who was the same age as Ian. Back then, Ranger wasn't the head butler but was responsible for the young master. He was the one who appointed Ian to work as Alaric's servant, saying that they were the same age and could get along better this way. He took care of them like his own sons. The old man cherished the two young boys quite a lot.
'Aaaah I'm starting to feel guilty!' Ian surpassed his urge to open his eyes and do something, anything that'd change the topic. 'Didn't the doctor say he'd bring me medicine? Then where is he? Hey, mister, come in and change this atmosphere please!'
"Um... Sir Ranger..." At that moment, Alaric started to speak, "Can I ask you for a favor?"
"...Yes, what is it?"
"Can you arrange a meeting with my family for tonight? Maybe to have tea or dinner together."
"Pardon?"
'....'
"I have something to discuss with them..."
Ian pressed his eyelids on each other, trying his hardest not to snap them open.
'What the actual fuck?'
. . . . . . .
Alaric had his dinner with his family. The family didn't have a chance to gather together for a long time so Alaric's departure to the Empire was a good excuse to spend a few hours eating and discussing.
Of course, Ian had no idea what Alaric wanted to discuss with his family. Although he never had a bad relationship with them, Alaric wasn't close to his family either, especially to his sister, so unless it was a request from the count, he'd avoid meeting her as much as possible. Everyone in the mansion could say that it was an extraordinary event for the young master to ask for dinner together with his family.
'I want to know! I want to know! Imma die from curiosity!'
If it was a normal situation, Ian could sneak around and eavesdrop on their conversation, however, he couldn't do so now as he was 'poisoned' and bedridden.
"Here, drink this. The doctor sent it over for you."
Ranger helped Ian sit up, despite him not needing any help and handed him a bowl of medicine. Ian had pretended to wake up a while ago as he couldn't stand Ranger's actions anymore.
'That doctor finally remembered me? If it was anyone else instead of me, they would've died by now. That doctor really wasn't willing to save the servant who had ruined his murder attempt.'
As the doctor didn't send any medicine or come over to visit for a few hours, Ian got worried that he had gotten caught by the doctor after getting hurt by drinking the tea. After all, only the people with mana, aura, or aether could be affected by whatever substance was added to the tea, and if the doctor thought deeply about it or knew how exactly the poison worked, he would suspect Ian for having each one of those powers.
However, the bald bastard didn't say anything and just sent over a bowl of medicine. Ian was still suspicious of the 'medicine'. Who would drink something that was given to them by the same person who nearly killed them?
Ian wasn't in a situation to choose. The bowl was pushed to his mouth without him getting a chance to resist. All he could do was hope that he wouldn't die after this.
"Ah, you are awake!"
At that moment, the door opened and Alaric walked in. He, who had a serious face when he opened the door, smiled upon seeing Ian sitting up on the bed.
"How are you? Do you have pain anywhere? Can you breathe properly? Should I call the doctor?"
"...I'm alright, young master."
Ian whipped his mouth with his sleeve and moved to the edge of the bed.
"What? What are you doing?"
"Where are you going?"
Ian shook his head at the two people who were blocking his path, saying that he wanted to go back to his own room. He had to prepare for the trip.
'But wait a minute... Will they even allow me to go with them to the empire?'
Ian had to go. He had to go no matter what it cost. There was no way he'd let this new and amusing Alaric go to the empire on his own.