IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 27

Cough!

When I opened my eyes, I coughed at the scratchy feeling deep in my throat.

My head was hot and my body felt heavy. I'd caught a cold, just like he'd predicted in the dream. As my consciousness flickered back, something cold was placed on my forehead.

"Miss, would you like some water?"

"...Hm?"

It took several more blinks before I recognized that the person beside me was Nanny.

Honestly, my throat hurt so much I didn't want to eat or drink anything, but hydration is important when you have a cold.

When I slowly nodded, Nanny helped me sit up and gave me water to drink.

'A cold. It's been a while.'

I didn't want to swallow anything, but after drinking the warm water, the pain in my throat eased slightly.

"Nanny..."

Nanny smiled and set down the cup, then offered me some mashed apples. But I didn't want to swallow anything more, so I frowned and shook my head.

Nanny insisted I had to eat something before taking medicine, so I reluctantly took one bite.

'My throat hurts.'

In the end, I could only manage a few bites before making a tearful face, and only then did Nanny give me the medicine.

After taking the medicine and lying back down, Nanny tucked my rabbit plushie into my arms.

"The doctor said it's just a simple cold, so you'll feel better soon after a good sleep."

I nodded and closed my eyes again. The cool wet cloth refreshed my forehead once more.

'Now that I think about it, I'm still in Roxana and Julian's bedroom.'

They must have been shocked when they woke up this morning and saw my fever burning. But since they'd both already taken a day off for my birthday, they had no choice but to go to work.

'I worried them.'

Since I'd been healthy this whole time, they must have been especially concerned. I coughed urgently and carefully opened one eye.

Nanny was still beside me, watching over me.

"Can't sleep?"

"Yeah, where are the other..."

I only got that far before frowning and swallowing phlegm along with my runny nose.

Even speaking once was exhausting. Nanny caught on to what I wanted to ask and dutifully answered.

"His Grace and Her Excellency the Count have gone to the Imperial Palace, and the Prince is waiting outside the door."

'Outside the door?'

"I told him he shouldn't come in because the cold might spread. But he refuses to leave from outside the door."

"..."

I wanted to sigh, but I didn't even have the energy for that. I thought he'd catch a cold himself just standing out there.

'Actually, maybe not.'

This whole situation of me catching a cold was unusual in the first place. I remembered what he'd said in the dream—him with Rayan's adult appearance.

'Baptism, if you put it precisely, makes you a conduit for using divine power. The power called abilities—the power of the gods. Thanks to that, you become a bit sturdier than ordinary humans.'

That was why people from the three families rarely got sick. Even though these were settings I'd created, they felt strangely unfamiliar now.

'I didn't create baptism with that meaning in mind.'

The Prophetess was the one who bestowed baptism upon the three families. Baptism was a kind of mechanism to preserve her authority and legitimacy as prophet and guardian.

Also, since only the direct descendants of the family heads received baptism, it had the added intention of removing branch families from succession disputes to avoid complicated situations.

'I don't know. I don't want to think about it.'

Just one wish to make it snow had created too many things to think about.

First, I had to solve the immediate problem. I sat up abruptly, took another sip of water, and spoke firmly.

"Tell him he can play with all my toys, just don't stand guard out there."

"..."

Of course, Nanny and the others had probably already told Yan that. But he was being stubborn and standing his ground.

"Otherwise, next time Yan will catch a cold."

And then I wouldn't be able to visit him. Nanny, understanding my meaning, stepped outside for a moment.

Soon I heard a child crying outside, so I covered my ears briefly. The crying faded into the distance, but once the headache started, it didn't ease quickly.

'My head hurts. Actually, there's nowhere that doesn't hurt.'

I forced my eyes closed and tried to sleep to escape the pain. Maybe the medicine was starting to work, because I fell asleep faster than expected.

Before completely losing consciousness, I felt gentle hands removing the damp hair stuck to my forehead.

Julian, who had been reading through stacks of imperial records, looked up when he heard someone knocking on the door.

Since the door was already open, there was no need to knock, but Philius had deliberately made the sound to get Julian's attention.

Julian refocused on what he was reading as if he didn't care whether the Emperor sat beside him or not. Philius looked at him with displeasure.

The usually notorious slacker Julian had been nagging Philius today about finishing work by morning, and now he was holed up in the imperial archives like this.

'Well, it is unusual, so I suppose that's understandable.'

It was unusual for a baptized child to get sick, but the illness itself was just a simple cold, they'd said. It wasn't like the records contained cures for diseases, so what answer could he find by reading them?

"Russ."

"What?"

"Remember who awakened their ability at the youngest age?"

"...Your ancestor."

"Right, the Duke eight generations back. He awakened his ability at age ten."

"Yeah, back then they called it a miracle. Until then, people awakened only after their coming-of-age ceremony, at the earliest."

"And he died at twenty-two. Everyone hushed it up, but it's an obvious fact that he died young because of excessive ability use."

"You don't seriously think your daughter being sick is related to abilities?"

"...Not that, but it's ominous."

At Julian's words, Philius felt an unwelcome anxiety too. The last time the Malevolent Wraith was sealed away had been a hundred and fifty years ago.

Of course, the Wraith didn't return on a fixed schedule. But that made it even more unsettling. They never knew when the Wraith would return.

Philius pressed down his anxiety and turned to Julian. Julian closed the record he'd been reading and sighed.

"As expected..."

"Did you find something?"

"I don't know about the Celis royal family, but among the Remetio ducal family and the imperial family, the only people who've been ill were ability users."

"...Thaleia is only five years old."

"Being five makes her even weaker."

"Stop it, Yuri. You're not thinking rationally right now."

"I know. But it's a family matter."

"..."

"It's natural to worry."

At Julian's answer, Philius had nothing to say. If it had involved Aegis, he might have reacted the same way.

"We don't know anything yet. So rather than staying here, go home early and be with her. I'll send a letter to the Prophetess. She might know something."

"..."

"You're done with work anyway, so go home."

Philius said this and dragged Julian out of the archives.

As Julian put on his coat to go home as suggested, Philius brought the fruit Charlotte had prepared and tucked it into Julian's arms.

"Lottie sent this gift since she can't visit today. She says if you grate it and mix it with honey, it's good for colds."

"...Thanks."

"I'll tell the Captain to leave as soon as work is done, so go ahead."

Philius casually ruffled Julian's silver hair and grinned. After Julian left, Aegis, who had brought the fruit to Philius, peeked his head out. He'd been good enough to wait quietly in another room while Julian and Philius talked.

"Papa."

"Ash."

"Is Tilly okay?"

"It's just a cold, so she'll get better soon. We'll have to postpone visiting the ducal estate until after Tilly recovers."

At the mention of a cold, Aegis scrunched up his face.

"But Yan is at the ducal estate too."

"...Do you like the Prince?"

"If Tilly is sick, Yan will be bored, so I want to go keep him company. Yan is my friend."

"All right, then."

Philius stroked Aegis's head while thinking he should keep Aegis away when Charlotte caught colds from now on.

Aegis and Philius didn't catch colds, but Charlotte did. Whenever Charlotte caught a cold, Aegis stayed glued to her side. He'd let it be since he was confident it wouldn't spread, but now that Thaleia had caught a cold, who knew?

As Philius fell into thought, Aegis tugged at his collar.

Recognizing it as a signal to be picked up, Philius smiled and lifted Aegis into his arms.

'I don't know about the Celis royal family, but among the Remetio ducal family and the imperial family, the only people who've been ill were ability users.'

Holding Aegis, who seemed like half Charlotte and half himself mixed together, Philius inexplicably recalled what Julian had said earlier.

'It's fine. The Prophetess hasn't made any prophecies yet.'

When the Wraith's return drew near, the Prophetess always made prophecies. She had for the past thousand years. So they still knew nothing—that's what he'd told Julian. It was also what he told himself.

If even one person from the three families awakened an ability, the other families would awaken abilities too. If this generation truly had the Wraith's return prophesied, then Aegis, the only imperial prince, would inevitably become an ability awakener.

And the ability awakeners from the three families had to seal the Wraith to protect the world.

People called them heroes, the chosen ones, but Philius was terrified of it.

The power the gods gave them came with a clear price. If they used their abilities excessively, they'd start falling ill as aftereffects and die young.

Many had even been killed by the Wraith. The reason the originally royal Remetio family became a ducal house was because the last Remetio king had died during the battle with the Wraith, leaving behind only an infant.

He knew it was an unavoidable duty if the Wraith's return occurred.

But Philius had always thought this duty was not the gods' blessing but the gods' curse.

That curse had been binding the fates of the three families cruelly for over a thousand years.