ITMWG 40

Chapter 40…

What is his identity?

What’s more…

The language that came out of the doctor’s mouth had changed from Calthas to Lupes. The change was so natural that it caught Altair off guard.

“…Are you a Lupes?”

Instead of answering Altair’s question, the doctor moved toward Nadia with a strange look in his eyes. Altair hurriedly grabbed the doctor’s wrist, wondering if he was trying to use Nadia as a hostage.

“I am a doctor. We do not take advantage of a patient’s life for any reason.”

He could feel the sincerity in his eyes, so Altair let go of the doctor without forgetting to raise a minimum of vigilance. Then, the physician approached Nadia, took her temperature, and continued to busily treat Nadia. During the process, he calmly opened his mouth.

“… I don’t know what the Baron intends on, coming here, but all Dolsians are good people. If you want to harm them, I will not stand still.”

Altair slightly frowned at the way he spoke, even feeling a sense of spleen. It was as if he was treating Altair as a villain.

“And what are you going to about it then?”

“Well…somehow…”

At the doctor’s baffled appearance, the tension that had been putting Altair on edge was finally relieved a little. This person was not someone who could threaten people. He couldn’t even harm others. He was a good man. Altair, who had dealt with numerous enemies since childhood, was able to recognise that immediately. Then what was the driving force that made this good man throw a warning at Altair? He was curious as he looked at the physician.

“How did you learn the Lupes language? And how did you find out?”

“…You really don’t remember anything.”

At Altair’s question, the doctor sighed, seemingly slightly fed up with all of Altair’s questions.

“Maybe it was a trivial thing for someone like the baron…of course it was. But for me…it was not.”

“Have we met before?”

Altair had many enemies, and he had no hesitation in taking them down. As a result, only more enemies appeared. It was quite possible to encounter an enemy by chance in this way, but no matter how much he tried to recall, he had never faced such a weak enemy.

Most of Altair’s enemies were aristocrats who liked to brag or knights who wielded swords recklessly. He swore he never did anything to turn a doctor into an enemy.

Then was it his family or friends?

There was no end if he kept thinking in that direction.

“Anyway, I have only one thing to say. Don’t touch the Dolsians. I will not stand by twice.”

“I don’t want to harm them. I only hope for my wife’s recovery.”

“….”

The doctor looked straight into Altair’s eyes as if to confirm his sincerity. And at that moment, the door burst open and Ritti, who had left to get the bandages, rushed inside. Her arms were full of cloth.

“Sir Leon! Can this be enough?”

“That should be it. You’ve worked hard, Ritti.”

Leon, the doctor who had been staring at Altair fiercely a while ago, collected his hostility at once and smiled at Ritti. The language was also naturally changed to the Calthas language used by the Dolsians. Amazed at the change, Altair swallowed a laugh. Meanwhile, Ritti smiled innocently without noticing the war of nerves between the two.

“Me?! It is thanks to you that the people of our village live with ease. Villages with physicians residing in are not common, you know.”

“Oh my, you were on the brink of death so of course we needed to help. Anyone would have.”

“Well … the world is not full of good people as you think it is.”

Upon saying that, Leon glanced at Altair. It was a situation where it was clear who Leon’s words were targeting, but Riti did not notice the hint hidden in his words, and burst out into laughter.

“We also thought we were getting rid of a corpse back then. Who would have thought that the dying young man turns out to be such a great doctor.”

Altair quietly listened to Ritti and gathered information. Combining a few keywords, he could tell the physician was once caught up in an incident and almost died, and it seemed that the Dolsians saved him. But that alone made it hard for him to discern the true nature of the hostility Leon had towards him.

First of all, I know his name…

In addition to informing Cain of the news here, he also intended to order an investigation into Leon’s identity. It was when Altair was about to leave quietly with the conclusion…

“Oh dear! Now that I notice, even her husband is a mess!”

Before Altair knew it, Ritti had come close to him and lightly slapped him on the back. Not only Altair but also Leon widened their eyes in surprise at the sound of slapping.

“Will your wife pass out when she wakes up and sees this? Hurry up and follow me! I’ll lend you my husband’s clothes, so let’s start by washing these clean!”

“My goodness! What’s with that coat? If you don’t wash it quickly, you’ll have to throw away all your good clothes!”

Ritti picked up his cloak, which he had been using to stop the bleeding, and promptly dragged Altair’s arm despite his refusal.

“Don’t worry too much because I’ll wash this one clean too!”

“I said-….”

“Now, my house is this way! Follow me!”

‘Follow me’ she says. She’s already dragging me away though.

At a loss for what to say, Altair was dragged away by Ritti, his mouth wide agape. It was a really new experience. Because no one had treated Altair so recklessly. It was a given to those who knew that he was the lord of Aylesford, and even those who did not know his status were often frightened by his ferocious impression. Yet, Ritti did not appear to be like that at all.

“How come the people here are more…”

Watching Altair being dragged away in a daze, Leon, who was also stunned, scratched his head awkwardly.

Nadia barely lifted her heavy eyelids along with the sounds that somehow calmed her mind. The sound of human footsteps, the sound of the wind blowing through the window, the distant chirping of a bird… As she was narrowing her eyes and distinguishing the sounds in her ears, she felt the sound of footsteps getting closer every second passed.

It was too clunky to be Marie’s step, and a bit heavy to be Anna’s.

Ugh!

She was wary of the unfamiliar sound, so she tried to raise her body, but her body did not have as much strength as she thought. As Nadia struggled to get up, the owner of the footsteps’ sound suddenly appeared in her field of vision.

“Oh, lie down and rest some more! Since you have been unconscious for a week, it will be difficult to move right away.”

A whole week?

She did have a hunch that she was seriously injured, but she did not expect to be unconscious for a week.

This doesn’t seem to be Aylesford Castle…

And it was clear that the words she heard were not in Lupes.

I think it’s Calthas.

Capital nobles didn’t learn Calthas language very well, but she was confined to her room, so she spent her free time learning various kinds of knowledge. Among the knowledge she accumulated was the language of Calthas. She wasn’t good enough to speak it fluently and elegantly, but she could handle a simple conversation without problems. If this was the Calthas Territory, then this was a place belonging to an enemy country. Thinking about it made her body froze with tension.

It was hard to move, so she couldn’t check her surroundings carefully, but she could feel the atmosphere was completely different from Aylesford. The woman who appeared in front of her gave a warm impression, but Nadia was nervous because she was a stranger. The woman who appeared out of nowhere, smiled kindly and explained the situation to her as if she had noticed Nadia’s doubt and anxiety through her gaze.

“I am Ritti, and this is my house. My husband and kids went out to plow the fields, so it’s just the two of us now. Oh, and the miss’ husband also went out to help them with the work.”

If it’s the miss’ husband…it’s my husband… and by my husband, it’s Altair…

Altair went out to plow the field? Hearing that, Nadia felt the tension from just a moment ago melt away. She blinked blankly at the completely unimaginable scenario, and the woman who introduced herself as Ritti smiled softly and put the disheveled blanket back on her when Nadia tried to get up.

“I was taken aback when you two first showed up covered in blood, but as you stayed, your husband appeared to be very kind. Every day he took care of the miss with the utmost care.”

My husband is… kind?

Could the word ‘kind’ come out when someone described Altair? She became even more bewildered.

Could Mrs.Riti have mistaken someone else for my husband?

There’s a good chance that’s how it was.

Because Cain was a person who went well with the word ‘kind’.

Besides, the person who held me until I passed out was also Cain.

Having come to such a conclusion, a question followed.

Then what about Altair…?

But before she could find out the answer to the question herself, Mrs. Ritti continued.

“Your head was so severely injured that your husband and the doctor were very worried. If the period of unconsciousness had been prolonged, there might be aftereffects. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

A worried look landed on her face, and Nadia quickly shook her head in response. She couldn’t shake her head as vigorously as she thought because her body didn’t have enough strength, but it seemed that she had conveyed a clear message to Mrs. Ritti.

“I’m glad that’s the case. The doctor asked me to let him know when the miss comes back to consciousness, so I’ll bring him over now. Just rest like this for a little longer.”

“…yes.”

Her voice cracked as she squeezed her throat to answer. Her throat felt sore as if it was going to rip, and she reflexively frowned. At that, the corners of Mrs. Ritti’s mouth drooped in pity. Nadia was afraid she would worry more, so she forced herself up and leaned against the bed.

She answered briefly with her clumsy language skill, but fortunately, Mrs. Ritti seemed to take that as it was because she was unwell.

“Does your throat hurt too? You have been unable to speak for a week, so your throat must have been dry. I thought as much, so I prepared water on the bedside table so that you could drink it whenever you came to your senses.”

At Mrs. Ritti’s words, Nadia turned her head to find a kettle and a cup on the small bedside table beside the bed. However, the first thing that caught her attention was the piece of paper lightly pressed under the cup. Mrs. Riti laughed lightly and cleared her throat, perhaps realising that she had caught sight of the paper folded in a clumsy manner.

“I found it while washing your husband’s coat. It was in his pocket…It’s fortunate that I checked the pocket first before I put it in the water, otherwise, the content would have disappeared.”

“The content…?”

“I don’t know how to write because I’m illiterate! However, judging from how many times he revised it, it seemed like a letter written with great care…I’m sure it must be a letter he wrote to his wife! This is a woman’s intuition!”

Mrs. Ritti’s eyes twinkled with unknown faith.