I Became a Sick Nobleman

***

‘Where did you go, brother?’

Adoris got off his horse and wandered around the forest for some time.

The trees were thick, making it difficult to sense the direction he was walking.

Adoris couldn’t help but be suspicious of Brother Huan’s behavior these days and had followed him as he watched him sneak out of the castle.

“Dad…!”

Suddenly there was a mournful scream from a child.

Adoris followed the sound in alarm.

Coming across the scene he held his breath.

Two carriages were stopped on the road with armed soldiers surrounded about five people.

‘…!’

Adoris’ eyes, watching the scene, grew larger in shock.

The man was stabbed in the stomach by the soldier’s sword. It happened to be Huan who stood unmoving looking at the man on the ground with the sword inserted into his abdomen.

Thump. Thump.

His heart beat hard.

The person stabbed by the sword was someone he recognized.

“… Cough! Run away, Ruel! Irian! Hurry, quickly!”

When he heard the man’s voice, it became more clear who he was.

He was the patriarch of Setiria.

Adoris couldn’t think of anything anymore. 

The soldiers were aiming for the child who was closely following the Lord.

‘That kid is Ruel Setiria…’

He had to save a child at least.

Adoris ran back to the direction he came from and whistled loudly.

Whistle!

Soon, the sound of hooves could be heard.

He pressed his hood down, attached to his cloak, further over his face and mounted his horse.

“Giddy up!”

His heart was racing. He had to hurry.

“Someone’s coming!”

One of the soldiers shouted, but Adoris had no intention of stopping.

When he was close to grabbing Ruel a man jumped on the back of his horse slinging Ruel into his own arms.

The smell of blood quickly enveloped him. How badly injured was the man?

Adoris slightly turned his head back, only to see the man holding the child tightly in his arms.

“Keep running!” the man shouted.

“How dare you! Chase them immediately! Chase and kill them!” Huan screamed, pointing his finger.

Whoosh!

Perhaps there was a mage among the soldiers, as a massive fireball formed above one of the soldiers’ hands.

“I’ll stop them. Benefactor, please look ahead.”

The man held Ruel tightly and moved his finger as if he had written something in the air creating a shield.

Kwaang!

The fireball and shield collided, making his eardrums ring.

Adoris almost lost the reins for a moment, but managed to catch it and turn toward the village.

“This person, Cough! This is Ruel Setiria.”

The sound of blood vomiting was heard from behind.

When he saw the man a little while ago, he could see at a glance that his injuries were serious.

“Do you need any treatment?”

“No, I’m fine.”

The man seemed to know he had no chance.

“… Thank you for your help.”

Adoris heard the child’s voice soaked in tears.

Adoris bit his lips.

He could not bear to say that the person who killed the child’s father was his older brother.

“I’m sorry, but I think it’s better for the benefactor to get off here and hide himself.”

“I’ll take him with me.”

It was uncertain whether the man could make it to the village on foot.

Adoris spoke again, “It will be safe to go to the village. There, we can seek assistance from the soldiers.”

Even if he was his elder brother, he wouldn’t be able to bring the soldiers into the village and openly kill the man.

Adoris wanted to ask the man what had happened in the village before.

Thud. Thud.

The sound of the horse’s hooves that followed were becoming louder and louder.

His heart beat hard again.

“Giddy up!”

Adoris sped up more.

How long did he run from their pursuit? The horse’s breathing became rough and the speed was gradually slowing down.

“I can see the village.”

It was Hian Village.

“Benefactor.”

He heard the voice of the man sounding weaker than before.

“Truly, cough. I apologize for this request, but if I were to die, I entrust you with him. Please take him to Setiria, just until there.”

“Irian, no, no. Dad’s dead, Kin’s dead, everyone’s dead.”

“That’s…”

Adoris, hearing Ruel’s sorrowful voice, spoke without realizing it and quickly shut his mouth.

“Get down!”

Irian pressed Adoris’ head.

Boom!

A huge thing flew over his head.

Looking out of the corner of his eyes, it was a purple lightning bolt.

Puk!

“Hiyyiiing!”

There was a sound of something being pierced through, and the horse reared back.

They fell to the ground off of horseback, and the horse was hit by numerous arrows.

‘…shit.’

As soon as Adoris got up, he located the child.

He caught Ruel, who staggered to his feet, when a stone larger than a fist struck his chest.

“…keug!”

Adoris threw himself and caught Ruel, who was falling.

“Ruel-nim!”

Irian shouted at Ruel.

Blood trickled down from Ruel’s mouth. It wasn’t good.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The sound of someone clapping echoed from somewhere.

“Thank you, Prince Adoris.”

A figure wrapped in a red cloak walked towards them from where the magic had flown.

More soldiers followed behind him than before.

“You’re holding the last Setiria.”

Irian looked at Adoris with astonishment.

An intense anger flashed across his face, as if he thought Adoris had betrayed him.

“…Red Ash.”

Adoris bit his lips.

He was a suspicious person who had approached him by saying that he was giving him the throne.

‘Did you hold hands with them?’

“Now that you have captured the last Setiria, I will give you the throne as I promised before.”

The old man in the red cloak smiled satisfactorily and spoke out.

Irian immediately drew a dagger and aimed it at Adoris.

A small whisper followed.

“Did you join hands with them?”

Adoris shook his head quietly.

“Listen to me carefully. Absolutely, cough… You must never hand over Ruel-nim.”

“…”

“If he dies, this country, and even this world, will be in danger.”

Adoris couldn’t understand what the man was saying.

Adoris put all his attention on the cold metal that touched his neck.

Irian moved back slowly.

Additionally, Adoris followed him.

“Betray me to the enemy. Then, perhaps, you can have your freedom.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I am a guardian of Setiria. The enemy will agree to the deal, so please… please.”

Irian had no intention of killing himself.

He really wanted to protect Ruel.

“Your Highness, please… Please save Ruel-nim.”

His earnestness was felt through the sword pointed at his neck.

Adoris looked around.

Nearly hundreds of people were pointing their arrows at Irian.

There was no way for both Irian and Ruel to survive.

And the unfortunate reality was that Adoris himself was in no different of a situation. 

Huan, too, was a member of the Red Ash, just like the others. 

He must have seen through Adoris’s intentions. 

Could a greedy person like Huan really leave him alone? 

Adoris knew he had to consider his own survival as well. 

There was little time for deliberation.

Adoris grabbed Ruel by the neck and shouted to Irian, who was pointing his sword at him.

“Let me go now! Before I break this child’s neck!”

Then, he yelled at Red Ash, who was observing the scene, “If you truly want to make me a king, protect me!”

Adoris shouted louder.

“This is the guardian of Setiria!” 

Adoris hugged the child in his arms. It was so miserable that he had to rely on the child and maintain his life by selling others’ lives.

“…Thank you.”

With those words, Irian finally withdrew the dagger he had aimed at Adoris’s neck and stepped back obediently.

“Please save him.”

His words were not meant to be shown to Red Ash, but to be sincere.

“Shoot it.”

The old man’s words could be heard through the sound of flying arrows that descended.

Plop.

Adoris felt his heart sink. He heard the sound of a body collapsing behind him.

‘Endure it, hold on,’ Adoris told himself silently, never taking his eyes off Red Ash.

The sword and arrows were aimed at the ground, not at him. 

It meant they had no intention to attack.

Adoris calmly spoke up, “I appreciate your rescue, but I cannot give you this child.”

“Your Highness?”

“Setiria is the guardian of this kingdom. Didn’t you promise to make me a king?”

His hands trembled, but he held the child even tighter. 

The warmth of the child’s body reminded him that this was the reality.

“I will be the one to kill this child. I will kill him on the day I become king. I will bring Setiria down with my own hands. Isn’t that what you desire?”

There must be a reason why he approached himself even though they had Huan who would succeed to the next throne.

Adoris believed in his assumption and acted proudly.

“I gave you permission to kill the guardian. That would have met my qualifications.”

The corner of the old man’s mouth went high.

“Yes, thanks to that, my men could easily kill the guardian without getting hurt. They’re very persistent. It was disgusting every time I saw their tenacity.”

The old man walked over and stepped on Irian’s head.

“Why?”

Soon there was a kick.

“Why!”

Crack.

With the sound of something breaking, the blood Irian shed gradually spread.

“Why! How dare they sniff around and interfere with everything we do like dogs! Haa…”

The old man caught his breath and looked at Adoris.

“I was so annoyed that I couldn’t stand it. Thank you, Your Highness.”

He wiped the blood on his feet roughly on the floor, as if it were dirty, and smiled.

He got goosebumps, but Adoris took it calmly without being exposed.

“Well, one thing. Please allow only one device to be used on the child.”

“I give you permission.”

He doesn’t know what the Red Ash will do to Ruel, he knows what he’s doing, but he handed Ruel over to the Red Ash.

To protect himself.

To protect this kingdom from Huan.

Author's Thoughts

Kindly read only on Readhive.com. You can get the advance chapter at Ko-Fi Shop.