I Became a Sick Nobleman

“I don’t really know either. I’ve always been here and watched, so maybe only the gods know?” Ruel tilted his head weakly. 

“So what do you want to say?” 

The thought of being observed by the real Ruel Setiria, or whatever it was, didn’t sit well.

Ruel chuckled softly at Han’s words. 

“Don’t be so hard on me. I just came to give my greetings.”

“What kind of greeting?”

“I’ve died. You’ve lived.” 

Han’s eyebrows twitched. 

Ruel struggled to sit up and looked at Han. 

“Perhaps I am nothing more than remnants of my soul, or a form born out of lingering resentment. Or maybe something else entirely.” 

Ruel chuckled again, sounding strained. 

“But in the end, does it really matter? I am grateful to have this chance to say my last words to you.”

“You seem strangely carefree.”

“Thank you, for everything.” 

Ruel expressed his sincere gratitude, causing Han to hesitate in response.

“I… I took over your body, didn’t I?”

“I was already dead.”

“You fool.”

Ruel smiled gently at Han’s straightforward remark and reached out his hand. 

Reluctantly, Han took Ruel’s hand, and Ruel held it tightly. 

There was no warmth, just like when the unknown woman vanished. 

Ruel locked eyes with Han. 

“You’ve endured so much until now. I burdened you with the most difficult tasks because I couldn’t handle them myself.”

“Yeah, well, I’m glad you finally realize that.”

“Regarding my father and Setiria, thank you for everything. Now, I can finally find peace.”

Ruel’s voice trembled as he spoke, pouring sincerity into each and every word. 

“My time has already come to an end, but I am so glad to see you like this.” 

Ruel’s smile widened. “Don’t give up. Promise me that you will keep on living.”

Those words sounded familiar, reminiscent of what the king had once said. Han furrowed his brow and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Kim Han. No, Ruel Setiria. Please cut the ties of this stubborn fate and don’t create another like you.”

“What do you mean by that?” 

Ruel raised a finger to his lips. 

“Ruel Setiria was not alone.” 

Observing Ruel crumbling like dust, Han felt a vague force pulling him in a certain direction and closed his eyes.

***

“Ruel Setiria is really you now.”

With the last echoing words of Ruel Setiria, Ruel opened his eyes. 

—Are you hurt? Is something wrong? Leo asked, surprised to see Ruel. 

“It seems like you had a bad dream,” Cassion said, pretending not to have seen anything. 

Ruel felt the corners of his eyes moisten. 

Taking a deep breath, he felt the void left by something vanishing, and he wiped away the tears streaming down his cheeks. 

To ensure he didn’t forget the clue Ruel Setiria had given him, he recalled the last scene he witnessed.

‘…raising a finger to his lips.’

“Ruel Setiria was not alone.”

The finger raised to the lips signified a secret or a gesture to keep quiet. In this case, it seemed to indicate a secret. 

‘Ruel Setiria was not alone. If he wasn’t alone, does that mean there is another Ruel besides me? No, that can’t be right.’ 

Ruel remembered the words of the king.

-You are not the child I saw before.

‘He didn’t just mean that I’m not the real Ruel Setiria.’

-I am waiting for you. Do not give up. Hold on to that fragile life.

The words the king said to him.

-Do not give up. You must keep living.

The words Ruel Setiria said to him. 

‘Ruel is not alone. Do not give up. Hold on to your life.’ 

He kept remembering what they said. 

In an instant, Ruel urgently sat up. 

With trembling hands, he inhaled Breath and covered his mouth against the pounding sound that followed.

‘…Crazy. This is crazy.’

“What’s wrong?” Cassion asked anxiously as Ruel’s condition seemed strange. 

‘This isn’t the first time…!’

There had been others who had become Ruel Setiria before. 

Someone had become Ruel Setiria and then given up. 

They couldn’t bear the torment inflicted by the Mark of the Great Man, nor escape the clutches of the assassin who now looked at him with concern

‘…And they couldn’t withstand the pressure from the Red Ash.’

They had all died. 

‘Really? Is this really true?’

If that’s true, how many Ruel Setiria’s were there? 

What on earth was the ending of this novel? 

Blood, color. 

His breathing became too fast. 

Ruel felt his vision spinning before his eyes. 

Wiing. 

Suddenly, a strange noise rang out, accompanied by a rush of blood from his nose. The sound didn’t reach his ears properly, and the dizziness weighed heavily upon him.

Thud.

Ruel collapsed.

—Ru, Ruel!

Ruel’s collapse sent Leo into a panic.

He called out to Ruel, overwhelmed by a mix of unknown emotions. 

Ruel’s condition left Leo bewildered, unsure if it was due to the emotional turmoil. 

However, the immediate concern was Ruel’s well-being.

“Ruel-nim!”

Cassion called out, but Ruel remained unconscious. 

His pulse was weakening slowly. 

Cassion found himself unable to respond effectively, as this wasn’t a seizure or a condition he had witnessed before. 

He urgently opened the carriage window and spoke to Aris.

“Aris, Ruel-nim has collapsed. We need to head to Setiria immediately.”

“Understood.” 

Aris calmly replied with blood dripping from his lips.

***

Beep. Beep.

Ruel’s heart felt heavy as the mechanical sound echoed, a sound he hadn’t heard in a long time. 

His father lay helpless, eyes closed. 

It was just a dream. 

A damn dream. 

His father had already passed away. 

Yet, the sight of him brought overwhelming joy. 

Ruel had always wished that one day, even in a dream, his father would visit him.

“…Dad,” Ruel struggled to speak, his mouth opening with difficulty. He tightly grasped his father’s hand, now nothing but skin and bones, wrinkled with age.

“Han,” his father opened his eyes and looked at him, unlike in the memories of reality. 

“Han,” a voice he had missed. 

Ruel smiled and replied, “Yes.”

“Don’t try to follow me, just live.”

“I didn’t follow you. I wanted to, but when I saw your memorial photo, I remembered what you said, so I just stopped.”

Ruel finally spoke the words he couldn’t bring himself to say before. 

“Live and do what you want to do.”

“But it doesn’t work like that. Can I simply quit my job or live the life I want? If that were possible, I would have left a lot of insurance money or lived a more enjoyable life, rather than dying.” Ruel held back the emotions he had suppressed, trying to contain them, and then spoke again. “Dad.”

His father silently looked at him. 

“I have a lot of money now. I can buy you anything you want.” 

But his father was no longer there. 

His father’s face was becoming blurry. 

“I can’t even go see you now. Is that why you appeared in my dream? If I had known, I should have extended the spot at the memorial park for another 15 years.”

Ruel continued to tightly hold his father’s hand. 

“Are you worried about me?” 

His father didn’t respond, but it was still comforting—just to be able to see him like this. 

“I’m fine. Really. I’ve already endured and overcome other things, haven’t I?” 

Ruel smiled widely once again. 

“Come visit often, not just today. You don’t have to say anything, just come.” 

He gently placed his father’s hand on his cheek and closed his eyes. 

“Please.”

Ruel felt that it was time to wake up now. 

It was regrettable, but he heard Leo’s crying sound coming from somewhere, which made him release his father’s hand.

***

Wiiiing.

He could hear the sound of the recovery power reaching its limit.

Leo, who had said he wouldn’t cry, was crying, and Cassion was relieved to the point of showing his emotions. 

It seemed like Cassion was saying something, but all he could hear was a buzzing sound.

“… I’ll call Fran.”

Finally, one by one, the sounds became audible.

Cassion hurried out.

He heard his footsteps for the first time.

When Ruel looked away, he saw something hanging on his arm.

Whatever they were, there were a lot of them.

There were blood bags among them.

“Leo.”

He could taste blood in his mouth.

He couldn’t imagine how much blood he’d thrown up.

—Ruel, Ruel!

Leo came into Ruel’s outstretched hand and rubbed his face against it.

—This body, this body thought Ruel was dying.

“I won’t die.”

—It was like you were suddenly stabbed with a knife, and lost a lot of blood. The fever continued, but Cassion drive me out on the way. Well, this body wanted to be next to you.

While Leo was talking, he continued to sniffle, so Ruel gently stroked him.

Just listening to Leo speak, he could imagine what his condition must have been like.

‘I never thought I would end up like this.’

He didn’t know that his body would deteriorate so much just from knowing a shocking fact.

No matter how many times Ruel Setiria had existed, now he could only move forward.

‘I never had the intention of giving up my life in the first place.’

Ruel closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them.

‘It seems like I’m the first Ruel Setiria to come this far.’

Now he finally understood what the king was saying.

Perhaps what followed after the word ‘again’ that the being had last uttered was now becoming clear to him.

“Wake the king up and listen to everything. Sorry. There’s so little I can say, I’m sorry.”

Ruel recalled the words of the unnamed woman. 

‘Is there a limit to what she can say?’

The image of Ruel Setiria, who had given hints and turned into dust, came to mind. 

‘So Ruel Setiria disappeared like that because he wasn’t supposed to know?’

Ruel looked at the IV dripping on his arm. 

He couldn’t recall ever being in this much pain before. 

‘What if I’m not fragile and I know something I shouldn’t know?’

It strangely made sense.

The door opened, and Fran and Tierra ran in together and collapsed in place when they saw Ruel waking up. 

“Thank God… I’m so, so glad,” Fran just cried.

“Your heart is…”

Ruel quickly grabbed Leo’s ear, who was still wiping his face with his hand, causing Ruel to feel dizzy. 

—What’s wrong? Leo looked at Ruel with red eyes as he sobbed. 

“Lord Ruel? You shouldn’t move suddenly,” Fran urgently got up from her seat to stop Ruel’s actions. 

Understanding the situation immediately, Cassion lowered his voice and spoke to Fran.

“I will personally inform Ruel-nim of that story. Please take care of Ruel-nim’s condition for now,” Cassion said. 

“Understood. I was too hasty,” Fran wiped away a tear that had welled up in her eyes and sat down to examine Ruel’s condition. 

Cassion gave Ruel Breath and spoke briefly.

“It has only been a day, so don’t worry. Your condition may have worsened due to using magic while collapsing.”

Cassion’ perceptive master would have understood.

Ruel nodded slightly as he inhaled Breath.

He understood what Cassion was saying. 

His heart had stopped, and it seemed to imply that he had used magic for that. 

‘No wonder my whole body hurts.’ 

Ruel soon raised the corners of his mouth.

‘It seems like this happened because I was not fragile and knew something I shouldn’t have known.’

Gradually feeling the diminishing power of recovery, Ruel breathed a sigh of relief. 

Thanks to the power of recovery, he seemed to have survived.

Even if it was the power of a Great Man, it couldn’t have looked so good.

‘I should have realized that death was right in front of me since I met Father.’

—Ruel laughed. Are you okay now?

Leo asked, his eyes wide.

Ruel nodded and wiped away Leo’s tears.

‘I guess I can’t tell Cassion.’

Another secret had been added.

Author's Thoughts

Who's cutting onions in here?

😭