[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke-Chapter 217: The Tragedy Of Two Households

It didn’t take them long to reach the cottage. The inside was divided using sacks filled with waste from the harvest.

It was a terrible environment for anyone allergic to pollen or dust particles. But this wasn’t the time when anyone could afford to be picky.

As long as there was hope for a cure, even someone like Lord Varnehold — who had almost half of the South under his belt — was willing to step into this small cottage.

The "boy" they kept referring to was actually a young man, and if Xion’s estimation was correct, this pitiful patient had a daughter around the same age as the merchant’s.

Xion wore his mask and gloves before entering. After checking the feverish heat and the purple-red marks spreading around the eyes, it was clear. It was the same thing.

He gently shut the creaking door close as he stepped outside.

His gaze drifted to the sky where the sun was shining brightly, offering the people much-needed warmth amid the spreading cold.

There was a time he liked this place for its comfortable weather. Even in the harshest winters, there was always warm sunlight, and in summer, there were occasional rains.

But now, he had grown fond of Faymere for entirely different reasons. The people were simple and one could even call them naive.

It was this simplicity that won him over and made him decide to settle here. Someone like his system might say he was stupid for spending his hard-earned merit points on random people.

But hadn’t he always been like this? He lost his life trying to save a cat. Not to mention the mess he went through while curing the archduke.

He had a bad heart. A very bad heart that refused to rest when he knew he could save someone in need.

So even if he was broke, at least his heart was at peace.

And peace... Oh, that was such a precious little thing. Not everyone was lucky to have it.

Just like the people standing in front of him.

Earlier, Lady Norva Varnehold’s eyes had kept drifting toward the merchant’s daughter, more often than to her own son.

Either she had full faith in his skills, or the sleeping girl was more precious to her.

"I have a way, but I’m not sure it’ll work. So I can only try it on one person. The other might die. You can decide who you want me to try it on."

With that, he stepped out of the cottage with Noxian to give them some space to decide.

There was a big log nearby, perfect to act as a temporary seat for the two.

"What are you trying to do, brother?"

Xion looked up at the sky, watching clouds drift past. "Trying to figure out the bad guy."

"You mean one of them is the culprit? But... how? I mean, why?" The confused boy couldn’t even form the right question.

"The lady was wearing the same shawl as the merchant’s wife. They’re either very close or one of them is pretending to be friendly."

"But, brother, Lady Varnehold never even spoke to that woman. She was more focused on the sick. How are they friends?"

Noxian frowned, thinking hard. Then recognition flickered in his eyes, and he grabbed Xion’s hand in a rush.

"The lady deliberately positioned the girl? I mean only rich people might have that kind of medicine. Maybe Lady Norva accidentally poisoned her own son later?"

Xion shook his head. "Yes and No."

"Can you stop talking like Aunt? Why must you act all mysterious? Just spit it out already!"

But before Xion could answer, many footsteps rushed toward them.

The family members of two sick children were standing there. With pale face and teary eyes, Lady Norva said, "Please save the girl."

The answer baffled Noxian even more than it did the parents of the girl. The mother sobbed, thanking the lord and the lady for being so generous. Only Lord Varnehold’s face looked helpless.

"Sure," Xion smiled. "But I have to ask this lady not to spread the disease any further."

Xion was staring directly at Lady Norva. "Lord Varnehold, I respect you, but you have to place your wife under arrest."

"What?" That was more or less the collective reaction of everyone present, except Xion.

"Lady Norva deliberately positioned the girl and pushed you to send me that letter, right?"

Lord Varnehold, utterly baffled, nodded. It was indeed his wife who advised him to tell Xion about all the chaos.

"I think she wanted me to save the poor girl, not expecting her son to get caught in the same mess."

"How can you accuse me of such a vile crime?" Even when accused, Norva remained calm and stoic, only her blazing eyes betrayed the turmoil within.

Noxian recalled all the things, circling them in his mind and then he muttered under his breath, "You... you’re the mother of that girl..."

His voice was soft, yet the words uttered from his lips struck like thunder.

"Shut up!" Norva finally snapped. She raised her hand to slap Noxian. "You shameless thing! How dare you say such a thing?"

Xion was quicker. He pulled Noxian behind him and with another hand, he grabbed her wrist. While he was at it, with a swift motion, he also pulled out a small sachet hidden in her sleeve.

"If you dare hurt my brother, I won’t care if you’re the wife of a lord." With open threat, he pushed her back.

"I didn’t! My lord, you must believe me, they’re lying!"

Norva screamed, looking nearly hysterical. Perhaps the sachet had shattered her confidence.

"Xion, what’s the meaning of this?" Lord Varnehold helped steady his wife as he gently wiped her tears.

Though there was a chill in his voice when he said, "I’ll kill anyone who hurts the innocent, no matter the reason. So tell me, what’s going on?"

Xion sighed.

Norva had an affair with the merchant, pretending to be friends with his wife. That was why something felt off when he saw her. The girl and Norva both had the same birthmark on their necks.

It was passed down genetically. Her son had it too. That was enough confirmation. Not to mention the shawl worn by the ladies. It was a special kind, something only the merchant could make.

The merchant had once told Xion that he gave this shawl to his dear wife and his lover. At that time, Xion had ignored it, thinking that it was not something he needed to push his nose in.

But, like a circle, it had come back to him.

Norva poisoned the girl, but in the end, she was her own daughter. So she softened.

But the question was, why not try to save her son?

"Because he’s a monster!" Norva screamed. "Despite having four wives, that thing tried to.. to me — his own mother!"

What could Xion even say in a situation like this? This wasn’t just a matter of right or wrong. So he chose to focus on what mattered most.

"Who gave you this?" Xion held up the red sachet in front of her. "If you tell the truth, I won’t speak of what happened here. I won’t save your son, either."

Having one less monster was better.

"I don’t know," Norva wept, her delicate face was all messed up with tears. "It came with a letter. They said if I didn’t spread the fever to you, they’d tell my husband everything. They only said it was a simple fever."

She truly didn’t know what she had given her own daughter was a deadly disease. Using her high status, she had handed it off to people in different households, just as instructed.

And then she burned the letter.

Never in his dreams had she thought she would be standing in such a quagmire. Her single mistake of falling for the merchant had caused her so much pain.

How had her life fallen to this point?

Xion did not have the energy nor the time to offer emotional support to the two families who all had received the shock of their lives.

He had another thing to focus on, the sachet which possibly contained Mycosera tenberis.