After the incident the villa had fallen into an uneasy silence, one that was only filled with worry and quiet fury.
And as for the former commander...he was still unaware,in the same condition.
After staying for the night, the Duke had to go back because his work was piling up although he was reluctant to leave his son's side. His duties were waiting to be fulfilled,he couldn't waste any more time in his sorrow.
After taking a long look at his ill son and caressing his head for the last time the duke was gone along with his family.
So now there was only Eruhaben other than the physicians beside Cale.
He never once went away from his bedside, always keeping a sharp eye on his state.
The ancient dragon was trying really hard to keep his calm,he couldn't risk affecting Cale with his rage. He already looked just one touch away from death.
He gently wiped Cale's face with a wet cloth again even though he had already stopped sweating, which wasn't really a good thing.
Cale's breathing was still fast and shallow. It seemed like he was wheezing and having trouble getting air into his lungs more and more each passing second.
In that moment taking care of his ill child was the only important thing that mattered, nothing else.
But Eruhaben wouldn't let what happened go, he would make sure to let his anger out later on the people who had dared to harm his child. So for now it will remain buried in the depths of his mind safe, without decreasing to be unleashed later.
'If something happens to him I'll dest-'
"Cough!"
Broken out of his thoughts,Eruhaben quickly went to Cale's aid, wiping the dark blood away from his pale face that was making him look like a horrifying yet beautiful painting.
Cale was coughing up blood again but unlike before this time he was a lot more conscious.
"Hah haah Eruha- cough!"
Cale couldn't see anything clearly, everything was too blurry. He could only assume the person in front of him was Eruhaben from the vague figure he could see.
Eruhaben gently placed his palm on Cale's burning forehead. He then gently ran his fingers through his hair to calm him.
Looking at his sickly complexion made his heart ache. His instincts were telling him to protect his child no matter what.
"Hush, don't force yourself. I'm here, it's alright you can rest"
"I...cough!"
"Shhh... Rest child "
Eruhaben continued to run his fingers through his hair to soothe him while shushing him everytime he tried to speak.
The group of physicians were looking at the ancient dragon in amazement seeing him being so gentle towards the ill noble, they had seen how fierce he could be when facing hard situations.
After a while Cale was completely asleep again.
In the past day Cale had regained consciousness multiple times but there was only one time he tried to speak. And even then he wasn't conscious enough for his words to make sense. They wanted to hope that he was slowly but surely getting better but they couldn't because his breathing was getting worse.
_______________________
All of the people in Cale's party other than the children and Eruhaben were gathered in the underground dungeon of the Henituse duchy. The duke had given them permission to use it after learning that the incident with his son was actually a murder attempt.
Even the other dragons were present. Rasheel along with Mila and Dodori had arrived earlier that day.
Needless to say they were angry beyond words when they heard what happened to Cale from others.
The people who dared to make an attempt on Cale's life were in front of them, they were constantly being tortured by dragon fear and auras the strong, terrifying people were emitting.
The trembling pitiful figures of the beaten up people on the ground in front of them would have been enough to melt the heart of someone in sympathy if they weren't the people who had tried to kill their own saviour.
The people in front of them were two vassals of Henituse duchy and their lackeys who they used to tamper with Cale's respiration aiding device.
Ron came forward before kneeling in front of one of the two viscounts. He truly looked like a predator playing with its prey with his sharp vicious gaze.
"You really bit the hand that fed you viscount. You must really desire death then "
The assassin said that in a calm gentle voice as if speaking to a little child while keeping a benign smile on his face. But it was enough to send chills down their spines.
Their end was already decided the moment they dared to do something to Cale but it's natural instinct to fear death.
"I-I didn't wa-want to do it!"
"Is that so?"
"Ye-yes! Believe me! I-"
Before he could say anything more he felt something cold touching his neck,it was a knife.
"You have ten seconds"
The viscount quickly understood that it was time for him to speak the truth. If he said anything other than that he would be met with death. But some people could be beyond foolish even while facing death because of their own wrong deeds.
"Viscount To-Tolz! It was viscount Tolz who told us to do it!"
"Ye-yes! He is speaking the truth! We were manipulated to do this! He blackmailed us to do this! We didn't want to harm young master Cale!"
Everyone watching was filled with burning rage again,they could already tell those people were lying to them. They looked ready to just kill those people. But they had to control themselves if they wanted to get more information out.
They were not only claiming that viscount Tolz helped them but they were also putting all the blame on him.
Viscount Tolz might have hated the Henituse family but he didn't do anything to them all those years. Why would he decide to do something when the Henituse duchy was stronger than ever? It was all a big lie to frame him and save themselves if their plan didn't go the way they wanted.
Ron faced them with a even more kinder smile. But his aura was even more merciless than before.
"Oh? Is that so? Thank for speaking honestly,we don't believe even one word"
The beaten up people who were smiling after the assassin had started to talk, lost their smiles again when they heard the last part.
"I guess since you are only spouting lies,you don't treasure your tongue. Isn't that so?"
That was the last thing the viscount who had spoken first heard from the assassin before his tongue was on the ground before him.
An ear piercing scream rang out in the dungeon but there was no one who felt any sympathy for him.
The people who were with him, especially the other viscount were trembling and sweating in fear.
They finally realised that lying to the vicious people in front of them was of no use.
Ron turned to face the viscount who could still talk and smiled at him again.
"Now viscount-nim, you have realised what happens when someone lies to me right?"
"Yes- yes! Please don't kill me! I will... I will only speak the truth from now!"
_________________________
Later that evening Choi Han had contacted the emperor with Raon.
The little dragon would have gone on his own to take revenge after learning about the things they found out if Choi Han wasn't there with him.
After a few minutes the communication device was connected and the frowning face of the emperor appeared.
"Good evening your majesty"
- "Instructor-nim, Raon-nim did you find anything?"
"Yes your majesty. There was no was else aiding other than few other vassals of the duke."
"I will kill them all for daring to hurt my weak human!"
Choi Han took the baby dragon into his lap and caressed his head to calm him down. He could understand the dragon but it was not the right time to strike.
"Calm down Raon-nim. I promise I'll help you do that later"
- "Wait for a while longer. We will drag everyone related to this out of their hiding places and make them regret ever being born"
_____________________
After a few days Cale's records were becoming milder,they weren't overwhelming as before. His body temperature remained the same but at least it stopped rising. Even then he still needed time to completely cool down and get better as crybaby started working even harder to get rid of the symptoms. But that meant his heart was beating even harder that made his breaths come out faster.
Unfortunately for him that didn't look good to others. They were even more concerned about him.
It didn't help that crybaby was making him cough out the blood clots to protect his heart and brain.
(If you know,you know. If you don't,then you have Google lol)
Others were really losing all hope when his temperature stayed really high.
After a while Cale started to slowly wake up...to a device covering his face? And it felt nice?
'Huh?? I didn't know they had even medical oxygen here? No it's can't be medical oxygen, it's just clean air mixed with something. Mana?'
He then noticed the other devices he was attached to, it made him even more confused.
'Huh?...'
- Cale I'm healing you now! Don't worry!
'Okay'
After that he was so distracted thinking about the equipment and maybe he was also still a bit delirious that he didn't notice the other people present in the room.
"Young master! You're awake!"
To say they were surprised seeing him awake would be a understatement. But it wasn't in a bad way.
Cale then turned to the middle aged lady who had called him and...he was even more confused.
'Who is she and why is she here?'
So Cale turned to the only person he could recognise.
"Eruhaben-nim...haah hah... what- cough"
"Don't force yourself. I know you are confused. You are in a... critical condition right now you unlucky bastard"
'Huh????'
Unlike usual Eruhaben didn't help with his confusion but instead made his head spin.
He felt like something really troublesome happened again.
'Ah... I want to faint again...'
____________
Sorry it's so short and late. It's really hard for me to focus on writing atm. A lot of things have happened to me haha.
Anyway it's my exam month so don't expect fast updates until new year.
As usual I'll edit this later.
Please let me know what you think and give me suggestions for the story if you have any :D