The Terminally-Ill Lord Desires Hospice Care

The rattling sound from shaking the pill bottle was quite pleasant.
However, separate from that sound, I felt a bit of anxiousness as the medicine was slowly running out.
Since it was made from rare ingredients that couldn’t be obtained through normal means, I had no choice but to rely on the Emperor.

“…Betty.”
“Yes, Lord Raul.”
“Have any letters or packages arrived for me?”
“No, I’ve been checking daily but there’s been nothing like that.”
He had promised to send medicine by messenger every half-month, so it seemed some situation had arisen.
Unlike others, my friends wouldn’t wish for my death.
If not that, then it was also possible my fiancée had someone intercept and steal the medicine in transit. She was the kind of person who would do even that.

“I still have some remaining, so it should be fine. If it runs out, I’ll just have to close my eyes, no issue there.”
“By the way, Lord Raul, I’ve been wanting to ask – what is that medicine for?”
“Something akin to an adhesive, I suppose. It barely holds together what shouldn’t have separated in the first place.”
“Oh, you’re not taking glue, are you…?”
“……It’s just medicine for my chronic illness that I take.”
My maid Betty made a puzzled expression, left the coffee on the table, and went outside.
Come to think of it, I also felt like I had seen Betty somewhere before. I thought it might have been when she visited the estate, but…I still felt a sense of discomfort leaving it at that.
I definitely felt like I had seen her when I visited the Imperial Palace with my father as a child…but I couldn’t quite remember. Since Camilla and I weren’t particularly good at using our heads, I could only agonize over it like this.
If it were the other two skilled at chess through conversation alone, they might have realized something.

“…What meaning is there in dwelling on such memories?”
As usual after my morning routine, I searched for a hair tie to bind my disheveled hair.
It should have been a simple task I had repeated daily since childhood, but a problem arose nonetheless.
That hair tie was nowhere to be found. If it were any other item, I could have brushed it off as no issue, but that hair tie was an exception.
I went downstairs and approached my maid who was doing laundry to ask her.

“Betty. Have you perhaps seen my hair tie?”

“Hair tie?”
“…The black linen one with little bird and trefoil patterns woven in at intervals. Quite old and nondescript, but…”
“Ah, the one you always wear? Well…I try not to touch your personal items, Lord Raul.”
It was a complete failure.
I hurried to retrace everywhere I had been the previous day, but it was all in vain.
Seeing my expression, Cecilia seemed surprised and offered to help search, but it didn’t really matter.

“Are you alright…?”
“May I search one more time?”
“I don’t mind, but it probably won’t amount to much…”
“I appreciate it. It’s old and tattered, but precious to me.”

I desperately searched through her house, but regrettably, not even a trace of such an item could be found.

“My apologies for the trouble.”
I tried to suppress my emotions, but I couldn’t help but feel shaken.
For that item alone did not fall under ‘familiarity’ for me.

“Um…if it’s a hair tie you need, I have plenty to spare if you’d like one?”
“No, that was not simply an item for tying my hair.”
“I don’t quite understand, was it a precious item?”
“…..You could say that.”
The heart that should have been accustomed to any sorrow or shock had begun to waver, if only slightly.
Even though I was suppressing my emotions as she had taught me, the pain of loss was unavoidable.

‘Don’t be such a crybaby over just killing some people on the battlefield. You can grieve later. For now, suppress your emotions as I instructed. Understood?’
‘At least tie your hair with this. You’ll just get mocked if you go around with your plain face and disheveled hair like that.’
‘It suits you. You always look unkempt, don’t you?’

…She had always been a willful woman. As our teacher said, she was truly a ‘bird soaring to the sun’.
The most outstanding among us, the one who shone the brightest. That I had lost an item given to me by her was quite vexing.
Was it not too cruel for life to take away even these traces when I had so little time left?

“…Well, this is simply how my life has been. A constant stream of loss. This kind of thing doesn’t even qualify as a disaster. I’ve lost my family, my lover, my honor, my connection to my father, and the right to be happy.”

“Lord Raul…?”
“Today, I merely lost that one thing, nothing significant. I’ve even lost my heart before, so losing a mere fingernail is trivial, is it not? It’s simply that. I mustn’t let my heart be shaken by such a thing. It’s merely the loss of one trace. To be shaken by this would be an insult to her. As she taught me, I should remain unshaken like the earth itself, even if shaking my enemies…”

“Lord Raul…?”
That bad habit was rearing its head again.
It seemed I was still a problematic person for that habit I had tried to fix to resurface like this.

“My apologies. It seems I became emotional over losing that precious item.”
Just as I was about to turn the doorknob and go outside, something heavy collided with the door.

“Argh!”
“…My apologies. I seemed to have spaced out and didn’t notice.”
The man who collided with the door was someone I had never seen before.
From his attire, he seemed quite wealthy, but his face was covered in dirt and blood, indicating some sort of incident.
Paying no mind to his own injuries, he urgently addressed Cecilia behind me.

“Ce, Cecilia…! There’s big trouble…! On our way to this village…in the middle of it…!”
“Someone you know?”
“Yes, a merchant who frequently visits to purchase monster carcasses…But what happened?”
“Suddenly, bandits appeared and captured our employees and goods…”

I knew people had fallen on hard times due to the foolish war instigated preemptively, but I didn’t expect bandits to still be rampant.
The Emperor had exerted great efforts to resolve such chaos as soon as he ascended the throne.
It seemed those who had tasted the sweetness of banditry were still wandering in search of that honey.

“I barely managed to escape…but the other employees are still…”

“The scale of the bandits? Were others captured too?”
As soon as he saw me, he gave me a puzzled look. He must not have known who I was.

“And who might you be…?”
“I am a representative of this village.”
“My apologies. I don’t know the scale, but there were a few people as huge as giants… And I vaguely heard that among the captives was a nobleman they intended to demand a hefty ransom for.”

I wondered what foolish nobleman had come all the way out to these rustic parts and fallen into trouble.
They were surely an idiotic flower vase of a person.

“Did you not hear any more about this nobleman?”
“I definitely…heard them say they were having trouble because some young lady was resisting…”

I wanted to see for myself what naive noble daughter had fallen into trouble.
Unlike the brilliant Rizehl, I would have to rescue this dense noble girl who lacked sense as well.

But then, that merchant suddenly grabbed my hand and said:
“Please, save our employees…! I’ll reward you however you wish…!”

I rather liked this man.
For him to be more concerned about his subordinates than the stolen goods, it would be strange not to like him.
A man like this, I could certainly help.

“Very well. I was about to head out anyway.”
“You, my lord…?”
When he questioned with uncertainty, Cecilia reassured him.
“Don’t worry. His appearance may be unsightly, but his skill is truly monstrous. Far stronger than me.”
Personally, I disliked being called a monster.

“But still, be careful…I don’t know if it’s true, but…from what they were saying, these don’t seem to be ordinary bandits.”
“I’m curious what they said to make you think that.”
“They said…that one of the five heroes thought to be dead was actually alive…and was in fact their leader… I definitely heard them say that…”

Afterwards, my train of thought halted for about 10 seconds.
I’ve forgotten the name of the emotion I felt during those 10 seconds, but one thing was certain – it wasn’t a good one.
And it was also clear what action that emotion would lead to.

“…So they said that, did they.”
“Yes, so it might be wise to be cautious.”
“Rest assured, that’s an obvious lie.”
I readjusted my grip on my cane and asked him:
“So where are these people?”
“I encountered them on the mountain path to the west of the village, but…”
“That’s enough information.”
As I prepared to head out alone, Cecilia seemed concerned and said:
“Are you really planning to go…? It might be better if we accompany you…”
“I’m sufficient alone. As a representative of this village, I must take some action.”
“Action, you say?”
“…I intend to give them a light pat. Just that.”
Yes, I intended to give them a light pat.
How they would receive it, I wasn’t sure.