I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 212
“Wow, I never thought I’d run into you here, Sir Iruel.”
“I didn’t expect to see you again either, Miss Fertina.”
Hahaha… Forcing out an awkward laugh, Iruel glanced at the doctor, Fertina, who was now sitting beside him.
‘This is incredibly awkward.’
In truth, Iruel didn’t know Fertina well. The only time he had seen her was when she was caring for Rufus after he lost consciousness from an attack by Prince Tarek.
After that, he hadn’t met Fertina again. Even so, he recognized her immediately.
To be precise, he couldn’t forget her. This was the relentless doctor who had insisted on shooting him down with an arrow when he was flying around the tent in the form of a sparrow.
‘If she had actually fired that arrow, I’d be dead for real…’
Remembering that incident, Iruel shuddered involuntarily. Judging by the way she had drawn the bow, it was clear she’d done it more than a few times. He had hoped never to meet this woman again.
“But Sir Iruel, don’t tell me… did you drink?”
Looking Iruel up and down, Fertina cast him a disappointed look.
“N-No, I didn’t.”
Feeling a pang of guilt, Iruel quickly turned his head.
“What do you mean, no? You reek of alcohol.”
“Just one drink.”
“One drink? Then what’s this bottle?”
“The bottle is my cup.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry.”
He suddenly felt like a child getting scolded by his mother. Iruel began to regret drinking.
Fertina let out a light sigh.
“How could you drive the carriage after drinking? I’ll handle the reins for you. Where are you headed?”
“Oh, uh, any village nearby is fine.”
“All right, I’ll take you to my village then.”
Taking hold of the reins, Fertina signaled the horses. They immediately started moving forward, as if they had been possessed by spirits, after all their earlier resistance.
‘These little punks?’
Iruel widened his eyes, glaring at the horses. But they just swayed their tails nonchalantly, trotting along as if to taunt him.
With a sigh, mixed with the haze of alcohol, Iruel turned to Fertina.
“So, what are you doing here, Miss Fertina? Are you traveling?”
“Oh, I actually live in a village nearby,” Fertina answered casually.
“Really? Well, isn’t that something.”
“Right? It’s a small world. And, Sir Iruel, I’m sorry, but your breath still smells like alcohol… Could you either hold your breath or turn your head, please?”
“Sorry.”
Feeling dejected, Iruel turned his back on Fertina entirely.
Fertina cracked the whip, and the carriage wheels picked up speed, rolling forward.
“But, Miss Fertina, how did you know I was in this carriage?”
Iruel asked suddenly.
“I didn’t know you were here. I just opened the door, and there you were.”
As Iruel listened to Fertina’s story, this was roughly what had happened:
She had left her village and ventured into the Armeta Forest to gather herbs. After collecting for quite some time, she was about to head back when she spotted a covered wagon stopped in the middle of the road.
At first, she intended to pass by, but no matter how much time passed, the vehicle didn’t budge an inch.
Could it be that the driver had suffered some kind of seizure?
Worried, she approached the wagon without hesitation. But when she reached the driver’s seat, no one was there. So she knocked on the covered wagon’s door, just in case. When the door opened, she found a familiar face waiting for her inside.
“You recognized me well, Fertina.”
“Of course! Back when I first saw you in the squad, I thought you were incredibly handso…”
Oh! Fertina quickly clamped her mouth shut before she could finish her sentence.
“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that?”
“Ah, it’s nothing!”
Shaking her head hastily, Fertina glanced through a small window behind the driver’s seat, looking into the carriage.
“But wow, there are so many herbs inside the carriage! Are they all yours, Sir Iruel?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Oh my, you’ve got Cytiro and even Biorna in here. Biorna’s quite expensive.”
Apparently, he’d bought some Biorna as well. He didn’t remember exactly since he’d bought so many different herbs.
“They’re the result of a shopping spree fueled by frustration,” Iruel muttered nonchalantly.
At that, Fertina burst into laughter.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Did you lose a bet with a friend?”
“Let’s just say that’s close enough. So, how have you been these days, Miss Fertina?”
Not wanting to disclose the details of his situation, Iruel redirected the conversation. At his question, Fertina’s face brightened.
“Me? I’ve been living as I did before!”
After the demon subjugation campaign ended, Fertina had returned to her hometown, resuming her work as a doctor at a small clinic, treating patients just as she used to.
“And you, Sir Iruel? Have you been well?”
“Oh, I’ve been just fine, hahaha!”
In reality, he’d been beaten up by Lord Rufus, struck by Prince Camus, and even nearly buried alive, but since he still had his head and limbs intact, he could technically say he’d been doing ‘fine’.
Completely unaware of his inner thoughts, Fertina murmured, “That’s a relief,” while glancing once more at the herbs in the carriage. She seemed quite interested in them.
“Why, would you like some herbs?”
“Oh, really?”
Her face lit up for a moment, but then she quickly shook her head with a subdued voice.
“No, I can’t. You must have scraped together everything you had to buy these herbs, Sir Iruel. I couldn’t just take them.”
In truth, Iruel hadn’t spent a single coin of his own on these herbs, so he had no reason to be stingy. Besides, he didn’t mind the idea of giving Fertina a small gift, given her role in helping Rufus—the actual owner of these herbs—recover.
