The Impact of the Author's Intervention on a Blank Page - Chapter 19
Regardless, to do what he could right now, Ja-hyun activated his script-checking trait to cram the original story’s contents back into his head.
Finding the original protagonists, Planche and Lucas, would take considerable time even with money and status at his disposal. After all, this wasn’t the 21st century. There were no CCTVs installed everywhere, not everyone carried mobile phones, and there were no fiber-optic cables laid under the sea.
Information collected by state institutions or territories could be received through magical communication networks or messenger birds. But if the information wasn’t there, it was a world where you had to send people to search on foot.
True, this world did have fairly advanced magic. However, most of the developed magic was for offensive purposes. Well, that made sense since more nobles invested money in that direction. And the few non-offensive spells were mostly monopolized by nobles or the Magic Kingdom, and their high cost made them difficult to use freely.
“…ugh…”
Perhaps from thinking too hard, his nose suddenly began gushing blood. The blood dripped onto his white nightwear and blanket, spreading into perfect circles.
He hurriedly covered his nose with his hands and sleeves, but what was done was done. At this rate of losing blood through his nose and mouth, he’d soon collapse from anemia.
“Oh, young master…!”
A sleepy voice came from beside him. Turning his head, he saw the servant who had just awakened looking at him with startled eyes.
She scrambled up, pressing a soft cloth handkerchief into his hands and anxiously examining his face. Her worried expression showed no hint of finding this troublesome.
“Oh dear… Are you in much pain? Just a moment, I’ll bring the master.”
With those words, she rose to head for the door. Ja-hyun reached out and grabbed the hem of her dress.
What good would calling his brother do? Though his brother didn’t seem to dislike him, he doubted a brother with no memories could help much in this situation. He didn’t want to disturb him when he must be busy either. Even if it was about the penalty, if his brother gave him a look that said ‘you called someone for something like this?’… Well, he just didn’t want to face that.
“No, don’t do that.”
When she turned to look, he put a finger to his lips signaling for quiet. He lowered his voice further.
“There’s no need to call my brother. It’s not that serious. It’s late… I’m fine.”
She hesitated, then explained in a small, careful voice.
“But… the master is probably in the study right now. I saw him there earlier. So you needn’t worry about waking him.”
Ja-hyun turned to check the clock with its sweeping second hand. 2 AM… Had his brother been working all this time? Thinking about him struggling with such a role made Ja-hyun feel sorry for him.
Well, in this genre, whether one became a count or a duke, they typically buried themselves under mountains of work while complaining. It was a characteristic of K-fantasy that while characters talked about wanting to become good-for-nothings or unemployed, they ended up as workaholics.
The Korean word for death by overwork, ‘kwarosa,’ is translated phonetically as ‘kwarosa’ in foreign languages – one could say the ‘K’ in K-fantasy stands for ‘kwarosa’ (overwork).
Ja-hyun shook his head as he replied.
“No, really, I’m fine. But since I probably won’t be able to sleep right away, would you keep me company?”
[‘Character Profile’ has been activated]
[Emily Brene]
[A servant working at the Grand Duke Izatrix’s residence for over 7 years. A veteran. Good at baking pastries but rarely does so lately due to being tired of it. She was the one who discovered the Grand Duke’s troubling situation.]
After checking the system, Ja-hyun carefully called her name.
“…Emily.”
Finally returning to his bedside, Emily wrinkled her nose as she smiled.
“If that’s what you’d like… shall we?”
Her voice was gentle and kind. He had worried that as an illegitimate child, he might be treated poorly in the grand duke’s residence, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He hadn’t seen anyone treat him with hostility yet. Though he wasn’t sure about the outside world.
Ja-hyun wanted to return the same kindness and goodwill that Emily showed him, even if it stemmed from temporary settings and false memories.
“Yes. And if you’re going to take turns staying by my side like this, we should put a small bed over there. It bothers me to see you uncomfortable.”
Hearing this, Emily wrinkled her nose again and bowed her head. He noticed her eyes growing moist but pretended not to see. Well, it must be affecting to hear such words from someone with little time left to live.
Ja-hyun asked Emily about various things he couldn’t learn through skills or the original story. When he said he hadn’t properly registered his surroundings due to illness, Emily understood, saying it made sense. She added that it was nice to chat like this, since he’d been constantly drifting in and out of sleep due to his illness before.
“Ah! And since you fell asleep early, I couldn’t tell you earlier. A guest is expected around lunchtime tomorrow. If you rest well, the master will probably tell you about it again.”
“Mm… I see, thank you. But Emily.”
Ja-hyun blinked his tired eyes. The joint pain was getting worse along with the chills. At this rate, it wouldn’t be easy to fall asleep even if he closed his eyes.
