The Impact of the Author's Intervention on a Blank Page - Chapter 27
“But young master, you’re too fragile to go outside…. Hmm. Did the master actually say you could leave? While it’s true the master’s memory isn’t perfect, he hasn’t lost everything. Without a special reason, I don’t think he’d permit such dangerous behavior.”
“You… knew brother would act like this?”
“Of course. After all, the master is very sensitive about your wellbeing.”
This is insane. They’re all insane…. Everyone in this mansion must have been brainwashed—they all seemed normal on the surface but something was off about them. Was this also part of that cursed hard-mode setting?
Yesterday she was so worried about his brother potentially becoming violent, yet now she treats being confined as perfectly natural. Apparently, the possibility of his brother hitting him or demanding compensation for his worth was more likely than abandoning him on the streets.
Later, when evening came, a servant entered to help with Ja-hyun’s dinner. However, the one pushing the cart wasn’t Emily.
“Where’s Emily?”
“Ah. Emily is….”
The servant hesitated, eyes darting around. Something felt ominous. Surely this wasn’t his brother’s doing too.
“…”
“Emily went down to the kitchen. We’re expecting an important guest soon, and Emily’s baking skills are excellent.”
Though there was a legitimate reason for her reassignment, he couldn’t shake off an unsettling feeling.
“Ah, yesterday’s cookies were also Emily’s creation. She hadn’t baked in over four months, saying she was tired of making sweets and wanted to do other work, but she came down specially to make them for you, young master. She was overjoyed to hear you ate three of them.”
“…I see. Please tell her they were delicious.”
While eating, he couldn’t fully appreciate the sentiment given his current situation.
And that wasn’t the end of his problems.
The butler who conducted the search on his behalf reported that neither Planche nor Lucas could be found at the location.
“…What do you mean they’re not there? Neither Planche Enestia nor Lucas Blade?”
“We conducted a thorough search based on the information you provided, but we couldn’t find anyone matching their descriptions.”
Ja-hyun was momentarily stunned by the unexpected response. What? Why weren’t they there?
Though he didn’t know their exact location in the capital, he knew their names, appearances, family backgrounds, and approximate ages from the original story. He’d thought they’d be easy to find—had he misjudged?
Where could they have gone? He’d regressed to the past to fix the future, but had something gone wrong in between?
Meanwhile, the quest timer continued counting down relentlessly.
▷ Sub-Quest
[Find ‘Planche Enestia’ and ‘Lucas Blade’]
[Time Remaining: 24 days 18 hours 49 minutes]
After contemplating, he reached a conclusion. There was no point in racking his brains here.
‘Still, we haven’t searched thoroughly yet.’
They’d only checked documents—a more detailed investigation would be necessary for certainty.
Ja-hyun drove everyone out by saying he needed to sleep because he was tired. Fortunately, perhaps because they were short-staffed due to tomorrow’s important guest, no one insisted on staying on night duty, and they all left without protest.
The room was dark after the servants turned off the lights, bidding him good night.
He lay straight on the plush bed, covered by blankets, eyes closed. Though his excuse about sleeping was a lie, he truly was tired. Eating three meals, cookies, and conversing with four servants all in one day—it was serious overwork.
But sleep wouldn’t come. Well, until now he’d only passed out from pain and medicine rather than enjoying proper rest. The unpleasant medicine he’d been forced to take in excessive amounts always suppressed the pain like crushing insects, leaving his nerves raw and sensitive in one corner of his mind.
That must be why. He wasn’t a child—not being able to sleep because his brother wasn’t around…. It was because of his physical pain.
Ja-hyun tried to forget his body’s pain by sinking his consciousness deeper. Though slightly more difficult than with his original body, it seemed to get easier with practice. Like falling asleep, his breathing gradually slowed, and his physical body approached a state of suspended animation.
Finally, he descended into his mindscape.
