The Impact of the Author's Intervention on a Blank Page - Chapter 7
“Good heavens, young master!”
“Ugh….”
Amid the murmuring, he raised his head while being supported again. All the servants in the room were looking at him with pitying eyes. Just how many servants were there in this one room? It seemed that while his temporary body was functionally garbage, it came with wealth and status.
“There, calm down and sit on the bed first. Now, breathe out slowly, and in…”
Despite his outburst, they only showed worried faces as they tried to calm him. Their composure made him feel even more embarrassed.
Knock knock knock.
Fortunately, their attention was soon diverted by knocking from outside. A servant rushed out with hurried steps to greet someone.
“Doctor! The young master just woke up, and… ah, he coughed up a handful of blood.”
A physician entered the room carrying a large leather medical bag. The doctor, wearing what appeared to be high-prescription glasses, checked Ja-yun’s condition with familiarity before speaking slowly.
“For someone who has been bedridden so long, you’re in remarkably good condition, but…”
‘This is good condition?’
The doctor paused briefly, and seeing no response from him, quickly composed his expression. After clearing his throat a few times, the physician continued.
“Even if you want some fresh air, please refrain. The weather should improve in two months.”
Will the weather improve in two months? Ja-yun unconsciously muttered while holding his still-feverish forehead.
“Two months? It’s winter?”
Ja-yun noticed the room’s windows for the first time. Beyond the half-drawn thick curtains, heavy snow was falling. No, the windows were completely white – it was closer to a blizzard. He had thought it was just bright outside.
Before they came here, it had been summer in Korea. Along with the sudden change in his physical condition, the drastic temperature difference made him feel even worse. His brain, pickled in horribly new and uncomfortable sensations, struggled to think clearly.
But something about Ja-yun’s thoughtless comment made the physician speak with a slightly trembling voice. The corners of the doctor’s mouth quivered as if forcing a painful smile.
“Yes… I will help ensure you can see the spring. Although spring comes a bit late in the Duchy, it’s incredibly beautiful.”
At that moment, the servants around began to sob. Like a scene from a melodrama, they looked at me with pitying eyes before covering their faces and turning away. Sympathetic sighs could be heard, along with whispered murmurs.
What’s going on here?
I would later learn that the servants in the Grand Duke’s residence already knew that this body wouldn’t live long. That’s why they reacted that way.
‘But… this is all fake…’
Knowing that this body was just a temporary vessel that wouldn’t last more than a few years, it felt awkward to be looked at like someone on death’s door. Perhaps because I wasn’t used to this situation yet, it felt uncomfortable, like I was participating in some grand deception.
I came here after receiving assurance from the Universe Operator that my natural lifespan wouldn’t end before the job or contract was complete. This meant I wouldn’t die from illness or accidents.
Additionally, these temporary bodies were newly created characters. This meant that all the memories these people had were fake memories fabricated for the contract. But all of this was secret. There was no point in telling them – they wouldn’t understand anyway.
“Young master, here is today’s medicine. We’ve made it stronger, so it will taste more bitter than usual. But you must drink it all. You must drink it all… if you want to see spring.”
The physician held out the cup with what seemed to be trembling hands. Did he have a tremor?
Inside the cup was a dark liquid that looked like some kind of deadly poison. The strong smell wafting up suggested this was no ordinary medicine.
I didn’t want to drink it at all.
‘Something seems really off about this. Am I the only one who thinks so? That doctor’s expression is really strange.’
The doctor kept staring at the cup like a guilty person, fidgeting uncomfortably.
While their intentions were clearly good, their stares were really burdensome. I had a strong feeling that if I threw a tantrum and refused to take the medicine here, at least one of them would definitely burst into tears.
[Not drinking the medicine would violate the character setting.]
Even the AI-like system was making a fuss. While it wasn’t strictly mandatory, there wasn’t any good reason to refuse either.
‘Ah, please…’
Unable to bear their stares any longer, Ja-yun forcibly took the black liquid into his mouth. When he quickly gulped it down just to get it over with, the servants started whispering among themselves for whatever reason.
“Young master…. to drink it so aggressively, how desperately you must want to go outside…”
“To want to live so badly… even the gods are heartless…”
Some were even dabbing tears with their handkerchiefs.
