Lord of Rot

After finishing his work, Leech walked toward his room. Just as he turned the corner, he saw a figure with long, red hair pacing in front of his door.

"Good evening, Miss Evangelina."

Leech stepped forward to greet her.

Seeing Leech return, she let out a soft sigh of relief. "I'm sorry to bother you so late. It's just that… there's something…"

Her forefinger nervously toyed with the hem of her dress, betraying her complex emotions.

"If there's anything I can help with."

Leech nodded.

'Now there was a small problem. Should I continue chatting with Evangelina here at the door, or invite her inside?'

"Can we talk inside?" she asked quietly.

"Of course. Please, come in."

Leech opened the door without a second thought.

But as Evangelina followed him in, she closed the door behind her, suddenly making his innocent gesture feel clandestine and improper.

'A little thrilling, but also terrifying.'

Leech pulled out a chair and motioned for Evangelina to sit. To put her at ease, he retreated a bit, standing on the far side of his bed.

"It's about my father," Evangelina said. "Sidor told me the reason you went to Iron Valley was for that Magic Potion."

Leech answered immediately. "If you're here about the Magic Potion, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. I haven't found it yet."

"No, I know how rare a Magic Potion that exists only in legends is. It's perfectly normal that you couldn't find it. I just hope you can find a potion sooner… any potion will do. He—he might not last much longer."

'So she just wanted her father to live a little more happily.'

'And she was being very rational about it.'

'The idea of using a fake potion was something Leech had also considered. Aside from the Duke himself, it was the most logical solution.'

'He suspected this idea hadn't come from Evangelina, but from the Duke's power-hungry sons, like Sidor and Pine.'

'But regardless, Leech had to refuse.'

'If he provided a fake potion, wouldn't everyone find out after the Duke's death that Baron Leech had duped his lord, passing off fake herbs as the Pill of Immortality?'

The consequences and fallout would be nearly as severe as betraying his liege lord.

No one would be willing to pledge fealty to a lord with no integrity and no loyalty.

'So Leech was resolute: he would not sacrifice his reputation.'

"I promised his Lordship I would find the Magic Potion. If I cannot, I am willing to go to Roaring Castle and beg for forgiveness. But I will absolutely not deceive him."

Evangelina grew anxious. "I'm not asking you to deceive him. It's just to make him a little happier at the end."

Leech shook his head. "Dying in a beautiful lie woven by others won't necessarily bring him happiness."

Seeing she truly couldn't persuade him, Evangelina had no choice but to drop the matter.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from outside, growing closer until they stopped right in front of Leech's door.

Evangelina knew that if she stayed any longer, it would very likely lead to a misunderstanding.

She quickly stood, straightened her dress, and after forcing a smile at Leech, walked toward the door.

KNOCK KNOCK.

"Lord Leech, it's me." The voice belonged to Agnes.

Evangelina turned to Leech with a strange expression, her eyes questioning.

'For her younger sister, who was already engaged, to come looking for Leech at this hour… it was hard not to let one's imagination run wild.'

But Evangelina seemed to have completely forgotten that she had been the first one to come looking for him.

"Miss Agnes?" Leech had no idea why she was looking for him either.

At the same time, he shot Evangelina a look.

'It seemed to say, 'Weren't you just leaving? Why are you still here?''

'How am I supposed to leave in this situation?'

Evangelina simply stayed put, not moving an inch.

"Yes!" came the response from outside.

Leech opened the door to find Agnes standing outside. "What is it?"

"Steven was too embarrassed to come himself, so he had me come." Agnes looked troubled. "We've captured a prisoner."

"A prisoner?" Leech asked, surprised. "Who did you capture?"

Agnes said, "A noble from Giant's Foot. He was about to ambush us, but Steven discovered and defeated him. The man was injured…"

'East Gorge and Giant's Foot are at peace.'

'A captured noble. While it wouldn't necessarily start a war, it was definitely not good news.'

Agnes continued, "After it happened, Steven said he could handle it. But now it seems he can't… The man's wound keeps getting worse. He might be dying, so I had no choice but to come to you for help."

'If Steven was really behind this, it sounded perfectly in character for him.'

'The only thing Leech found hard to believe was Steven's combat prowess.'

'Still, Steven had soldiers and guards with him. If a few of them ganged up on one person, it wouldn't be that difficult.'

"Where is he?" a voice came from behind Leech.

"Evangelina?" Agnes stared at her sister in surprise, shocked to find her in Leech's room.

"He's in the carriage we arrived in," Agnes said, recovering from her surprise. "Because it's your birthday, Leech, we didn't want to cause any trouble or spoil the mood."

"I'm afraid it's already become a problem."

'Leech hadn't expected to spend his birthday cleaning up someone else's mess.'

He turned and went back into the room.

TING-A-LING-LING.

He shook the bell, and a manservant quickly came running.

"Go get Vic immediately. Tell him someone is seriously injured," Leech ordered.

"Yes!"

The implications of this matter could be major or minor, but Leech and Evangelina came to the same conclusion: it was best that the other visiting nobles didn't find out.

The injured southern captive was quickly moved to a cell in the constabulary.

After a short wait, Vic, the apothecary's apprentice, finished treating the captive's wounds.

"How's his condition?" Leech asked.

"The wound was severely rotten and festering," Vic said. "I've already cut away the necrotic tissue. If the penicillin works, he might just pull through."

Leech glanced at the figure lying on the cot.

"Then we'll have to see if he's lucky."

"And the wound? Was it from a sword?" He was curious about this, because from what he knew, Steven had next to no combat ability.

'Mounted combat was even less likely. Unless Steven was cheating the system like he was, he'd be the one getting thrashed. At best, he could rely on his heavy armor to bully a few peasants.'

Vic replied, "No, it was a claw wound. Looks like it came from some large beast."

'I knew it,' Leech thought.

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