Chapter 10 - The Girl Who Burned Once
Before I could even properly grasp what had happened to her, Alun Orlan was too busy apologizing.
“I’m sorry, Professor Joseph. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Me, I… I…”
Judging by how she was clasping her hands like a fly buzzing desperately, if I left her like this, she’d keep at it till dawn, generating enough friction heat to melt the Arctic ice caps.
But it wasn’t like she was begging some girl or anything—no need to worry about that. I’d guessed from her pallor and complexion, but sure enough, that state didn’t last long.
Thud.
She must have pushed herself way too hard. Not even minutes after seeing us, she lost consciousness right there and collapsed.
“……What a creepy girl—! When was she begging forgiveness like a madwoman, and now she just drops?!”
“I swear, maybe I have some magic that knocks people out. Including Grand Duchess Irina, that’s already two… no, the second one.”
“This isn’t the time! What are you going to do now, Uncle?!”
“First, we save her life, don’t we?”
My deposit money, 12,000 gold. In Korean won, that’s about 1.2 billion, a nuclear-level sum… Telling her, in this wretched state, to repay that? It seemed impossible.
But she had to be alive first for anything to happen.
So, I scooped her up and hauled her straight to the infirmary.
I thought it’d be quick to resolve.
But damn, nothing ever goes right in this world.
* * *
Infuriatingly, Alun’s treatment took exactly half a day.
I’d planned to spend the day gathering the other kids, but it all went to her instead.
…Emergency situation, nothing I can do. I left Tiel with Sion, so no worries.
Anyway, the medical staff tending her wounds… came out of the treatment room and met my eyes.
“It’s all done, Professor.”
She was panting heavily—clearly, the treatment hadn’t been smooth.
“Thank you for bringing her. This student was refusing to come to school; if we’d found her even a little later, she really would’ve died.”
Aigoo. And that meant I’d have been stuck with a death on my watch as a teacher? That shaved ten years off my life.
“Good thing. What caused the collapse?”
“Sepsis from multiple burns.”
“Figured as much. How bad were the burns?”
“Superficial second-degree. Proper treatment gives a good prognosis. But the problem is… the wounds are just under a month old? Without adequate healing magic, she wouldn’t have lasted the day.”
Crazy.
“…Hang on. She survived a whole month with those wounds?”
“Rest easy, though. Thanks to our top healers, she’s stabilized now, even if late. …So, we’ll focus on burn treatment for the time being.”
So very romance-fantasy. Not like watering plants for growth, or penicillin for sepsis—just slap on some heal and she’s fine.
But pushing that thought aside, I couldn’t help wondering why she’d gotten these wounds and not come to the hospital for a month.
“Is she conscious?”
“Top-tier heal cleared her right up. She’s expressing herself fine. Want to go in and talk?”
So, I followed the staff’s suggestion into her room.
And immediately, my eyes met Alun’s.
Ugh… This is bad. Really bad.
Is this a living person or a corpse? I’d seen wounds everywhere from countless battles, but this level of pitiful was a first.
“Ah. Ahh— Professor Joseph…!”
“…If you’re gonna say sorry again, that’s enough. Be quiet for a bit.”
Drag.
I pulled over a nearby desk and sat in front of her.
She seemed ashamed even to look at my face, glancing up then turning away.
“I’m, I’m sorry…”
“Tch.”
“Oh, right. You said not to apologize…! I meant, I feel ashamed for collapsing and causing trouble. I’d already committed such a grave sin against you, Professor Joseph.”
“We’ll talk about that later. First, I’m gonna scold you.”
“Uu…”
What’s with the crying?
“Why didn’t you come to the infirmary sooner? You’ve gotta take care of your own body. A whole month, they said. What the hell is this?”
But if there was some reason she couldn’t say, Alun just mumbled.
“…Mo.”
“What?”
“Mo, money… It costs money, right…? I don’t have any, so I couldn’t call a doctor or come to the hospital… Actually, I’m still worried now…! All I have left is my body…”
Ah, no money! Then just pay with your body, right?
Why go dying over it? —That thought flashed, but knowing here no one needs repaying anyone, I had to correct her.
“Don’t worry about that. From what I know, treatment inside the academy is fully covered by the imperial family.”
“Eh?”
Why stare at me blinking like an idiot?
They must’ve explained it at orientation during the founding festival.
Ah, wounds from a month ago, so she missed the festival. This girl…?
And all this “a month” talk was starting to click.
Just a hunch, though.
“Anyway, no escaping now. Time to tell the truth.”
“……”
“Why’d you get these burns? No, let me guess.”
I crossed my arms slowly.
“I already have an idea, but I’m the guy who got scammed out of 12,000 gold by your father. Ended up a street beggar exactly a month ago.”
Sigh…
“And your wounds are from around then, so there’s a connection, right? Am I wrong?”
Then, Alun couldn’t hold back anymore.
Tears streamed like a faucet turned on.
“Yes… That day, that day…”
She gasped out the words.
Amazing. The iron-willed girl from the original never broke down once, and here I was seeing her in the gutter with my own eyes.
“Father secretly withdrew all your deposit from the bank and planned to flee, without telling me.”
“Secretly…? Why?”
“Of course! Because I… I was the only one against it from the start! Everyone said it was the only way, but doing that to a hero who saved humanity? It’s no different from beastly behavior! Nobles can’t do that!”
Hero, huh. So she respected me…?
More surprising she even knew me.
But thinking of her original self, it fit perfectly.
I couldn’t know the details, but a true noble like her wouldn’t just grab my money and run when the family was ruined.
She’d probably nitpicked and blocked Dad at every turn.
“So Father had the younger ones handle the withdrawal. Then called me to the basement secretly and said…”
Anyway, she continued.
“He’d walked the wrong path till now. Let’s pray to the Lord together and repent. Start over from scratch, rebuild the family once more…”
“You didn’t actually believe that, did you?”
“That was my mistake. While we prayed, I heard the basement door lock… That’s when I knew I’d chosen wrong.”
Oh. Wait.
Does that mean…
“Right then, Father set the mansion ablaze to evade pursuers.”
Ha. Insane?
The story checked out, but it was fresh madness.
“I survived by luck, but the wounds were inevitable.”
“—I see.”
She gave an embarrassed smile, as if even she couldn’t believe it, trying not to make me awkward.
“After escaping, I had nowhere to go. House burned, relatives gone. All I had left was the academy, with my unpaid tuition hanging.”
“……”
“No one to rely on, couldn’t face anyone like this… So I holed up in my room.”
Breath caught in my throat.
And now, even a bitter laugh escaped.
Alfred Orlan—that toad-lookalike—was a scammer, I learned a month ago.
But to try killing his own daughter to escape… Peak inhumanity.
……Thinking that, her wrinkled, hideous burns looked different.
Seems I wasn’t the only one suffering from Orlan’s scam.
Locked in the basement, flesh burning, realizing Dad abandoned her—what went through her mind?
Couldn’t measure exactly, but her pathetic state must’ve hurt worse than death.
So that’s why she cried seeing me…
“—Alun?”
No. Why cry over me?
If it were me, I’d pity myself first. Too damn kind…
“Yes…?”
“Normally, you’d curse your own fate, right? So why bow your head to me, sorry you couldn’t stop your father?”
“Of course. I have nothing left now, but I’m a noble till I die.”
“What?”
“I bear responsibility not just for myself, but my entire bloodline’s wrongs.”
“Ridiculous.”
That’s why all my spite melted away.
What was she thinking? Lost house, family, clueless…
Without realizing, I pulled out my handkerchief and dabbed her streaming tears.
“Uh…”
“What.”
“You’re… wiping my tears right now? Why?”
“…No reason. They’re falling, so I’m wiping them.”
“You don’t need to pity a sinner like me.”
“…I heard the story.”
Grab—!!
But then, Alun snatched my hand tight.
Hard to move, she strained with a pitiful grunt.
Wait, what the—?!
For a split second, our eyes met, and I froze at hers.
This girl… this woman.
What the hell with those eyes? They’re alive. Dangerously so.
“Don’t say that, Professor Joseph…?”
“Wh-what!”
“I’ll repay the money somehow!”
“Why the sudden—?!”
“Let me repay it. Please let me— Or rather.”
But she clung relentlessly, ignoring me.
With a madness in her clear eyes you rarely see in kids these days.
“If you say that, I become the victim! I’m the perpetrator, Lady Orlan!”
“N-no!”
“So don’t be so kindly to me simply—I might break. Just let me exist as me, Professor. Yes? Yes…?”
She stroked my hand as she spoke.
Squeeze.
“If you don’t want that, I have no reason to live. Push me, corner me—it’s fine. Just let me take ‘noble’ responsibility. Yes? Yesss…?”
“……”
“I’ll do whatever you want, Professor… That’s what this Alun Orlan can do.”
………
…….
….
But I’d only given her a bit of pity, not my heart.
So I had to say it straight.
“—Know your place, Alun Orlan.”
“Eh? E……”
“You couldn’t even care for your own body, yet talk of repaying money? What’s this nonsense?”
I’m no idiot fool.
Did she think I’d buy it?
This peanut-sized kid, playing games with an adult…
Her words seemed genuine like the original, so I pitied her a little.
But even if for money, ignoring her own burns like this? No credibility.
If she wanted to live, what couldn’t she do?
Before babbling to me, hit the infirmary, save her life first, repay costs later—no?
I’d thought her iron-willed like the original.
But this? Still just a kid.
So.
Time to fix her head. Show her reality.