Chapter 125: The Sentence
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 125: The Sentence
Emma, exhausted from running, staggered forward like a zombie.
She called out for In-ho incessantly, drawing the focused stares of passersby. Hans, unable to watch any longer, grabbed her shoulder, but she shook his hand off with fierce intensity and continued on her way.
As time passed, someone emerged through the small clusters of people and called out to her.
"Miss Emma!"
"…?"
Wondering who was calling her, Emma turned her head, and her eyes widened. It was the nurse who had visited the mansion with the doctor the other day.
"Miss Kate?"
The nurse, Kate, approached her.
"I finally found you. What are you doing here?"
"W-what do you mean?"
What was she talking about? Emma’s overheated brain struggled to process the words.
"Doctor In-ho. Argh! That hurts…!"
The moment In-ho’s name left Kate’s mouth, Emma’s demeanor shifted violently. Grabbing the nurse by both shoulders, Emma pressed her without giving her a chance to breathe.
"Master? You know where Master is, don't you? Is he hurt? Did he collapse? Is he at the hospital? Tell me, quickly! I feel like I’m going crazy. Miss Kate, please, please, please tell me. Hurry! Hurry!"
"L-let go of me first…."
Kate tried to pull away, but Emma’s grip was ironclad.
"Doctor In-ho is at our hospital right now. He’s resting in bed."
Enduring the bone-crushing pain in her shoulders, Kate managed to speak in a small, strained voice. At those words, the hollow look in Emma’s eyes began to fade, and she finally lowered her hands.
"Phew… what strength…. Anyway, I even went to the mansion looking for you. I guess we kept missing each other."
"H-how long has it been?"
"He’s been at the hospital for about an hour and a half now."
"Is… is he very ill?"
"Our doctor examined him and said it’s not life-threatening."
"Haah… thank God."
Emma collapsed right there on the street. The tension had snapped, and her legs had finally given out. Kate reached out a hand to her.
"Get up. We have to go to the hospital. You’re Doctor In-ho’s guardian, aren't you?"
"Guardian… guardian…."
Emma muttered the word as she took Kate’s hand and stood up.
"And I think we need to treat you as well," Kate added, looking at Emma’s various scrapes and bruises.
"L-let’s go. Quickly. M-master is waiting," Emma said, her voice raspy.
Emma ran toward the hospital with Kate, and a hesitating Hans followed behind them, laden with bags.
*
"……"
Emma looked down at the peacefully sleeping In-ho.
"It seems the problem was moving back and forth between hot and cold areas," the doctor standing beside Emma explained. "Sudden changes in body temperature are bad for the human body. It’s dangerous even for young people, but for someone like Doctor In-ho, it’s even worse…."
A tear rolled down Emma’s cheek. Her heart was a wreck. She loathed herself for being so intoxicated by the recent peaceful days that she had failed to look after her master.
And then….
"Emma, don't cry. Okay?"
Hans, perhaps having seen it somewhere before, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and tried to dab at the corners of Emma’s eyes.
Slap!
A sharp sound echoed through the hospital room. Everyone flinched at the jarring noise, and the doctor and nurses stared at Emma with wide eyes.
"…Huh?"
Hans clutched his stinging cheek, looking at Emma in shock. He never imagined she would actually hit him.
Facing Hans head-on, Emma raised her hand again.
Slap!
With another sharp crack, Hans’s head snapped to the side.
"Em… ma?"
Slap!
Again.
Slap!
And again.
Emma slapped his cheek the moment his head swung back, and soon, blood began to seep from Hans’s split lip.
"Ugh…!"
While Hans, still failing to grasp the situation, failed to resist properly, Emma grabbed his face and forced it forward.
And then, once more.
Slap!
"I."
Slap!
"Told."
Slap!
"You."
Slap!
"I’d."
Slap!
"Kill."
Slap!
"You."
Slap!
"If you kept messing with me!"
Slap!
Only when blood was streaming from his split lip and nose did the people around them realize the severity of the situation.
"Miss Emma! Calm down! Calm down!!"
The doctor grabbed Emma’s arms from behind to restrain her, while the nurses grabbed the fallen Hans and hurried him out of the room.
"If you hadn't kept bothering me…!!!"
Emma swung her legs at the retreating Hans, but she only kicked the air.
"Let go! Let go! I’m going to kill him!!!"
Her voice, hoarse and laced with hatred and murderous intent, was chilling. She continued to struggle, and the doctor holding her was stunned by her unexpected strength.
Once Hans was out of the room, Emma slumped to the floor.
"Phew…."
Thinking she had finally calmed down, the doctor let go of her, but then she began to do something else.
Slap!
She slapped her own cheek. She struck herself with such merciless force that she fell over sideways.
"Miss Emma?"
Emma sprang back up like a roly-poly toy and slapped her other cheek. Thud. She fell over again. In just two blows, her lips were split just like Hans’s.
"Sob…."
She wept, face-down on the floor. She began to tear at her own hair with both hands.
"You crazy bitch. Die! Die! Die!!! You don't deserve to be a maid!!!! How can someone like you be a guardian? You should have just died on the street!!! Annie should have lived instead of you!!! Die!! Just die already!!!"
"Now, calm down! Miss Emma. If you make a scene here, Doctor In-ho won't be able to rest!!"
The doctor rushed over and grabbed her hands again. At the mention of her master, Emma’s frantic struggling slowly subsided. Seeing that his words had worked, the doctor continued.
"The more you act like this, the worse it is for Doctor In-ho’s condition. Didn't you talk to me? You said you would take good care of him."
"Doctor… I… to Master…."
"It was a mistake. He’s just sleeping because his energy is low. Don't blame yourself too much. It’s not immediately life-threatening."
"Ugh… hwaaaaaah…."
She let out a low growl, like a wounded beast.
Doctor In-ho… you certainly kept a unique child by your side.
The doctor marveled at this side of Emma, which he was seeing for the first time.
*
In-ho opened his eyes to find a composed Emma sobbing quietly beside him.
"Mmm… Emma?"
"M-Master?"
Emma felt such pity for her master as he called her name. His thin limbs, his body still shivering from the cold—just looking at him brought tears to her eyes.
"Is this… a hospital? A strange ceiling…."
"Yes. It is a hospital. A passerby brought you here after you collapsed on the street."
As In-ho spoke while staring at the ceiling, the doctor standing behind Emma answered.
"Why did I collapse?"
"It seems your body temperature dropped too rapidly. Your general vitality wasn't very high to begin with."
"I see."
"……"
"……"
"Emma."
Breaking the silence, In-ho called her name.
"Yes! Please speak, Master. I, your faithful maid, will do anything."
"Then why don't you go get some treatment? Your body looks quite battered."
In-ho said, scanning her injured form.
"But…."
Emma hesitated, unwilling to leave his side.
"Go on."
When In-ho spoke with a hint of firmness, Emma followed the nurse toward the treatment room like a dejected puppy.
"You travel with quite an unusual maid," the doctor said, watching the door Emma had exited.
"She’s a good girl," In-ho said calmly.
"Hahaha. I suppose she is," the doctor agreed.
"By the way, Doctor. There is something I want to ask."
In-ho shifted his gaze slightly to meet the doctor’s eyes. Though he was a frail old man, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes that he couldn't hide.
"Yes, go ahead."
"How much is left?"
"Pardon?"
"My lifespan, I mean."
In-ho took a moment to catch his breath. He inhaled again and spoke steadily.
"How much time do I have left?"
"……"
"……"
"…So you knew."
"I just felt like I was losing my strength more and more."
It wasn't a lie. Since the possession, In-ho had tried to build up his physical strength through activity, but he could clearly feel his vitality draining away. He had thought his life force had been fully restored upon possession, but it had only been a temporary boost; his body had been at its limit all along.
And today, seeing himself collapse on the street, In-ho instinctively knew that his remaining time was short.
"…I’m not sure how to tell you this."
"Please, speak freely. I’m just a dementia patient anyway, aren't I? Haha."
"You’re the only dementia patient who would say it like that."
The doctor gave a dry chuckle, as if finding it absurd.
"It’s not certain, but… six months at most. Three months at the shortest."
Listening to the doctor’s sentence, In-ho thought to himself.
I’ll have to prepare. For another death.