The Attendant in the Horror Game C13

Chapter 13

“Mm…?”

When he forced his heavy arm to rise and fumbled across his face, his hand caught onto a damp towel.

“Hm?”

Jade lifted the towel he had found. The water hadn’t been properly wrung out, so droplets fell—drip, drip—slowly onto the sheets. Outside the window, the world was blanketed in a dull gray, the snowfall having grown fierce during the dawn.

“Young Master?”

There were only two people and one monster in this villa, so it must have been Ian who placed the towel on his face. Yet, Ian was nowhere to be seen in the room. Strangely enough, Soondol was missing too.

“Ugh, haah.”

Where could they have gone at this hour? He wanted to get up and look for them, but his body refused to move. Jade had suffered from colds and fevers countless times before, but this was on an entirely different level.

Click—

“You’re awake?”

While he was wondering how to even sit up, Ian opened the door and came in. He was holding a plate in his hands, but the moment he noticed Jade was awake, he quickly hid it behind his back.

“Myaaang…”

Whatever the two had been up to, several of Soondol’s whiskers were singed and curled. It seemed even the creature found it strange—Soondol kept rubbing at his own whiskers with his front paw. A quick glance showed something that looked like charcoal resting on the plate.

‘Was there even any charcoal in this villa…?’

When Jade, barely managing to lift his upper body, tried to peek, Ian stealthily stepped back.

“What are you hiding?”

“Myaang, myaang! Myang-myung, kaak!”

In place of the hesitant Ian, Soondol answered with an energetic series of gestures. The small creature flailed its paws dramatically, as if it had a great deal to explain. When it touched its burnt whiskers, it even looked indignant.

Roughly interpreting Soondol’s gestures, Jade guessed they must have tried to roast mushrooms—and that’s how things ended up like this. Since mushrooms were about the only thing in the villa suitable for grilling, that “charcoal” was likely mushroom remains.

“You roasted mushrooms? That’s impressive. Let’s have a look.”

“Well…”

When Jade tried to get up from the bed, Ian reluctantly brought the plate forward. On it were the mushrooms Jade had picked before falling ill. Most of them were burned to a crisp.

“Haha. You certainly grilled them… in a unique way.”

As expected, it turned out that the black lumps really were mushrooms. Jade poked one with a fork, turning it this way and that. The mushrooms already looked grotesque by nature, and the charring only made them worse.

Still, since some parts were less burnt, he could peel away the outer layer and eat what was left. Ian looked rather grave, clearly embarrassed for ruining their already limited food supply.

“If you don’t want it, you don’t have to eat it.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine. It’s nice for a change—gets boring eating the same thing every day, after all.”

When Jade smiled to reassure him, Ian’s stiff expression eased slightly. Soondol fluttered around the plate as well, wings flapping and his curled whiskers waving in the air.

“Myang!”

“Go ahead and eat.”

“We should eat together.”

It looked like about two handfuls’ worth of mushrooms, but once the moisture had evaporated, there wasn’t much left. The mushrooms barely covered the bottom of the plate.

“I’m fine. I’m full…”

Claiming he was full, Ian set the plate down on Jade’s stomach and backed away. There was no way that was true. While Jade had been bedridden, Ian likely hadn’t eaten anything either. Hunger would have been the same for both.

“How could you be full when there’s nothing to eat in this place?”

With a groan, Jade sat up, grabbed one of the least burnt mushrooms with his fork, and promptly stuffed it into Ian’s mouth.

“Mmph…!”

Caught off guard, Ian froze for a moment before slowly beginning to chew. Once Jade confirmed he swallowed, he also ate one himself.

“It has a smoky flavor—it’s actually pretty good. Don’t you think so, Young Master?”

“Well…”

Ian responded with a doubtful expression. It seemed his own cooking didn’t suit his tastes. He had eaten Jade’s plain roasted mushrooms before without complaint, but apparently, he didn’t like the ones he made himself.

“You should have one too. You worked hard on them.”

“Myang-myang!”

He handed one to Soondol as well, and after sharing a few more with Ian, the plate was quickly emptied.

“Thank you, Young Master. If not for this, I might’ve fainted from hunger before my fever.”

“…It’s fine.”

At Jade’s grateful words, Ian turned his head awkwardly. It wasn’t as though he’d roasted them out of genuine concern—he simply couldn’t afford to lose the one person who was capable of maintaining the villa.

Truthfully, roasting them had been a struggle. He’d had to stand on a chair to reach the stove, and he couldn’t control the fire properly. After all that trouble, everything burned, leaving him drained.

To make matters worse, the monster hadn’t helped at all and only made a fuss. He’d barely restrained himself from throwing Soondol out the window. When Soondol singed his whiskers and stomped around as if it were Ian’s fault, he’d nearly done it for real.

“But, Young Master, I think I’ll go back to sleep. I’m still… haahm, so sleepy.”

After eating a few mushrooms, Jade let out a big yawn and promptly fell back asleep as if fainting. The drowsiness was overwhelming, impossible to resist.

“Mm…”

Something was off. Even in his sleep, Jade instinctively realized that his condition wasn’t normal. The longer time passed, the more he was convinced this wasn’t a simple cold.

It felt completely different. His body grew heavy as if someone were pulling him down from below, and his joints ached like those of a boy going through a painful growth spurt.

Thus, Jade spent the rest of the early morning tossing and turning in feverish delirium.

When his eyes opened again, it was already morning. This time, it was the rustling sound that woke him. The noise came from one corner of the room.

“Uh…”

Turning toward the sound, Jade spotted a fireplace built into the wall—unsurprising, as this was the master’s room at the center of the villa. In front of it sat Ian and Soondol, pressed close together, seemingly focused on something.

“Myang! Myang!”

Soondol grumbled but seemed to be working hard, and Ian appeared deeply engrossed. The weak sunlight filtered through the cracks in the window, settling softly over them.

“Do it properly.”

Looking closer, Ian’s hands were busy moving. He was holding the twigs Jade had gathered earlier, while Soondol flapped its wings to dry them.

Whoosh—

The fireplace flickered to life, then dimmed again. Ian stirred the kindling with an iron poker. He’d somehow found some scraps of paper, using them as tinder to keep the fire alive.

“Myak!”

When the flames died down again, Soondol let out a disappointed cry and flapped its tiny wings furiously, trying to revive it. Ian, too, alternated between fanning the fire and arranging more twigs.

The fireplace crackled softly, scattering tiny ashes that floated through the air—landing on both Ian and Soondol.

“Pfft.”

Jade couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Ian’s soot-streaked face and Soondol’s ashy back. Hearing his laughter, both of them turned to look.

“Jade?”

“Myang—!”

Soondol flew over and landed right in his arms, rubbing its sooty face against him, leaving black smudges on Jade’s cheeks.

“Myang?”

Soondol tilted its head up as if asking whether he was all right. Ian, standing awkwardly near the fireplace, said nothing but clearly shared the same concern.

“I’m much better now.”

“Ah…”

“Haha, thanks to you, Young Master.”

Jade chuckled, reassuring both Ian and Soondol. Though he wasn’t fully recovered, he truly did feel better than before he’d fallen asleep.

More than the illness, what unsettled him was the warmth—the unfamiliar feeling of being cared for. He couldn’t remember anyone ever tending to him when he was sick.

Having grown used to solitude, the sight of the two of them together in this room felt strange and embarrassingly heartwarming. To hide his fluster, Jade stretched his body energetically.

“Myamang?”

Soondol mimicked him, swinging its short limbs around. Ian, with soot on his cheek and nose, simply stood there watching the two.

“The fire’s hard to keep going, isn’t it? I tried before too, but I think the wood’s damp.”

“Ah…”

“In that case, shall we break down some of the old furniture for firewood?”

After finishing his stretches, Jade dragged out a few old chairs he had spotted earlier and began breaking them apart.

“Ugh-cha!”

“Myang! Myang!”

Each time Jade stomped on a chair leg to snap it, Soondol clapped its paws together enthusiastically. Ian took the broken pieces and fed them to the fireplace.

Working together, the three soon had a strong blaze roaring in the hearth. Jade carried a few glowing embers downstairs to the first-floor fireplace before returning. The firewood wouldn’t last long, but it would at least warm the mansion for a short while.

“It’s morning already.”

Jade gazed at the flickering fire, at Soondol, and at Ian—both of whom looked somewhat grimy from their early morning efforts.

“Haha, ahaha.”

“Myak?”

“Jade?”

He couldn’t help but laugh again. Ian blinked in confusion, a smudge of ash still across his face.

The next day, Jade rose with a much lighter body. Truthfully, he wanted to rest longer, but hunger forced him up.

More importantly, he realized his illness hadn’t been an ordinary fever after all.

Developer’s Generosity <<

You have acquired the skill [Ghost Obedience].

“What the… is this?”