TLIMD 05

Chapter: 05

Leaving Ailey in the annex, the duke and I sat inside the garden house.

I immediately began explaining.

“Mr. William has cirrhosis of the liver. To put it simply, his liver has become hardened and can no longer function properly. Because of that, things that should go into the liver leak into the abdomen instead, causing ascites to build up.”

“Then why do you say you cannot treat him when you understand his condition so well?”

“Because I understand it too well.”

Cirrhosis was a disease with a high mortality rate even in 21st-century South Korea.

But in a place with such poor medical conditions?

What could I, someone who wasn’t even a surgeon, possibly do to save him?

“You haven’t forgotten your promise that if you cannot treat him, you will give up your life, have you?”

“Of course not. But please give me a few days. If you give me time, I will help Mr. William die peacefully.”

This time, the duke’s eyes widened slightly.

I continued explaining.

“Death comes to everyone. So in the end, dying well is just as important as living well. I want to help Mr. William pass away as comfortably as possible. And…”

“And?”

“I need to help Ailey prepare to say goodbye to her father as well.”

Of course, if the duke suddenly pulled out a sword and told me not to play tricks, then I would have no choice but to die.

But somehow, I felt that the “Death Maniac” wasn’t going to kill me right now.

Blasion, who had been silent, finally spoke.

“Only until William dies.”

“Yes!! That’s enough!”

Thinking that the patient could fall into a coma from hepatic encephalopathy at any moment, I became anxious.

I immediately stood up.

“I’ll prepare the treatment today.”

Thanks to the wealth and power of the Karseido ducal family, the necessary supplies were gathered quickly.

Lionel placed all the required items onto a trolley and called Ailey.

Ailey came over with Blasion, still looking as cheerful as ever.

“Ailey. From now on, I’m going to perform a treatment to help your father feel a little more comfortable. Before that, I called you because there’s something I need to tell you.”

Sensing the serious atmosphere, Ailey looked at Lionel nervously.

“Your father won’t have much longer to live.”

Lionel delivered the news in a calm but certain voice.

In an instant, tears filled Ailey’s large eyes.

“Is my dad really going to die? When?”

“Your teacher doesn’t know that either. It could be today, or it could be tomorrow. But it will happen soon.”

Lionel gently wiped the child’s face with her sleeve.

Then she whispered in the kindest voice she could.

“Ailey. Everyone dies someday. And when we die, we can’t take anything with us. But there is one thing we can take.”

“……What is it?”

“Memories with the people we love.”

Lionel gently stroked Ailey’s red hair.

Blasion watched the scene with his arms crossed.

When holding a sword, he had seemed like an unstoppable runaway train.

But now, at this moment, Lionel’s hands were endlessly gentle.

“Teacher will do everything she can so your father can spend his remaining time as comfortably as possible. So, Ailey…”

Lionel paused for a moment, then confessed with a faint smile.

“……Don’t live with regrets like your teacher did. Spend good time with your father until the very end. Can you help me from now on?”

“……Yes.”

“Good. Thank you. Let’s go inside together.”

Ailey wiped away her tears and runny nose before entering the annex with Lionel.

Standing before William, Lionel announced the beginning of the procedure.

“Then, I’ll begin performing a paracentesis to remove the fluid from your abdomen.”

For three hours, four one-liter bottles were filled with ascitic fluid drained from William’s abdomen.

Ailey diligently changed the bottles whenever necessary.

With his swollen stomach slightly reduced, William looked much better.

He sat in a wheelchair and went out into the garden with Ailey.

The excited Ailey chattered endlessly.

“Daddy, what kind of flower is this?”

“That’s a crocus. The yellow flower blooming beside it is a daffodil.”

“Daddy really knows everything! You’re so smart!”

The father and daughter’s gentle conversation was warm and comforting.

Watching them from a short distance away, Lionel smiled softly.

Blasion, who was watching them together with her, suddenly asked,

“What did you regret?”

“……Excuse me?”

“You told Ailey. That you regretted something.”

“Ah… That.”

Lionel looked away.

“I had a sick mother too. I lived with her before I went to the Frencia barony.”

Lionel thought of the only person she had ever truly considered family.

The only mother she had acknowledged as family across both her current and past lives.

The woman who had given her endless love.

Since it was not a particularly pleasant story, Lionel wanted to end the topic quickly.

“She became sick at some point and spent most of her time lying down. One day, I begged her because I wanted to eat pancakes. I kept asking until she finally made them for me, but not long afterward, she passed away. So I guess… I regretted that.”

“Because making pancakes for you might have been too much for her?”

“Yes.”

Blasion remained silent for a moment.

‘Ah, what am I supposed to do with this atmosphere?’

Wanting to erase the awkwardness, Lionel deliberately laughed loudly.

“Ahaha! It’s nothing, really! In this difficult world, who doesn’t have a story like that? Everyone has lost a family member or two…”

“There is no one without regrets, but regardless of that, I don’t think this is something you should regret.”

Lionel blinked at his unexpected words.

Blasion continued with an expressionless face.

“If making pancakes caused her to pass away sooner, then her condition had already deteriorated to that point. It is not something you should have carried in your heart until now.”

His words were blunt.

But the message hidden inside them was gentle.

Not knowing how to respond, Lionel turned her gaze away.

Why was he secretly so kind when he caused such a bloody massacre in the original story?

Was this really the world of The Unfading Flower?

As that small doubt began to rise, Ailey’s laughter could be heard again.

Both of their gazes naturally turned toward the father and daughter.

At some point, William had made a flower ring and placed it on Ailey’s finger.

“Wow. That’s nice.”

Lionel unknowingly spoke out.

She immediately regretted it because Blasion stared directly at her.

“No, I mean… I don’t know how to make one. A flower ring. I just thought it was nice because it’s pretty.”

Actually, in the original story, there was a scene where the heroine made a flower ring and gave it to you.

And like a proper romance novel male lead, you returned the favor with a diamond ring made in the exact same shape.

While Lionel was replaying the novel’s events in her head, Blasion stood up.

“A flower ring is not difficult to make.”

“Huh? You know how to make one?”

Blasion did not answer.

Instead, he picked some clover growing near his feet.

With practiced movements, he quickly intertwined the stems.

A cute little ring was completed in an instant.

However, as he held out the ring as if showing it off, an awkward expression crossed his purple eyes.

It looked like he was wondering what to do with it.

After a moment, he held out the ring and said,

“……I found it.”

“You happened to find it?”

“I simply found it.”

“Ah, yes. Let’s just say that.”

At this point, Lionel began to wonder if she had been reincarnated into a completely different novel.

Just as she placed the flower ring into her pocket—

“Daddy!!”

Ailey’s sharp scream rang out.

Without hesitation, the two of them rushed forward.

“Mr. William!!”

William, leaning against his wheelchair, coughed painfully.

Each time, black blood sprayed from his mouth.

‘It has come.’

There was truly no time left.

Lionel spoke in a solemn voice.

“Duke. Please move Mr. William to his room. And Ailey. It’s time to prepare yourself. Your father will pass away today.”

“What? Without doing anything? Why? Teacher, can’t you stop the bleeding?”

“I’m sorry, Ailey. Your father can no longer endure further treatment.”

Lionel explained as calmly as possible.

“Your father will continue vomiting blood, and then he will pass away. If watching that becomes too painful, you can leave for a while.”

“I don’t want to!! I’m staying beside Daddy until the end!”

Ailey wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

Then, as if afraid someone might stop her, she shouted even more bravely.

“I’ll stay by Daddy’s side until the very end. So Daddy won’t be lonely… Please let me stay with him, Teacher!”

The final courage and determination of a ten-year-old child was almost solemn.

Lionel had no choice but to nod.

“I’m prepared. And the estate has also been informed.”

Blasion returned after moving William.

Lionel tightly held Ailey’s hand.

“Let’s go now, Ailey.”

As described in the original story, William truly was a kind and good person.

Even while constantly feeling nauseous, vomiting, and suffering through unbearable pain, he calmly welcomed visitors.

He said tearful goodbyes to the servants who had spent ten years with him.

And at the very last moment, while his consciousness was fading, William held his daughter’s hand.

“Ailey, I love you…… I’m sorry…… In your next life, please…… be born as my daughter again……”

Lionel could not hear what Ailey answered because her cries drowned it out.

But Lionel was certain William himself had heard it.

William did not make it through the night.

He passed away while his daughter, his personal physician, and his employer watched over him.

Lionel wiped the blood around his mouth with a gauze cloth.

Then, gathering all her remaining strength, she opened her mouth.

“The current time is 3:31 a.m. Mr. William Rexter has passed away.”