“Haaa….”

Lucas sighed looking at Walter’s letter. A week had passed and as he had expected there were more casualties than before. He didn’t know whether the disease had spread to other territories or not yet but there were still a large number on his own territory.

“394 people are identified to have the disease and there are still over 429 people with symptoms of nose-bleeding and coughing and 18 deaths even when Alohara plant is used..…. Are you kidding?”

He couldn’t believe that even though they locked down Sansa as fast as they could, the numbers were like that. He thought that the disease would have less infection rate because it only transmitted from body fluids and sweat could be the most possible way for transmission but he couldn’t understand why this rate was like this. It was only one week and only counted for Evandall territory, not the whole kingdom.

“Do people hug or handshake a lot in sweat these days?”

He appreciated that the disease was not the air transmitted disease. Or else it could be worse and he didn’t want to imagine that.

Lucas considered that the reason might be because he noticed it late and he was glad that the instructions to stay contactless from each other for the time period, usage of gloves and long sleeves clothes and the some information about the procedures to inform the churches or local heads if they found the symptoms were of great help.

One good thing he had thought was that the rate was this much because the citizens were clueless for the starting period and now that they were aware, Lucas sincerely hoped they would be more cautious for some time.

And one thing Lucas was worried about was the shortage of Alohara plants. Right now they could still handle it but no one knew of the future. If the rate increased, it would be more troubling.

Lucas sighed again. He had gone through all the stories about the demon’s curse in the library again but he had no clues of the cure, except that they should burn the victims in order to exterminate it. And Lucas cursed again and again at that answer.

“Big sister is not coming back, too…. Haven’t father called her back, yet?”

And for the third time he sighed.

“Master, I believe it will turn out ok! I have checked the city and its vicinity and almost all the people follow the instructions!”

Tus, who was looking at Lucas could not stil in silence anymore. How could he when the child in front of him was starting to look like an old person. It was not helping that Lucas' hair was also white.

“Almost?”

Lucas lifted an eyebrow as he put the letter down. Even though he needed to know the real situation happening outside, the people in the mansion, including his father, were like ‘Young master/Lucas, please refrain from touching other people especially if they are sweaty.’ And when Lucas asked them the reason, they were like playing volleyball, avoiding the answers, making him have to let one of his people check the situation by himself.

So, he made Tus look around the city and most parts of the territories yesterday, with layers of clothings and everything needed for protection, of course. And since Tus could use wind magic, he could mostly look through the cities even without touching the ground and he was very swift at moving away.

“I mean “All”! You have nothing to worry about. It will slow down next week!”

“Come on, Lucas. Relax your mind a bit. Breathe in, breathe out. You are starting to look like a little old man.”

“Yes, yes. I am keeping calm….”

‘Actually, I am not…..’ Lucas inwardly thought. With the report of Walter, at least 394 people were going to die if they could not find the cure. An average person could hang on for 1 month or so, and 2 to 3 months at maximum and it seemed that the disease was already spreading for more than 1 month, prior to Lucas’s notice.

Lucas wanted to sigh once more but he refrained from doing so, thinking that Tus and Eura would surely worry more if he did.

And suddenly Lucas looked at the window as he heard some horses marching towards the main mansion.

“Brother is coming back, today? Wasn’t he supposed to take a little longer?”

Noticing that the one who came in as the lead was his dear brother, Edwin, Lucas asked the two behind him. Even when he was young, he was usually notified of his family visits or returns.

“We also don’t know, Master. It seems that he didn’t inform of his return.”

Lucas felt also strange because it felt like Edwin returned rushing here and in an instant, he hurried to the entrance to greet his brother and if possible, to know some information on Ereck forest and such. He needed to know about that, too.

“Big brother! Welcome back!”

Lucas smiled as he had always done but somehow, he knew that there was some case heaving Edwin’s mind just by looking at his expression.

‘Has he already known of the disease?’

“Ah, Lucas…. Where is Maria? She isn’t here, yet?”

‘Why are you asking that to me!?’ Lucas didn’t know if his brother forgot that they hid the fact about the disease from him.

“No. Isn’t she supposed to be with you?”

“Ah, yes. Nevermind that…. Where is father? Is he here?”

Lucas realized that his brother was truly in a hurry just by looking at his facial expressions which was why he held back his desire for a small talk.

“Father is in his office. But I think he will be leaving soon, though, because he said he will leave this afternoon for some business.”

‘It was probably related to the disease.’

Lucas pitied his family and his territory. These three worked hard to help recuperate the territory and after its recuperation there came another problem. And in addition to the recent changes in the movements of demons and monsters, they had a job of investigating that matter and cleaning up some areas if necessary, given the fact that they were in charge of the kingdom’s security.

And even though Maria was handling the situation in Sansa, Duke Cassius also gave a hand and managed the rest of the territories. His support was a great help because Maria gained complete control over the management of territory if it was related to the disease which was pretty convenient. And he also lent a hand to Edwin, too from time to time for the investigation which was why Lucas judged that Cassius might be cold but at the same time, he cared for his children.

“Ah, I see. Thanks, Lucas”

Lucas realized that Edwin was going to pat his head as usual but he refrained himself to do so, making Lucas note that Edwin was fully aware of the disease, too. He thought that maybe it was because Edwin came back to the territory early.

Edwin rushed straight to the office and Lucas followed, of course. He couldn’t miss the opportunity of knowing what was happening, could he? And Lucas knew that Edwin seemed too rush that he wasn’t even paying attention or knew that his little brother was following behind.

“Father! Please call back Maria. It is dangerous!”

Lucas wasn’t able to go into the office because the door was shut but he didn’t even need to go in for which Edwin’s voice was loud as hell.

“Lower your voice.”

“It is not the main here. Answer my question, first.”

“Is that why you left your position and came back here uninformed?”

Lucas put his ear on the door, committing the sin of eavesdropping. Cassius’s voice was as usual, cold and had a sense of monotone but Lucas could still hear it faintly from outside.

“Master, it is not good to eavesdrop….”

“Shhhhh, Tus. Lucas knows what he is doing. Let him be.”

Lucas inwardly thanked Eura for shutting Tus’s mouth with her hand. Eura was reliable at times like this.

“I left it in good hands and I finished a majority of my duty there. Now tell me why isn’t Maria here, yet?”

‘Yea, I also want to know that.’ Lucas was surprised to hear his brother raising his voice against his father, which meant that Edwin was really fuming with anger right now.

“I gave her a choice to come back but it was Maria’s decision to stay.”

“But no matter what, you should order her to come back. If it is father’s word, she will listen. It is not something to take lightly! Once she is infected, there would be no cure! I will go there, instead. If you need a representative of the family, I shall be the one.”

Lucas felt like it was going to be some kind of battle between this father and son duo as he kept on listening. It was not good to confront his father like this. Maybe he could interfere a bit when Edwin got harsh words from his father as he couldn’t let his brother feel hurt.

“Young master, it is not good to eavesdrop.”

Lucas felt like all of his hair strands were going up when he heard a voice behind him.

“Ah, no… well, umm….I just got here.”

“Then, you should probably return to your room. I am sure the Duke dislikes such actions.”

Although the old man was smiling so gently and telling so softy, a fire was burning inside Lucas’s head.

‘Why the heck Anton has to pop up right this time!?’

Lucas, somehow, started to despise this old man who had to come here exactly at the times like this.

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A/N: This is probably short because it only has 1.6k words... I will come up with another chapter soon, I promise >< Thank you for reading!!!! I love you all, dear readers!