## Chapter 545 – 545. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
545. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated into the Baek Family
The black cat, having tasted the maximum output of lightning, stiffened and then collapsed to the floor with a thud. Smoke rose from its large body, and its eyes rolled upwards. Just to be sure, I checked again. The black cat was definitely dead.
Stagger.
I braced my legs to barely keep myself from falling forward. My sense of balance was a mess. The black cat was clearly the cause…
‘Even though I killed it, it looks like it’ll take time to recover.’
Anyway, I need to report this. A monster appeared in the safe academy, so the academy will take action somehow.
Unlike other abilities, I can’t use complete recovery. In a way, this world is a mental world. Even when I died in this world, complete recovery didn’t activate.
“Yujin! Are you okay?! You’re bleeding! You’re bleeding a lot! We need to go to the hospital right now!”
Mary grabbed my arm.
Earlier, the black cat’s claws had dug into my arm. The bone wasn’t broken. It wasn’t as dangerous an injury as it looked, but Mary was acting like I was about to die.
“There’s no need to make such a fuss. I won’t die from this kind of injury.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?! You’ve been staggering since earlier! And the amount of blood is too much! Ah, stop the bleeding! First, stop the bleeding…!”
Mary ripped off a piece of her dress without hesitation. I briefly glanced at her exposed, smooth leg.
‘Even if she’s not my type, I’d like to take her once…’
That was unthinkable in this world. I turned my gaze away to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
“Lady Mary, you’re not an ordinary noble lady. That behavior is problematic for a noble.”
“I can’t just ignore someone dying in front of me! Even though I look like this, I come from a martial family. I may not be good at swordsmanship, but I can at least stop bleeding.”
Her bandaging skills were quite impressive.
“You seem experienced. Even if you’re from a martial family, you wouldn’t have had many chances to stop bleeding, Lady Mary.”
“My younger brother gets hurt all the time. When we were young, I was always by his side, so first aid naturally became second nature. But it’s only limited to first aid. Come on, let’s go to the hospital. If you leave an injury like this, you might not be able to use your arms forever.”
“Lady Mary, I can go alone. I’m grateful for you stopping the bleeding. I can’t impose on you any further.”
“Impose? You saved my life, so I should at least do this much. And I saw you staggering earlier. Your bluff won’t work.”
“…I’m afraid others might misunderstand. Strange rumors might spread.”
“Strange rumors are already spreading. A few more rumors won’t bother me at all, so just let me support you!”
“…I’ll be in your care.”
“Leave it to me!”
I entered the hospital with Mary. My sense of balance had already recovered, and my arm would be completely healed within three days thanks to the potion the healer had generously used. Normally, they wouldn’t use such potions on servants, but in this case, because it was a monster encountered within the academy, I was able to receive potion support.
‘It’s just a cheap potion that takes three days to heal such a minor injury.’
I lay on the hospital bed with a bandage on my arm. Mary stayed by my side, chattering away. She felt sorry and grateful, and volunteered to nurse me.
“Mary! Mary! I heard you encountered a monster! Are you hurt anywhere?!”
Prince Parein burst into the room. He checked on Mary first. After confirming that there wasn’t a single scratch on her body, he let out a sigh of relief.
“N-no, I’m not hurt. Yujin protected me.”
“You don’t have to smile so brightly. You almost died, how can you smile?”
“It’s already over. It’s better than crying, isn’t it? Or do you want me to cry, Your Highness?”
“…No. It’s better if you smile. But I can’t just let this go. I’ll formally protest to the academy. And…”
Prince Parein looked at me.
I slowly raised myself up.
“I apologize, Your Highness. I’ll get up right away.”
“It’s okay. Stay lying down. I can’t force the benefactor who saved Mary to get up. I’m truly grateful for saving Mary. Yuria Filtania’s butler.”
“I’m honored.”
Prince Parein stayed in the room. Of course, it was because of Mary. The prince and Mary chatted in front of me. I knew it, but seeing it in person, their relationship was not ordinary.
‘That’s why those rumors are spreading.’
A little later, Yorsen and Mathis, the other men who usually followed Mary around, joined us. And they were all happily chatting away.
‘Are they showing off their good relationship to me?’
Wasn’t it common sense to let a patient rest comfortably?
I wanted to tell them to get lost, but there was no one here with a lower status than me.
Click.
The door to the room opened, and Yuria arrived.
“……”
As soon as she entered the room, the atmosphere changed drastically. The nobles in the room looked at Yuria with tense faces. The initiative instantly shifted to Yuria. As expected of Yuria. Her presence was extraordinary.
“I heard a rough account of what happened from the healer. However, I don’t know why you’re all gathered in this room.”
“Yuria, I was thanking your butler. The detailed investigation is ongoing, but what your butler did was for everyone in the academy. He will be rewarded. He deserves to be rewarded. Even if I have to fight with the academy, I won’t let this go.”
“I understand, Your Highness. I’ll take my butler with me.”
Prince Parein nodded.
I happily got up. Finally, I could get out of this noisy place.
“Wait a minute!”
At the edge of my vision, golden hair rippled softly like waves. Mary stood between me and Yuria. It was as if she was blocking Yuria. Yuria’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“Lady Mary, do you have something to say to me?”
“Yujin needs rest. It would be best for him to focus on recovering in the hospital room today.”
“That’s different from what the doctor outside said. Yujin’s only injured his arm, so there shouldn’t be any problem with moving his legs.”
“Yujin was… badly hurt because of me. Lady Yuria. I’ll personally nurse Yujin, so please let him rest in the hospital room today.”
“Haa.”
Yuria sighed. She rarely showed her emotions. And it was the emotion of annoyance.
“Lady Mary, please don’t be so meddlesome. Don’t you know that your attitude is causing problems?”
“I’m just trying to repay the favor…”
“Lady Mary, you are a noble, and Yujin is a butler. Moreover, Yujin belongs to the Filtania family. You don’t even consider how uncomfortable Yujin might be. Or are you planning to seduce Yujin, just like you seduced the prince according to the rumors?”
“N-no, that’s not it. I…”
Mary hesitated, flustered.
“Stop!”
Prince Parein stepped forward.
“Yuria Filtania! That was rude! Apologize to Mary!”
“…I apologize, Lady Mary. I was on edge after hearing that Yujin was injured.”
“Mary! You too. Yujin is Filtania’s butler. No matter how much you owe him, interfering with another family is going too far.”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness… I’m sorry… Lady Yuria…”
Mary lowered her head like a soaked puppy. The men, except for me, looked at Mary with pitiful eyes. I wondered why they liked such a woman so much.
‘Is her grip that good?’
I got off the bed and approached Yuria.
“Everyone, thank you for nursing me, a mere servant. I’ll return with the Lady now.”
“Yujin… Thank you so much for today. If it wasn’t for you, I might have died today.”
“I was just doing what I had to do.”
I returned to the dormitory with Yuria.
“Yujin, is your arm okay?”
“Yes, Lady. It’s hard to move right now… but I’m not crippled, so I can still serve you.”
“What exactly happened?”
「Advice: Speak honestly.」
Even if the advice didn’t say it, I was going to. It wasn’t something I should hide from her.
“……I see. I understand what happened. Lady Mary is suspicious after all.”
Thinking about it as Yuria said, it was suspicious.
Did she really not know that the black cat was a monster? Why didn’t the black cat attack Mary and just stay quietly in her arms?
“Yujin, it seems like you need a punishment, not a reward, today. But… let’s postpone it. Don’t do anything today and just rest. That’s an order.”
“Yes, Lady.”
•••
The next day.
I faced a difficult situation.
It was lunchtime, and Mary, who should have been at the academy, had come to find me.
“Lady Mary… What brings you here? Is your academy class okay?”
“Hehe. I came to repay you for yesterday. And to check on your condition, Yujin. The academy is fine. The professor gave me permission. Your arm… it’s much better, isn’t it?”
“Yes. The Lady bestowed a potion upon me. But what’s that in your hand?”
“This is a gift. It’s cookies I made myself this morning. The taste… isn’t that great, but it’s not inedible.”
“……I’ll gratefully accept it.”
“You’re just going to accept it and not eat it, right?”
“I’ll eat it later when I have time.”
“Even cookies will taste bad if they sit for too long. Eat it now. I won’t leave until I see you eat it.”
It seemed like nothing I said would work. Above all, because of my status, I couldn’t treat her carelessly.
“I understand. I’ll prepare tea time, so please leave after that.”
I poured her some hastily brewed black tea.
Mary took a sip of the tea, her eyes widening in admiration.
“Wow… I didn’t know tea could be this delicious. I’ve never had tea like this before. The rumor that Yujin is the best butler was true.”
“It’s nothing special. The cookies you made are more delicious, Lady Mary.”
“Oh, compared to the tea, the cookies are nothing, I’m even embarrassed.”
She rambled on with unnecessary small talk, then, after glancing at me for a moment, she revealed her true intentions.
“Yujin, I want to become friends with Lady Yuria. Could you help me?”
“Even without my help, I think you could easily become friends with the Lady, Lady Mary.”
It was a lie.
Considering Yuria’s personality and what happened yesterday, I couldn’t see Yuria becoming friends with Mary. Even if I helped Mary, the result wouldn’t change. I would only lose Yuria’s trust even more.
I had no intention of rashly stepping in to help Mary.
“I tried talking to Lady Yuria at the academy… but I only felt a solid wall.”
“……May I ask why you want to become friends with the Lady?”
“I admire Lady Yuria. Even when she’s doing nothing, she exudes elegance, and her blue eyes and calm tone make me feel dizzy. I admired her at first sight. No matter how hard I try, I can’t become like Lady Yuria.”
Mary’s words felt sincere. If that was a lie and acting, she would be an excellent actress and politician.
“I’m sorry, Lady Mary. It’s something I can’t help with. I’m just a butler of the Filtania family. It’s not something I should dare to interfere with regarding the Lady.”
“If you say that much, I can’t insist. The tea was delicious. Ah, can I come to drink tea sometimes? My maid isn’t very good at brewing tea…”
“I have a lot of work to do, so I don’t know if I can make time like today.”
Don’t come.
I said it with that intention. But she didn’t seem to understand my words.
“See you next time.”
She smiled brightly and left.
•••
That night.
I reported what happened today to Yuria.
Yuria listened silently and then said,
“Yujin, it’s time for you to receive the punishment for yesterday and today.”
