I Am Really The Best Anti Hero In Another World!-System Of Anti Hero! Chapter 28 - Family Suffering – Part 3

Alice then looked at her husband, who, for the third ti, had tears streaming down his face. With a gentle motion, she slowly raised her arm, fixed her gaze on him, and said,

— Calm down, dear, I'm alright.

Even as she wiped the tears from his face, it made little difference. Soon after, Arthur squeezed her hand and asked through sobs,

— Why didn't you tell about this? I could have... I could have...

Anticipating what he ant, Alice replied before he could finish,

— ...I didn't tell you because it would only bring you suffering and worry, and I couldn't bear to see you – or even our daughter – in pain...

"But we could look for a solution..."

"...There's no cure...; you can ask the doctor. (She sighed) You don't need to worry so much. I'm fine, and nothing will happen to ."

'At least for now...' Alice thought.

"What do you an...?" Arthur asked as he watched her smile despite the pain consuming her—pain that was far greater than it appeared, not only to him but to anyone. Arthur felt a deep tightening in his chest and said,

— Do as you please... but I'm going to keep trying to figure out a way to fix this.

'I'll do whatever it takes,' he promised himself.

He then stood up, wiping away what remained of his tears, and said,

— Then I'll let you rest. Doctor, co on, I'll take her to the exit.

"Oh, thank you and goodbye for now, Mrs. Alice. I hope you recover soon and return to your brilliant self as always."

Arthur turned and left the room, indicating the way out to the doctor. anwhile, Alice turned and embraced Sophia, who was standing by her side as she watched them depart. When the door closed behind them, Alice kissed her daughter's forehead, silently weeping.

Then, monts later, at the exit of the Radiance mansion, in front of a large brown gate, Arthur declared,

— I am imnsely grateful that you ca here, but I need to ask you: do you know of any cure for this illness? Even if it's just sothing to ease the symptoms and slow its progression.

The doctor shook his head and replied,

— I'm very sorry, Mr. Radiance, but I truly don't understand this kind of illness. I've tried to help her, but my interventions have had no effect. This affliction is probably related to cultivation; however, I do not specialize in that field, and therefore it's impossible for to help cure your wife's disease.

Seeing the hopeless expression on the man's face, the doctor continued,

— ...I truly regret it, and thank you for your hospitality. I sincerely hope she gets better.

The doctor turned and began walking slowly in the opposite direction from Arthur. As he watched the doctor recede into the distance, Arthur stood in front of the gate, lost in thought over the words the doctor had just spoken. A few seconds later, as he saw the doctor moving away, Arthur ran up to him and asked:

— Wait... So... if I find a cultivator who understands dicine, would it be possible to cure her?

"Well... yes, probably, but... I'm afraid that for that you'd have to go search for answers outside the city, and that would be..."

"Thank you, thank you so much for coming!"

Arthur barely registered the doctor's remark that it wouldn't be as simple as it seed, and he left for ho, radiant with the small ray of hope he had finally found.

However, as ti went on, he soon realized that this journey wouldn't be easy. Two years passed, and up until that point, Arthur had found nothing—not a single doctor who could diagnose that very disease. In fact, he couldn't find any physician who practiced both modern dicine and cultivation simultaneously; the infamous alchemists remained elusive.

Even so, his tireless search never wavered. Whenever his wife wasn't cultivating, Sophia was undoubtedly by her side; and when he wasn't out hunting for a doctor, Arthur was either with his wife or busy solving the financial problems that were gradually ravaging the Radiance family.

When Sophia turned 15, her father also sought a doctor to help her. But, just like with his wife's illness, no specialist was able to pinpoint the cause or find a cure for her drastic, constant decline in cultivation proficiency.

After several days of searching for a specialist for Sophia as well, Arthur found himself in a heartbreaking predicant—torn between helping his wife and his daughter. He was trapped by the duty to care for both of them, as the financial situation of the Radiance family worsened year after year—largely due to his unyielding quest for alchemists.

But Sophia was well aware of her mother's condition. Even though neither she nor her father had ever explained what was happening, spending all that ti by her mother's side made it clear to Sophia that sothing was terribly wrong. With this realization, the girl approached her father and said that he no longer needed to worry about her; that the search for a doctor for herself was no longer necessary.

That news lifted an enormous weight off Arthur's shoulders, and he began to thank the heavens for the wonderful daughter that he and his wife had brought into the world.