Without hesitation, deia wrapped her jacket around him and rubbed his hands, trying to warm him up.
"It’s alright. You’ll be fine," she assured him, trying to keep her voice steady.
"Sorry ..." Lucian whispered weakly.
"Lucian." deia cupped his face, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Didn’t I already tell you? I’ll be really mad if you keep apologizing like that."
She clicked her tongue in frustration. "Besides, this is my fault for bringing you here."
Then, after a beat, she scowled. "No. It’s that stupid system’s fault."
"But you’ll be in trouble if you don’t complete their task." Lucian lowered his head, closing his eyes. "I don’t want you to suffer ..."
"Stop talking." deia pulled him into a hug, letting him rest against her shoulder. She rubbed his back gently, trying to ease his shivering. "You need to rest."
"But you—"
"Don’t worry about . I can take care of us."
They couldn’t stay in the forest much longer, not with Lucian in this condition. She sighed. "How much do I have to pay to activate teleportation without waiting 48 hours?"
[The system can give you a discount for today!]
[The normal price is 5,000 gold coins, but for today, you only have to pay 3,000 gold coins, Host!]
A fucking scam, but whatever.
She had fifty thousand gold coins saved up anyway. Five thousand was nothing compared to Lucian’s safety.
"Bear ... we need to find him," Lucian murmured weakly.
deia reassured him, "He’ll co to us. Bear’s a good boy, right?"
With Bear’s sharp sense of sll, she was sure the wolf would track them down easily. She wanted to search for him, too, but there was no way she’d leave Lucian alone in this state.
Fortunately, the wolf found them just half an hour later. Bear sprinted toward them at full speed, eager to howl, but deia quickly cupped its snout.
"Shh ... your papa is resting." She hugged the wolf, offering comfort. "We’re alright. I’m sorry for leaving you alone. You must have been scared."
Bear kept licking her face before nudging Lucian’s cheek, trying to wake him up.
"No, don’t wake him," deia warned gently. "Your papa is sick. Co closer, we’re going ho now."
She didn’t even care about the belongings she had left near the waterfall. Those things could be replaced anyti, but Lucian was different.
If sothing bad happened to him, then deia would rather die with him.
"Activating the compass," commanded deia.
[Drew 3,000 Gold Coins from Host’s bank balance.]
[Activating Mystical Compass: Teleport to Red Star Base.]
In no ti, they arrived at the gates of the Red Star Alliance. deia struggled to support Lucian’s weight, and before she could steady herself, she accidentally let him slip to the ground.
Harry, who had been guarding the gate, imdiately ran toward them. "What happened?!" He crouched beside Lucian, checking for any injuries. "Is he hurt?"
"He just has a fever. Help carry him to our room." deia then turned to one of the guards. "Call Doctor Joy to my room."
As Harry laid Lucian on the bed, his body gradually relaxed. He reached down to remove his shoes and jacket, but deia stopped him.
"Let do it."
Harry frowned. "What happened to him? This is the first ti I’ve seen him sick."
Everyone had always known Lucian as soone strong, soone who never seed to falter or tire easily.
But today, he was just like everyone else—vulnerable, exhausted, and human.
"We encountered an unexpected mutant." deia didn’t want to explain further, knowing Harry would only ask more questions. "But he’ll be fine. He just needs rest. Can you make sure no one bothers us for a while?"
Harry took the hint and nodded. "Yeah, no problem. Just let know if you need anything."
As soon as he stepped out, he crossed paths with Joy. She seed to be in a rush, probably because the guard had told her that deia had called for her urgently.
"Who’s sick?" Joy asked, slightly out of breath. She got her answer the mont she saw who was lying on the bed. "Wait ... He—he can get sick?"
deia rolled her eyes. That was the second ti soone had said that. "Of course, he can get sick! He’s human!"
"My bad." Joy bit her lip before continuing, "It’s just ... everyone always says Mr. Lucian never gets sick."
Without wasting any more ti, Joy checked on him. She read the thermoter and frowned. "102°F? His fever is high, but nothing else seems unusual."
"Really? Are you sure you checked him properly?" deia asked, unconvinced. "Check again."
Joy did as she was told, but the result remained the sa. She even used her ability to diagnose his condition, but it really was just a fever.
"It’s actually psychological." Joy could see a spectrum of purple surrounding his body, indicating that sothing was wrong with his mind. "Has anything been stressing him out?"
"There is." deia groaned internally because, for once, the system wasn’t wrong.
Joy asked, "Is it sothing that can be fixed?"
"No. I don’t know." deia let out a frustrated sigh. "Can you do anything?"
Joy suggested, "If it’s just a fever, I think Sister Jeanne can heal him imdiately."
deia shook her head. "It’s useless. She can only heal physical illnesses, not ntal ones."
She hesitated before asking, "Is there a chance he could beco the Lost?"
Joy was silent for a mont, her gaze fixed on Lucian. "The probability isn’t zero. But as long as he doesn’t spiral too deep, I think he’ll be fine."
"You think?" deia’s sharp gaze bore into her. "I need a definite answer."
Joy was taken aback by her sudden change in tone. "I—I can’t predict it accurately because everyone’s ntal resilience is different."
"But most people who turn into the Lost are those who have lost the will to live." Joy continued, "And I don’t think he wants to die that badly—No, actually, I’m sure he doesn’t want to die too soon."
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