Chapter 34. The man in the flesh
****
Kayan, the most important person to Netira, was still unharmed, and she was eager to dispose of those who might harm her with ease.
The servant grunted and spoke again.
"Wouldn't it be better to find a cure as soon as possible?"
“In what period of time? If we wait so long and all get sick, will you be responsible?”
There would be a constant supply of lowly slaves anyway, and from Netira's point of view, there was no more efficient way to take their lives.
The servant who had been speaking with Netira was disturbed by his master's heartlessness.
The servant winced and opened his mouth again, knowing that if he caught the infection himself, he would be burned to death.
The servant said, his voice trembling.
"That is... There are infected among the Black Wolf warriors as well, and killing the lesser ones will not solve the problem, nor will Lord Kayan allow it."
"Argh! It sucks!"
Netira's ear-splitting shout echoed through the doorway and down the hall.
The Black Wolf Warriors could not be killed just because they were infected.
Ihedia's eyes fluttered at the mention of Kayan's name.
'Maybe I can talk to him.'
At least Kayan cared about the black wolf warriors.
If he heard there was a cure, he would listen.
Ihedia decided to change her destination and visit Kayan.
****
Surrounded by clouds of steam, Kayan leaned back, and the sound of splashing water rushed past him outside the tub.
He hadn't eaten or slept in days, overwhelmed by the urgency of the task at hand.
He would have overworked himself to death if it weren't for Doa, who was furious that he was going to take over as Black Wolf leader the day after tomorrow.
Despite his long rest, Kayan's face was still filled with worry.
He was suffering from a rare plague that had swept through Bayate.
Tracking down Gahkran's killer was hard enough without the plague.
Fortunately, so far the disease had been contained within the family.
'So the source of the plague is inside this mansion, then....................'
His mind racing, he swiped a hand across his face and blew out a breath.
With no other option, it was best to keep the sick in one place and keep those who weren't already sick away from each other as much as possible.
The Black Wolves had been infected as well, so they had ordered everyone to stay on probation for the time being, but it wasn't a solution.
When the doctors heard the news, they all made one excuse or another to avoid setting foot in the house, as if they had made a pact.
Not to answer the call of Kayan Bayate, and no one else, was to die.
He was certain that the doctors were not coming out simply because they feared the plague.
It was likely that they were being secretly pressured by a higher power.
Worse, even some of the doctors who had been summoned to the Bayate family didn't even know what the exact disease was.
They appealed to the imperial court for help to stop the epidemic from spreading, but as expected, the emperor was unwilling to act.
"Are you going to let this get worse?”
His brow furrowed deeply in frustration.
As Kayan closed his eyes and fretted, the voices of his servant and a woman alternated at the door.
"Let us see Lord Kayan, please."
"What brings you here on a slave subject, can't you get lost?"
"I have an urgent message for him."
At the sound of a voice as clear as water, his closed eyelids slowly opened.
"I’ll only need a moment, so................"
"Well, I said no!"
"Then I will wait here until Lord Kayan comes out."
"How dare you!"
The woman's stubbornness was as strong as an iron cord, as if she could snap in the slightest breeze.
Judging by the way she's so stubbornly arguing with his servant while everyone else was groaning under the weight of a terrible plague, she must have a reason.
He had heard that the outbuildings had been ransacked for some time now, and the thought of the King’s abandoned daughter mixing in with the crowd was getting on his nerves.
He had seen her a few days ago when he left the main building and was inwardly relieved to see her healthy.
She had to be safe, at least until she could figure out the poison that killed Gakhran.
"Yeah, that's it.”
And with that, Kayan gathered up his thoughts on Ihedia and stared unfocusedly into the void.
Let's see why she's looking for him so desperately.
Kayan's gaze, now clearer, turned to the figure on the other side of the door.
"Tell her to come in."
There was a moment of silence as Kayan's languid voice carried back to the two arguing.
A moment later, the door swung open, revealing Ihedia.
But as soon as she saw him in the bathtub, barely covering his lower half, she came to a screeching halt.
She didn't have the courage to face the naked man head-on.
"Ah."
She whirled around quickly, blushing as if she'd seen something she shouldn't have.
"Excuse me, but since there is no emergency.......... I will wait outside until you are dressed."
Ihedia reached for the doorknob to leave the bathroom, but Kayan stopped her.
"I assume this is urgent, but are you heading out again?"
"...."
"It's now or never."
"...."
"Go ahead, then."
Even with her back to him, Kayan could see the conflicted look on her face.
Kayan couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he watched the back of Ihedia's head as she stood there, clutching the doorknob, unable to do anything.
A moment later, Ihedia gently released the doorknob and opened her mouth, her back to him.
"Then let me put it this way, the reason I'm here is because..............."
"Is it Elmir etiquette to talk to someone with your back to them?"
Ihedia let out a small, stunned gasp.
Kayan spun around and spoke.
"You're treating me poorly, even for a slave who seems to be in such a hurry and interrupts my rest."
She knew Kayan was deliberately teasing her, but Ihedia was speechless, so she couldn't argue.
She was the one who had rushed in here in a hurry and didn't think twice.
Then she reluctantly turned around.
Her eyes were forced to linger elsewhere than straight ahead as she took in the man's flesh.
"So what’s the reason you came to see me?"
Ihedia cut to the chase, her gaze lingering on the bathwater-soaked floor.
"......The plague that's currently floating around Bayate is most likely contracted from a tropical virus called a lantol."
"Lantol?"
"It's unlikely that lantol live in the cold north, but the symptoms are the same, and if we want to know what the cure is, we'll have to look at the south's records of the lantol extermination decades ago."
Kayan's eyes flickered for a moment at the woman's words, like rain in a drought.
"Are you sure?"
"I can't say for sure, as I'm relying on faint memories, but we need to do something before it gets worse."
Kayan had realized long ago that her knowledge was better than most of Anut's doctors when he had shown her Gahkran's corpse in the hut.
Ihedia said she couldn't be certain, but Kayan felt a strange sense of trust in her words.
"Tarsa."
Kayan called to the servant, his gaze still fixed on Ihedia.
"Yes, Master Kayan."
Inside the bathroom, Kayan's servant bowed and waited politely for Kayan's command.
"I want you to get me every record in the south that has anything to do with Lantol, right now, by any means necessary. Scour the capital further and find any slaves from the south who might have information about it."
Seeing that Kayan took her word for it without question eased Ihedia's worries.
At least Kayan didn't seem to be thinking about killing the infected all at once like Netira had.
Ihedia took the briefest of moments to relax and release the tension from her rigid body, and her eyes locked with Kayan's.
A drop of water fell from his dark hair and trickled down his muscular shoulder and across his strong chest.
With that, he lifted himself out of the tub.
His body that had been submerged in the water was revealed.
Startled, she looked away quickly.
She wondered how the Anut felt so free about being bare in front of another human being.
In Elmir, being naked in front of someone, male or female, was something you did only within the context of an established relationship.
But it was futile to expect the common sense that prevailed in Elmir from Anut.
Especially to that wolfish Kayan Bayate.
***
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