6. Blood, blood, more blood (1)

"Young master Cedric!"

"Are you okay?"

Cedric wiped of the blood coated in his mouth with his hands. He seemed a bit surprised by the timing of this sudden episode but did not really think anything else about it knowing how Cedric's condition was.

However, it was not the same for Winter and Castillan.

"Hold on, young master, I'll help!"

Winter opened up his bag to take out some potions to give to him, but he declined with a wave.

"It's alright, my body was just responding to something. . . which I think both of you felt as well?"

Cedric quirked his lips up. Castillan and Winter looked at each other on knowingly.

'How does he know. . .?'

For Castillan, being a prince meant he was exposed to various methods of knowing whether there is a breach in his domain or not. He knows where to locate odd auras that only experienced imperial knights could do as he was trained by one.

Even Winter, who Cedric knew to be using modern medicine without no magic to support him, is at least sensitive to mana.

And both mana and auras. . . were bad for Cedric.

This was the unique sickness Cedric had known, which he also used to his favor. Knowing that even the slightest fluctuations of both mana and auras could trigger his sickness made Cedric know that he could use this as a monitoring device.

He was that abusive and exploiting of his own circumstances.

It was an odd disease that people thought of without a cure.

As mana and aura were prominent in every person born in this world, Cedric having none and instead facing backlash of it seemed out of the ordinary– a rare case.

Unlike Winter who had the core for mama but could not summon one, Cedric had no core at all. He was like a normal human that belonged to the modern times than someone who is supposed to be a character in a fantasy setting filled with magic and auras.

". . .That's right, young master Cedric. It's amazing you'd know of this that much," Castillan commented, remembering to tell emperor father about what he saw today.

"However it seemed that the watchful eyes are gone now," Castillan added. He could not feel the fluctuation anymore, so he thought they might be harmless.

"That's right " Castillan thought that Cedric was not even hiding it anymore. "But just to be safe, can I roam around a little bit?"

"Don't worry about that," Cedric coughed lightly. "It's probably someone sent by the Kerill head to keep an eye out on me."

". . .Right,"

Winter and Castillan frowned.

It was known by those with backgrounds that the Kerill household was an inner hell filled with lots of battles for all children and elder alike. The bloodshed within that household. . . nobody never cared to like to know.

Because it was abvious what would be the outcome of families that act like that.

But seeing it in person and seeing Cedric harmed because of it put Castillon and Winter in deep thought.

'Young master Cedric, he's trying so hard to live!'

'I have to report this to emperor father. . . Cedric is actually very smart for his age. . .'

Two different thoughts but they seemed to both see Cedric in a new light.

'They are looking at me funny,' Cedric thought.

"Anyways, pardon me for not having any delicacies to serve you both right now. . . I was quite surprise Winter went all the way here without notice."

"It's not like I can just brush off your kindness!" Winter clenched his fist, his gaze on Cedric looking ablaze. "Young master Cedric, you might not know this but I'm here as both the thankful person you saved and as a doctor who would like to treat you!"

"Treat me?" Cedric acted shock.

"Yes! Didn't I tell you I have a mission? I am–ah," Winter flinched and looked at the imperial fourth Prince sitting leisurely.

"I-is it alright to tell him?"

"You can do as you please, Sir Winter." Castillon nodded, also curious as to what treatment Winter could cure to Cedric that his emperor father even struggled to do.

"Okay! Young master Cedric, you already know my name right? I am Winter Eversheen of the Medical Health Union!"

"That miraculous place that is said to cure diseases not even healing magic and light magic could cure?" Once again, Cedric acted surprised by such revelation.

He could see Winter's dog ears perking up with pride as he "hehe"ed.

"You can say that. We are a group of "Doctors" that go around curing any disease that are both known and not using the knowledge left by our elders. That's why I'm here at the Imperial City, to cure people!"

"And young master Cedric, you are such a person I would like to cure!"

"Wow…" Castillan looked back and forth between Cedric and Winter. He remembered the words his emperor father left him right before they came here.

'Let Sir Winter do as he pleases. If he ever considers taking up the role to heal your brother, then let him do so and support him. . . you can even use the Imperial Seal as your proof.'

It was quite a shock for Castillan to hear back then, knowing that the Imperial Seal being used is equal to having the authory of whoever has it equal to the Emperor's.

But looking at his weak half-brother right now,

"Mm, that's a good proposal, sir Winter." Castillan commented.

On the other hand, Cedric looked down, appearing to think thoroughly about Winter's offer. But deep inside, he was already cheering and patting himself for a good job well done.

"Sir Winter, your help is very much appreciated, but do you know what my sickness is?"

"It cannot be that bad? Our elders' books has all knowledge regarding every possible disease out there!"

". . .Even an illness about Mana and Arua contradiction?"

"Excuse me?"

Cedric helplessly smiled at Winter and Castillan's shocked faces.

"You see, my sickness is very, very, very rare. Nobody has even taken account a person being opposed by Mana and Aura right?"

Because Mana and Aura are something that all living things have been born with.

Babies in their mothers' bellies gather either mana and aura and once born will let nature choose their path. Similarly, animals and plant all have the basic spiritual foundation around them, and once they die, the foundstion will come back to nature and the cycle repeats.

However for a young person like Cedric who suddenly developed an opposition towards mana and aura, it made him look quite abnormal.

It would have been okay to not be born with a core foundation, but the problem was that his body suddenly opposed anything with mana and aura around him. This wasn't natural.

'No, someone in this household put something in Cedric's food the moment his mother was getting worse and worse from her own illness, causing him to eat a subtle amount every day for the past few years.'

And soon, he became like this.

Cedric could not do anything knowing he was powerless against a monstrous household like Kerill, one where only the cunning and strong lives, and the weak perishes.

Well, it'll change once the protagonist becomes head anyways, but that'll be many years later.

And right now, he is going to help Cedric Kerill's body survive this year without being killed.

"Well. . . this really is a rare case as you say," Winter said. "But that doesn't mean there is no cure for it yet. That's why us doctors strive to look for the impossibles and make them possible!"

Cedric gave them a wry smile.

This should go well interestingly.

***

After a light hearted chat amongst the young ones, Castillan called out to Winter to tell him it was time to go. 

"You two go back safely," Cedric bowed and watched them leave the gates.

After seeing them gone, he calmly went back to his quarters admist the gazes of some workers that he knew were the Head's people watching his every move.

No doubt that with Castillan's presence here, the Head would be in turmoil and would probably panic thinking that Cedric was beginning to be taken back by the Emperor soon enough.

And Cedric knew that it shouldn't go that way. He knew that if Cedric Kerill "knew" of his relations to the royal family earlier that the Head's plan, everything would crumble.

And Cedric's value would disappear, which meant he would be let go by the household.

And as much as he wanted just that to happen, he has no power to do so. Both the Kerill and the Inperial Palace were too complex and hard to deal with.

However, being here was at least better that being in the Imperial Palace were all children of the Emperor will fight for the rightful throne. Inside the Kerill house, Cedric could at least figure out the movements of his family based on Cedric Kerill's memories.

However right now, Cedric has yet to know that everything around him has already began to spiral out of control.