RTTFW CH 2.7

Had it been the successful conclusion of his family dinner? Or the smooth approval to travel to the capital? Ent’s face was slightly flushed, seeming a bit more excited than usual.

“Lord Ent, are you alright?”
“Hm? Oh, uh, it was a better time than I expected.”

Izel opened his mouth to say something else in response to Lord Ent’s answer, but closed it again. He simply turned his head away. There was no need to say anything unnecessary.

“… Things will get busy starting tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Because you need to prepare to leave for the capital.”
“Ah, right.”

The capital was quite a distance away, so there was much to prepare. Izel quickly ran through the tasks he needed to tackle starting tomorrow in his head. He figured they could depart within three days at the latest.

“Um, Izel… You’re coming too, right?”
“Huh?”

“Ah, no. Well… If you have to stay at the mansion because you’re so valuable, then there’s no helping it. But, well, you’re also the most comfortable to be around.”

Izel stopped what he was thinking and looked at Ent. To be honest, he was a little surprised. He never expected Ent Harbilta to speak so frankly to him.

Images of Ent’s past flashed through Izel’s mind. Servants had fallen away one by one due to Ent’s constant misbehavior. Above all, when Ent rejected the servants, no one had been willing to follow him anymore. It was Izel herself who had stepped forward to become his personal attendant.

It wasn’t that he had any particular reason. He simply couldn’t bear seeing those eyes, so empty and hollow, filled with nothing but despair and fear, devoid of any hope or happiness.

Why, why did he have to wear that expression?

“I’m Lord Ent’s personal attendant. How could I not follow?”

At Izel’s words, Ent finally seemed relieved, offering an awkward smile. Izel stared expressionlessly at that face before quietly looking away. He couldn’t understand why someone like that had changed so suddenly overnight.

“I’m tired today, so I’ll sleep early,” Ent said, closing the book he’d been reading.

After helping him change into his pajamas, Izel turned off the room’s light and lit the candle on the table. Ent sat leaning against the headboard, tapping his chest area a few times.

“Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”
“Ah, no. I’m fine.”

Ent felt stifled and uncomfortable, as if something were stuck in his throat, but he shook his head. It wasn’t anything serious enough for Izel to worry about. After eating only watery soup, suddenly having a proper meal would likely upset his stomach.

“You can leave now.”
“Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

As Izel closed the door and left, Ent jumped up from his seat. His stomach churned violently, as if he might vomit. Hoping to settle his digestion, Ent headed for the terrace. He thought the night breeze might ease his discomfort.

Opening the window and stepping out onto the terrace, the biting wind of early winter lashed Ent’s cheeks fiercely. It was a rather strong wind. Leaning his arms on the terrace railing and facing the cold wind, Ent closed his eyes.

It was cold, but he didn’t feel bad.

‘At this rate, I’ll turn into a pig within two years?’

At that thought, Ent couldn’t help but chuckle. What should he do from now on? Should he maintain his reputation as the demonic Pig Young Master, just like the book said, and die by the hands of the hero, Fade? This body of his was hardly what you’d call a ‘pig’ by any stretch, so should he force himself to gain some weight?

‘Even if that is the future of this world, why should I have to do that?’

His life had always been dictated by the will of God. Even in moments when he could act for himself, must he still move toward a predetermined future? If so, why did he exist here? Where exactly was the being named Ent Harbilta?

‘… Still, I can’t just stand by and watch the world perish.’

This was now his world, one he couldn’t turn back from. He wasn’t a person from the world where Jaeyoon existed. This was the place where his father and brother were, where his family was, where Ent Harbilta existed. To protect that, he had to defend the world.

Allowing Fade to eliminate him so he could become the hero was also an unavoidable fate.

“Haah…”

Just when he thought his stomach had settled a bit, complicated thoughts made it churn again. Shaking his head to clear his mind, Ent leaned a little harder against the terrace railing.

‘Clear your mind, clear your mind.’

As he struggled, the memory of the meal from earlier popped into Ent’s head.

Every prepared vegetable, every cut of meat, every dessert. Even the soups and dipping sauces had a depth of flavor that was extraordinary. Even someone like him, who wasn’t particularly interested in food, was astonished by the taste.

It made him think, ‘Ah, the Harbilta family.’

“… Hm?”

Ent suddenly leaned forward sharply. He couldn’t hold back the nausea suddenly rising in his stomach. He had just been thinking about that wonderful meal, so why was this happening now? Ent frantically ran to the bathroom.

“Ugh, waaah…”

The agony felt like his stomach was being turned inside out. The process of forcing what had already been swallowed back up through his esophagus was excruciatingly painful. His mouth felt like it was on fire, and his churning stomach ached as if it would never settle back down.

“Ugh, haaah…”

Ent collapsed onto the floor, too exhausted to even wipe away the tears welling up in his eyes after vomiting up nearly everything he’d eaten.

His stomach, twisted from the forceful retching, ached so badly he couldn’t sit up straight.

“Haah, damn it…”
“… Lord Ent.”

At that moment, Ent felt a chill run through his entire body at the voice behind him.

Turning around with startled eyes, he saw Izel, who had clearly just left the room moments ago, standing silently behind him without a sound.

Ent tried to calm his racing heart, but hesitated, somehow unsettled by the unusual atmosphere, and stepped back.

‘Huh, when did you come in?’

It wasn’t unusual for Izel to move around without making a sound, but this was the first time it had startled Ent so badly. Ent felt more pain in his startled heart than in his stomach, which was already aching from the food he’d thrown up.

The room, with its lights already off, was pitch-black, making Izel’s face hard to see.

Wind blew through the open terrace doors, extinguishing the candle burning in the corner of the room. The room was completely engulfed in darkness.

In that instant, Izel stepped very close to Ent.

“I-Izel?”
“Lord Ent, it seems you are unaware due to your… ‘confusion of memories’.”

Izel turned his gaze to examine Ent’s pale complexion. His face showed no awareness.

He bit his lip hard. Even if he tried not to think it strange, he couldn’t help it.

“You were suffering from bulimia.”
“… What?”

At Izel’s words, Ent could only freeze in place.

‘B-bulimia?’

Ent silently chewed on the word. What… what on earth did that mean?

Ent’s pupils trembled uncontrollably.

Izel’s deep green eyes stared intently at Ent’s face, as if confirming his reaction. Ent, unable to spare the mental energy to read Izel’s expression, clutched his dizzy head.

It defied all common sense.

Thinking back now, he realized that was why. Why Izel had only given him soup so watered down it was practically thin broth, and why he’d insisted he finish every last drop, even though such soup should be easy to gulp down in one go.

“Wh-when did this start?”

Ent’s voice trembled uncontrollably. He should have brazenly replied, ‘Ah, that’s right,’ but he couldn’t help it. Even knowing Izel suspected him, Ent simply couldn’t hold back that question.

“… It began after Lord Ent suddenly returned from the Academy. It’s been at least a year since you started suffering from bulimia. I don’t know if you were vomiting at the academy too, though.”

Ent couldn’t lift his face, clouded by confusion.

It was absurd. Bulimia?

Wasn’t he supposed to meet his end in two years as the ‘demonic pig young master’? How could someone with anorexia possibly do that?

No, why was he even being called bulimic in the first place?

“Um, was I… was I a bit overweight before?”

Out of the dozens of questions swirling in his confused mind, he managed to pull just one out and asked Izel.

Ent grabbed Izel’s arm with a cold expression. If he didn’t grab onto something, he felt like he’d be swept away by the swirling thoughts.

“Yes. After returning from the academy, you started avoiding food and then began vomiting everything you ate. You lost a lot of weight from that point on.”

He thought it was simply because two years remained before he was to be killed, bearing the title ‘demonic pig young master’, and thus he hadn’t gained weight yet.

“Wh-who else knows about this?”
“… Only I and the head chef know. Lord Ent himself requested it be kept secret from the Count and the Viscount.”

Ent closed his eyes tightly at those words. No, that wasn’t it. It wasn’t that he hadn’t gained weight because his time to die hadn’t come yet. He was suffering from bulimia, deliberately vomiting food to force himself to lose weight.

Ent Harbilta realized he had been caught up in a huge misconception all this time.