I Refuse To Be A Character In A Novel - Chapter 23

After laying her on the bed, Zachary rang for the maid and asked her to bring over Erna’s medication along with fresh water.

Mielle helped Erna drink her pills and stood back.

Before going out, she pulled a chair for the duke who didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving the room.

While Zachary sat by the bedside, the two of them exchanged a few words about this and that until Erna finally fell asleep.

He was rather amused by the sulky lips that kept chasing him away.

Just as I thought.

This was not just a simple cold.

If she had her mana back, it’s only natural for her mana intolerant body to react this way.

Sigh~

There was no point in blaming the doctor who had no ability to sense magic, however it was no excuse for failure.

Zachary called out to the doctor that had been caring for the duchess for years and dismissed him with a good wage.

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Contrary to her thoughts that she was getting better, Erna spent many more days sick with fever.

What made her condition even worse was her state of mind.

Ever since she came back to her body, Erna had been under the illusion that she was a character in a novel.

From the familiar description of the boy who had become her son, as well as the monsters described in the novel, to other small details she only came to notice after coming back to her original body.

She couldn’t fully confirm it from Charlotte’s memories as they were hazy and incomplete, but her world was strangely similar to the world of the novel described under different names.

As she had done for the past 8 years, Erna ignored the unrealistic whispers of her mind that caused her fear and focused on getting better.

All she wanted was to go back to her home.

Like the 16 years old little Erna that left, she wanted to be embraced by her mother and hear that everything was alright.

However, when she talked to the duke a few days ago, she heard an unbelievable story that confirmed her fears.

During his expedition, while following traces of some people who were reported missing earlier that winter, the duke and his knights came across a mana phenomenon that appeared as a crack in the air.

The reason they thought it was a gate was the fact that 3 people crossed through.

From their appearance to the foreign language they spoke, the duke’s knights concluded that they were from another country which they didn’t know about, because their reason refused to admit that they could be from another world entirely.

Since the gate was emitting suffocating energy and was strengthening Maghulls due to the abundant mana that came through, they had a duty to get rid of it.

Fortunately, under the effect of a rare mana stone that was embedded on the duke’s sword, the gate disappeared.

From that day on, Erna went back and forth between two theories.

1-She was undeniably crazy.

2-Her world was indeed the world of a novel, which circled back to theory number 1.

The reason she came to these theories was that the female lead of ‘Scattered flowers’ was a young girl who crossed from another dimension along with 2 other people through a gate that appeared in the north.

Despite the great fear she felt, Erna would rather that she was just crazy.

Because if not.

Erna Argentine was going to die.

She had to die.

The second male lead of ‘Scattered flowers’ who closed the gate that reappeared as a greater mana manifestation, was only able to do so thanks to an ability he inherited from his mother.

It was never mentioned what sort of ability it was, however, it was an ability that could only be inherited once the previous wielder died.

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Seeing his wife laying in bed for days with no signs of improvement, Zachary used his abilities to absorb her mana.

It was quite a dangerous act for the receiver as two different types of mana shouldn’t coexist in the same body, but Zachary only did the bare minimum in order to relieve her from her pain.

After estimating the mana in her body, he thought it was rather lucky for her to be alive in the first place.

Fortunately, although it wasn’t as efficient as when a priest performed the act of purification, it was enough to stabilize her condition.

His wife slowly regained her health with the help of one of the best doctors in the kingdom, and became livelier than before.

After that, the duke spent an entire week going over all the available documents and the knowledge he had on magic.

From ancient books to recent records.

There was no mention of a similar case.

However, news of the reappearance of monsters he had gotten rid of was more concerning.

And since he was already busy with handling the territorial issues that had piled up in his absence, Zachary decided to delay the matter concerning his wife for another time, as there were far more pressing matters to attend to.