I Became The Male Lead's Female Friend

At the sight of Rudrick, who pretended not to hear him but spoke his opinion, it was Lord River who eventually opened the subject and slammed down the headquarters table and shouted at Rudrick.

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“All you have to do is open the door! There’s no need to burn all the homes of innocent people!”

“Then when can we open it?”

“Your highness, I’ll rewrite the negotiations. If it doesn’t work, I’ll go there myself.”

“This time Lord Goldman’s neck will be back.”

“Such a piece of work!”

Someone shouted at him at the outright sarcastic remarks.

Regardless, he looked around and spoke coldly, “It’s simple. We make fire and drive the rats to the water. Why do you spend so long on a job that takes only a day?”

People’s reactions varied. Some agreed with Rudrick’s words, and nobody refuted making any sacrifices…

Even the Crown Prince, who sat at the top of the table and immersed himself in the middle of their troubles, could not easily make a decision.

And Adelio, who had been listening to the two of them fighting from the beginning to the end, was massaging his head at the problem they were facing.

“How did this happen?”

Of course, it was not an easy matter for Adelio to decide. But what he was worried about was Rudrick’s condition rather than the current issue.

At some point, Rudrick was always in a hurry.

He always goes out to the front line and comes back covered in blood, and if he sees a slight delay, he gets impatient and tries to solve it on his own.

It wasn’t like this in the beginning. He used to have the time to properly hit the opponent and run, but now he appears to be in a hurry to just look ahead.

Sometimes when I see him fighting on the battlefield, he feels like someone rushing to death.

And Adelio seemed to know what point Rudrick had changed, “It’s my fault.”

I had no choice but to know. Because when he started talking to Rudrick in earnest, it was when he treated him.

It’s not that he regrets treating Rudrick at that time, but it’s also true that he was overly rude.

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After that, he would often visit Rudrick’s barracks as an excuse for medical treatment.

At first, I thought it was a good thing for both of us because we were close in the past.

Adelio told him his old story to soothe his longing for his family, and Rudrick could see what had happened to the Duke of Averine in his absence.

Later, he even asked first about such things, Adelio wondered if Rudrick would return to his former self.

But it wasn’t all his fault. Rudrick, who started talking to him, has definitely changed. He pushes himself further.

‘I have to stop him.’

I have to tell him, there’s no need to rush like this, the war will end soon anyway, we can go back.

So he only needs to wait, he doesn’t have to jump at war until his limbs break apart.

Still standing with his arms folded in front of the table, he looked very precarious. Like a man who is barely holding out for that one purpose.

Adelio tried to summon Rudrick to stand up. If it wasn’t for the soldiers who rushed into the barracks.

“We have a problem!”

✿

I looked back at the people around me and asked, “Are you ready?”

Our operation was simple. As far as I know, it was in the barracks that the epidemic began to spread.

However, the soldiers will not be able to sit still in the garrison, so the epidemic will soon spread to the surrounding villages. 

We planned to use that time to spread medicine in a village where an epidemic had spread.

Of course, the medicine will be sprayed with a mixture of fake medicine and real medicine.

So that it won’t be known who spread the medicine, rumors and facts will be mixed. But eventually, there will be a cured person who will take the real medicine, and the rumor will spread quickly.

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In particular, the Imperial Army, which is in the midst of an epidemic, will hear the rumors more quickly.

And we’re going to give that rumor a little bit of spice.

‘The questionable top has a cure.’

“Did you spread the rumors about our top?”

“Of course. Even if we don’t spread the word, there’s a lot of talk about us in this industry.”

“Okay. Is the agent ready?”

“It’s a stranger without nationality, so he won’t get caught.”

Jeron, who had been working with me for years and had come to speak to me before I knew it, simply answered.

Then, as if something had come to mind, he looked up and glanced at me, “But who’s coming to negotiate? It’s a little difficult if the Crown Prince comes.”

“The Crown Prince is not the kind of person to move alone over such a thing. He intends to ask someone from his father’s side.”

“That’s better for us. Have you decided what to ask for?”

“Sure.”

Jeron and I looked at each other and smiled. When I first decided to make a deal with the Imperial Army, I was thinking of getting my father’s help.

My father is the only Duke who participated in the war in the Empire, and we, Averine, are a family that has opened up to trade.

If my father offered to take over the deal, it was clear that the Crown Prince would gladly consent to it.

As a father with a lot of insight while living with his wife and daughter, if I asked for help, he would have guessed what I was up to at a glance.

So, the transaction was sure to go smoothly. Unless there arises a sudden accident.

“Okay then, let’s spread the rumors…”

“Lady, wait a minute!”

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Then Hestia, who was sitting on the sofa listening to us in a daze, suddenly jumped out in front of us.

“Could you please add one more of the rumors related to the epidemic?”

“Huh? Which one?”

“The symptoms of the epidemic.”

My mouth gaped blankly, “What? Does it have any symptoms?”

The reason this epidemic is especially dangerous was that there were no signs of it until the person affected collapsed. Didn’t Hestia say that before?

“Aren’t there any ominous symptoms?”

“It’s also vague… Because each person has different symptoms, it’s hard to notice. Some people don’t have any symptoms at all. Most of them appear…”

“What?”

“They will feel itchy around their neck.”

Hestia continued speaking with a darkened expression,

“They won’t don’t have a fever but will keep coughing. Even phlegm in the throat feels thick. But actually, it’s hard to tell from this. There’s no difference from the symptoms of other diseases. But patients with infectious diseases have a common redneck.”

“No way… Do they scratch it because it was itchy?”

“Yes, especially if they have a rash on the neck.”

“A rash…”

For a moment, I nodded my head. It may be ambiguous to just feel ticklish around your neck, but there’s definitely a rash.

I called the attendant who was waiting next to me, told him to add another rumor, and sent them away. And having prepared the person that would send the signal and immediately spray medicine on the villages around the Imperial Army.

Now all that’s left is to wait…

“Ah.”

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I grabbed Hestia and said,  “Do you have one more medicine left?”

“What? Yes, I have some emergency medicines in advance.”

“Then take care of one for me alone.”

Hestia nodded without saying a word. Watching her go straight out to get the medicine, I also sat down at my desk and grabbed a pen. There was still work to be done.

‘I’ll write a letter to my father.’

I haven’t gotten any letters from my father in the past few months. But I couldn’t afford to wait any longer, so I wrote a letter containing only a simple matter.

Then, suddenly, I looked up at the sky from the window. Before I knew it, the darkened sky has blackened today, so I pressed down on my fast-beating heart and prayed earnestly.

“I hope you’re safe.”

✿

“Cough, cough.”

Inside the dark barracks, Adelio was coughing one after another.

“Cough, cough…”

Adelio covered his mouth with his hands as he kept coughing dry.

After coughing a few more times, he took out his wife’s handkerchief and covered his mouth. He seemed to be in a bad condition, but his cough has gotten worse.

“Is it because I’m tired?”

Surely he has never rested in recent years. To be exact, it was during the middle of the meeting when a soldier who suddenly came in broke the bad news.

“This time, it’s an epidemic.”

It happened suddenly when the soldier collapsed. He was not a soldier who was being treated for an injury, but a soldier who was far enough to go to battle even tomorrow.

But in just a day he collapsed. The doctors took care of him, but no one could tell what kind of disease he had. Eventually, he died from a high fever and vomiting.