Leo grabbed her arm.
“Wait, please. Thank you so much. I won’t forget your kindness. What should I call you?”
“What?”
“Your… What’s your name?”
“Call me Cassia.”
For the first time, her languid, almost weary eyes met his. Cassia held his gaze for a moment, then turned and left the room.
Leo watched her go, then realized that the sun had already set. He must have passed out in front of the apothecary and slept through the day.
He glanced around the shop, then returned to the back room.
Lena lay deathly still, not even making a sound as she breathed.
Leo held her frail hand and let his thoughts run wild. With trembling hands, he prayed to every god he could think of, something he had never done before in his life. He wiped Lena’s brow, changed the wet cloth on her forehead, and kept praying.
He wanted to give her water, she must have been so thirsty, but he didn’t know how to get her to drink.
It wasn’t until midnight, when Lena’s breathing grew shallow, that he felt a sliver of relief, followed by a nagging question.
‘Why is she sick? It can’t be the chicken. Lena ate the same thing I did.’
If anything, he’d made sure Lena ate the cleaner pieces. They’d eaten practically the same thing, so it didn’t make sense for one of them to be fine while the other was deathly ill.
It wasn’t like Leo was healthier than Lena. He was older, sure, but if it was something this serious, he should have felt something too.
But he was fine.
The only thing wrong with him was the aching in his arms, legs, and back from carrying his sister.
‘Was Lena always destined to get sick once the scenario started? Is this part of the {event}?’
No, that didn’t make sense.
She would have died if this was the case.
Perhaps her getting sick and him being helped by Cassia outside the apothecary was part of a larger {event}, but this felt different. This felt too sudden, too urgent.
Even if this scenario was designed to be difficult from the start, beginning the game with his sister suffering from a potentially fatal illness was practically a guaranteed game over.
But as he retraced their steps, something occurred to him.
He had been with Lena almost constantly for the past two days.
Except for once.
Right after the scenario started, when he had gone to get the chicken scraps, he had left Lena alone in the alleyway.
She had complained about being thirsty as soon as the scenario started. Yet, even after sharing the chicken, she had barely touched the water trickling down the wall. Even today, she had only taken a few sips before offering him the rest.
And yesterday, it had rained.
‘Damn it! I shouldn’t have left her alone!’
Lena… while he was gone, she must have given in to her thirst and drank the water pooling on the ground!
The water that collected on the city streets was filthy. The sewage system wasn’t well maintained in this era, and people often dumped their waste directly onto the streets.
And yesterday, it had rained, washing down even more filth and grime from the overflowing trash cans.
Of course she got sick after drinking that. It would have been a miracle if she hadn’t.
‘Please, please let Lena live. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.’
Leo spent the entire night praying, for there was nothing else he could do.
As if by some divine intervention, he heard his sister’s voice as dawn approached.
“Brother, I had a dream.”
“…Lena? Are you alright?”
He felt her forehead.
Still burning up.
“Le, Lena, drink some water. Here, I have some water.”
“Brother, why are you crying? In my dream, you were spinning me around and laughing…”
“Lena! Stop talking nonsense and drink some water! Now! Please!”
“...?”
Startled by her clarity, he had shouted without realizing.
Lena blinked at him for a moment, confused, then obediently lifted her head and drank the water. Then she fell asleep.
And she never woke up. The raging fever that had consumed her just hours earlier vanished entirely, along with her warmth.
[ Lena has died. ]
[ Thank you for playing Raise Lena. ]
Final Job: None
Spouse: Unmarried
- Born in Lutetia Castle, Lena led a tragic life. Whisked away by loyal retainers, she was hidden in a vast field with Leo. When she opened her eyes, the field was littered with corpses. Lena followed Leo… (omitted) …Lena succumbed to illness at a tender age. -
Final Job: Cobbler
Spouse: Xenia
Street Beggars Ending: Beauty is Fleeting
- Born in Lutetia Castle, Leo led a tragic life. Whisked away by loyal retainers, he… (omitted) …After his sister's death, Leo lived with Cassia before striking out on his own and opening a shoe shop. He lived a long life with a woman he met by chance, but they never had children. -
Lena was gone. The illness, exacerbated by prolonged hunger, had been too much for her frail body to overcome.
Leo stared blankly at the portrait of his lifeless sister, a pain he had never known tearing through him. Just when it felt like his world was about to crumble, his grip on reality slipped, and Minseo emerged.
‘You idiot. You useless, good-for-nothing, worthless piece of trash!’
Minseo was consumed by grief as well.
The pain of losing a sibling, a pain he knew all too well, washed over him. He couldn’t bring himself to read another word, even as the story of Leo and Lena unfolded before his eyes.
It was his fault. His carelessness had led to his sister’s death. Guilt gnawed at him, relentless and sharp.
Unable to bear the agonizing pain, Minseo chose to retreat. He forced himself to forget, to shut out the memory of his sister’s fading breath.
‘This… this isn’t right for someone like me…’
He buried the last two days deep within his mind.
As if they had never happened at all.
[ You have failed to clear Raise Lena. ]
[ Leo, you were unable to protect your beloved sister from the harsh realities of poverty. As a token of consolation, you will be provided with {Starting Funds}. ]
[ Restarting. ]