Chapter 16: Kaito Kuroba: Life Is Just Too Hard for Me...

Castle, second-floor room.

Chi Feichi was examining Kaito Kuroba’s body carefully.

“Do you feel any palpitations?”

“No.”

“No muscle tremors, no difficulty breathing, right?”

“Yes…”

“The time’s almost up. Hand me the thermometer…”

“Okay…”

“Skin color is normal, body temperature’s normal, jaw stiffness, drooping eyelids… Do you feel muscle weakness or soreness?”

“Yes…”

Seeing Chi Feichi’s swift and professional manner, Itsuka Mami simply waited to see how things would turn out. If necessary, he could find a doctor and explain the situation clearly, bringing any required medicine along.

“Heartbeats are normal…” Chi Feichi removed the stethoscope and jotted down notes in a notebook.

Watching Chi Feichi so focused, Kaito couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “Did you study medicine?”

“I studied veterinary medicine,” Chi Feichi replied without looking up.

Kaito froze. “V-Veterinary medicine?”

After finishing his notes, Chi Feichi closed the notebook. “But I have a rough idea of what’s going on with you.”

Kaito’s eyes lit up. “What’s wrong with me?”

Chi Feichi put away the notebook and pen. “A trace amount of cytotoxin…”

Kaito stiffened again.

Cytotoxins… usually found in snake venom, right?

He wasn’t sure about other cytotoxic snake venoms, but most sea snake venom is cytotoxic. He knew a bit about the symptoms after a sea snake bite:

Within 30 minutes to even three hours after the bite, there are often no obvious signs of poisoning, which can lead to complacency…

In fact, sea snake venom is rapidly absorbed by the body. The earliest symptoms include muscle weakness and soreness, drooping eyelids, jaw stiffness—somewhat like tetanus…

Simultaneously, the heart and kidneys suffer severe damage. A person bitten could die within hours to days…

Snake venom! Snake venom!

“It seems you know what cytotoxin is,” Chi Feichi said, noticing Kaito’s changing expression, reassuring him, “But don’t worry, it’s just a tiny amount. So far, there’s no damage to your heart or kidneys. Rest for a while, and you’ll recover…”

Kaito immediately jumped up from the bed, excited.

“Get out! All of you, get out!”

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Itsuka Mami and gardener Tanenobu Katsuno stood at the door, unsure what to do.

***

“I’m sorry,” Chi Feichi apologized on Kaito’s behalf.

Itsuka Mami looked at Chi Feichi’s indifferent expression, feeling a slight headache, sensing the castle’s peaceful days were over. “It’s okay, I understand. Is he a friend you met at the hospital?”

“No,” Chi Feichi kindly explained for Kaito, “He’s quite normal, just a bit overexcited after a near-death experience.”

Itsuka Mami twitched his mouth. He felt the high schooler was angry, but nodded anyway. “Should I still call a doctor to take a look?”

Chi Feichi was already heading downstairs, having confirmed with Fei Chi that the toxin was very mild and not fatal. “No need. He’ll feel uncomfortable for a while but won’t die.”

Itsuka Mami wiped his sweat. So basically, it’s serious without being deadly…

“Should we give him some medicine then?”

“You probably don’t have the right medicine here. He’ll recover after a little fuss…”

“Good. Your room is next door. I’ll have Tanenobu bring your luggage up…”

Inside the room, Kaito sat on the floor leaning against the door, listening as the voices faded away, feeling so wronged he wanted to curl up and cry.

This is what Koizumi Akako said was not life-threatening?

He wanted to sneak away but wasn’t sure if the venom contained some strange toxins. What if he ran off and couldn’t be cured? What if a solution was found but it was too late?

It was definitely safer to stay close to Chi Feichi, the snake keeper.

But the thought of being stuck with Chi Feichi for a while made him doubt whether he’d even survive until the day he could leave.

Life was so hard for him…

***

By dinner, Kaito’s body had recovered, though he looked mentally drained.

At the table, Itsuka Mami introduced the other family members.

Itsuka Mami’s wife’s son from a previous marriage, Itsuka Takahito.

Itsuka Mami’s mother-in-law, the matriarch of the family, Itsuka Masayo, sitting in a wheelchair with age spots on her face.

“My wife and her ex-husband, Sadakazu, were both brought into the family through marriage. Sadakazu passed away six years ago. After that, I met and fell in love with my wife, and we married quickly,” Itsuka Mami explained calmly. “Unfortunately, four years ago, when she came back to celebrate the matriarch’s birthday, she perished in a fire…”

“A fire?” Kaito’s curiosity couldn’t be contained. “If she came back to celebrate the matriarch’s birthday, why weren’t you together?”

“The fire started in the tower outside the castle. I arrived earlier that day; it was my first visit to the family, so I wanted to come early. My wife arrived late at night. By the time she got here, I was already resting in the annex,” Itsuka Mami explained. “At the time, the matriarch was suffering from a cold and was also in the annex. Takahito was returning for the first time then; he had been studying abroad. He also came back early that day, right?”

Mentioned suddenly, Itsuka Takahito responded, “Yes, that was my first return. Not just my mother, but the guests and more than a dozen maids and servants who came with her also perished in that fire. Those remaining now are all servants who had been hired more recently.”

Chi Feichi glanced at Takahito silently.

Judging by this, Takahito’s situation was probably similar to his own body—growing up with cold parental relationships, left to fend for himself outside…

“By the way,” the always silent Itsuka Masayo suddenly spoke, “Has my daughter arrived yet? Didn’t she say she’d be back tonight?”

A maid sweating nervously said, “Matriarch, madam has already…”

“What a disgraceful daughter, making me, her mother, wait so long!” Itsuka Masayo frowned and turned her wheelchair to leave. “I’ll have my meal in my room. When she arrives, tell her to come find me…”

The maid hurried after her to assist.

Kaito looked at the departing matriarch, then at Itsuka Takahito, who, like Chi Feichi, remained silent. Finally, he turned to Itsuka Mami, the only seemingly normal person around him now…

***

Unfortunately, Itsuka Mami had already categorized Kaito as ‘same kind as Chi Feichi.’ He only gave Kaito a polite smile in response.

After dinner, Kaito went upstairs with Chi Feichi.

He returned briefly to his room, grabbed his backpack, then knocked on Chi Feichi’s door. When Chi Feichi opened, Kaito slipped inside, his right hand quickly drawing a gun from the bag and raising it.

Almost simultaneously, Chi Feichi instinctively stepped aside and grabbed Kaito’s wrist.

Kaito looked at the gun pointed at the wall, then at his restrained wrist, then at Chi Feichi by his side, forcing a calm smile. “I said I was joking. Do you believe me?”

Chi Feichi nodded, then released his grip.

“Really? You just believed that?” Kaito was inexplicably frustrated. This guy trusted so easily; he felt embarrassed to ask Chi Feichi to help detoxify him…

“Why would I believe you? You had a fake gun, obviously a joke,” Chi Feichi said matter-of-factly.

Kaito sighed helplessly, closed the door, put the gun back in his backpack, and took out a thick notebook, placing it on the table. “This is a notebook my father left me. It contains some disguise techniques. Take a look; I’ll teach you tomorrow…”

Chi Feichi flipped through it briefly. “There are two magic tricks in here?”

“Yes, but don’t get your hopes up,” Kaito pulled out a chair and sat down. “Many magic tricks require keen eyesight and fast hands. To perform properly, you need a sharp mind and quick reflexes to handle unexpected situations. Even if you have all that, it takes long practice to master the techniques. You can’t learn them overnight.”

“I’m not very interested in magic,” Chi Feichi said, barely glancing at the two tricks, instead skimming the disguise section.

As night fell, Fei Chi awoke from his sluggish state, curiously poking his head from beside Chi Feichi’s collar. Supporting himself, he looked at the notebook with Chi Feichi, not forgetting to complain, “No disguise method for snakes? That’s a bad review!”

Chi Feichi was speechless. “What disguise could a snake possibly need?”

“There is a way everyone thinks of, and it works pretty well.”

Fei Chi tilted his head at Chi Feichi expectantly. “What way?”

“Paint, oil paint, pigments—whatever color you want, you paint it on.”

Fei Chi paused, looking down at his gray-black stripes. “Makes sense…”

Nearby, Kaito watched Chi Feichi talking to a snake and twitched his mouth.

Sure enough, this guy was abnormal. If Kaito asked him to detoxify now, would he get beaten or bitten by a snake?

While Kaito imagined all sorts of ‘Chi Feichi losing control and going berserk’ scenes, Chi Feichi looked up at him.

Fei Chi, puzzled, also looked up.

Two pairs of emotionless eyes fixed on him. Kaito felt a chill down his spine. “Cough, I don’t know anything~”

“What do you know?” Chi Feichi asked, puzzled, then decided not to press.

“I just wanted to tell you that Fei Chi is a mildly venomous snake. The toxin inside your body should be gone by now.”

Kaito jumped up from the chair, took a deep breath, trying to stay calm and hold back his outburst.

He couldn’t hold it…

“Since it’s just a mildly venomous snake, why did you make such a big deal? You scary jerk! You made me worry for nothing!”

Fei Chi flicked his tongue, egging on from the side, “I could bite him a couple more times. Might have a better effect…”

Chi Feichi ignored Fei Chi, observing Kaito’s expression. “You seem disappointed?”

“You…” Kaito choked on his words, feeling helpless. “Forget it. I can’t communicate with you. Just leave me alone for a while…”