In Sickness and in Health
Ludenberg lay in bed, checking over his body. The dizziness was definitely worse than before, and his limbs felt heavier bit by bit. For someone like him who rarely caught even a minor cold, it was an utterly unfamiliar sensation.
Why does it feel like... it's getting worse?
His body burned with heat. Ashytara hadn't been wrong. He'd pushed himself too hard lately, and he'd barely slept the night before. Then he'd swung his sword mindlessly from dawn till midday in that state—naturally, his condition had deteriorated quickly.
Ashytara had stepped out briefly to prepare a damp cloth for his forehead. In the quiet room without her, he couldn't help but feel pathetic. Making the girl who liked him worry like this.
He closed his eyes. Keeping them open would just make the spinning world worse.
The sound of the door opening reached him. Then came Ashytara's familiar, warm scent as she approached.
"Lude. I got the damp cloth ready. Need anything else?"
"...No."
"Okay then. I'll put it on. You know Mare's breath doesn't work on colds anyway..."
"...Yeah."
Ludenberg felt a cool sensation settle on his forehead, and his body eased somewhat.
"Better?"
"A bit. Thanks."
"No big deal. You gotta get better quick."
"Yeah. Gotta prep for the friendly match... but I sorted some stuff last time, so it'll be fine."
"Idiot. Don't worry about the friendly right now. Just focus on resting."
"But still..."
"Rest when you're resting. You know forcing it when you're wrecked means you won't perform."
"...Yeah."
A brief silence fell.
Ashytara took his hand gently, her worried expression unchanged, and whispered to him.
"Y'know, this is the first time I've seen you with a cold like this."
"...Is it?"
"Yeah. Usually, if anyone's catching one, it's me."
"Oh... right."
As the topic turned to colds, they naturally began sharing old memories—now faded into nostalgia. Memories that had been tough at times, joyful at others, unfolding one by one to fit the quiet room's mood.
"Remember when I had that brutal cold, and you nursed me?"
"...Yeah. You were so sick, I was running around putting cloths on your head and all that. We were ten, right?"
"Yep. I felt like I was dying, but I remember you staying by my side. I was so out of it I couldn't even tell who was around... but your voice stuck out clear as day."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. You insisted on doing the maids' job yourself and guarded me. Your family's maid told me."
"Right... yeah. I thought you were gonna die. Worried something might go wrong..."
The rare weakness sapping his strength made Ludenberg open up more honestly than usual.
"You worried about me that much?"
"...Yeah. I had lots of friends back then, but you were the most precious... Even if those 'friends' ditched me the second I turned twelve."
"Hehe. Did they?"
"Yeah."
Ashytara smiled at being called his most precious friend. It always felt good to hear. Maybe it's time for a different title now, not just friend—but she'd savor that after the Glory Festival.
"Oh, right. Anything you wanna eat?"
"Dunno... nothing comes to mind."
"Wait, when did you start training today?"
"Couldn't sleep at dawn, so..."
"...What?"
Ashytara's eyes widened in shock. As far as she knew, he'd been swinging his sword until the sun was high—and he hadn't eaten since then?
"Lude."
The low murmur sent chills down Ludenberg's spine.
"Y-yeah...?"
"What do you wanna eat?"
He cracked open his eyes and looked up at her. She was smiling, but a vein throbbed on her forehead. Refusing food now would turn that smile to anger in seconds.
"Uh, a-anything... something easy to eat."
"Got it."
Ludenberg had no appetite, but he gave in to her.
Ashytara stood and left, returning soon with stew in hand.
"Waited long? Sit up a bit."
"...Okay."
"Here, ahh."
She scooped stew onto a spoon and brought it to his lips.
"I-I can feed myself..."
"Lude."
Her firm tone calling his name made him surrender.
"...Ahh."
"Good boy."
Her attitude, like scolding a child, flushed his face. But the warm stew filling his empty stomach brought comfort.
Ashytara fed him diligently, without a hint of annoyance, until the bowl was empty.
"How's that?"
"Feels a lot better now. Still kinda dizzy, though."
"Rest all day. No thinking about anything else."
"Yeah. How long you planning to stay, Tara?"
"Till you fall asleep."
"...That okay? This is the boys' dorm..."
"Heard lots of guys sneak girlfriends in. Girls told me recently."
"..."
Ludenberg was speechless.
"So I'm staying over tonight."
"No, even so, that's... Rumors could start."
"Rumors? What kind?"
"Well, the princess sleeping in a guy's dorm..."
"They don't even check dorms. What's the problem?"
"Rumors exist. If you sleep here and leave, who knows what they'll say..."
His face burned red. His cold was easing, but his imagination was running wild. Even he, clueless about romance, knew the basics of how babies were made—he'd researched after realizing his first love. Basic sex ed was in Ortara National School's library too. When Ashytara got called away by her sister Sione, he'd devoured those books. Now he had average knowledge.
"Aha."
Ashytara smiled at his words.
"I don't care."
"...What?"
"If rumors start, you take responsibility for me, right?"
"R-responsibility...?"
"Might as well use that as your answer at the Glory Festival. Sound good?"
Her sudden push left him reeling.
"No, isn't that too soon...?"
"What? Too soon? Plenty get engaged before even entering Solemnute Adem. If Eden and Mion hadn't messed with you, we'd have had marriage talks already."
"..."
"So no more arguing. Accept my nursing today, Mr. Ludenberg. Got it?"
"...Yes."
"Not saying this for nothing—sometimes it gets worse suddenly at night when you're alone. Feels so lonely and tough without someone there."
"You been through that?"
"Who hasn't? When you holed up in your family, or when I trained with the Solem church."
"Solem church?"
"Yeah. Can't rely on other servants there, right?"
"Right."
"Got really sick once, but Sis had to be away."
"Yeah."
"Fever spiked out of nowhere, dying of misery, no one around... felt so sad."
"I see."
"So today, I'll stay by you."
Her soft whisper left him nodding dazedly.
"...Yeah."
They shared stories they rarely told, and his condition improved bit by bit.
The talk circled back to Ludenberg's trial.
"Speaking of, still suffering in the trial world?"
"Ah, the second trial started pretty recently."
"Second trial? What's it about?"
"Well..."
Ludenberg confided in her about the second trial: Liberatus and Amora's relationship and fate, how he'd lose her. And in the trial world, it replayed with people around him.
Ashytara sorted it out, a bit confused.
"So you're reliving what Liberatus went through? When he lost his wife?"
"Yeah. I take Liberatus's role, you take Amora's. Probably his other people are my acquaintances too."
"Why make you go through that, Raha...?"
"To temper my mind. So I can overcome any hardship. All trials are for my growth."
"...I see. But Lude, if I'm Amora..."
She nodded, then spoke as if realizing something.
"Yeah."
"Then in the trial world, I'm your wife?"
"...Yeah."
"Aha."
Ashytara gave him that mischievous smile she'd been showing more lately.
"If the trial world's tailored to you... means you see me as your closest person."
"..."
Ludenberg just blushed, saying nothing.