Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Nursing Care (3)
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If Lucien Grayhauncher had any impressions of Elnor, they weren't particularly vivid.
Just someone she occasionally ran into. They crossed paths now and then at social gatherings among the nobility's elite, but it was only to the extent of knowing each other's faces. That was it.
But this situation was different.
'What the hell...'
She alternated sharp glances between Dawood, sprawled pitifully on the floor, and Elnor, who was coughing awkwardly in embarrassment.
"...Ah, no, this is, uh—"
Watching Elnor stammer incoherently in her panic only narrowed Lucien's eyes further.
She never imagined she'd see this woman react like this.
In other words,
it meant that whatever Elnor had just been about to do was something deeply shameful.
"...What were you trying to do?"
When Lucien asked the question again with a fierce glare, the silence that followed only confirmed it.
"...I didn't have any particular expectations of you, Duchess Tristan."
Lucien sighed and continued.
"But this is extremely disappointing."
Strictly speaking, there was no need to say it so harshly.
Of course, what was happening here deviated from common sense, but Lucien—whose insight into "that side" of things was as keen as Yuria's—could tell at a glance what feelings Elnor harbored for that man.
'...To begin with.'
That man had casually spouted nonsense before about having all six vessels of the devil.
Considering his deranged, playboy tendencies, Elnor was probably a victim too.
But.
She glanced down at Yuria.
Yuria was fiddling with her scabbard.
"..."
Given her sister's usual personality, she'd normally be fidgeting and urging everyone not to fight.
But this reaction?
It was the look you give a stray cat that jumped onto the table before the meal was served.
As if, given the chance, she'd draw her sword and slash at her right then and there.
In short,
that explained why she'd snapped at Elnor so sharply.
She wanted to nip it in the bud before things escalated.
Her instincts were screaming at her.
Leave Yuria and this woman together in the same room, and something was bound to explode.
"...I can't just overlook such inappropriate behavior. Would you please leave the sickroom, Duchess?"
But the moment those words left her mouth,
Elnor's flustered movements froze solid.
"...What do you mean by that, Saintess?"
Lucien pressed a hand to her forehead inwardly at the icy reply.
Right. As if she'd back down meekly.
"But, Duchess Tristan. If word of what happened here spreads, it won't end well for you."
At those words,
Elnor swept back her hair with a sigh, her eyes darkening ominously.
"Are you threatening me right now?"
"..."
It was a threat, technically.
But they had the moral high ground here.
"I heard he collapsed from overwork. He needs rest and stability."
"..."
"...And what you just did is undeniably interfering with that."
Lucien watched Elnor's reaction carefully as she pressed on.
Considering that Dawood's usual behavior, there was a high chance Elnor was connected to the "devils" too.
If Elnor made any sudden moves here, she'd have to respond immediately.
"We'll make sure he has the right environment, so don't worry and—"
Lucien was midway through that thought when she shrieked in horror.
"W-What are you doing?!"
Her voice cracked without her realizing it as Elnor scooped Dawood up effortlessly in both arms.
The classic princess carry.
With her blouse undone and pants half-off, she was exposing far more skin than usual.
They couldn't see his face, twisted away, but his body was practically half-naked.
"..."
And.
The moment she saw it,
Lucien felt a rush of heat to her head and swallowed hard despite herself.
Lately, he'd been working out hard—broad shoulders, decent abs, and then, letting her gaze drift lower...
'What am I thinking right now?!'
She slapped both her cheeks with her hands.
She might be somewhat removed from the Holy Kingdom now, but she still represented the faithful across the continent. Asceticism was basic!
She couldn't stoop to gawking at a man's body like some vulgar—
"...Wow."
Hearing her sister murmur that, Lucien whipped around in panic.
"His body is, like, insanely... I kinda wanna touch it—"
"Yuria?!"
Lucien screamed again, and Yuria snapped out of her daze.
"Ah, no, I mean, uh, j-just, Dawood looks, um, cool! That's all I meant!!"
"..."
Lucien and Elnor's eyes narrowed in unison.
Forget the tone—even with drool trickling down that she wiped away, who would believe her?
"...A-Anyway...!"
Lucien jabbed a finger forward, her face beet red as she protested.
"W-What do you think you're doing?! Using a patient to seduce us—!"
"I just picked Dawood up off the floor. I thought he'd get cold lying there."
"..."
"..."
That... made sense.
Elnor had done exactly that, but both sisters had been so fixated that it felt like she was thrusting him at them.
Realizing it, Lucien and Yuria clamped their mouths shut, faces flushing crimson, as Elnor observed them with narrowed eyes.
She knew these two had some ongoing connection to Dawood.
Until now, she'd only vaguely known about it.
But rushing here in a panic the moment he collapsed meant it needed "verification."
And yet.
"...It seems."
Both of them were in pretty bad shape.
Bad enough that if she just left Dawood here and walked away, who knew what might happen.
"I can't believe either of you is more decent than I am."
"..."
No arguing that.
Yuria and Lucien forced their mouths open with effort.
"...S-Still, we're better than the Duchess Tristan who's already caught red-handed, right?"
"That's true."
Elnor nodded at the words.
"So what can you do about it?"
"...Pardon?"
"Yes. It was shameless. A sinful act."
Then,
without blinking, she continued.
"So what can you do about it?"
"..."
"Besides asking me to leave—what else can you do?"
"..."
"I'm not leaving. I'm never leaving Dawood with you two."
Lucien stared at Elnor in stunned disbelief.
No.
Was this woman always like this?
Or did she turn brazen on anything Dawood-related?
Intuition said the latter.
"...It's fine, sis."
"Huh?"
"I'll handle it. It's okay."
No.
She said that, but
she didn't look okay at all.
Her grip on the sword hilt was ferocious in a way Yuria never would have shown before.
Elnor noticed and slid her hand toward her own sword with narrowed eyes.
"W-Wait! No matter what, drawing weapons on each other is...!"
Lucien tried to intervene in the powder-keg tension,
but someone even more disruptive burst into the sickroom.
"Maaasterrrr—! You're huuurt—!"
A figure wrapped head to toe in "purple aura" kicked the door open like it was nothing.
Her voice alone was deafening.
"..."
"..."
"..."
What the hell is this?
Who is this?
The thought flashed through everyone's minds.
Then.
"...Master?"
Elnor's menacing mutter spread thickly through the room once more.
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"...Seras Evatrice. New student in the Divinity Faculty this term."
"...Lucien Grayhauncher. This is my sister Yuria. We're guests at Elpante."
The awkward introductions floated around the sickroom.
They were all strangers, after all. They needed to know who was who.
"..."
"..."
"..."
But.
The ensuing silence was giving me stomach ulcers.
My stress-induced gut pain had been nagging since earlier, and pretending to be unconscious in this mess was pure hell.
"So."
Finally, Elnor broke the silence with a sigh, opening the conversation.
Her gaze flicked slightly toward Seras and stuck there.
Compared to her earlier purple-aura screaming fit, she now slumped in a chair, rubbing her temples with a weary look.
"What did you mean by 'Master,' miss?"
"...Ah, that."
Seras answered with a confused look of her own.
"...Lately, for some reason, whenever I see that guy, 'Master' just slips out automatically."
"..."
"No, I don't know why. It feels like I absolutely have to say it. My head resists, but my instincts push me—"
"..."
She kept insisting she had no idea,
but I did.
The purple devil was puppeteering her personality from time to time.
That thing would totally do it.
I'd told it to hold back on directly suppressing Seras's mind, so now it was just planting constant suggestions to call me that.
It probably hijacked her body outright when it heard I'd collapsed, rushing over.
Among the devils—excluding the red one—it had the most domineering attitude toward its vessel. Unbelievable.
"...I'll introduce you to a good psychiatrist. That should fix it."
Elnor rubbed her forehead, looking like even crazies were swarming him now.
"We're in the middle of an important discussion about this man. If you're not closely involved, please leave."
But even then,
Seras shot back with a sulky attitude.
"No, it's just..."
Seras scratched her head, visibly irritated herself.
"I don't particularly want to nurse that guy, but it feels like something bad will happen to me if I don't."
"..."
"Aren't you trying to decide on a caregiver right now? Just include me."
The moment those words dropped,
the already awkward atmosphere turned several times more hostile.
Elnor was practically emanating killing intent.
[This is art, man.]
"..."
[Three devil vessels gathered, debating how to carve you up and share. Impressive, huh?]
'...Carve and share what.'
Don't talk like it's someone else's problem.
If I die, you die too. Got it?
[I won't.]
"..."
Nice vote of confidence.
But if you're so sure, how about some advice to get out of this?
[Well... I do have some.]
'What?'
[I'd have bailed right when Elnor looked ready to eat me alive.]
'Pardon?'
Get up when Elnor's about to devour me?
What kind of beating would that earn me?
[No, but still.]
Caliban chuckled as he went on.
[In situations like this, it's obvious who ends up with decision rights, right?]
As Caliban said that,
Elnor swept back her hair and spoke.
"Alright, let's do this."
Then came
the sentence that was hell for me.
"Once Dawood wakes up, we'll ask him. Who suits as his caregiver best."
"..."
[Hoooooo!]
Shut up.
As Caliban whooped, I squinted at the system window floating before me.
[System Message]
[ ‘Sub Quest: Love's Caregiver!’ has begun! ]
[ You can greatly increase the chosen target's favorability. The decision is irreversible—choose carefully! ]
"..."
Sub quest, my ass.
Why does it feel like my life's on the line?
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