Chapter 68: Recovery Magic
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 68: Recovery Magic
"…It is Enolius."
Enolius?
I blinked blankly.
Ah, Enolius, the mage of the Grand Duke’s Castle.
He was the last person I expected to meet at this hour, in this place.
"I am currently casting recovery magic, so do not move."
To say he was using magic was a bit of a stretch; he was simply sitting in a chair. He wasn't reaching out toward me, nor were there any visible magic circles.
As if reading my thoughts, the mage narrowed his eyes.
"Recovery magic is naturally invisible to the eye."
Seeing the blatantly contemptuous look on his face made me feel inexplicably annoyed.
"Are you using magic on me without my permission?"
At my wary tone, the mage added indifferently, "It is the Grand Duke’s order. I am merely doing as I was told, so if you have a complaint, take it up with His Highness."
He really had a knack for making even the simplest words sound spiteful. I wanted to snap back at him, but what he said wasn't exactly wrong.
"I wasn't trying to complain."
I simply didn't have the energy to argue, but the mage seemed to find my listless reaction interesting instead.
"You are a bit different from what I expected."
"In what way?"
"You, Your Highness. I even had binding magic prepared, thinking you would cause a scene the moment you woke up."
He spoke with a detached air, as if discussing a third party. I let out a hollow laugh at his incredibly impudent remark.
"You are exactly like the rumors."
Utterly eccentric.
"I won't deny it. As you can see, I am the type to be hated wherever I go," the mage said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.
If he weren't a mage, his head would have likely rolled several times over by now for such an attitude, yet his blunt honesty wasn't particularly unpleasant.
"In that regard, we're similar."
I calmly touched my forehead. A bandage-like patch was stuck to the spot where the egg had hit me.
"Similar?"
"You must have heard the rumors about me."
Starting as the villainess of the capital, then the daughter of an enemy, and now, what? Probably the Grand Duchess who sucks the blood and sweat out of her people?
The mage furrowed his brows for a moment before nodding as if he quickly understood.
"Well, I suppose that could be true."
With that, the conversation ended. After sitting for a moment longer, the mage stood up.
"It is finished. You may rest now."
He headed for the door without another word, but just as he was about to leave the room—
"Thank you."
I offered a small word of thanks. It was a voice so soft it was barely audible, but the mage paused and turned back toward me.
"For what?"
"The recovery magic."
"Ah… yes, well."
He stood there hesitating for a moment, scratching his chin.
"I, er, I didn't mean to be particularly rude."
It was an unexpected reaction.
"And you are likely different from me."
"At least within this castle, it seems you aren't hated."
When I looked at him with confusion, not understanding what he meant, the mage gestured with his eyes toward something behind me. Turning my head, I saw various flower pots, large and small, lined up on the windowsill.
"Those are…"
I turned back to ask the mage what they were, but he had already vanished.
"Your Highness! Are you alright?"
A moment later, Cecilia rushed in. Seeing me awake, her eyes welled with tears.
"Do you know how worried I was? I thought you were never going to wake up!"
Only after a long while of soothing the fussing Cecilia was I able to hear about what had happened after I collapsed.
"The personal physician clearly said there were no major issues other than the scratch on your forehead. And yet, you didn't wake up even after evening passed."
Cecilia, still looking miserable, sniffled.
"As soon as the Grand Duke heard the news, he came racing back to the castle. He was so furious that he summoned the mage immediately."
"The Grand Duke was angry?"
"I didn't see it myself, but Sir Perel and the other knights were all pale as ghosts. They said it was the first time they’d ever seen His Highness that angry. Apparently, his bloodlust was terrifying."
It was hard to imagine the composed Grand Duke losing his temper, but I nodded.
"And the culprit?"
"They only caught the one who threw the last egg. He’s currently locked in the dungeon being interrogated."
Cecilia added cautiously, "And the knights who were escorting you have all been thrown into the dungeon as well."
"What do you mean? The knights are in the dungeon?"
My eyes widened.
"Because they failed to protect you properly. It seems Sir Tiern was even severely beaten in the face by His Highness."
Cecilia confessed that the other knights had to physically restrain the Grand Duke to stop him from turning Tiern’s face into a bloody pulp, and she even let slip that Sir Perel had told her not to tell me.
I couldn't close my gaping mouth. Tiern was likely the knight most blindly loyal to the Grand Duke, and he was beaten because of me?
"More importantly, Your Highness, have you seen these?"
Perhaps noticing my expression darkening, Cecilia hurriedly directed my attention to the flower pots on the windowsill.
"I was actually going to ask. What are all these?"
"The servants in the castle brought them."
Cecilia smiled.
"They all came by with flower pots, saying they wanted to comfort you."
They were worried about me? But why flower pots of all things?
"Reta gave them a tip beforehand. She told them that Your Highness doesn't particularly like cut flowers."
"…I see."
"At first, only a few maids brought them, so I just accepted them, but word must have spread. People from the kitchen and even the stables have been coming and going!"
Looking closely now, there were even more pots placed below the windowsill. As I started to get up, Cecilia waved her hands to stop me.
"You shouldn't get up yet."
"It's fine, I'm perfectly okay."
Eventually, I rose from the bed, and Cecilia took my hand, carefully leading me to the window.
"…They're beautiful."
Each pot varied in size, and the flowers planted in them were of many different kinds. Some even had short cards tucked into them. As I took a breath, a faint fragrance and the scent of fresh earth filled my nose.
"Reta said the maids were all absolutely livid. They said those people who dared to do such a thing to our Grand Duchess deserve divine punishment."
Cecilia spoke with emphasis, repeating herself several times.
"It's true. Everyone is so worried that your feelings might have been hurt. Sir Norton also stopped by several times to insist that everyone in the Grand Duke’s Castle is on your side, so you mustn't misunderstand."
"…That is very kind of them."
In truth, I hadn't done anything particularly special for the servants during my time here. Seeing a small pot with a white Nephras bud that hadn't quite bloomed yet, a smile touched my lips. The nightmare of the guillotine gradually began to fade from my mind.
*
Loik knocked softly on the door.
"Grand Duke? Please, come in."
A gentle voice drifted from inside. Loik bit his lip and slowly entered the Grand Duchess’s bedroom.
The Grand Duchess was sitting up in bed, leaning against the headboard. Since he had sent Whitley ahead to ask for permission to visit, she seemed to have been waiting for him. Seeing her bright face, looking no different than usual, made his heart ache for no reason.
As he stood there, unable to approach out of guilt, the Grand Duchess tilted her head curiously.
"Why are you standing there? Come and sit."
She tapped the chair placed next to the bed.
How could he have the audacity to sit before her after allowing her to suffer such an insult? As he hesitated, unable to bring himself to move closer, the Grand Duchess’s eyebrows twitched.
"Are you not coming? Should I go to you?"
She made a move to throw back the covers as if to get out of bed. Left with no choice, Loik strode over and sat down. He had sat, but he didn't know how to open his mouth.
He kept his gaze lowered, unable to even look at her face, and asked, "How is… your body?"
"I'm completely fine, really."
Her voice was as cheerful as ever.
"In fact, I feel full of energy thanks to the mage. I guess recovery magic really is effective."
"This… will never happen again."
Loik spoke while staring intensely at his own hands, which were gripping his knees.
"Starting tomorrow, the 1st and 2nd Knight Divisions will escort you together. Norton will be reassigned to focus solely on your protection."
"It's alright, you don't have to go that far…"
"Those who caused the disturbance on-site will be properly punished as an example as soon as they are identified. I have also sternly warned the President of the Merchant Association to immediately correct the baseless rumors about you. From now on, anyone who wags their tongue recklessly…"
He was pouring out words in a single breath when the Grand Duchess interrupted him soothingly.
"I understand, so please, look at me first."
"Are you not going to look at me?"
At her urging, Loik slowly raised his head. The Grand Duchess leaned her clear face toward him. Her white face, usually flushed at the cheeks, was pale. Her thin eyelashes trembled weakly.
Above all, that large bandage stuck to her forehead…
"Don't worry. It's nothing."
Seeing Loik’s gaze fixed on her forehead, the Grand Duchess reached up and peeled off the bandage.
"Leave it be!"
Despite his protest, the piece of cloth that had covered half her forehead was already pulled away by her small hand.
"See? It's nothing, right?"
"…There is a wound."
Loik’s voice trembled slightly.