Chapter 8 : Rehabilitation (2)
Chapter 8 : Rehabilitation (2)
The rose garden at the Duchy was so beautiful it was renowned throughout the capital.
From the backstory that Duke Levadein had created it to propose to his now-late wife, to the unique feature that the flowers never faded throughout the four seasons, right down to the price of every single rose.
Need I say more than the fact that stories about this garden are still the talk of high society?
Today, that beautiful and lush garden was playing host to a special guest.
"I think this is my first time here since I was ten. Even though it's my own home."
Agnes said with a gentle smile.
She was sitting in a wheelchair. The simple act of coming down here from the third floor of the mansion was still too strenuous for her.
Duke Levadein patted Agnes's shoulder with a choked-up expression.
"Do you remember? When Lea was alive, didn't the three of us have tea here?"
"Of course. I can still taste the cookies we had back then."
"Agnes...!"
Duke Levadein's eyes welled up.
Deltain felt an indescribable sense of dissonance at the scene.
Meanwhile, Cargo spoke to Deltain with an expression full of impatience.
"Co-Count... it's about time."
"I know."
Snap.
As Deltain snapped his fingers, the properties of the surrounding mana shifted.
<3rd-tier Magic: Activating Field of Healing.>
The spell implemented was an area-of-effect regeneration magic. Deltain intended to combine this magic with Cargo's divine power to rapidly repeat the process of tearing and recovering Agnes's muscle fibers.
Naturally, there were no side effects. After all, he was present specifically to regulate it.
"Let's begin."
At Deltain's words, Duke Levadein nodded and stepped back.
Agnes reached out toward Deltain.
"Hold me."
"Stand up slowly."
Deltain supported Agnes's hand and waist, helping her up. The delicate movement was enough to make Cargo feel uneasy.
'...That Count?'
Caring for someone?
Cargo doubted if he was dreaming. He glanced over and saw Duke Levadein watching the two with a pleased expression.
His gaze toward Deltain was like that of a man looking at his son-in-law.
Cargo swallowed hard.
As a devout priest, he wanted to prevent such a beautiful woman from ending up with a villain like Deltain. After all, it was obvious that Deltain was the type of violent husband who would commit domestic abuse without a second thought.
Just as Cargo was about to speak up, fueled by a sudden, inexplicable sense of justice, Deltain called out to him.
"Pig."
"I-I wasn't thinking anything!"
Cargo jolted, causing his belly fat and chest to bounce.
"Wow, his chest is bigger than mine."
Agnes whispered, loud enough only for Deltain to hear.
Deltain stifled a laugh.
"...It's Cardinal."
"It's unfair that you treat him so roughly but are like that with me."
"Because I'm his friend."
Agnes looked back and forth between Deltain and Cargo.
'Friend?'
Well, it seemed like a dynamic where only one side considered the other a friend.
Agnes pondered this for a moment before shaking it off. Whatever the case, it wasn't her concern.
Meanwhile, Deltain said,
"Start."
"A-Alright!"
Even on such a warm day, Cargo nodded while sweating buckets.
He raised his hands.
"Oh, Lastoria!"
Whoosh!
As he invoked the deity, golden divine power overlapped with Deltain's magic.
Agnes felt a truly mysterious sensation.
"...Wow."
Her breathing became effortless.
Her vitality had already returned after her heart was mended, but even considering that, a kind of energy she had never felt in her life was surging through her entire body.
"Do other people live like this? It's unfair."
Eventually, tears streamed down the Duke's face.
Deltain, unbothered, said,
"Save your strength for walking. This magic doesn't last long, so you need to take every step you can."
Deltain was still holding Agnes's waist and hand.
"Follow me."
He began to walk backward.
Agnes moved one step at a time, following Deltain's slow pace.
She was barefoot. There wasn't any particular reason to be, but she had done so at the Duke's suggestion to see how it felt to step on the soil.
As her soles pressed into the dirt, a cool sensation arose. At the same time, the dirt digging between her toes created a ticklish feeling. An indescribable sense of refreshment began to settle within Agnes.
That was, until she had walked exactly ten steps.
"Huu...."
Agnes's body was exhausted after just ten steps. Her breathing and heartbeat were fine, but her muscles were the problem.
"Stop. We'll perform the first round of treatment here."
At Deltain's nod, Cargo surrounded Agnes with divine power. Lastoria's divine power was the Divine Power of Regeneration. The torn muscle fibers recovered as if nothing had ever happened.
"Moving again. You need to digest everything you ate today within 30 minutes."
Agnes's diet today was higher in calories than anything she had ever consumed in her life.
This was because while the Divine Power of Regeneration could repair muscle fibers, it couldn't provide nutritional supplementation.
Deltain had planned a two-hour and forty-minute schedule; Agnes would repeat the process of walking for 30 minutes and eating for 10 minutes, four times over.
'I'll handle the metabolic regulation.'
The mana extending from his hand was still swimming through Agnes's body, coordinating any abnormal reactions one by one.
"Let's walk again."
"Okay."
The rehabilitation continued.
*
Successful rehabilitation.
That was how Deltain assessed the day's work.
After all, he had taken Agnes, who had been unable to move at all from lying in bed, and made her walk half a lap around the garden; if that wasn't a success, what was?
As soon as the work in the garden was finished, Cargo had scurried off to the parish.
Inside the bedroom, where only he and Agnes remained, Deltain said,
"Don't move a single step today and get some good rest. Even with the combined use of magic and divine power, there will still be lingering fatigue."
"Tomorrow is the banquet."
"That's exactly why I'm telling you to rest."
"But I have to choose a dress."
"Do it while lying down. Just have them bring the clothes here."
"What kind of dress do you like?"
Agnes asked in a playful voice.
Deltain replied indifferently.
"What are you going to do with knowing my taste?"
"Because I want to look good for you."
"That's cliché now."
"I can't help it, I'm being serious."
Deltain's fingertips twitched.
Agnes giggled at the reaction.
"Even if you say that, your body is honest, isn't it?"
"...Shut up."
"So, what is your taste? Hmm? If you don't tell me, I'm going to run down the hallway the moment you leave."
She really is infuriating, showing her true colors the moment the Duke disappears.
With that thought, Deltain glared at Agnes and said,
"...As I always say, I dislike vulgar clothing. I prefer neat and dignified formal wear."
"I heard revealing clothes are in fashion these days."
"Don't talk bullshit. At least at the banquets I've attended, there was no such trend."
"What a shame."
Agnes pouted, looking dissatisfied.
"I wanted to wear a dress that's cut all the way from the cleavage to the navel."
"Even the whores in the red-light district don't dress like that."
"But it's better if it's easy to take off, right? So you can use it whenever you get excited."
"...."
Deltain's expression went blank. Agnes's eyes curved into crescents.
"Did it stand up?"
"It did not."
"But it's bulging out."
Deltain's head turned toward his crotch. Immediately after, his expression twisted into a fierce scowl.
"...Cut it out."
He had realized, a moment too late, that he'd been tricked.
Deltain felt a brief pang of regret. Perhaps it was a mistake to make her healthier than before; Agnes's level of teasing had become quite high today.
"If I'd known it would be like this, I should have just left you sickly."
"You know I'm joking. I won't do anything to embarrass you in front of others."
For some reason, Agnes's smile was brimming with vitality. No, it would be strange if it weren't. Her heart was functioning better than before, and her complexion had improved.
In other words, Agnes had become even more beautiful.
"Look forward to it. I'll appear in a beautiful form that suits you."
Deltain felt his insides churn for a moment at her smile. He bit his lip, a gesture born from his displeasure with himself.
"...I'm done here, so I'm leaving."
Deltain stood up and walked away without looking back.
Agnes continued to giggle, waving at Deltain until he was gone.
*
The next day at the Hebron County.
Deltain was taking out clothes he barely wore once or twice a year and floating them in the air.
His expression was quite serious. He also looked somewhat wounded in his pride.
There was only one reason why such conflicting emotions were being exuded at the same time: he didn't like that he was being so careful about choosing his banquet attire.
'Why am I...'
Even while thinking that, the words Agnes had said the day before were circling in Deltain's head.
-Look forward to it. I'll appear in a beautiful form that suits you.
'...Bullshit.'
Deltain furrowed his brow and ruffled his hair.
The hair he had spent 30 minutes styling—which didn't even suit him—instantly returned to its usual messy state with that movement.
Deltain stopped agonizing over it.
'Why should I be worrying about a tailcoat?'
It was ridiculous.
Yes, this must be because his heart had wavered for a moment due to guilt. Seeing Agnes looking forward to the banquet, he had felt bad about just going in whatever, and had ended up thinking about 'human decency.'
But that, too, was unlike him.
Deltain roughly grabbed the pitch-black tailcoat in front of him and threw it on.
"Boss!"
It was at that moment that Kaltara entered.
Deltain looked at her through the mirror.
Her height, well over two meters, her messy ash-gray hair, and her confident expression were the Kaltara he always saw, but her attire was different from usual.
"What is it? Are you going to the banquet too?"
"That I am!"
Kaltara, giving a thumbs-up, was wearing a dress.
It was a pink dress that was terribly ill-suited for her.
The dress was screaming against her bursting pectoralis major and serratus anterior muscles. Her bulging arm muscles only emphasized the monstrosity further. Below the waist, whether the hem was too short or not, her tendon-riddled feet and log-like ankles were completely exposed.
Deltain said to Kaltara with an indifferent expression.
"Just don't pretend you know me."
"Understood!"
He didn't care one bit about whatever eccentric behavior Kaltara might engage in.
'Ah, come to think of it.'
He thought he'd heard that Cargo was coming to the banquet too.
'...He'll figure it out.'
Deltain shook his head, brushing the thought away.
After all, this wasn't some demon realm devoid of anyone to satisfy one's carnal desires, and there was no reason for Kaltara to go out of her way to harass Cargo.
Deltain simply checked his appearance and left the room.
"Gerhart."
"Yes."
"Depart for the Duchy."
Sitting in the sedan, Deltain closed his eyes.
He intentionally emptied his mind, as thoughts unlike his usual ones kept surfacing.
He filled his head with the intention of just sipping some alcohol and leaving, as he always did.
Deltain's attempt was successful.
Until he met Agnes.