The Rose (2)
"Get out."
It was the first thing she said. Yet the voice carried a chill so absolute it could hardly be directed at family. Charlotte's lips froze mid-motion.
"...Elise."
"Get out. I can't stand the sight of that wretched face anymore."
"But—"
"Are you deaf? All of you, disappear."
"......"
The harsh words drove in like nails. Blue eyes trembled. Charlotte seemed to shrink at first beneath the savage response, but it didn't last. Her fists clenched tight. This time, she would not yield.
"You need treatment. A chance like this won't come again."
"What does that have to do with you?"
"Because I'm your older sister."
"Ha... what absolute bullshit."
The rose let out a hollow laugh. Slender fingers snatched something from the bedside table and hurled it straight at the girl before her. An empty vase. It whistled past Charlotte's cheek and shattered against the floor with a crystalline crash. The glass fragments scattered at her feet looked viciously sharp.
"......"
The violent outburst finally silenced the older sister. The younger girl, steeped in frigid malice, simply glared at her closest blood relative. Pale lips moved in clear warning.
"I told you already. Whether I drop dead or not, it's none of your concern."
"......"
"I don't need your pity."
"You know it's not pity."
"I never wanted to know. Not once have I ever wished to live at your side."
"Why do you always... say such terrible things?"
The conversation spiraled into something suffocating. I recalled the setting a beat too late. Elise's traits: terrible relationship with her older sister Charlotte, and a truly nasty personality. The original work had contained several scenes like this.
Was it always this bad?
Watching Charlotte sink into herself, the thought rose unbidden. The atmosphere had frozen beyond repair. Neither of them seemed aware I was even in the room anymore.
As I stood there wondering what to do, Elise suddenly clutched her chest and began to cough. Blood mingled with her labored breaths.
"Cough—ugh...!"
Her face twisted in agony. The brief hemoptysis painted her white lips a vivid red. Charlotte lurched forward as if to rush to her, but the next snarled "get out" pinned her in place. She stood frozen, unable to advance or retreat. It was an uncharacteristically shaken display. She wanted to stop the fit but had no idea how. She longed to hold her hand, yet that would only trigger worse convulsions. Truly, there was nothing she could do.
I knew this was the perfect moment.
"Your Highness."
I rested a light hand on Charlotte's shoulder. Her quivering eyes turned toward me. I offered a reassuring smile and spoke with calm confidence.
"I'll handle this."
"You can really...?"
"Of course. Isn't that why you summoned me?"
Trust is such a treacherous thing. In the darkest moment, simply whispering the words someone most wants to hear is enough. People are weak. They seize on what they desire and call it faith.
I whispered sweetly.
"I believe I can heal her."
Those blue eyes widened. The exact words she had longed to hear. Such a short phrase, yet it filled the emptiness inside her. Between the tangled threads of that fragile trust, I slipped in one condition she could not possibly refuse. This would be the first step that placed a collar around her own neck.
"However, the treatment will require Your Highness's full and active cooperation."
"Cooperation...?"
"It means you must trust me."
The poor young princess. She who had cherished her rose for so long had no chance of rejecting this.
"...I understand. I'll do whatever you ask."
Of course she would.
A few minutes later, only the rose and I remained in the room. It was exactly what I had requested. For the treatment to proceed, no one else could be present. The half-bewitched Charlotte had nodded and left with the attending maid.
The space, now emptied of all human presence, was deathly still.
"Cough...!"
The only sound was the occasional hacking cough.
I stared at the bed draped in shadow. A single rose blooming there so pathetically. She was clearly trying to endure, but agony was etched across her face. Her complexion had gone beyond pale—it was ghostly.
"How pitiful."
I muttered the words loud enough for her to hear. Her ears still worked, it seemed. Elise lifted her bowed head. Her eyes flashed upward.
"Haa... haa..."
She panted heavily, yet venomous light burned in her pupils. I met that gaze without flinching. Our stares clashed, neither giving an inch. I scratched at her with a mocking tone.
"Does it not hurt?"
"Get... lost... I clearly... told everyone... to get out...!"
"This is for treating Your Highness's illness. Please forgive your incompetent subject's disloyalty."
"I don't... cough... need that kind of thing."
"I need it. Once I decide I want something, I never let it go."
"What... fucking... bullshit...!"
Crash—! As I stepped closer to the bed, a glass cup whistled past my cheek. The missed projectile shattered loudly once again.
"My, my."
What terrible habits. Once I tamed her, correcting things like this would be the first priority.
"Ugh... ugh... cough!"
Stopping the seizure came first. I approached the girl at once. Elise had been coughing up blood nonstop. Though her fierce reactions made it seem less severe, she was clearly enduring unimaginable pain. That was the nature of the disease devouring her.
Mana Petrochemical Disease.
A condition in which every mana pathway in the body hardened like stone, eventually causing the entire form to shatter into fragments. An unknown illness whose cause remained unclear. It had appeared in ancient records, yet not a single person had ever survived it. An incurable disease with a zero percent survival rate. In short, it was a curse that offered nothing but despair.
Theoretically, treatment was considered impossible. But if I was the one performing it, the story changed. I intended to twist the natural order and save this girl.
Not too hastily.
Slowly. Taking my time. So I could swallow everything around her completely.
Snap—!
I flicked my fingers lightly. An invisible curtain fell over the room, severing all sound from reaching the outside. The space became a perfect sealed chamber. Charlotte would stand guard at the door, and no noise from within would escape. No matter what screams echoed here, the outside world would never know.
"Hehe."
Before long I stood directly before the rose. Was she planning to resist? The red-haired girl pushed herself up, kicking off the blanket and clenching her fists. It looked like she meant to thrash about to avoid treatment.
Of course.
"Not a chance."
Clap—!
I brought my hands together lightly. At the crisp sound, several strands of shadow lashed outward. The pitch-black ropes bound her arms and legs one by one, pinning her body so she could not move. Elise flinched in panic.
"Wh-what the hell is this...?!"
The first clear sign of agitation since I'd entered the room. I smiled, dark and ominous. She must have realized something was wrong. The rose struggled desperately, but the tightly knotted shadows refused to loosen. She could only lie there, spread-eagled.
"Wait— what are you planning to do...!"
"I'll fix many things for you. Whether it's that painful disease or those awful habits."
I'll heal you gradually so the internal damage doesn't spread.
I slowly extended my hand. Because she had been bedridden, the girl wore only a single thin nightgown. The curves of her body showed clearly beneath it.
With a soft rustle, I caught the hem of fabric covering her skin and lifted it upward, slowly baring her stomach. Pure white flesh, untouched and flawless. My fingertips gently traced the slender curve of her abdomen.
I need to concentrate.
Since this was where the mana pathways converged, the work would require delicate application of my ability. I planned to regenerate everything slowly, leaving no aftereffects.
When my palm settled against her stomach, her warm body heat seeped directly into my skin.
"Hng...?!"
Elise let out a startled moan at the unexpected contact. The moment she registered her own exposed state, her shoulders began to shake violently with horror. She couldn't even scream—only stutter.
"You—you—you... how dare you—do you even realize what you're doing?!"
"Better than anyone."
I'm treating the disease.
"Let go! Cough! So from the start—you told everyone to leave so you could do this?!"
"You're quick to catch on. Everything was for this very purpose."
After all, it's not exactly a scene suitable for others to witness.
Her green eyes trembled fiercely. As my reflection filled those transparent pupils, I lifted the corners of my mouth in the gentlest smile possible. The smile of a doctor gazing down at his patient.
"There's no need to worry. I won't cause you any pain."
I'll treat you without causing pain, so there's no need to worry.
I pressed down gently on the girl's dantian.