Thorns and Petals
A week had passed.
I remained in the palace, continuing my role as their personal physician. I’d worried that missing so many classes at the academy might be too long an absence, but there was no need for concern. I had already asked Selena to handle that matter in advance. After all, the position of head assistant had been granted to me precisely for situations like this.
Permission had been granted without much difficulty. Even though her disciple was wandering around like this, our master didn’t ask a single question. She simply let me do as I pleased. Choosing Selena as my backer had truly been an excellent decision. If it had been any other professor at Galimar, they would have been desperate to control my movements however they saw fit. I savored the relief once more.
Thanks to her, I have some breathing room.
Because of that, I could focus entirely on the matters at hand. Over the past week, I had worked on two main things. The first was, of course, treating the Rose. The second was slowly taming the young prince. Both were necessary steps when considering the upcoming episodes.
Since both tasks required patience, I approached them slowly and deliberately. Of course, it wasn’t easy to see results right away.
That was especially true in Elise’s case. While her older sister was gradually opening her heart, the younger sister consistently maintained a cold attitude. No… it actually felt like she was growing sharper with each passing day. Even though her physical condition was clearly improving, the girl refused to accept it. Every time she received treatment, she never stopped putting up fierce resistance.
Because of that, I had to deal with her for several hours each day.
Whenever my gentle touch brushed against her pale skin, her hazy eyes glared at me. Beyond those empty pupils, even her killing intent shattered into nothingness. By the time her sweet breaths grew ragged, her red hair became drenched in sweat, and the sticky scent of her body filled the air, the girl would lie there completely exhausted. Her worn-out gaze always carried resentment.
It seemed I had unintentionally earned her hatred, but I had no intention of letting go. The moment I gave up, not even a sliver of salvation would remain. Elise’s death would lead directly to the young prince’s tragedy. That was why, even as I was pricked by her sharp thorns, I continued to gently stroke the crimson petals. Always with a smile on my face.
Taming does not happen in a single night. Only by watching over someone for a long time and pouring in consistent care can one make a single beautiful flower bloom. We were still in that stage. Rather than searching for meaning in each other, we were planting meaning into one another. A little patience was necessary.
Of course.
That didn’t mean there had been no progress. While the Rose was still raising her thorns, the young prince was steadily coming around. Charlotte expressed her gratitude every single day.
It seemed the effects of repeated conditioning were finally showing. After Elise fell asleep at the end of each treatment, we would spend about two hours alone together in the next room. On the surface, it was to report on her progress, but in reality, it was closer to a process of building trust by increasing the time we spent together.
Whenever I had the chance, I whispered to her.
These were words that positioned me as the only one she could rely on. At first, Charlotte had hesitated, but now she simply nodded blankly. Perhaps because I was the only visible hope. Watching her younger sister’s complexion improve day by day, the older sister had no choice but to follow the voice that reached her ear. She probably didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
Those unfocused blue eyes. Whenever the girl’s gaze wavered with uncertainty, I would gently stroke her head as if to reassure her. The princess of an empire did not brush away the touch of a mere snake. She simply melted into that coolness little by little and accepted the gradually closing distance.
I would smile with satisfaction.
It’s going smoothly.
This too was something I had planned with the future in mind. The more Charlotte came to rely on me, the easier it would be for me to use her. High status was always a useful tool. As the illness showed signs of improvement, trust steadily accumulated.
Charlotte… and Elise.
Before I knew it, I had become part of their daily lives.
It was late at night. The once-bright scenery outside the window had been swallowed by darkness. I had just finished a treatment session that had dragged on for quite a while and was now tidying up the messy room.
The bed where the Rose lay was, as usual, in complete disarray.
“Haa… haa…”
Hot, ragged breaths. Her sweat-soaked red hair lay scattered in every direction. Perhaps because her resistance had been especially fierce today, her top—which usually only became disheveled—had been completely stripped away, revealing all of her pale skin. Since she wore nothing underneath, she was practically naked. Only a precariously draped blanket covered her body, barely concealing the peaks at the ends of her soft flesh. The sticky scent of her body wafted up from her fully exposed skin.
“Hngh… ugh.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
I spoke to the exhausted girl. It was the final word that signaled the end of the treatment. The moment I lifted the hand that had been pressing on her abdomen, a moan escaped from between her faintly red lips. It was a pitiful echo she had been unable to release until now.
“Ugh.”
The treatment had lasted a full five hours. Because it had been pressed down on so many times, clear handprints remained on her stomach. Elise lay there, twitching slightly.
“······.”
Her limbs, bound by shadows, did not move. It seemed she no longer had any strength left. Her bloodless lips were the same. Only her green pupils continued to stare at me. There were glistening tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, yet the feeling that she was glaring at me did not disappear.
I responded with a refreshing smile.
I wonder how long she’ll keep reacting like that.
It was about time for her to start getting used to it. I lightly snapped my fingers.
Crack!
Right after the short snapping sound, the messy scene was neatly arranged. The sweat-soaked blanket returned to its proper state, and the girl’s blatantly exposed figure was once again covered. I quietly looked down at the bed.
“I’ll check again today.”
I reached out. The Rose’s arm was still bound. As I rolled up the thinly covering sleeve, thick bandages came into view. With careful movements, I peeled the wrappings away.
Slide…
The bandage unraveled limply. The revealed wrist was covered in scars. Lines slashed across it like crosshatching. It seemed she had taken a blade to herself again while I wasn’t looking—new wounds that hadn’t been there yesterday now marked her skin. I let out a low sigh, unsurprised.
“Your Highness.”
“What.”
“Didn’t I tell you? This is a very bad habit.”
“What does it matter to you?”
Deliberately injuring her own body. It was a method that expelled the refluxing mana and temporarily relieved pain, but it offered no help toward actual treatment. Even though I had warned her, she still couldn’t stop.
“······It hurt too much at dawn.”
“Excuses won’t work. If it hurt that much, you should have called for me.”
I took out an ointment from the shelf. As I applied the medicine to her rain-soaked wrist, the Rose turned her head away with an indifferent gaze. It was as if the wounds meant nothing to her.
“It doesn’t even sting much.”
There was no will to recover. Pushing aside my bitter feelings, I asked a question I had been holding back.
“Does Your Highness truly not believe in hope?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
From what I had observed over the past week, she was like a single flower broken by wind and rain. A misfortune so thoroughly trampled that she could no longer stand. Elise had already given up on life. Having fought her illness in a dark room for over ten years, her heart must have been filled with irreparable despair. The girl’s haggard, faded eyes proved just how long that time had been. The Rose no longer seemed to believe in hope.
“It seems you’re misunderstanding something… Whether you can truly cure this illness or not is none of my concern.”