Chapter 173
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 173
From Rico’s explanation, I gathered that the rat was a substitute for a telephone. Pudding, despite his obvious disgust, insisted on picking up the rat himself, apparently unwilling to let me touch it.
He then walked over and scooped up Gabriel, who was leaning against me, supporting him in his arms.
I was naturally strong and could have easily lifted an adult man, but the ever-devoted Pudding never let me lift a finger.
And so, the first ‘princess carry’ I’d witnessed in this romance fantasy world was between Pudding and Gabriel. As a beastkin, Pudding was certainly strong enough to carry Gabriel without any sign of struggle. But a closer look revealed his trick.
I could see a slight gap between his hands and Gabriel’s body. He was levitating Gabriel with telekinesis. So why the dramatic princess carry?
What on earth for...? Surely not to humiliate Gabriel...? Probably.
* * *
We returned to Duke Hosaquin's estate with Gabriel in tow. The Duke let out a soft groan when he noticed Rico was missing from our group. Was he feeling an uncharacteristic pang of pity, realizing she had walked into the jaws of death in Gabriel’s place?
Or perhaps he felt guilty for his part in driving Rico to her death? Then again, maybe I was just projecting my own discomfort onto him.
I asked the Duke to provide a room for Gabriel. Since there was no need for the rest of the household to know of his presence, I requested a place that was as secluded and inaccessible as possible.
The Duke recommended the room next to mine. It made sense. When I first arrived, I was avoided like the villain of the century. After I generously sprayed the halls with holy water, everyone kept their distance out of a sort of polite fear. It was, indeed, the most inaccessible place in the estate.
Gabriel regained consciousness just long enough to confirm he was at the estate before collapsing again, burning up with a high fever. It was a miracle he’d survived in that dungeon for so long. As he groaned, drenched in a cold sweat, I knew I couldn't just stand by and watch.
"I need a healer."
I went to Duke Hosaquin and requested a doctor.
The moment I asked, he produced a list of healers’ profiles and handed it to me, as if he had prepared it in advance. Impressed by his unexpected efficiency, I thanked him.
"...They are the ones I looked into for Agera," the Duke added, his expression complex.
"Every single one of them shook their heads, saying they couldn't cure her. However, they might be of use to your knight."
It was no surprise they couldn't cure Agera. Even in my original world, which had no holy water, dementia was an incurable disease.
In this world, the existence of a cheat key like holy water meant the standing of doctors was correspondingly low. They mainly treated commoners who couldn't afford holy water, and most of them specialized in physical trauma.
There was no way such doctors could cure Agera's dementia.
"These are the ones who know how to keep their mouths shut. I will summon them."
The Duke selected a few competent-looking names from the list.
Since they were discreet individuals who hadn't blabbed about Agera's illness after examining her, it meant it would be safe to show them Gabriel.
It wasn't so much that they were tight-lipped, I suspected, as it was that anyone who hadn't been was no longer of this world. The Duke would have dealt with them long ago. In any case, his unexpected consideration was surprising.
"...I thought you would threaten to kick Sir Gabriel out immediately, Grandfather."
Wasn't this the same Duke who had bristled when I’d asked for a place to hide the people of House Rohanson? I hadn’t expected him to offer a doctor so readily.
Furthermore, he didn't pry into why I needed a doctor when a paladin could simply be treated with holy water. The original Duke would have immediately cast out Gabriel, who could easily become a pretext to endanger both Agera and the entire ducal house.
Was it out of gratitude for Gabriel providing the method to suppress the rats and the holy water? No, the Duke was far too meticulous with his favors and calculations for that. The deal with Gabriel had already been paid in full when he brought me to the estate and offered his protection.
As I stared at him, puzzled, the Duke hesitated before muttering, "You… you look just like my past self."
"..."
In other words, he saw Agera in Gabriel, and himself in me. For someone who claimed he could never cherish me, he was certainly good at projecting. Perhaps embarrassed by his own words, the Duke quickly changed the subject.
"Besides, did you not say it yourself? That you would offer a fair price."
A price? What had I done to make the Duke cooperate so willingly? Was it because I had dealt with all the rats? But wasn't that price already paid when he told me where to hide the people of House Rohanson? Before I could voice my doubts, the Duke began to explain.
"While you were fetching Sir Gabriel… I visited Agera."
Of course. He had used Agera as bait to catch the rats, so he would have gone to check if she was safe.
The Duke looked at me intently, and for the first time, I felt a subtle warmth from the man who had always kept a wall between us. What was with this sudden change? After acting like such a tsundere and swearing he could never love me, had something happened with Agera?
"I don't know what method you used, but Agera's memory has returned slightly."
Ah. The moment he spoke, I remembered Agera recognizing Rico just before she fell asleep. It seemed that miracle wasn't just a fleeting dream. Had her memory fully returned? Though I had no idea why it happened, the Duke seemed to think it was my doing.
My standing in his eyes had apparently been elevated from a devilish granddaughter preying on his daughter to his wife's benefactor. It was so very typical of the Duke to treat a benefactor better than his own blood.
I hadn't done anything to cure Agera, but I saw no reason to correct his misunderstanding.
"How much of her memory has she recovered?"
"Most things are faint, but she seems to have a vague awareness of what she has done..."
If so, that meant she also knew Amaranth was dead. A brief pang of worry struck me. Agera had always seemed mentally fragile.
If she regained her memory, mourned her dead daughter, recalled summoning a demon to revive her, and realized that demon had led dozens of people to their deaths—would she lose her mind again? The Duke might not agree, but perhaps Agera had been far happier strolling through the garden under a parasol, blissfully unaware.
Oblivion is a blessing, after all.
"...Agera said she wants to see you."
"Even though she knows I am Evangeline Rohanson, not Amaranth?"
"Yes. She said she wants to see Amaranth's daughter."
Perhaps she had built up a tolerance after suffering through it all once before. The Duke sounded as if he wanted me to go see her right away.
"...Later."
I hesitated slightly before postponing the meeting. Until now, meeting Agera hadn't been difficult. It felt like playing house, pretending to be a mother I had no memory of.
But if she had regained her memory, the situation would change completely. Even the Duke had thrown a wine glass at me at first; would Agera truly welcome the girl who had pretended to be her daughter?
To my surprise, the Duke indulged my stubbornness. It felt novel that he didn't try to drag me there just because Agera asked, but instead accepted my excuse.
"I want to treat Sir Gabriel first."
That very night, the Duke brought in the doctors as if he’d kidnapped them. Three people answered his summons: a middle-aged woman, an elderly man, and a slightly younger man.
The trio seemed to have a history of being pushed around by the Duke, because they remained composed despite being dragged here without explanation. That composure, however, vanished the moment they stood before me.
"Gasp! L-Lady Rohanson."
They hadn't trembled before the Duke, so they must have found me even more frightening. The middle-aged woman named Kalmia, however, just looked at me with shining, curious eyes.
"Oh... Are you really the rumored Lady Rohanson?"
"Yes."
She seemed eccentric, but if clichés held true, the one who looked a bit loose in the head probably possessed the greatest skill. That was the only reason I didn't scold her, but the other doctors stopped Kalmia on my behalf.
"...Are you crazy? Watch your mouth!"
"Why? Are you scared? They must have called us because they need us. They wouldn't kill someone useful, right?"
"...Come to think of it, that's true."
I wouldn't kill them even if they were useless... Still, thanks to Kalmia's odd behavior, the other two seemed to relax a little.
I led the doctors to the room next to mine where Gabriel was staying. Before opening the door, I glared at them and gave a sharp warning.
"Never speak of what you see here to anyone."
The three nodded resolutely. Even Kalmia seemed nervous now, as she didn't add any playful remarks. I slowly opened the door. The doctors gasped in shock upon seeing the man inside.
"Wow... How are you even alive?" Kalmia murmured, skillfully examining Gabriel, unable to hide her astonishment.
Of course, there were other reactions. Upon realizing the patient was Gabriel, the young doctor couldn't hide his discontent and began to grumble.
"Wait, if he's the Commander, there's no need for us. Just use holy water..."
Despite her eccentric appearance, Kalmia was quick-witted enough to clamp a hand over the young doctor's mouth. If holy water had worked, they wouldn't have been summoned. The young doctor soon realized this, and his face turned pale.
This situation was different from the Duchess's. Dementia, while tragic, was not unheard of; it was a symptom that occasionally appeared even among commoners.
But this patient was a knight of the Temple, and not just any knight—the Commander of the Knights. For a Commander to deceive the Sun Goddess and enter the Temple with a cursed body was a crime of unfathomable gravity.
The doctors realized they were about to treat a traitorous knight who had defied God. Unable to bear the blasphemy, the young doctor tried to pack his bag and leave.
"I-I can't do this! We're already called heretics just for treating people without holy water. You want us to put the final nail in our coffin? Especially now, during the pagan massacre? I don't want to die."
As the young doctor tried to flee the room, Pudding moved to block the door.