Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 125
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 125
Lion had just set foot inside the ‘Sanctuary,’ a place difficult for any mage to enter—even his grandfather Petrick Asteri, House Asteri’s Archmage.
Meanwhile, at the Asteri estate…
Whooosh—!
A bitter, icy chill was blowing.
“Ugh, why’s it so cold today?”
“Wasn’t winter already over?”
Puzzled by the unexplained cold, the servants pulled their collars tight and began stoking the mansion’s heating fires.
It was partly for the sake of those in the house, but more importantly…
“If the house is cold when the eldest young master returns, that’s absolutely unacceptable.”
It was all in preparation for the return of the eldest young master, who had left at some unknown time!
Now that he was traveling, he seemed quite a bit healthier, but in the eyes of the servants,
he was still as fragile as a newborn fawn that looked like it would snap if you poked it.
And if even the servants felt that way, how much more so must the family head and the second young master?
If he so much as sneezed…
Ugh, they didn’t even want to imagine it!
“Hurry, bring more firewood!”
“The magic fuel here is almost gone—see to replenishing that too.”
“Yes, understood!”
Every last servant moved briskly.
And wasn’t the eldest young master the kindest, most gentle person who looked after the servants better than anyone?
Of course, he was a little unique, but by now that didn’t matter at all.
“…”
And the one who had been watching all of this.
No, the half-elf Freyania rubbed her arms and muttered.
“Do they really not know, or are they pretending not to know?”
Do the servants truly not know why this bizarre climate was happening only at the mansion?
Freyania kept rubbing down the goosebumps that rose on her skin and stole a sidelong glance.
And there…
There was the beautiful maid doing her job as usual.
Yes. So breathtakingly beautiful that calling her just a maid gave her chills…
Elvia.
She was known as Lion Asteri’s personal maid.
The ‘Witch.’
Even Freyania, who had lived for quite a long time, had only recently learned that a race called Witches existed.
‘A hybrid of a demon and a human, wasn’t she?’
He neither knew nor wanted to know how a demon made of little more than a mass of wraiths could have a child with a human. In any case, that maid Elvia was a Witch.
Otherwise, there was no way she could have forcibly extracted his memories back then and exposed them however she pleased…
‘Ugh, thinking about that still makes me queasy now.’
Anyway, it wasn’t an ordinary method.
It was clearly the way demons used magic.
But… still, the way she looked after Master was genuine, wasn’t it?
Freyania recalled the time they had taken a bath together.
Contrary to her earlier trembling, the hot spring had been surprisingly ordinary.
In fact, hadn’t Elvia given her all kinds of advice?
For instance, how a long-lived race could let go of a relatively short-lived one, how to forget quickly, and how to live in the present…
Unexpectedly, it had turned into a lesson about life.
‘Ha, she’s like a grandmother…’
A cantankerous grandmother at that, who’d smack you if you dared to talk back!
…Anyway! It hadn’t been a bad time, even if the hot spring sapped her strength as much as she sweated.
It was nice that Elvia had used cooling magic to make the sikhye Master gave her cold again.
And every word she said felt like it was for Master’s sake, so it wasn’t unpleasant.
But—
“Even so, this is too much!”
Freyania let out a small huff of anger, and as she did, the Salamander on her shoulder imitated its master and gave a little snort, spitting a tiny flame from its nose.
‘Master might be away for a bit, but that’s no reason to make such a cold wind blow!’
It’s cold. It’s cold, I tell you!
Anyone could see that Elvia was the cause of this chill!
Why couldn’t anyone notice?
“Honestly…”
Freyania let out a deep sigh and moved.
‘If she’s that worried, she could just ask Master’s younger brother directly.’
They’d been living together, but apparently she didn’t do that.
Or maybe, having been born a powerful Witch from the start, the idea of asking for help never crossed her mind.
“It can’t be helped.”
Ahem.
Freyania pulled her hat down low and went into her room.
She hadn’t used this method since Master returned from the Bydantis territory, but there was no other choice.
She took the black crystal orb from deep inside her bag, infused it with magic power, and asked in a lowered voice:
“S… no, I’d like you to find out the whereabouts of Lion Asteri.”
…
As expected, the information network of the Criminal Underworld was incredible!
In no time, a letter containing Lion’s location flew in through the window!
-Lion Asteri is currently inside the temple within the Asteri territory; exact location unknown.
“So that’s why that Witch…!”
Freyania clutched the letter and clenched her fist.
Right. She was a Witch, so she couldn’t go to the temple herself.
‘Wouldn’t she get purified if she went?’
Anyway, given their elemental opposition, she’d surely come to harm.
But on the other hand, Master?
‘Is safe!’
Wasn’t it Master’s well-being that Elvia was worried about?
Then just letting her know this fact would satisfy her enough to dispel that Witch’s chill.
And… no matter how much of a Witch she was, wouldn’t recklessly radiating magic power like that be bad for her body?
“…Not that I’m worried.”
Ahem. It’s just because she’s Master’s favored maid. As his disciple, it’s my duty.
The most pointless worry in the world is worrying about someone as extraordinary as her.
Anyway, Freyania tightly gripped the black letter and headed toward Elvia.
But unlike her confident stride…
“U-um… here.”
“Little one. When you speak, you should speak clearly.”
Not ‘um, here’…
“El…”
Elvia took the crumpled letter from Freyania’s hand and unfolded it, her indifferent eyes widening slightly.
‘I wondered what she was up to.’
She was doing something quite commendable, more than expected.
This little half-elf must have thought I’d lost my pup.
‘It’s obvious what she was thinking.’
She must have thought that, once he went outside, his signal suddenly cut off, and I’ve been in a bad mood since.
Of course, unlike what Freyania worried, Elvia actually knew exactly what her darling pup was up to.
Only, after he entered the Sanctuary, she could barely feel his presence, and that was deeply vexing.
Seeing that Petrick wasn’t reacting at all, he was certainly safe, but…
‘It feels like the Labyrinth.’
Even if the nature differed, was the origin similar?
Even Sylvia couldn’t ascertain that much.
At any rate, she’d been on edge because of it, and this little one had noticed and done something about it.
She’d wondered if anyone other than House Asteri could make her feel this way, and the answer turned out to be this half-elf little one who got tangled up with my pup.
“You live long and you see it all.”
The moment Elvia gave a small laugh, the cold chill that had been enveloping House Asteri vanished in an instant.
The sky was still overcast, so the weather wasn’t clear, but if the wind blew a little more, warm sunlight would surely shine through soon.
“…!”
As the bone-chilling cold disappeared, color returned to Freyania’s face!
Judging by her reaction, she’d definitely gotten the wrong idea about something, but it seemed she was somewhat satisfied.
She hadn’t really done anything, but just that made her feel good.
Was this the ‘sense of accomplishment’ Master talked about?
“There. Since you did a good deed, I suppose I ought to give you a reward.”
Elvia chuckled softly and walked ahead.
Yes. The young master would not want me to just wait around like this.
Weren’t they the one who wanted me to live my own life more than anyone?
In that case…
‘While my pup is away, I should tidy up the bothersome things all at once.’
For example, ensuring that even if the temple came after the young master or figured out his identity, they wouldn’t be able to approach him easily.
‘How should I handle that so-called heir…?’
…First, I’ll bake some sweet cookies for the good little one, and then I’ll think about it slowly.
* * *
Lion slowly approached the spring that was barely managing to form a trickle.
The flow was so meager that even a single step seemed to make it waver and threaten to snap off completely.
“This is…?”
“Yes. This is the foundation of the Sanctuary that the Archbishop prepared… however.”
Licht, too, seemed at a loss for words, not expecting it to be this feeble.
“I’m not sure if I should say this, but did the Archbishop never come here?”
“That’s not the case. The very existence of this space is proof that the Archbishop and the former Archbishop’s power reached it.”
Licht quickly added an explanation.
On the temple’s empty land, they had used divine power to create a new space and fostered an environment where plants could grow.
Of course, it was an environment where only creatures that received divine power could survive, and the space itself would become unstable without constant management, but it was still remarkable.
“Ohh…”
“There must be much you find hard to understand, but in any case, the Archbishop did his best.”
Lion nodded vaguely and looked around.
‘So it’s just a different kind of Labyrinth, huh?’
Of course, it had far more limitations compared to the Labyrinth in House Asteri, but then again, there were many temples, so it made sense.
“Of course, because this is the Asteri territory, the Sanctuary was pushed to the bottom of the development list, so it’s true that the spring has dried up to that extent…”
“What? Why?”
“People say it is because relations between the Temple and House Asteri are poor, but—”
“But?”
“…To be honest, it is partly because we can trust House Asteri to handle matters. Haha.”
‘Oho, so that was the reason.’
‘Then if I can just solve this Sanctuary problem…’
So that meant that not only Peter but my grandfather and brother’s work-life balance would be guaranteed?
I’d already intended to fix it, but now I felt even more motivated to do so.
Of course, before that.
“I see.”
“Indeed.”
A subtle tension lingered between them.
Given the nature of the matter, there was one issue neither of them had deliberately brought up on the way here.
But before they got down to work, they had to clear it up first.
And that was.
“Sir Licht.”
“…Yes. Go ahead.”
Licht closed his eyes humbly, as if accepting that what was coming had come.
“It’s about this prophetic dream and token that allow me to be treated as an honored guest.”
Lion tapped the ‘Honored Guest Token’ attached to his chest.
“What exactly does it mean, that you can bring someone of unknown identity all the way to the Sanctuary?”