Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 174
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 174
It was a truly strange feeling.
He didn’t even know how to begin to put it into words.
The things he wanted to say were like water piled up behind a dam, overflowing rather than merely filling him up.
‘…Maybe there really won’t be another chance after this.’
For someone as unlucky and unfortunate as he was, this chance would clearly never come again.
And so, Kyle opened his mouth, determined to say something, anything.
That was when he heard it.
-To my beloved Kyle.
A voice both utterly unfamiliar and achingly missed.
-If you’re seeing this now, it must mean the curse has been broken.
It wasn’t coming from the body he was holding in his arms.
It was a sound echoing from somewhere throughout the dream space.
Kyle naturally turned his ear toward that voice.
Yes. Perhaps, even more than speaking, he wanted to listen.
To your voice. To your story.
-Where should I begin? First… I want to say thank you for staying alive. This was the only way I had.
And so she told him the story of why she had no choice but to place a curse on her beloved child.
The telling flowed with great restraint, lest her child be wounded even by the tale.
She simply stated the process and the conclusion.
Her own resolve and sacrifice were absent from it.
Yet still, she said she was grateful that he was alive.
‘Grateful?’
Even though the price of my survival was your death.
-Just by being born into this world, you gave my life meaning.
The next words followed, as though they had read Kyle’s thoughts.
Even knowing this was a pre-written voice from a long-ago letter, Kyle could only bite down hard on his lip.
Then, like a newborn, he buried his face in that small, gaunt body.
-Well… there are things your mother wants to say to you. My baby… Kyle, I hope these words help you as you grow.
His mother’s voice continued after
that—that it was okay to make mistakes,
that he must cherish himself, and to treasure even the smallest happiness.
And lastly…
-You mustn’t trust people too much. As you know, the world is not gentle. But… if you do find someone worth trusting, stay by their side.
Throughout it all, Kyle could not move at all.
He only listened, attentively.
Determined not to forget a single word, he pressed them firmly into his heart.
If he were honest, his mother’s advice was inconsistent.
Even while speaking as if she knew he would be an adult when he heard this, at times advice suited for a very small child came pouring out.
That, in fact, pierced him all the deeper.
It was unpolished. Because she had never had the chance to be a mother.
Perhaps she was even younger than Kyle was now.
Yet still, she had resolved herself and was speaking everything she knew.
It was never laughable in the slightest.
All the scattered worries and pauses. And even in the silences in between, love was pressed in tight.
And so the letter that had gone undelivered for a very long time finally passed into its last paragraph.
-Lastly. Kyle. My baby. Your mother truly loves you. Even if I cannot be with you, my love will always be with you, so I hope you live all your coming days with strength.
The word “lastly” sounded unbearably cruel.
“No.”
Kyle clutched the withered body so tightly it seemed ready to crumble.
Between his fingers, a shimmer of light rose, transformed into fine crystals, and slipped away.
“Don’t go.”
So this was the end?
The single chance was cruelly short.
Kyle hastily looked at his mother’s face.
It was hazy and flickering, so he could not see it clearly.
But that she was smiling brightly—
he alone could confirm that.
A hand like a dried branch that had been stroking his back now brushed Kyle’s cheek.
Tears dripped down onto the back of that hand whose weight he could no longer feel.
His blurred vision sharpened a little, and a pair of eyes of the same color met his, smiling brightly and steadily at him.
Within them were… countless emotions.
Guilt, certainly, was present as well.
But until the very end, she did not say she was sorry.
The reason for that was…
She must not have wanted her child to be bound by a single word of hers, to feel guilt.
And so his mother could not even properly apologize at the end.
And the same was true of Kyle.
That he was sorry for misunderstanding, for resenting her.
He wanted to say that.
Of course, it did not erase all his past suffering.
The fact that his mother had placed a curse on him also remained unchanged.
But now that he knew the full truth, could he still resent her?
At the very least, Kyle could not.
How could he dare, looking into those eyes?
The eyes of a mother whose very name he did not know were filled with infinite love.
“…”
There were no more words, but in their hearts, mother and son must have said:
Mother.
My child.
I truly love you.
The light scattered, and Kyle’s surroundings shone like the Milky Way.
Dark, and yet not dark.
And so they exchanged their second and final farewell.
Left alone in the completely vanished dream, Kyle had to spend a long time collecting his emotions.
Thanks to the gleam of light, he was not lonely.
And so Kyle was able to rise once more.
Having this curse broken now would not turn the road before Kyle into a smooth and easy path.
It would still be a road of thorns, and his enemies would be many.
But still, even so.
A path that had been only harsh and parched was now a little dampened, so it would be a bit gentler underfoot.
* * *
Lion watched as the dagger, which had glowed red, slowly darkened to black.
Kyle’s curse was being successfully transferred.
At the same time, there was a smell of something burning.
It seemed the single-use dagger had finished its function.
‘It smells like incense.’
The kind one burns beside a memorial table, creating a faint flame and a thin haze of smoke.
To the Second Prince, this must have been his mother’s funeral, her memorial rite. And a moment of farewell.
“…”
Without a word, Lion leaned back against the sofa and stared into empty space.
Catching that smell, his mood became strangely unsettled.
It was enough to make him think of the cigarettes he’d long since quit even before the possession.
Maybe it was just old memories coming back for no reason.
Lion drew a deep breath and let it out.
Then, without any real purpose, he raised his body again and checked the Second Prince’s temperature.
His fever had gone down.
There was still some lingering warmth, but it was no longer a cause for concern.
“See her off well.”
That was the best Lion could say.
That while you can, you should give your all to a farewell.
Afterward, wring as you might, this feeling will not come again.
Because you will forget.
No matter how clearly you may remember it, a person can never return to the precise feelings of that moment.
So he could only hope that Kyle would treasure this moment, now.
“Here we go.”
Lion deliberately made a sound as he rose.
At that very instant.
[A powerful curse has been lifted.]
A notification appeared.
[Using the clues, you have broken the ‘Benevolent Curse’.]
-Help them grant a final farewell. (Complete)
[Congratulations! You have guided a soul to repose.]
[You have cleared the mission ‘Brand of a Benevolent Curse’!]
[You have obtained 100,000 Shillings.]
[You have obtained the achievement ‘Guide of Repose’.]
[You have obtained 10,000 Shillings.]
[Furthermore, the ‘Netherworld’ series in the Shilling Shop will be heavily discounted from now on!]
Starting with that first notification, countless messages obscured his vision.
First, as expected, came the notice that he’d cleared the hidden quest and the considerably handsome reward.
And he’d also earned an achievement.
‘Netherworld series, now that means…’
He had once checked it out in the Shilling Shop before.
The name was… something like the ‘Netherworld Repair Kit’, wasn’t it?
True to its name, it was a kit that repaired anything.
When things calmed down later, he’d have to look it up in the Shilling Shop under the keyword ‘Netherworld’.
And finally…
[You have now completed a total of three hidden quests.]
Suddenly, a notification appeared: he had completed three hidden quests.
‘Though there’s no other explanation with it…’
Lion stared at the notification window.
Normally, this kind of notification appeared when you could achieve something, or when you already had.
‘But no notification like this appeared when I completed the hidden quests up until now.’
Which meant this was clearly the kind of notification that appeared when there was some other hidden achievement he could unlock…
This was a pattern that hadn’t occurred in <In the World>, so he still wasn’t sure.
The best guess he could make with his veteran gut was.
‘If I clear a few more quests, a clue might come out.’
Something might pop up when he reached around five.
‘Like a super hidden quest or something?’
Well, in any case, he couldn’t know for now, so he would move past it.
Lion dismissed the notifications.
The quest’s completion meant it would soon be time for Kyle to wake up, so he should tidy up around him.
First, he placed the Abgrund potion bottle and the carving knife back into his inventory, then pulled out a suitable healing potion and poured it onto the finger where he had stopped the bleeding.
After confirming the wound was neatly healed, he also disposed of the bandage he had used for the bleeding.
“Hm…”
At this level, wasn’t it practically a perfect crime?
Just as Lion was making his final check around the room.
Twitch.
The firmly closed eyelids of the Second Prince slowly lifted.
The corners of his eyes were damp, but Lion pretended not to notice and spoke in a flat voice.
“Did you have a good dream?”
“…It was a good dream.”
The Second Prince murmured in a cracked voice, then fumbled with the damp towel laid across his forehead.
“I must have had a fever.”
“It was part of the curse transfer process.”
“Was it.”
It was also a handy excuse.
The Second Prince swiftly wiped his damp eyes with the towel.
No matter what, shedding tears in front of others went against his nature.
And having awakened from the dream, he had to return to reality.
He had to confirm whether his mother’s curse had truly been lifted, and there was still one more curse remaining on the Second Prince’s body.
More than anything.
He had to repay the person before him right now.
“How is your body?”
At those words, the Second Prince removed his shirt to check.
The patterns of the curse that had roamed all over his body had vanished without a trace, as expected.
The Second Prince straightened his shirt again and replied.
“It has been completely transferred.”
“That’s a relief. As long as you carry the dagger with you, no one else will notice anything amiss.”
“…Thank you.”
“Just keep what I mentioned earlier.”
“I shall. And… would you wait a moment?”
Without waiting for Lion’s answer, the Second Prince got up and headed for the bedroom.
As the firmly closed door cracked open slightly, the weapons that had been stacked against it came spilling out onto the floor with a clatter.
“…”
So he had just pushed them all there?
Lion studiously pretended not to see and waited for the Second Prince to return.
Fortunately, the wait did not last long.
“Take this.”
Abruptly, he tossed something toward Lion.
It was a small box, the size of a palm.
“What is it?”
“The price of my life.”
So said the Second Prince, and he continued his explanation.
“I kept it in case of an emergency. They say that if you carry this, it can save a life once.”
“A life?”
Items that could save a life were few enough to count on one hand.
Even his main character had only possessed one, and he had been so reluctant to use it that he’d stuffed it in storage and never touched it.
And he was giving him an item of that level?
…This was a complete win, right?
“First, open it. I’ll explain how to use it.”
Lion immediately lifted the lid of the box.
And then… he saw it.
“Oh.”
The very item he had stored in his main character’s storage.
‘…Wait.’
That meant.
[Entering Story Mode.]
[This memory cannot be skipped.]