Assassins at Silver Leopard Lake
"The Roeyental lady left the estate? Without any escort?"
"Yes, Marquis Baren."
"Hmm."
Marquis Baren Celestia began stroking the beard along his chin with one hand.
"So the Roeyental Duke Family has completely turned their backs on us."
"Yes. And on top of that, Crown Prince Baron is violently opposed. Merely hearing the lady's name is enough to send him into a fit..."
"Hah. Foolish, arrogant brat."
With a cigarette between his lips, Baren gazed out the window toward the distant imperial palace. For the future in which the imperial prince and princess born of his daughter would one day rule that place, he was a man prepared to shoulder any infamy whatsoever.
"Well then. Can it be handled without complications?"
"Have no concerns. The groundwork is perfect so that the North will take full blame for the lady's death... Just give the order."
Hiss.
Baren stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray and gave a single nod.
"Tell them to finish it cleanly. Anything that will not rest in our hands is better shattered."
The rattling carriage had already arrived at its destination: Silver Leopard Lake. The flowers blooming around the lake—shaped like a silver leopard of the North—were a species that grew nowhere else in the entire region.
"Wow..."
Cecilia had cultivated all manner of flowers back at the Roeyental Duke Family, yet the crimson blossoms before her eyes were ones she had never seen before.
That red... just like...
The moment Victor's crimson eyes—which she had only just managed to erase from her mind—surfaced again, Cecilia hung her head low. The vicious endemic that had seized her. Red-Eyed Mana Overexposure Syndrome. Cecilia firmly believed the illness Shurian had named for her was the thing tormenting her now.
"My lady, we have arrived!"
The carriage halted and the door opened; the fresh breeze blowing off the lake cooled Cecilia's flushed cheeks. Staring blankly at the silver-tinged water, she turned to look at Lan, who had followed her down.
"Lan, I would like to take a short walk alone."
"Yes! Lady Cecilia, I'll wait by that tree over there, so please call me anytime if anything happens!"
Leaving Lan behind, Cecilia walked slowly along the lakeshore by herself and gazed at her own reflection on the water's surface.
Is the residual heat still lingering?
Both cheeks stained scarlet, lips she had unconsciously moistened with her tongue...
"...Really... Pull yourself together, Cecilia... If this continues, you'll only be a burden to the Grand Duke."
Even as she tried to hypnotize herself with the vow, the embers remaining in one corner of her heart stood ready to flare up at any moment.
Rustle.
Just then Cecilia turned at the heavy footsteps and presence she felt beyond the bushes behind her.
"Lan? I told you to wait, but you were worried and followed me—"
Three masked men stood before Cecilia, weapons already in hand, staring her down.
"Who are you?"
"Cecilia Roeyental of the Roeyental Duke Family. Is that correct?"
While glaring at the man who questioned her in that icy voice, Cecilia began to move her hand secretly, trying to draw the staff hidden in her bosom.
"I'd stop if I were you. I'll have a dagger in the air faster than you can grip that staff."
"Who are you people... Whose orders?"
"Do we really need to tell you that? You're going to die here anyway. You wandered out of the Grand Duke's protection without a clue, so now you'll pay the price."
The men advanced slowly toward Cecilia.
"Die."
The moment they raised their blades high and prepared to strike—
Whiiip!
A steel arrow split the air and punched clean through one man's arm.
"Gaaah... Wh-what."
"What the—!"
Thwuck!
Another whistle of wind, and an arrow drove straight through a man's skull.
"Damn it... Where—"
"We have to run, quickly—ghrk!"
When the comrade whose throat had been pierced by a flying arrow collapsed and rolled across the ground, the eyes of the sole survivor shook violently.
"Damn it!! Stop hiding and come out!"
"Insolent bastards."
Clip-clop.
Breaking through the undergrowth on a black steed appeared a man in black uniform, hair dark as pitch, eyes crimson—Victor Walterheim.
"Victor Walterheim! Why are you here?!"
"Daring to lay hands on someone inside my fence... in the North..."
"Kh—!!"
The man spun and tried to hurl the dagger from his coat at Cecilia. But—
"Fool."
"Gaaah!!!"
Three arrows, faster than light, punched through his arm, his head, and his heart. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the man crumpled face-first into the dirt.
"...Ah."
Once the situation was settled, Victor slung his bow over his shoulder, breathing hard, and strode to Cecilia. He seized both of her shoulders with his hands.
"My lady, are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?!"
Was it the terror of the ambush? Or the magnificent sight of Victor neutralizing the enemy without a moment's hesitation? Or perhaps the warmth of the hands gripping her shoulders? Cecilia's heart began to pound with a madness beyond anything she had felt before. Her face burned scarlet; every thought in her head ground to a halt. In this single moment, the only thing filling Cecilia's world was the Victor standing before her.
The illness... looking into the Grand Duke's crimson eyes makes it hurt even more... more...
"My lady?"
Seeing Cecilia clutch her chest and struggle even to breathe, Victor bit his lip.
"My lady, forgive my rudeness."
"Wh-what? Kyaah!"
The instant Victor scooped her up in one arm, Cecilia's mind went hazy.
"Please endure just a little longer. I'll take you to Shurian at once..."
Ah... my heart... it hurts so much... but... but...
For the briefest instant, Cecilia wished this moment could last forever.
"Whoa... this is pretty serious."
"That bad?"
Having finished examining Cecilia where she lay on the sickbed, Shurian stepped out and offered me a lollipop.
"First, calm down. Want a candy?"
"..."
With the candy in my mouth, Shurian and I sat down in the chairs.
"Has the lady's illness worsened?"
"Yes. It's taken a turn for the worse."
"...This is bad. At this rate I won't be able to face Duke Roeyental. He trusted me enough to send her, and I've let her end up like this. Kh."
Even after transmigrating, I had never felt this helpless. Back in the greenhouse of the Roeyental Duke Family, and after she entered my fence here in the North, I had promised to protect her.
"Damn it... What kind of Grand Duke am I, what kind of ruler of the North, if I couldn't even keep that?"
"Your Grace. You did protect her."
"I only happened to follow her because I was worried she'd gone out without an escort. Pure luck."
Staring at the infirmary door, I clenched my fist. Because I knew the original story, I thought I could stop everything. And the result? Cecilia was suffering from some mysterious endemic.
This is a problem even before she turns into a witch... I was far too complacent. Damn it.
"Haa, Your Grace. Will you listen to me for a moment?"
"...I'm listening."
"The Target Trust Obsession Disease that the lady has contracted has a peculiar trait: when the patient is rescued by the object of her affection during a severe shock or crisis, the symptoms intensify dramatically."
Shurian rolled the candy around inside her mouth and began watching my reaction carefully.
"You shot your bow to save her and then carried her all the way back to the estate... that probably made the symptoms flare even harder..."
"So what you're saying is, it should have been someone else who saved her, not me...?"
"No, that's not—"
When I hung my head under the weight of guilt, Shurian muttered aigoo, oh dear and pressed a hand to her forehead.
Because of me... because I was the one who saved her. Cecilia will suffer, her mana will run wild, and the North will burn and collapse...
The only futures flashing through my mind were ones of mutual ruin for Cecilia and me.
"No. That cannot be allowed. Shurian, I don't care how much budget the treatment requires. Pour every resource of House Walterheim—no, of the entire North—into curing her."
"Haa... Your Grace, as I've told you before, there is no medicine for this illness. The only cure is to raise her immunity."
"...Then we should hold more tea times..."
"Oh, please. Right now we're at a critical juncture and you want to wait until tomorrow?"
"Kh."
I nodded.
"You're right. Just tell me what I need to do."
Shurian narrowed her eyes and flashed a sly smile. It was the expression of a hunter looking at prey that had already stepped into the trap. I felt a flicker of suspicion, but that wasn't important right now. I had to cure Cecilia. That alone was enough to make my head feel ready to explode.
"We'll need to take special measures. And for that, Your Grace's cooperation is required..."
"Anything. If it will make her better, I'll do anything."
"In that case... heh heh."
When Cecilia opened her eyes, the familiar ceiling greeted her.
"This is... my bedroom?"
"My lady."
"Hic?!"
She whipped her head toward the voice and found Victor sitting in a chair, watching her.
"G-Grand Duke, why are you here?"
"How is your body?"
"Uh... yes. I'm fine... I am. I can only apologize for causing you such worry. Going out without an escort..."
"No. It isn't. I was the one who failed to protect you properly after calling this place a fence. That fault is mine."
"That..."
That can't be true. Do you have any idea how thoroughly you protected me? She wanted to say it, but the moment she looked at Victor's face her heart began thrashing like mad, so Cecilia swallowed the words and could only lower her head.
"My lady."
"Yes, Grand Duke."
"Shurian told me. Your illness has worsened, and special measures are required to ease the symptoms."
"Special... measures."
"Yes."
Cecilia began glancing around the space surrounding the calmly speaking Victor.
"Th-then why are only the two of us in this room? Where is Lan?"
"She has stepped out for a while so that treatment can proceed."
"I see."
"Shurian."
"Yes~"
The door opened and Shurian entered, approaching Cecilia's bed while flipping open a notebook.
"Explain it to her."
"Yes, yes. All right, my lady. To describe your current condition: your heart and brain can no longer endure the stimulation."
"Uh... yes."
"If this state continues, the illness will never be cured and you'll be stuck with an incurable disease for life."
"Th-then if we increase the contact, or—"
"No. We have to take a certain measure right this moment. Originally we could have gone slowly. But this time the stimulus was far too intense, and your heart and brain have gone into overload."
Shurian shook her head as she continued.
"To produce more antibodies, we're going to need a somewhat... intense method."
"An intense method? What on earth do you mean by—"
"Huu."
"Grand Duke?"
Cecilia looked at Victor, who was drawing a deep breath as though he had reached some decision.
"...My lady, I'm sorry."
"Yes? What are you—"
Thud.
Victor's rough, coarse, yet warm hand closed around hers, and Cecilia's thoughts short-circuited.
"Eh... eh... eh... eh... eh... eh... eh... eh.?"
"My lady! Stay with me! Shurian, this is—"
"Pff—hup... This is the process of the lady's brain accepting the stimulus. I did tell you, didn't I?"
The corners of Shurian's mouth soared skyward as though ready to ascend to heaven. Aah, this is fun! So much fun!! An older woman and a younger man who have never once dated in their lives, flirting like this!!! And I get to watch it completely legally!!
Ahhh... Becoming the grand ducal house physician was the best decision of my life.
"All right, all right, let's give the heart and brain even more stimulation! Do your best, my lady! Your Grace!!"