An Unhealed Wound
After making the scar removal medicine.
I spent a long time agonizing over how to give it to Taira.
Since it was a topical potion, I couldn't mix in Churu to tempt her with it either.
The fundamental approach was, of course, to say nothing and coolly hand it over before walking away.
But potions weren't exactly intuitive.
Without an explanation, there was no way to know what it did.
On top of that, Taira threw away most of the gifts I gave her.
If I handed it over acting like it was nothing, it really might end up as nothing.
It was an expensive potion made from rare ingredients as it was; I couldn't stand to watch it get thrown away.
So the place I chose was.
The garden inside the detached palace, where people rarely passed at night.
They say the setting makes the mood, don't they?
If it was here, it was enough of a place to have a conversation,
and since no one else was around, it was suitable for her to undress and apply the medicine, provided I didn't watch.
And above all.
It was better than the bedroom.
I didn't know what Leoport had done in the past.
But Taira loathed being summoned to the bedroom at night.
Well, he probably lived with women draped all over him like the scoundrel he was.
If I thought of the bedroom as a motel,
I could understand why Taira hated being called there in the middle of the night.
So I'd called her somewhere completely different, outside, but....
She didn't think I was the kind of scoundrel who did it in a place like this too, did she?
Then that would be a huge blunder.
"What business could you possibly have to call me out to the garden in the dead of night? Today isn't even a day when the black market opens."
"Whoa, you scared me."
I hadn't even realized she'd come close until she spoke.
She's more of an assassin than an actual assassin.
"You're startled as though you've committed some wrongdoing."
"Wrongdoing, what wrongdoing. I called you because I have something to give you. Here."
I held out the potion bottle I'd been carrying.
Before I could even begin to explain, Taira pushed the bottle away with her palm.
"As I've told you before, health recovery potions are fine."
"It's not a health recovery potion. It's a scar removal potion."
The force pushing the potion bottle away disappeared.
Her widened eyes expressed bewilderment.
"Why a scar removal potion...?"
"Because what I said carelessly about the scar on your chest back then has stayed on my mind. I wanted to apologize."
"You... remembered that?"
I'd hoped she might accept it now.
But Taira's palm remained stubborn.
"This potion is expensive. I couldn't have made it without Countess Veloz's support and help."
"Don't tell me you went to Countess Veloz just to make this......."
Taira closed her lips.
Her eyes flickered with many thoughts.
"Thank you, but I must refuse."
Since Taira had seemed moved just moments ago, as if she would accept it, the answer was completely unexpected.
"I have no intention of forgetting this scar. The guilt of failing to save my younger sister, and my grudge against the one who killed her. I do not wish to erase them."
If the words grudge and younger sister had come out of Taira's mouth, there was nothing I could do.
Saying anything more here would be coercion.
It would lower her Affection.
"Then it can't be helped. Just in case, at least keep it."
"No, it's all right. Please use it somewhere worthwhile, Your Highness."
Step, step.
With heavy footsteps, Taira went back exactly the way she had come.
Once she had completely disappeared, I leaned against the wall and slumped down.
"In the main story, she just took it right away when I gave it to her, and her Affection went up...."
Was it because it was Leoport handing it over?
Or was it because the wound in her heart still hadn't healed, so it couldn't even remain as a scar?
"It's probably the latter."
In the main story, Taira had confirmed her younger sister's death.
Enough time had passed for her to accept that fact.
But the Taira of now still hadn't given up on her younger sister.
On top of that, I had taken her to the black market and made her hold onto hope again.
The wound that had barely been healing might have split open once more.
"If it's still bleeding, then I should treat it so it doesn't leave a scar."
It seemed I'd decided where to use the remaining two bottles of scar removal potion.
I planned to put them up at the auction house.
Since I had no idea how much it would cost to save Taira's younger sister,
I needed to secure as much budget as possible.
***
Back in her room alone, Taira sat leaning against the bed.
She touched the scar through her clothes.
The wound that had always stung did not hurt.
"You really do make me confused."
The man who had only ever reinforced her own hatred of humans.
Had changed starting one day.
Because he had made her want to take the potion that would erase her scar.
Watching Countess Veloz's expression as her skin disease was treated and she was saved,
the thought had suddenly occurred to her that she wanted to be saved like that too.
But she must not forget.
Who her younger sister had fallen to, and how.
Sharp claws slid out from Taira's fingers.
She drew her finger over the shape of the scar.
It stung, and blood welled up.
Reconfirming that this was the path she had to walk,
Taira fell asleep.
***
In the cold, harsh north, the weak could not survive.
As a stark example of that.
In the past, when a child was born, it was said to have been left outside the house for an hour.
So that only the strong children could survive.
It was a custom that had disappeared now as the birth rate declined,
but there were rumors that it was still secretly carried on in House Fenrihart.
***
"So this is the residence of His Grace the Northern Grand Duke? Whoa, it's so big and splendid it doesn't even compare to my own residence."
House Rubein was a newly ennobled aristocratic family
that had gained its title through the jewel trade.
Because of that, they had no connections to high-ranking nobles,
and in order to broaden their network, they had attended in person even a banquet held in the distant north.
They had attended, but they had no idea how to go about building connections.
While he was sipping his drink alone in a corner,
he spotted a familiar face.
It was the baron who had purchased jewels for his daughter.
He remembered him because his curled-up mustache was striking.
"Good evening, Baron."
"Oh, good evening. You're...."
"Baron Rubein."
"Ah, that's right. I didn't expect to see your face here."
They exchanged light greetings and caught up on each other's news.
After that, the conversation moved on to the banquet.
"By the way, I understand the Grand Duke of Fenrihart has a younger sister. But she isn't to be seen at the banquet. Do you suppose she intends to make an appearance together with His Grace?"
"Hmm, she probably won't come. She didn't come on the last birthday celebration, nor the one before that."
"What? But still, he's her older brother, and she's his younger sister.... How can siblings be so distant? She doesn't even show her face on his birthday."
The mustached noble glanced around, then covered his mouth and whispered quietly.
"That's probably because she believes the position of family head was stolen from her. At the time, there were many who judged that the grand duke's daughter, who was outstanding in martial prowess and strong, was more suited to the position of northern grand duke than the grand duke's son, who was weak and fond of books."
"How very northern, where strength is everything. But then why couldn't the grand duke's daughter become family head?"
"Because in House Fenrihart, since ancient times, a woman has never become family head. A regrettable thing for the grand duke's daughter, I'm sure."
The mustached man swirled his glass once, then wet his throat.
"However, looking at things recently, it may not be so regrettable after all. Because the Grand Duke of Fenrihart has changed."
Speak of the dragon and it shall appear.
"His Grace the Grand Duke of Fenrihart is entering!"
The grand duke flung the door open and entered the banquet hall.
His gait was majestic, and his build was like a mountain.
The sword at his waist was large and heavy.
A square jawline and thick eyebrows.
And the scars crossing his face in every direction emphasized his masculinity.
"Bwahahaha, thank you all for coming to celebrate my birthday!"
With a hearty laugh that matched his appearance, the banquet began in earnest.
He'd been described as a weak young lord who liked books,
so Baron Rubein, who had imagined a scrawny figure wearing glasses, was considerably surprised.
His dignity called to mind an alpha wolf howling atop a snowy cliff.
"He doesn't look weak at all, does he?"
"Where would northern blood go? The north is a place where even just reading books builds muscle."
"Since His Grace displays such dignity, the grand duke's daughter must have given up as well."
"That's right. I've only heard that she belatedly took up studying and is in charge of the finances."
The reason he, a newly ennobled noble, had traveled such a long way to come here was to build connections.
If he could just become acquainted with the Northern Grand Duke, he would have accomplished the purpose of his visit today.
"What should I say for His Grace to take a liking to me?"
"Hmm, I'm not that close with His Grace either, so I wouldn't know, but...."
Baron Rubein slipped a jewel he had brought for just such an occasion into the man's pocket.
"Ahem, I've heard that for men of the north, scars are badges of honor. Especially scars on the face are famously something to be celebrated as though one had crossed a new threshold."
He said this while pointing at his own nose bridge.
"That's a scar that wasn't there the last time I saw him. It seems to be new. Wouldn't he be pleased if you congratulated him?"
Baron Rubein thought it had been a good idea to bring the jewel.
Wasn't this valuable information that couldn't easily be heard elsewhere?
As it happened, the grand duke had just arrived at the banquet.
No one had yet offered him congratulations on the scar.
If he did it, he would be the first.
Now was the chance.
Baron Rubein carefully approached the Grand Duke of Fenrihart.
"Hm? You are...."
"Baron Rubein. I run a small jewel business."
"Ah, is that so? Pleased to meet you."
The handshake he offered with his right hand was awkwardly ignored, as the grand duke lifted his glass with his right hand and drank.
Since he had started out as a lowly merchant, he was used to this level of disregard.
Baron Rubein naturally brought his hand, left hanging in the air, toward his stomach.
As if that had been his intention all along, he bowed politely.
"You've gained a new scar. Congratulations."
The grand duke's tilting glass seemed to pause for a moment.
Could this be wrong?
Perhaps the stiff expression had been his imagination, because the grand duke laughed heartily.
"Bwahahaha, thank you. I'd been wondering whether anyone would mention it today. To think you'd say something. I'm truly grateful. Bwahaha!"
The Grand Duke of Fenrihart slapped the baron's back hard with his huge palm.
He seemed to be in a very good mood, as he kept striking him enthusiastically without stopping.
Naturally, his back turned red from the force, and he felt as though his waist might snap,
but Baron Rubein could not bring himself to say it hurt.
He had come here to build connections.
How could he refuse the goodwill-laced touch of the grand duke, the star of the banquet?
The baron silently endured the palm strikes that were close to a beating,
and the grand duke pounded on him for a long while before leaving.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but after that, no one mentioned the glorious scar in front of the grand duke.