Shurian took a lollipop from her inner pocket and put it in her mouth.
They are at such a lovely age.
She remembered how she and Jester had once had days like that in their youth—those ardent days. And now, the young lady who had come to the north had caught the same fever she once had.
The object of her affections is... hm, our grand duke.
To first get a grasp of the situation, Shurian closed her notebook and began asking Cecilia a few questions.
"Hmm. First, your face turning red is the initial symptom..."
"Yes."
"And the second symptom is that your heart races, correct?"
"Yes, that is right."
"And all these symptoms occur when you imagine the Grand Duke’s red eyes, correct?"
"...Yes. Ah, and..."
Cecilia’s cheeks flushed crimson, and her heart pounded. Looking at Shurian in distress, she asked,
"Is there no cure for this illness? Am I... going to die like this?"
That could not happen. She could not die before she had properly helped House Roienthal and Viktor.
I do not... want that.
Cecilia imagined Viktor’s red eyes again, the way they looked at her with concern.
"Ah... my heart... it is too much..."
Oh my.
It was severe. A first love without even realizing it, striking a young lady who had grown up never knowing love, was this frightening.
Shurian clicked her tongue at House Roienthal’s method of education, which had not taught her anything about romance.
Hmm. Or perhaps it was because the Imperial Capital was a place where such feelings could make one waver, so they had thoroughly excluded them from her education.
Whatever the case, Shurian wondered how she ought to cure this young lady, who had been so delicately raised in a glass greenhouse. At the same time, she smiled at the realization that she had found something entertaining to enjoy for a while.
I could connect them directly, but that would be far too boring. Besides, if she so easily resolves the first fever she has experienced since leaving the cage she lived in all her life and entering the world, one amusing story will vanish from the young lady’s future.
Shurian began writing something in her notebook in solemn handwriting, deliberately making sure Cecilia could see it.
Strictly, gravely, and seriously.
"The illness you are suffering from, my lady, is undoubtedly a fatal endemic disease that affects only a very small number of people in the north."
"What?! Wh-What kind of illness is it?"
"Its name is Red-Eyed Mana Overexposure Syndrome."
"Red-Eyed Mana Overexposure Syndrome... What sort of illness is that? Is it very dangerous?"
"Yes. If left untreated, blood will rush to your face, turning it red like an apple, and it will remain that way for the rest of your life..."
Gulp.
Cecilia swallowed dryly as she stared at Shurian. Holding back laughter that threatened to burst out, Shurian continued her explanation.
"And you said that whenever you imagine the Grand Duke’s red eyes, your heart pounds violently."
"Yes."
Cecilia nodded vigorously. She was clutching both cheeks, worried her flushed face might become permanently fixed that way, and she looked exactly like an innocent baby rabbit.
Hold it in... Shurian. Think sad thoughts... sad thoughts.
She was so adorable that Shurian wanted to embrace her, her maternal instincts overflowing. But she pinched her own thigh and desperately suppressed those surging instincts.
"Sigh, since you have properly contracted this disease, which has no incubation period, now even imagining the Grand Duke’s voice or face will..."
"Nngh. It truly is... What should I do? Is there... is there no cure?"
"Unfortunately, there is no cure for this illness. However."
"However?"
"There is a way to overcome it by building immunity. Now, in order to increase that crucial immunity..."
"In order to?"
Seeing Cecilia gaze at her with sparkling eyes as though she had met her savior, Shurian gave her prescription. Upon hearing it, Cecilia rose from her seat and left Shurian’s room like someone whose soul had departed her body.
"Sigh... what a lovely age~"
As Shurian watched her go with satisfaction, Jester entered through the door. Shurian immediately rose and threw herself into his arms.
"Shurian? You are being so affectionate. Did something happen?"
"Mm, no... inhale... ahh, you smell so good."
"Hmm, do I?"
Jester found his wife, who was acting affectionate for the first time in a while, adorable, and patted her back.
**
I was sitting in my office, absentmindedly trying to find the answer to the problem Jester had posed, when there came a knock at the door.
"Your Grace, Lady Cecilia has arrived."
"Show her in."
Cecilia entered, and her face held the firm resolve of a general heading into battle.
"My lady, has something happened? Your complexion..."
Before I had even finished speaking, Cecilia’s shoulders visibly trembled. She drew in a deep breath and tightly clutched her chest. She looked as though she were suffering in pain.
Could her mana have gone out of control and caused something to happen to her body?
I rose from my seat and approached Cecilia. She immediately stepped back to avoid me.
"My lady, you do not look well. Please let me see your face properly."
That way, I can assess your condition and take action. If your mana goes berserk here, we will all die!
"Hic!"
Cecilia’s face was red as a carrot. Had blood rushed to her face because of a mana rampage?
"My lady. Breathe. Follow me and breathe slowly. Hoo... haa... hoo... haa. Now, hurry."
"Hoo... haa... hoo... haa... hoo...?!"
"My lady, are you all right now..."
"I... I..."
"My lady?"
"I shall take my leave!!!"
Bang!!!
Cecilia roughly flung open the door and rushed out. Rushe, who saw her running away, poked her head in and looked at me.
"Uh... why is Lady Cecilia acting like that?"
"...This is dangerous."
"Pardon?"
"I need to contact the Northern Mage Association at once! Lady Cecilia is in a dangerous condi—"
"There is no need for that, Your Grace."
"Hm? Shurian?"
Shurian, the physician of Walterheim Estate, entered the office arm in arm with Jester. Rushe’s face turned red.
"Ugh... Mom, Dad, honestly, you two are so shameless..."
"My, is it not beautiful for a married couple to be so loving?"
"Your mother is right, Rushe. Look at her. Even after all these decades, your mother is still this adorable."
"And you are as handsome as the day we met."
"Urk..."
Leaving Rushe behind as she turned her head as though she felt sick, I questioned Shurian.
"What do you mean there is no need, Shurian?"
"Lady Cecilia’s illness is an illness of the heart."
"An illness... of the heart?"
"She has had no one she could trust until now, but the trust Your Grace gave her has left her confused. It is a condition called Target Trust Obsession Syndrome."
"...Is there really such an illness?"
Household Registry Mate, what sort of world did you create?
"Yes. It can be cured only if the patient continually interacts with the person she has come to trust, thereby building immunity."
Shurian put a lollipop in her mouth and grinned.
"Therefore, Your Grace, from now on, you must meet with Lady Cecilia once a day and help her build her immunity. Understood?"
"...Once a day... is that mandatory?"
"Yes."
Seeing Shurian answer so firmly, I pressed my fingers against my temple.
"All right... You are Walterheim Estate’s physician, so it must be true."
"Of course it is~ Right, darling~?"
"Ahem. They are at such a lovely age."
**
Following Shurian’s prescription that we needed to make contact once a day to build immunity, starting today, Cecilia and I decided to have tea in Walterheim Estate’s greenhouse before beginning our daily schedules.
"Um..."
"..."
Watching Cecilia keep her head lowered, unable to meet my gaze, gave me a headache.
This is a problem. To cure this illness, I will definitely have to interact with Cecilia somehow. If we fail to cure it and leave it untreated...
Cecilia’s mana will go berserk, the north will burn down, I will be imprisoned for taking responsibility, and the north will be destroyed.
"That cannot happen."
"Pardon?"
Having heard my mutter, Cecilia raised her head and looked at my face for only a brief moment before dropping her gaze again and avoiding my eyes.
"Sigh, my lady."
"...Yes, Your Grace."
"Did Shurian not say that if you keep avoiding my gaze like that, there will be no progress in your treatment?"
"Yes... but... but."
Fear could be heard in her trembling voice. The sight was deeply pitiful.
To be brought to a distant land by a contract, only to contract an endemic disease of the north she has never experienced before.
If this world had not been the world of a romance fantasy novel, she would have lived an ordinary life, loved as she should have been.
"My lady."
I called Cecilia in a gentle voice.
"...Yes?"
"Look at me."
Cecilia raised her head. I saw her flushed cheeks and ears, and her wavering violet eyes.
"Slowly."
"..."
"Let us take it slowly. Do not worry. I always keep my promises. Until the day you leave my protection, I will protect you."
"Ah."
With a faint sigh, Cecilia averted her eyes.
"My lady."
"For today... I shall take my leave."
"...All right."
"Thank you, Your Grace..."
Watching Cecilia leave the greenhouse, I let out a sigh of relief. Slowly, yes, slowly. Once she was treated, then someday, when Cecilia left, she would no longer be a villainess or a witch who would destroy the world, but an ordinary young lady.
**
Back in her room, Cecilia buried her face in a pillow and recalled Viktor’s words from earlier.
Until the day you leave my protection, I will protect you.
Clutching her Cecilianne pillow tightly, Cecilia muttered bitterly.
"The day... I leave."
Yes, that was the contract. On the day the north and House Roienthal regained their strength, Cecilia would leave the north and Walterheim Estate.
Their relationship was bound solely by contract. They lived beneath the same roof because each had value to the other.
"Then why are you so kind to me?"
The kind side hidden behind his blunt, cold expression. His declaration that he would protect anyone he took under his wing to the very end. His willingness to give her his time if it was necessary to cure Cecilia’s illness.
"Nngh."
It was happening again. Her heart was racing again, and her face was burning hot. Even if she got up, opened the window, and let the wind wash over her, this fever did not seem as though it would subside.
"...Ran."
"Yes! Lady Cecilia!"
"I would like to go for a walk. Would that be all right?"
"I shall prepare at once!"
Thinking that perhaps she would feel better if she could turn the thoughts of Viktor filling her mind toward something else, Cecilia climbed into the carriage.
"Where shall we go?"
"Somewhere secluded and quiet would be nice."
"Then let us go to Silver Leopard Lake! Looking at the flowers that bloom only there will make you feel refreshed!"
With a bright smile, Ran explained their destination to the coachman.
"Yes. I shall take you there."
When knights clad in black armor approached the carriage, Cecilia opened its window and shook her head.
"We are only going for a brief walk, so there is no need for you to accompany us."
"But, my lady..."
"The Grand Duke ordered us to protect you..."
"It is all right. Ran is with me, and I am capable of protecting myself as well."
At Cecilia’s words, the Black Knights let her go as though they understood. Unaware that someone was watching the carriage leave Walterheim Estate from afar, the carriage began racing toward its destination.
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