The Grand Duke’s Castle became noisy and chaotic.
It was because the Grand Duke had returned after several days, carrying the Lady in his arms.
“I told you I can walk by myself……”
Odely protested quietly, but—
“Stay still.”
Ludville pulled her deeper into his arms without the slightest change in expression.
An order was immediately given to call the physician.
The retainers and servants who had been anxiously waiting for the two of them while going back and forth between the Grand Duke’s Castle and the annex froze on the spot.
‘……What on earth happened while they were gone?’
Unable to say a word, they simply stepped aside so they would not get in Ludville’s way.
Thanks to that, he did not stop even once, carrying Odely in his arms as he turned down the inner corridor—
—toward the Grand Duke’s bedroom.
“……!”
One maid covered her mouth, while Rian, the minister of state, dropped the documents he was holding.
Even Theodore, the head butler who rarely ever became flustered, could not close his mouth.
“Th-The guest room, right……?”
“No, I definitely saw him go to…… His Highness’s bedroom.”
A quiet ripple of shock spread among the retainers.
In the midst of the confusion, Gareth, the captain of the Order of Dawn, merely crossed his arms and let out a quiet sigh.
“……It seems I’ll be busy starting today.”
He muttered quietly before speaking to the soldier beside him.
“Call the physician first. As quickly as possible.”
****
“You mean she almost fainted?”
The physician checked the heat of her forehead with the back of his hand and examined her pupils, all the while muttering with concern.
Odely was catching her breath with a pale face.
A slight tremor remained in her fingertips, and faint bruises had appeared on her body from the excessive flow of mana.
Although on the outside, she was still lying quietly without showing any signs of distress.
“With injuries this severe, it should have been difficult even to walk properly, Lady Cardel. How did you manage to endure it?”
The physician rubbed his forehead with a troubled expression, as if yet another patient who refused to listen had been added to his list.
“So what does that mean?”
Ludville’s characteristically cold voice cut across the room.
The physician quickly raised his head and straightened himself.
“Ah, yes. She is showing signs of total exhaustion from excessive mana consumption, along with minor blood vessel ruptures and muscle stiffness. She has stabilized for now, but she needs complete rest for several days.”
He cautiously added,
“Even the slightest movement should be avoided. Especially using mana again……. I mean, you must absolutely avoid using that ‘purification power’ again.”
Ludville silently stared at Odely with an expressionless face.
As if avoiding his eyes, which seemed to have so much to say, Odely closed her eyes.
‘As expected, he only mentioned the mana consumption.’
What the physician had mentioned was nothing more than the symptoms visible on the surface.
He did not know that the internal damage caused by purification had been accumulating, slowly eating away at her lifespan.
Purification was a special ability possessed only by Odely.
‘Who would have thought that Cardel hiding the existence of the purification agents so thoroughly would be this helpful.’
For now, only Cardel knew that the life of a purification agent was consumed as the price of purification.
‘Thank goodness. At least the physician’s diagnosis won’t expose it.’
Enduring the chills slowly creeping up her body, Odely felt relieved.
But……
“How much mana was used for the purification?”
Ludville’s question was sharp.
He was asking the physician, but his gaze remained fixed on Odely.
“I don’t know much about Lady Cardel’s ability, but…… if she repeats the purification more than twice a day, I think it could have a serious effect on her life.”
Odely was startled inwardly at the physician’s answer.
‘……Did he figure it out?’
But she felt relieved at his following words.
“‘Purification power’ seems to consume much more mana than ordinary magic.”
Fortunately, that was only a medical judgment regarding her ‘mana consumption.’
He did not seem to know that purification was connected to her lifespan.
‘Still, this could become troublesome.’
Even figuring out that much was a little troublesome.
It meant that Odely would face restrictions on using her purification power from now on.
As expected……
When she glanced over, Ludville’s violet eyes had darkened so much that they almost looked black.
He took out the contract and firmly wrote down a new clause.
[Article 11. The Lady is prohibited from performing purification more than twice a day. If this provision is violated, all authority over the subsequent treatment and care shall belong entirely to the Grand Duke.]
“What exactly do you mean by ‘authority over care’?”
“I suppose it means monitoring and protecting your overall physical condition, and intervening when necessary.”
His tone was calm, but there was something dangerous about it.
“……How exactly are you planning to monitor, protect, and intervene?”
“I’ll leave that to your imagination.”
“…….”
If you put it that way, isn’t this basically the same as signing away control over my own body?
When Odely looked at him with an uneasy expression, he briefly explained.
“It is a measure to protect you.”
He stepped closer to her and straightened the rumpled blanket.
His fingertips were careful, and restrained emotions could be felt in every movement.
“Never do something like this again.”
“…….”
“……There is nothing worth exchanging your life for.”
Odely said nothing and closed her eyes again, swallowing a sigh.
It was to hide the trembling in her eyes.
She had heard those words countless times from Ludville.
Thousands, no, perhaps tens of thousands of times……
‘……He should have lost his memories, so why is he exactly the same?’
She had been the one to draw the line first, saying they should keep their emotions out of it.
Yet she could not stop his words from sinking into her heart.
These were things she could no longer let show.
A faint herbal scent lingered in the room.
Two layers of curtains hung over the windows, and the dying embers in the fireplace gave off a faint warmth.
One day had passed since Odely regained consciousness.
Her condition had stabilized to some extent, but she was still lying down and recovering.
The bedroom was quiet.
“Your forehead is still a little warm, Lady Cardel.”
Leona whispered as she carefully wiped Odely’s forehead.
“I’ll go change the water.”
“Mm……”
Odely quietly closed her eyes and caught her breath beneath the blankets.
She heard Leona leave the room, and not long after, the door quietly opened.
Heavy, measured footsteps slowly approached the bed.
Odely could guess who it was without even opening her eyes.
‘He’s here again…….’
The sensations engraved throughout her body remembered him.
A hot body temperature that never cooled even in the cold northern wind.
A steady, deep breathing that had never faltered on any battlefield.
And a deep, lingering scent mixed with leather and wood.
It was Ludville.
He carefully placed the damp cloth he had been holding onto Odely’s forehead.
His fingertips were excessively gentle.
As if he were handling extremely fragile glass.
He had probably met Leona outside, told her he would do it himself, and taken the cloth and bowl from her.
The sight of him doing something like that with his usual blunt expression appeared vividly in her mind.
He took Odely’s wrist and quietly checked her pulse with his fingertips.
As if making sure she was alive.
Even though he must have known perfectly well that a person could not simply die of natural causes overnight.
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