That was how she justified it to herself.
A grand wedding, lavish enough to tempt even the imperial family.
Just once, she thought it might not be so bad to stand on a stage like that.
After finishing her nail care, Odely quietly watched Freya check the invitation designs.
Her hair was tied firmly so that it did not rise above her neckline, the head lady-in-waiting’s uniform was without a single wrinkle, and her fingertips moved like the tip of a pen as she stood perfectly straight.
The sight of her made Odely feel as though she might shrink back under the pressure…….
“How about…… changing the arrangement like this?”
Odely pointed with her fingertip to the position of the decorations on the invitation sample.
“I thought it might look cleaner if we reduced the gold leaf here a little and added blue thread over here.”
Freya stated firmly without even a second of hesitation.
“It would diminish the dignity.”
“……I see.”
After being flatly shut down, Odely closed her mouth with a dejected look.
Just as she was about to pull her hand back…….
“……The Lady’s opinion was not bad either.”
Freya unexpectedly added another word.
From her expression, she seemed surprised by her own unexpected response.
“However, the Grand Duchess must only have the ‘best.’”
It was a somewhat clumsy explanation.
It sounded like she was trying to comfort her, yet she still drove the point home in the tone of a strict perfectionist.
Odely found her way of speaking strangely amusing.
A small chuckle slipped from Odely’s lips before she could stop it, and only then did Freya turn serious.
“What is so funny?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Odely tried her best to compose her expression seriously, but the corners of her lips were still raised.
The day of the wedding was slowly drawing closer.
*****
Every day, the entire castle moved at a breathless pace.
There were now only a handful of days left until the wedding.
The color of the curtains changed, and even the angle of the silver candlesticks was adjusted.
Even the smallest decorations were revised dozens of times, and servants hurried busily through every hallway.
A tension like the eve of a battle hung thick in the air.
At first, it had felt overwhelming, but by now, she was slowly getting used to it.
Odely remembered the short conversation she had with Ludville a while ago.
“Is there really a reason to go this far?”
“There are many eyes watching.”
“You didn’t seem like someone who cared about such things.”
“……If someone starts looking down on the Lady, it makes me uncomfortable.”
It’s because of Cardel.
Even though he had not mentioned it directly, Odely quickly understood what he meant.
Ludville was openly using the wedding as a warning.
She was now a member of the Exception family, and anyone who dared to lay a hand on her would have to pay the price.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve ever directly opposed the Cardel family like this.’
In her past life, she had been the one who ran away.
She always had.
But this life was different.
She did not avoid them and faced them head-on.
Odely did not regret her choice.
Ludville, too…… was standing on her side more firmly than anyone else.
Through his actions instead of words.
Quietly, from behind her.
“…….”
“Lady, your face seems a little red. Are you running a slight fever?”
“……No.”
When Leona asked worriedly, Odely hurriedly answered.
After cooling her cheek with the back of her cold hand for a moment, she fixed her gaze back on the papers she was holding.
She was memorizing the movements and ceremonial words for the day of the wedding.
‘It’s a little quiet today…….’
I should be hearing the nagging around this time.
Odely suddenly felt something was strange.
The person who was always at the center of the commotion was nowhere to be seen.
“……Where is the head lady-in-waiting?”
Odely turned her head and asked.
Leona, who had been arranging the hem of her dress beside her, paused and looked up.
“Come to think of it…… I think she said she was going to the dressing room earlier, but she still hasn’t come back.”
At those words, the servants began to murmur quietly.
“She didn’t inspect the decorations today either.”
“Until yesterday, she told us to treat the rehearsal just like the actual wedding.”
“Did something urgent happen all of a sudden?”
“Isn’t this the first time the head lady-in-waiting has been absent?”
As Odely listened to them, an ominous feeling slowly began to rise within her.
‘Don’t tell me…….’
Memories from her past life came back to her.
Freya had never been particularly healthy.
She never complained even under a heavy workload, but whenever she overworked herself, she would quickly turn pale.
Even so, she never showed it and always pushed through her work until the very end.
And whenever that happened, she would disappear without saying a word.
Then, several hours later, she would appear again with a calm face as if nothing had happened.
She would brush it off by saying she had other work to attend to for a while.
‘……She still has that habit, doesn’t she?’
Odely slowly rose from her seat.
“Leona. I’m going somewhere for a moment.”
“Yes? Lady, where are you……?”
Instead of answering, Odely quickly walked down the hallway.
A secluded place unknown to the ordinary maids.
It had once been used as a laundry room, but it had grown old and was now closed off.
It was the one secret place where Freya could remain a ‘weak person.’
‘Please let her be all right…….’
Odely hurried her steps anxiously and, as soon as she arrived, hurriedly opened the door.
And she drew in a sharp breath.
“……Freya!”
Freya was leaning against the wall with her knees pulled to her chest, slowly bending her upper body forward.
Her skin was almost as white as a sheet of paper, and her breathing was shallow and irregular.
Her pulse was weak, and there was almost no warmth in her fingertips.
Cardiac syncope.
It was an illness Freya had suffered from, which Odely had learned about in her past life.
Back then, it had ended as nothing more than a simple fainting spell, but this time, her condition looked much more serious.
The constant overwork, the pressure of preparing for the wedding, and even her past trauma…….
This was not simple exhaustion.
If treatment was delayed, it could become truly dangerous.
Without hesitation, Odely knelt down.
“It’s okay. I’ll make sure you don’t have to suffer anymore.”
She reached out and placed her palm near Freya’s chest.
A quiet golden current rose from her fingertips.
But this time, the method was different.
She focused on the irregular vibrations of the heart that she could feel through her fingertips.
Deep inside the blood vessels connected to the heart, beneath the skin, she could feel dark, worn remnants of pain clinging there.
Odely slowly began absorbing them into her own body and making them disappear.
She tried to remain calm without rushing.
She had to use her ability much more slowly and with far greater care than usual.
She could feel the purification energy slowly spreading as if wrapping around the heart and blood vessels.
Then, a soft and warm pulse began to flow anew through that place.
As if worn and damaged gears had been replaced with new ones.
It was only an instant, but it felt long, as though time itself had stopped.
And finally—
Freya’s chest gently rose and fell.
“Haa…….”
Only then did Odely let out a sigh of relief and carefully took her hand.
She had poured quite a lot of mana into completely eliminating the illness at its root.
Cold sweat formed on her forehead, and soon her whole body began to ache.
As her strength gradually drained from her entire body, she remembered the contract clause with Ludville, but…….
‘I kept my promise about doing it only once.’
Besides, this time she had not vomited blood, and her consciousness was still clear.
In her own way, hadn’t she done pretty well?
……Odely quietly justified it to herself, all alone.
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