Chapter 26
26
Medical Chart 2. A suspicious person named Aganim (2)
"I'm sorry things turned out this way because of me."
"It couldn't be helped."
Kyle replied with deliberate indifference. It was an absurd rudeness to the Empress, but no one in the room took issue with his attitude.
Empress Bellita said, "If it weren't for your daughter, I would have been dead. It's a very important time for Raven right now, so I couldn't announce that I was sick to the outside world, and..."
"You could have asked the Magician Guild or the Temple for help, couldn't you?"
"I need to know how far the First Prince's power reaches. Especially the Magician side is dangerous. Anais, you would know, right?"
"It was a curse..."
Anais put down her teacup with a sullen face.
"Still, for a senior to be cursed without even resisting. Weren't you careless?"
Bellita and Anais were senior and junior in the Department of Magic at the Academy.
"It wasn't ordinary."
It wasn't the kind of thing you could prepare for even if you tried. It was a complaint she could only make because she was alive, but Bellita was also in a position where she felt unfairly criticized.
"No matter how much I prepare, I can't prepare for a curse cast by a Demon."
Bellita was doing everything she could to prepare. Assassination attempts on the Imperial Family were frequent occurrences.
"So it was a Demon after all."
Anais groaned. Kyle also became serious. He said,
"Is there anything our Shana can't do?"
"Kyle, did we have too great a daughter?"
It was a fool-for-his-daughter statement with a serious and solemn expression. Anais, who chimed in, also seemed to be utterly sincere. Bellita couldn't help but laugh.
"So, how about giving me your daughter as my son's bride?"
"Even if you're my senior, that's not a funny joke."
"I'm not joking?"
Of course, she was serious. Bellita recalled the angelic child.
Her rosy cheeks, sparkling green eyes, and golden hair that seemed to melt the sunlight were all beautiful, but above all, her innocent and honest expression was lovely.
'He was holding her hand.'
Raven was a very intelligent child, even to Bellita's eyes.
Not just because he was her son, but she prided herself on his objectively outstanding qualities. Sometimes, even Bellita felt a sense of alienation.
He understood his position and circumstances accurately and was flawless. Raven was an excellent prince, but frankly, he lacked a cute side.
He often ignored children his age, as well as adults, if they didn't meet his standards.
For Raven to not only not ignore a girl five years younger than him but to approach her first, contact her, and want to be friends with her.
'Raven could feel cuteness as cute... I thought he had no blood or tears.'
Bellita understood her son accurately.
Perhaps because she was the child he saved, he seemed to have a strange attachment to her.
"Raven saved her, so it's perfect, right?"
"Shana saved you, senior, so there are no remaining debts."
"I'm talking about fate. Wentworth is of impeccable lineage to be the next Empress."
"Your Majesty, we will not force anything on Shana."
Kyle cut her off coldly. Seeing that Anais, who was friends with Bellita, didn't say anything, it seemed she had the same opinion.
Bellita smiled bitterly.
"Even so, I pride myself on raising my son well."
"He wouldn't be bad as a friend."
That was the biggest compliment Kyle could give.
"Of course, we are grateful to His Highness Raven. If it weren't for His Highness, I shudder to think what would have happened to Shana. But we can't tie down Shana's future with that."
"Tie down..."
"But, we must definitely prepare."
Kyle sighed lowly.
"If Shana goes to a party, there will definitely be marriage proposals pouring in from everywhere."
"Well, that's true, but Duke, aren't you too confident..."
"Ignorant fools will dare to covet my daughter without knowing their place."
"They are also precious children of other families."
Including Raven.
"She's only three years old, but she's so pretty and cute..."
"She's definitely an angelic child, but..."
"Wouldn't it be natural for everyone, regardless of gender or age, to fall for her?"
"Stop it already."
Bellita couldn't help but rub her forehead.
Her daughter turned even that man into that. Where did the reputation that he wouldn't bleed a drop even if you stabbed him go...?
"And that power to heal anything."
Shana had undone the curse cast by the Demon, so they would be desperately trying to find out who saved the Empress's life.
It would be nice if they thought it was Anais, but it was well known that she hardly used any magic other than large-scale attack magic.
"It would have been best if it hadn't been discovered."
"......"
"If we can't hide it forever, then we have no choice but to make it so that no one can pick a fight."
Anais nodded.
"Fortunately, we can't be forced into marriage unless it's the Imperial Family, so that's fine, but the problem is the curse and the Temple..."
He was rejecting the Empress's marriage proposal without hesitation, yet he spoke so well.
"First, let's investigate the source of the curse. We need to crush them before they move."
"Kyle, watch your language."
"Sorry, Anais. Did it make you uncomfortable?"
Apologize to me... You were rude to me... Bellita barely suppressed her dissatisfaction.
"Even without that, Duke Algren keeps picking fights, which is annoying."
"Stop talking about my nemesis like he's an insignificant fly..."
"Ever since His Highness Raven started visiting our house, he's been openly picking fights, so I've been getting annoyed too."
Kyle grinned. Bellita admired Duke Algren's courage in touching the whiskers of that lazy beast.
He was quiet because he wasn't interested in anyone other than his family, but he didn't know he was someone you shouldn't touch easily.
'Is he surprisingly ignorant of rumors? There's no way he wouldn't know how terrible he was...'
Anais would kill him quickly, but Kyle was the type to play with him to his heart's content and then break him when he got bored.
"Your Majesty, His Highness Raven must become the Crown Prince."
"Have you changed your mind? Are you going to give him your daughter as his bride?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Is there a lingering effect of the curse?"
"......"
"Well, Shana healed you, so that's impossible."
He said everything he wanted. Bellita knew that this man was originally rude and arrogant, but knowing that didn't stop her from getting angry.
"His Highness Raven must be a reliable support who can protect our Shana no matter what she does. Oh, as a friend, of course."
"You speak well..."
How could he say he was going to use him so confidently?
"In return, I will do my best to help you."
"...How can he be so selfish...? Your father wasn't like this."
"If you like my retired father, I'll call him. You have very unique tastes. Well, there's a big age difference with His Majesty the Emperor too."
"Kyle!"
"...It's okay..."
Bellita rubbed her forehead.
"If Wentworth becomes our ally, it wouldn't be a bad thing."
Starting with friends.
***
He opened the door to the bedroom. Evelyn, who was curled up next to the pillow, perked up her ears and got up.
"Shh, it's us."
"Squeak."
The black puppy obediently accepted Anais's touch as she stroked its head.
Anais liked the puppy, which was being quite cute.
"Please take good care of my daughter in the future. You're a hybrid of a dog Shifter and a Fenrir, right?"
"Squeak..."
A sense of wariness settled in its black eyes. Anais found that trivial wariness cute and stroked its small head wildly.
"I don't mean anything by it? The stronger you are, the better, if you're protecting Shana!"
"Hair is flying, Anais..."
Kyle, who didn't particularly like animals, frowned and said.
"Bear with it, Kyle. We can't chase her away because Shana likes her."
"...I wasn't trying to chase her away."
Kyle said to Evelyn, who was watching him carefully.
"Shana is very happy thanks to you. I look forward to your continued good work."
"...Squeak."
Anais stroked Kyle's back as if he had done well. Kyle couldn't help but smile at the touch that treated him like a child.
"Hmm..."
Shana stirred and made a small noise. Shana rarely woke up once she fell asleep, but Kyle and Anais covered their mouths at the same time.
Kyle looked at the cute face that resembled Anais so closely.
Shana was a very mysterious child. Mysterious and lovely.
Her endless healing power, as well as her overly intelligent mind and strangely detached attitude, made it clear that the child was not ordinary.
'Maybe it was from that kidnapping...'
As if that incident had awakened Shana.
Moreover, Shana had memories of that time. And she wanted to hide it. So he didn't ask any further.
The couple was anxious. Would someone kidnap Shana again, or would this unidentified power steal something from the child from within...?
Wouldn't this overly intelligent child be hurt or disappointed by seeing the terrible world?
But locking her up would only make Shana unhappy.
"Shana, our cute daughter."
Anais kissed her tiny nose.
Shana sometimes acted spoiled, but at other times, she looked as if she was gauging the distance between people.
As if she was seeing something she might lose, there was anxiety hidden deep in her eyes.
"What are you hiding?"
"Let's wait patiently until she tells us."
"We agreed to that..."
When they first learned of her existence, when they heard the cry she struggled to let out into the world, when they saw the color of her unfocused eyes, when they made eye contact and smiled...
Shana became the most precious being to the couple, and their love deepened day by day.
It was amazing how they could love her so much. Anais murmured as she looked at Shana, who was sleeping soundly.
"For Shana, I think I could conquer the world, Kyle..."
"Stop it. Shana will be scared."
"Ugh, I want to kiss her!"
"Stop it. Shana will wake up."
Kyle wrapped his arms around Anais's waist. He smiled faintly at Evelyn, who was staring blankly at them, and then closed the door for his daughter's peaceful sleep.
