Translator: Nox
(20) The Golden Lion's Treasure and the Contaminated Water (4)
Hexter stood blankly, looking down at Jewelry.
Not everyone was affected by the Magical Energy just by touching the water. Fortunately, Dennis was fine, but Jewelry wasn't so lucky.
Her entire small body was covered in red rashes.
Hexter had seen patients who had been exposed to Magical Energy during his investigation of this incident.
It started with red rashes, which would swell into boils and ooze pus within a few hours. Then, they would bleed from their eyes, nose, and mouth, and soon after, they would stop breathing.
He couldn't believe that his daughter would soon be like that. He was heartbroken even when Jewelry just had a cold and coughed.
Kirshan, who was examining Jewelry's body with gloves on, looked up at Floyd with a dark expression. Kirshan only shook his head slightly, but Hexter saw it clearly.
"No!"
Hexter shouted in a tearing voice and grabbed Kirshan by the collar.
"Save her! You're a doctor! You're supposed to be the best doctor on this continent! Save her!"
Of course, Kirshan had never called himself the best doctor on the continent. But his skills overwhelmed most doctors, and if he couldn't find a way, it meant that other doctors wouldn't be able to either.
Kirshan stared blankly at Hexter, who was shaking and urging him, grabbing his collar. He couldn't tell him not to do that, nor could he tell him to accept it.
Kirshan didn't have children, but he knew how much Hexter cherished his children. Hexter was the kind of person who would gladly die in their place if it meant saving them.
'It would be fortunate if it ended with dying in her place...'
The problem was that it wouldn't make Jewelry better.
Being tainted by Magical Energy didn't mean there was no cure. They could request holy water from the Great Temple, and there was a chance that sprinkling the holy water with the blessing of a priest would drive out the Magical Energy.
But the Great Temple was too far away from here, and the Magical Energy spread by this monster was rapidly eroding the body.
'Three days at most. But Jewel's body is small, so it will be even faster.'
Kirshan couldn't tell Hexter how much time Jewelry had left, as Hexter was now holding onto the bed, telling her to open her eyes and not to tease her father.
Cain was already reddening around his eyes and sniffling. Adrian and Arsene had grim expressions and kept their mouths tightly shut.
And heat was radiating from Floyd's body.
It was effective in warming the air in the treatment room, which had been cool because it hadn't been used for a while, but if he got any more excited, flames might burst out. Kirshan quietly placed his hand on Floyd's arm and said.
"There are many patients, Master. Calm down."
Floyd took a deep breath and looked around the treatment room. It was the first time the treatment room, which was usually used when the knights were seriously injured, was so crowded.
Fallen servants, and Jewelry.
Those who shouldn't be in such a place were lying lifelessly on the bed. It was a reality he didn't want to believe, but he had to do something.
"Is there really no way?"
"Even if we send Eagles to the Great Temple right now, considering the time it would take for a priest to bring the holy water..."
"Is there no way for you to heal her!"
"If the Magical Energy progresses slowly, I can somehow find a way to treat her, but it's too fast. It's beyond my ability, Master."
"No, it can't be! It can't be! Don't talk nonsense, Shan!"
He spoke in a small voice, but Hexter must have heard him in his despair. Hexter jumped up and rushed at Kirshan as if he was about to hit him, then knelt in front of Kirshan.
"Shan, please don't say that. Please... please save her. Okay? Do something. You're amazing. Please, please save my daughter. My daughter... she's my daughter, Shan. She's my daughter. Okay?"
Kirshan couldn't bear to look at Hexter, who was grabbing his legs and begging, so he turned his gaze away. His heart was torn with despair and guilt.
'What kind of doctor am I, after all this?'
Honestly, he was arrogant. He thought that if he was here, he could prevent most of the diseases that occurred in Torkan.
It was a terrible arrogance.
He couldn't do anything for the young daughter of a precious colleague. He couldn't do anything for the employees who worked for this Grand Duke's palace.
It was the first time Kirshan had felt such a sense of defeat.
'Pathetic bastard. What are you doing instead of going out and dying...'
+++
Roxana sat blankly.
She even forgot to breathe, and only when her lungs began to scream did she gasp for breath, but she didn't even realize it.
-"There's nothing Princess can do."
It was true.
She couldn't even help the little child who had given her a bouquet of flowers.
'What could I have done with such a useless self...'
She repeated the past over and over again. If she hadn't gone to the Great Temple, if she had noticed Lucas Pelur's intentions in advance, if she could have warned her family in advance... She repeated such impossible imaginings and regrets dozens, hundreds of times.
But now she knew.
There was nothing she could do. Even if she miraculously reversed time and returned to the past, there was nothing she could do.
Suddenly, a strong impulse came over her.
'I want to die.'
Floyd had told her to try to live for just one year, and she had tried to live for that one year somehow, but now she didn't even know. A woman like her, who couldn't do anything, didn't deserve to meet her family even in death.
Adelia Flower, coffin, it didn't matter anymore.
'It's a waste...'
Breathing, consuming the Grand Duke's palace's food when she couldn't do anything, it was all a waste.
'If I hadn't let him come...'
If she had gotten angry and chased him away when she first saw him by the pond, if she had told him never to come again, this wouldn't have happened. Because she had just left them alone to fill her longing, this terrible thing had happened.
The same was true of her family.
If she hadn't trusted Lucas Pelur, if she had stubbornly refused when the engagement story came up, if she hadn't saved Elise, if she hadn't cared whether that child died with her family or not.
If that had been the case, it would have been different now.
'So it's all my fault.'
She truly thought so. She couldn't escape the thought that her existence was making everything worse.
The unremoved depression faced another sad event, becoming a heavy lump that couldn't be removed, pushing Roxana into a pitch-black despair.
Roxana got up and staggered to the window. She opened the window and went out to the terrace, stood by the railing, and leaned her upper body forward.
Because it was a tall building, it was very high even though it was on the second floor.
'If I fall from here, I'll definitely die.'
There was a time when she was afraid of heights, but that was a distant feeling now. The emotion of fear was swallowed up by the great sadness at the moment she lost her family and disappeared.
Roxana's upper body leaned further forward.
"Princess!"
Surprised by the sharp sound, she turned around. Petria was holding a vase and looking at Roxana with terrified eyes.
"Wh, what are you trying to do? Quickly, quickly come inside!"
Petria put down the vase and ran to Roxana, hugging her waist.
"Y, you can't do this, Roxana. You can't."
Ah, right. If I die here, it will be a nuisance to Petria.
She hadn't thought of that. Foolishly. Stupidly.
Roxana's endlessly shaking eyes turned to the vase that Petria had put down. The vase contained the wildflowers she had received from Jewelry.
Although quite a long time had passed, the flowers in the vase were as vibrant as if they had just bloomed. Only then did Roxana remember the words the voices had said.
-We'll take good care of them.
-These children will live for a long, long time.
They kept their promise.
Even though the water was contaminated, the water in the vase was still keeping the flowers alive.
It wasn't just because of the fresh water.
It was their power.
Their power to breathe life into even cut flowers.
-"They are very strong, Lotty. They can do a lot of things. But the priests who serve Weden don't want to admit that fact, so they ignore them and kill those who communicate with them. A long time ago, an Emperor who was betrayed by an Empress who had the power to communicate with them gave strength to the priests' claims."
Her mother always called them 'them'.
Those who existed but whose names should not be spoken. Those who were a blessing in ancient times but were now called a curse.
-"So Lotty. The fact that you can hear their voices must never be known. I'm sorry to them, but you have no choice if you want to live peacefully."
She felt like she had been hit in the back of the head.
She couldn't do anything, but they might be different. They had come to hate the humans who ignored them and persecuted those who communicated with them, and thus they no longer lent any power.
'Maybe. If it's now, when they're talking to me and keeping the flowers from withering for me... maybe.'
Roxana pulled away from Petria, who was still hugging her, and ran into the room. She picked up the vase on the table and looked into the water inside.
"Roxana, the water is dangerous. It might be contaminated."
Petria hurriedly approached and tried to take the vase away. Roxana stubbornly hugged the vase and turned her body.
Petria was worried that Roxana, who had just tried to jump out of the window, might drink all the water that might be contaminated. Fortunately, Roxana didn't bring the vase to her lips, but she was whispering something to the vase.
Only then did Petria remember that the flowers in the vase were the ones she had received from Jewelry.
'She must have been very shocked to see Jewelry collapse. What should I do?'
