Chapter 31
31
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"……Please don't say such things. I'm afraid someone might hear."
"Nobody will."
Of course, anyone who heard would be surprised.
Not because he wasn't handsome, but because the word 'pretty' just didn't suit Icarus.
'Actually, if you look closely, he has a very fine face.'
Perhaps people didn't even know what kind of face Ruelle's loyal dog had.
'They'd be too busy avoiding his eyes if they met him.'
Icarus blushed as if embarrassed, but I left him sitting there and brought out paper.
"Your Highness, may I remove the hairpin now?"
He asked, and I narrowed my eyes and shook my head.
"Never touch it. I'm going to draw a picture."
"Yes……?"
While Icarus sat there with a troubled expression, I took out pastels and started drawing.
'My fingers aren't very cooperative yet, so it's very abstract…….'
But the two pink ribbons were definitely visible.
"Ta-da……!"
I brazenly presented the finished drawing, and Icarus burst into laughter.
Then, as if realizing something, he quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. It's just that Your Highness drew me, and I'm so…… so happy."
I grinned and asked.
"Right? It's a great honor, isn't it?"
"Yes, indeed…… it's an undeserved honor, Your Highness."
Icarus stood up as I removed the hairpin.
He smiled as he accepted the drawing.
"Are you giving this to…… me?"
"Yup! Hang it in your room!"
"Thank you, Your Highness. I always only receive…… I'm sorry."
It was an absurd thing to say, but I pretended not to notice and waved my hand.
"Okay, bye."
The corners of Icarus's mouth turned up a little higher.
"I will stay until the nanny wakes up."
"No way. It's my time to play with Yan now. I'll play with you again next time."
"Yes……?"
When Yan chimed in and nodded, Icarus frowned slightly.
He must have heard about Yan, as he knew all of his mother's secrets, but it would be the first time he actually saw him respond.
"Go quickly. Go quickly, quickly……!"
I chased Icarus out like that.
Even after leaving the room, Icarus lingered in the hallway with a reluctant look on his face.
But when I poked my head out the door and waved, he finally turned away.
'He must be afraid of being seen by others.'
I checked on Gabriella and found that she still had a high fever.
I gently flipped the cool towel on Gabriella's forehead.
It was the limit of my small hands.
'It would be nice to cool it with new water, but I don't think I can wring it out properly…….'
Then I took Yan to the next room.
I finally had time to talk to Yan.
* * *
"Yan, are you okay?"
As soon as I closed the door, I turned around and asked, and Yan laughed with a strange whistling sound.
"How could I not be okay, with someone crying so much?"
Even his mean words didn't bother me at all.
I grabbed him and kissed him all over, and Yan pretended to dislike it and started teasing me.
"Ah, do it moderately……."
"No way. You're my Mommy."
I rubbed my cheek against Yan for a long time, then finally lifted my head and asked.
"Why were you so hurt? You're so small, what if you couldn't come back?"
"That's……."
Yan hesitated for a moment, then suddenly shouted.
"It's all because of that cat! Hey, you heard it earlier, right? That knight said the cat was hurt too!"
"What does the cat being hurt have to do with you?"
"Of course!"
Yan replied confidently.
"I…… I attacked the cat, you know?"
"……You?"
He had to say something that made sense.
'He came back all weak and feeble.'
But if Yan had happened to encounter the cat, I would just be grateful that he was safe like this.
Yan continued to insist.
"It's true! It's gone far away now…… maybe it won't come back?"
It just sounded like he was repeating what Icarus had said?
'If I point it out, he might go looking for the cat again.'
I petted Yan without saying anything.
"Aww, is that so? Our Yan did such a great job?"
"……Don't be so condescending, who are you treating like a baby?"
"No, I'm just thankful."
I grabbed Yan again and rubbed my cheek against him, and he drooped his wings as if he didn't dislike it so much.
"But I was really tired."
"Really? Should I blow on it again?"
"Uh-huh."
Haa…….
Leaving sick Gabi and blowing on Yan, I felt so pathetic about my own powerlessness.
'Healing Power……. Healing Power, huh.'
Then, suddenly, an idea came to mind, and I spoke up.
"Hoo……. Yan, by the way……."
"Yeah?"
"You said you weren't a baby……."
Honestly, I thought Yan was lying, but since Yan was the only one to talk to anyway, I thought I'd just say it.
"……What baby."
Yan replied shamelessly again, so I cautiously brought it up.
"Then have you ever seen anything like that? Healing Power……, someone, healing someone……."
The answer came back immediately.
"Are you talking about your mother the King?"
"……You should say King Your Highness."
Yan followed along for once when I corrected him, unable to bear it.
"Okay, your mother King Your Highness."
I nodded and asked again.
"Then besides our mother……?"
"Why are you asking?"
"Uh, well, actually……."
Yan wasn't easy to deal with, so I spoke shyly.
"Mom seems to expect us to gain Healing Power like her……."
Yan's black eyes stared intently at me.
"So?"
"So…… if I get a stronger Healing Power than Mom, I was wondering if I could heal Gabi too."
I had a hard time bringing it up, but Yan didn't answer easily.
'He doesn't know after all, does he?'
I didn't have high expectations, so I kept blowing on Yan.
At some point, he suddenly replied.
"Of course. You're a Princess, and you still don't know that?"
His tone was truly disapproving, so I pouted.
"The Divine ability user in our kingdom is only our mom, and Mom can only heal visible wounds. So nobody talks about that."
If I said something like that, it would be like blaming the King's incompetence, so no one could bring it up.
'Well, what would Yan know.'
Even as I thought that, I couldn't forget the Crown Prince's last words I had heard in the Empire, so I parted my lips again.
"That's…… I heard it somewhere."
"What again."
"Uh…… they said that people with really strong Healing Power have the power to resist poison, is that true?"
I wasn't curious about poison resistance right now, but my ability that I had seen with my own eyes was only that anyway.
I had no choice but to ask that, and Yan answered casually.
"That's possible. I guess you haven't learned it yet, but there were Divine ability users of that level among your royal ancestors."
Really?
Then if I had poison resistance, wouldn't my Healing Power be really strong too?
'Then I can save Gabi too!'
My heart swelled with anticipation, but even to a talking bird, I couldn't say, "I've actually lived to be twenty-two years old."
"I wish I had Healing Power too……."
As I muttered that, Yan looked up at me with a truly pathetic expression.
'I can read a bird's expression now.'
I was glad on the one hand, but I also wished I didn't know.
* * *
Gabriella woke up in the afternoon and blamed her own fault from the moment she opened her eyes.
"I should have taken care of your meals and taught you, cough! I should have taught you……!"
"Don't worry, Icarus helped me."
"Sir Chenelli?"
I reassured Gabriella with a half-true statement and even read a book as proof that I had studied.
Gabriella seemed quite surprised that Icarus had such a meticulous side.
"Then now…… cough, now I'll play with you, Your Highness. Is there anything you want to do?"
I was about to tell Gabriella to rest in bed because she was tired, but I came up with a good excuse that she couldn't refuse.
"Ah, yeah. I've been having fun with Yan since earlier. It's called, playing doctor."
"Playing doctor……?"
Gabriella burst into a weak laugh.
"Ah, are you imitating the Royal physician? Then shall I play the role of the doctor?"
"No."
I spoke solemnly and then put on the white robe I wore after bathing.
"I'm the doctor, and Gabi and Yan are the sick people."
Of course, Yan wasn't a person, but…….
But Yan, who wasn't a person, seemed quite satisfied with my suggestion and nodded, chirping.
"Good. A new patient, are you very sick?"
―Chirp chirp chirp chirp!
"What? Why are you talking informally?"
Gabriella watched me and Yan chattering with a somewhat pleased expression.
"Then do it again. Um, new patient. Are you very sick?"
―Chirrrrrp…….
"Oh dear, you need to be hospitalized."
I turned my gaze from Yan, who was passionately playing the role of the patient, and looked at Gabriella.
"Human patients should lie here, and I'll examine you. It's in order, so wait nicely."
