Chapter 24
Chapter 24
My vision blurred, and someone's voice flowed into my head.
It felt just like when I saw Newt.
My heart raced, and I felt dizzy.
[My dear.]
"Ugh……."
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
My heartbeat echoed loudly in my ears. My lungs felt constricted, and I couldn't breathe. My vision kept narrowing.
The world spun, and my body swayed. Then, with a thud! I collapsed.
At that moment.
"Shorty!"
"……Lane!"
I thought I heard Henri and Isaac's voices.
As I lost consciousness, I thought.
'Who the hell is it?'
Why does that voice call out to me so desperately every time?
How much time had passed?
My eyes felt dry and sore, making it hard to open them, and my body felt heavy, making it impossible to move even a finger.
"If there's nothing wrong, why isn't she opening her eyes! Did you check properly? Do you want to die?!"
"Examine her again. Find out why she collapsed. If you want to keep your heads."
I heard a voice full of excitement and a voice quietly filled with anger.
And.
"Take them away."
Duke Dubled's voice?
Soon, sharp, dull footsteps and desperate pleas from men were heard.
"I, I swear. I swear, Your Excellency! There's nothing wrong with the young lady's body!"
"Anyone could say something like that."
"B, but it's true……!"
"If you can't find the cause of LeBlaine's fainting, behead one doctor every hour."
'What?!'
I opened my eyes wide.
"Shorty……!"
"LeBlaine!"
Two handsome faces were in front of me. Henri and Isaac.
'Wait, why are they so close?'
I blinked my eyes and slowly looked around.
I was lying in bed, with Henri and Isaac on either side of my bed, and Leah's tearful face behind them.
And on the floor, at a glance, there were at least thirty doctors kneeling.
The person standing in front of the doctors was Duke Dubled.
"Gongzhanmi."
He called out like that, his throat very hoarse.
At the faint, fragile sound, Duke Dubled approached me.
"Are you alright?"
When I nodded, a faint sigh escaped Duke Dubled's lips. Then he turned his head towards the kneeling doctors and Noth.
I sighed inwardly.
'Phew, I'm glad I woke up at the right time.'
Since the Child of Destiny sent by the Temple had collapsed in Dubled, it seemed the doctors were being reprimanded.
But it wasn't their fault. If anything, it was my fault for sneaking into the West Annex.
Duke Dubled opened his mouth.
"Since LeBlaine has woken up-"
Yes, please let the innocent doctors go quickly.
"Kill them all."
'Excuse me?'
I looked at Duke Dubled in surprise, and Noth called out to him, "Y, Your Excellency……!"
Needless to say, the limbs of the kneeling doctors trembled.
"There's no point in paying those incompetent bastards who couldn't even find the reason for her fainting."
-Said Duke Dubled, who only has money.
Henri and Isaac, who were standing next to him, were also agreeing with cold eyes.
'No, really?!'
Noth desperately tried to persuade Duke Dubled, but he was firm.
"Your Excellency, even if we try to bring someone from The Capital, it will take at least two weeks."
"So."
"If something goes wrong with the young lady's body again, who will you look for until someone comes from The Capital!"
Then Duke Dubled flinched.
Realizing that this was working, Noth strongly……!
Made me the excuse.
"If the young lady's body isn't sick, but cursed, or if it's a problem with Divine Power, there's no way a doctor can find the cause. However, if she has a body ache as a result, the doctor can help the young lady with that part."
After saying that, he looked at me earnestly with eyes that seemed to say, 'Right?'
Everyone in the room turned their gaze to me.
Duke Dubled and the young masters, the maids, and even the doctors with expressions as if they had found a Lifeline.
I rolled my eyes and cautiously opened my mouth.
"……Achoo."
"……!"
Duke Dubled widened his eyes and let out a thunderous roar.
"Is it a cold! Examine LeBlaine immediately!"
"Quickly!"
"Right now!"
Duke Dubled, Henri, and Isaac each shouted, and more than thirty doctors rushed to my bed in unison.
After that, I enthusiastically pretended to have a cold, and thanks to that, the doctors were spared execution.
Thanks to my desperate acting as a child with a cold, Duke Dubled was fooled, and the doctors were fortunately able to save their lives.
Of course, there was no way the expert doctors wouldn't know that I didn't have a cold at all.
Perhaps that's why the doctors trembled whenever they looked at me, saying, "Young lady……." with wistful eyes.
In particular, Baron Adam More, the director of the Dubled Castle Medical Center, was very moved.
"This Adam More will risk his life for the young lady in the future."
He cried out that I was his benefactor, saying that he almost died without seeing his only son, who was born 10 years after his marriage.
Anyway, I'm glad I saved the innocent doctors.
'But what the heck is that voice?'
The voice that I occasionally hear after touching Newt and makes me faint.
'Is it a curse after all?'
If it's the price for breaking the sacred object, it's understandable.
I'd only know for sure if I showed my condition to a Priest, but I didn't want to get involved with the Temple if possible.
If I get caught up in something and they take me away to lift the curse, it'll be a problem.
'I've worked so hard to become close to the Dubled people.'
I heard that it was Isaac and Henri who immediately moved me when I collapsed.
They both apparently urged the doctors.
'That was unexpected.'
Especially Henri.
I thought our relationship would be strained after hearing those terribly harsh words last time.
Duke Dubled, who is always so cold, is also unexpected.
'They don't hate me.'
Rather, to this extent, wouldn't their feelings be close to liking me?
I covered my mouth with both fists and giggled.
It's worth chasing after them and building up their favor.
If so, then the first step in preparing for my escape has been taken.
The Territory of Dubled was like heaven to me, but when I get older, hardship will come again.
The real Child of Destiny will come.
Being sacrificed in the ritual to seal the Evil God.
This wasn't something that even Duke Dubled could do anything about.
'How much money do I have?'
I picked up my elephant bag and crawled clumsily onto the bed.
"Button one, two, three…… twenty-five."
I looked at the buttons with a satisfied face, having collected quite a lot, and then put them back in the bag.
'As soon as I save up money, I have to go to the information guild and make a fake ID.'
I have to do this as soon as possible. The law will be revised from the year after next, and they will strictly manage the territory residents' data.
'Yeah, time is short, so I can't just earn money with buttons forever.'
It's time to create a slush fund.
I don't have the capital to speculate on iron or gold like Henri, but I've thought of ways to make money.
I smiled and looked at the calendar.
'Soon, a wanted criminal will sneak into Dubled.'
He's someone who's even being watched by the Imperial Palace, and since his face isn't revealed, the amount of the bounty is enormous.
And I'm going to hand him over to the country and receive the bounty.
'Even a child gets the bounty!'
But how did he come in? I heard he was working in Dubled Castle and his identity was revealed.
Was he a servant?
'While I remember, I should go find out what routes new people can enter the lord's castle.'
Just as I was about to leave the door, I ran into Leah, who was coming in.
"You woke up early today."
Leah asked kindly, so I answered vigorously, "Yes!"
"I'm glad you're getting healthier. But where are you going?"
I couldn't say that I was going to sneak into the servants' lounge where the castle's event schedule was posted.
I rolled my eyes and mumbled.
"Libary. (Library.)"
"You borrowed a lot of fairy tale books yesterday, didn't you?"
"Not book, um…… study! Gonna study."
Leah, who briefly covered one cheek with her hand as if gauging something, soon nodded.
"I see. It's about time for you to learn to read. I'll tell the master. He'll assign you a good teacher."
'No!'
I've learned the Imperial language three times.
I can even write the letters backwards with my toes, so I don't need it at all, not at all.
But Leah said, "Our young lady is so admirable," and went to meet Duke Dubled with a cheerful expression.
Duke Dubled immediately sent a teacher.
Someone who graduated at the top of his class from The Capital University, passed the difficult Imperial Palace administrative exam at the youngest age, and had experience teaching children from famous families-
"Noth."
Noth.
Of course, the children from famous families he taught were Henri and Isaac.
"Don't you have to work?"
"If the young lady knew how many documents are piled up on my desk, she would cry with me……."
Noth muttered with hollow eyes.
Well, he has to deal with everything from the Etwal adoption to the aftermath of the Teramore incident, so how much work would he have?
'He's suffering a lot because of his cold-blooded boss.'
Feeling sorry for him, I patted his shoulder, and Noth made a sad expression.
'Since I feel sorry for him, I should pretend to focus and learn quickly.'
"First, we need to learn the alphabet. Now, please look at this card."
Noth was definitely a talented person.
He's not only good at handling documents, but he's also good at teaching children.
His explanations are easy and his examples are appropriate, so other children would be able to learn easily.
"Now, repeat after me. Gail."
"Kail."
"Gail is pronounced 'G'. Then what words use Gail?"
"Study, dog, thank you, and, and……."
As I rolled my eyes and spoke, Noth, who was already immersed in the class, smiled as if he was dying of cuteness.
"You are indeed brilliant, young lady. I hope an administrator will be appointed soon so that I can only be in charge of the young lady's education."
Administrator appointment?
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