Chapter 7
Bartholomew furrowed his brows.
Lucy, undeterred, stepped closer to him.
“Why don’t we make that beautiful beginning at the upcoming palace banquet?”
“No.”
Bartholomew stepped back, pulling his hand free from hers.
His already pale face looked even more colorless.
“W-why not?”
When he didn’t answer, Lucy resorted to a slightly underhanded tactic.
“Are you seriously going to reject a lady’s request—especially a princess’s request—so bluntly?”
Even if Bartholomew didn’t know Lucy personally, hearing the Adelstein name would have made him realize she was royalty.
With a wary expression, he asked,
“What’s your intention?”
“Intention? I just want to get closer to you, Bartholomew.”
Bartholomew stared quietly at Lucy.
Her numb feet finally moved, and she spoke again.
“I need the help of no one else but you, Bartholomew.”
If only Bartholomew helped her, she could act without being affected by her negative stats.
It would be useful not only for the palace banquet quest but also for future game progress.
‘And through Bartholomew, I might be able to find Alexander’s whereabouts.’
Lucy felt as if she had just acquired a cheat key in a game at the highest difficulty.
“Bartholomew, my words might sound strange, unbelievable, or even make me look crazy…”
“You already do.”
Startled by his blunt reply, Lucy quickly composed herself.
“Assuming from now on that I’m only telling the truth, please listen.”
“…….”
“Suddenly, one day, I could no longer speak properly or act freely in front of others. Only because of a secret I hold.”
Though the ‘secret’ was really just about stats, Lucy felt the need to dress it up.
“This secret is like a disease—or rather, a curse—that left me completely helpless.”
At the word “curse,” Bartholomew’s eyes flashed sharply.
“For some reason, only in front of you, Bartholomew, I can act as if the curse is lifted.”
“…….”
“If even you turn away, I’ll never escape this curse.”
Seeing his silence, Lucy grew anxious.
“So, Bartholomew, you are the only one who can help me.”
“Princess Lucy.”
Bartholomew called her softly.
“Once again, I have no interest.”
With that, he left the herbal room without giving her any chance to respond.
Lucy, watching helplessly, suddenly received a notification.
Ding!
[‘Health Status Abnormal’ Warning!]
[All stamina for today has been depleted due to excessive running.
Forced sleep mode activated for player protection.]
Lucy let out a bitter laugh.
The penalty struck the moment Bartholomew disappeared from sight.
She collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut.
‘Just you wait.’
As her eyes grew heavy, Lucy vowed,
‘I will definitely become close to Bartholomew.’
Pacing nervously outside the patient rooms, the servant spotted Bartholomew and hurriedly asked,
“Bartholomew, where have you been without telling anyone?”
Ignoring the servant, Bartholomew walked past him and entered the patient room.
Servants normally weren’t allowed in the temple, and temple servants substituted for them, but the work was usually too much for them to fulfill their duties properly.
Yet the servant assigned to Bartholomew was obsessively protective of him.
He could tell that this servant was planted by the Paraday Duke.
Whenever Bartholomew came for healing, it was always like this.
No wonder he despised the temple.
The priests’ healing techniques had no effect.
And because he defied fate, he endured greater suffering than usual.
‘A disease that cannot be cured in the first place.’
A crooked smile appeared on Bartholomew’s lips.
He recalled the princess he had met earlier and chuckled to himself.
‘A curse, you say.’
To him, Lucy seemed perfectly normal—able to speak clearly and run energetically.
And yet she babbled about curses and illnesses. It was contemptible.
‘There’s no curse that can be lifted by the presence of a single person.’
No such curse existed, and he certainly wasn’t a miraculous person.
Shaking off the thought, he waited only for the day he could return to his estate.
Lucy, who had fainted in the herbal room, woke up in her bed.
A passing servant had found her and carried her there.
But even for merely running once, she had to endure the “health status abnormal” side effects.
Her body ached terribly.
Cecil, noticing her state, performed a formal healing.
“Today, you don’t need rehabilitation. Just lie down.”
Lucy obediently nodded, but as soon as Cecil left, she struggled to get up.
She intended to find Bartholomew.
‘Yesterday, I was completely out of line.’
Looking back, even she felt she had acted like a madwoman.
Rambling nonsense and then suddenly demanding an inseparable bond?
Who would want to speak to someone like that?
Moreover, Lucy was the “abandoned princess.”
Already someone other nobles avoided, she shouldn’t have approached Bartholomew like that.
‘I need to make up for yesterday’s disgrace.’
Clenching her fists, Lucy set out to find him.
Yet Bartholomew was nowhere to be found—not in the herbal room nor in the connected Special Management Room.
‘If he’s not undergoing treatment…’
What should she do with the remaining time?
Wandering through the temple’s common areas, Lucy finally encountered a servant who could guide her.
Still, Bartholomew was nowhere to be seen.
Feeling the limits of her stamina, Lucy decided to give the garden one last try.
As she opened the garden door, thunder roared—BOOM!
Rain poured with lightning streaking across the sky.
The wind was so strong that within three seconds of opening the door, Lucy was soaked.
The servant looked equally flustered.
“Princess, it would be better to postpone your walk.”
“…Ha ha.”
Lucy laughed bitterly.
The servant stared wide-eyed at her, as if she had gone mad.
‘Knowing Bartholomew doesn’t make my situation any easier.’
As if on cue, the storm began pouring.
Lucy stopped the servant, who was about to close the door.
“Umbrella.”
“Huh? You really intend to go out?”
Lucy didn’t answer, signaling not to ask further.
Reluctantly, the servant brought an umbrella.
Lucy stepped into the downpour, and the servant followed helplessly.
“Princess, I can hold the umbrella…!”
The servant nearly collided with her because she stopped abruptly.
“Princess?”
He tilted his head, following her gaze.
There was Cecil.
Unprepared for the rain, he stood soaking.
“I must bring an umbrella for Priest Cecil as well,” the servant muttered as he hurried back to the temple.
Lucy kept her eyes on Cecil.
He had no intention of going back inside.
Brushing wet hair from his face, he tilted his head toward the sky and closed his eyes, letting the rain soak him completely.
‘Come to think of it…’
Lucy held her hand out beyond the umbrella, feeling the raindrops fall onto her palm.
Adjusting her grip, she approached Cecil.
Startled, he flinched and turned.
His expression hardened.
“What are you doing?”
He hastily shoved the object in his hand into his pocket and strode toward her.
‘Huh?’
Lucy saw something fall from his pocket.
She bent down to pick it up, but Cecil grabbed her arm.
“I told you to stay quietly in your room.”
Out on a stormy day, after all the healing she had received…
“Do you intend to render it all meaningless?”
Swallowing nervously, Lucy replied.
“Or do you have no intention of getting better?”
“…….”
“What exactly do you want?”
Cecil stared at her silently, then let out a dry laugh.
“Could it be… you want my attention?”
He had suspected something when Lucy handed him herbs he enjoyed in tea, and now her behavior confirmed it.
Contempt glimmered in his eyes.
“Do as you please. I’ll only heal you and won’t see you again.”
Cecil dragged Lucy back into the temple.
‘Wait a minute…!’
Lucy tried to look at the object he dropped, but his grip was firm, and she had no choice but to follow.
