Chapter: 25
“Is that true, Lady Winiel?”
“Of course it is.”
It wasn’t me who answered Sylven.
“Lady Zaira?”
Zaira had walked over without my noticing and stopped right in front of me.
“Our saint candidate seems to be quite curious.”
She looked down at me with a smile. But her eyes weren’t smiling at all.
“That purification stone has had its holy power depleted, so of course its purity appears low right now.”
“Ah, that must be it!”
Sylven’s bewildered expression cleared up immediately. And rightly so—even to me, it sounded plausible.
“See? Now you understand, curious little saint candidate?”
“But that’s strange, though. Everyone’s had purification stones with this level of holy power for a week now.”
It didn’t work on me, however.
“……That’s impossible. You must be mistaken.”
“Me? Well, I am a promising saint candidate after all…… I can at least tell how much holy power is in a purification stone…….”
I lowered my head, pretending to be sulky, and fiddled with the temple emblem on my wrist.
I hadn’t expected to milk this ‘saint candidate’ status so much.
‘If it works, use it.’
I felt no hesitation. I’d keep milking it from now on!
“Lady Winiel here is the real deal! She took down monsters and saved the young duke, didn’t she!”
Sylven patted my shoulder, comforting me.
At that, Zaira’s expression crumpled.
Sylven probably hadn’t said it with any ulterior motive, but now it seemed she couldn’t just dismiss me as wrong.
“Well, it’s not that I don’t believe you. If it’s about holy power, a saint candidate would know best.”
“Then this purification stone…….”
“Hah, the supplier must have sent the wrong ones.”
“How could they……!”
“I’ll contact them and demand an explanation. How could they make a mistake like this…….”
Zaira ran a hand through her hair, annoyed. A quick change of attitude.
‘That’s the only way out she has.’
But still, the fact that she didn’t offer a single apology in all of this grated on me.
Not a shred of responsibility. She’s an adult who’s aged in reverse.
‘But this is as far as I can go.’
Unfortunately, apart from pointing out the defective stone, there was nothing more I could say here.
Sylven believed me and was confused, so I’d achieved my goal.
“Then I’ll go explain it to the Duke! Leave it to me!”
“……!”
Now, the rest could be done in front of the Duke!
“Lady Winiel, please come in.”
Sylven came out of the Duke’s office and guided me inside.
“Greetings, Duke.”
“Yes.”
The Duke was as calm as usual. Or rather, he seemed so. On the surface.
‘I didn’t expect him to summon me so urgently. Was it really that big of a deal?’
As soon as the defective purification stone was revealed, the Duke had immediately called for me.
His expression might have been indifferent, but his actions couldn’t have been more urgent.
“I’ve heard the story. They say the purification stone was defective. Is it true?”
“I don’t know if it’s defective, but the stone I saw had very low purity.”
“What about this one?”
The Duke took a purification stone from his inner pocket and placed it on the table.
“……There’s not much difference.”
“…….”
At my words, the Duke pressed his hand to his forehead.
His reaction was more serious than I’d expected. I cautiously spoke up, gauging his mood.
“Um, but is that illness really that severe?”
“It’s a rare disease. There’s no proper cure. If you get it, all you can do is watch as the person wastes away.”
“A rare disease?”
Gasp. What if I got it too?
I flinched instinctively.
“You won’t get it, so don’t worry.”
Noticing my reaction, the Duke quickly added.
Phew.
But as relief washed over me, a question mark popped into my head.
“But does the illness pick and choose who it affects? You seem especially worried about the young duke catching it.”
Actually, I’d been curious about this from earlier.
But whenever I tried to ask about the illness, Sylven kept avoiding my gaze, and Zaira hadn’t answered any of my questions afterward.
“……That’s because.”
The Duke, who had been silent, seemed to make a decision and opened his mouth.
“It’s a hereditary disease.”
Ah.
A simple answer, without even a name for the illness.
But the moment I heard that answer, I understood what the disease was.
‘He’s talking about the disease Cain’s father had.’
The Duke of Argent himself didn’t seem to be ill, so the hereditary disease must have come from Cain’s father’s side.
After all, in the original story, it was mentioned that he was suffering from a serious illness.
“To be precise, it’s the predisposition to the disease that’s hereditary. Anyway, that’s why I’m careful to ensure Cain doesn’t catch it.”
“……And the way to prevent infection is to use purification stones?”
The Duke nodded.
“……And Lady Zaira, the physician, said that?”
Nod.
“…….”
I was at a loss for words.
‘Uh, well…… what is this?’
As I was trying to sort out my thoughts in this unexpectedly complicated situation, the Duke, seeming troubled, finally let out a sigh he’d been holding back.
“Anyway, I called you to hear directly whether it’s truly fake. Thank you for your answer. You may leave now.”
The Duke concluded the conversation, as if his only purpose really was to confirm whether the stone was defective or not.
He seemed too preoccupied with the immediate worry of Cain catching the disease to think about anything else.
“Ah, and since things have turned out this way, I’m afraid we won’t be able to have meals together anymore.”
“!”
No, that can’t happen! I uncovered all this precisely to prevent that!
His shocking final statement set my mind racing.
“That’s not a problem—! ……I’m sorry for raising my voice…….”
I shot up and shouted, then quickly came to my senses and sat back down.
Fortunately, the Duke just looked startled for a moment but didn’t reprimand me.
“What do you mean by that? Not a problem?”
“Because Sir Gerard Argent’s illness isn’t contagious.”
I didn’t know much about this disease.
The original story didn’t cover Gerard Argent’s illness in great detail.
But that didn’t mean I knew nothing at all.
‘Right before Gerard Argent dies, a physician discovers it’s not contagious, and Cain goes to the North to see his father.’
Even though Gerard Argent had already passed away by the time Cain arrived in the North.
‘Anyway, the important thing now is that the disease doesn’t transmit to Cain.’
Besides, that physician’s name wasn’t Zaira.
“How do you know that?”
Ah, did I speak too bluntly?
I’d just blurted it out, desperate to stop the Duke.
“Don’t tell me.”
Gulp.
“Did you see the future?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Fortunately, the Duke chose to go along with it.
Phew.
“I don’t know the details of the illness, but it didn’t seem like something contagious.”
The Duke’s expression barely changed. He maintained his stoic face even in this situation.
But the way he looked at me was calmer than before. Had his worry eased a little? I hoped so.
I continued.
“And this is just my opinion, and it might be presumptuous, but I’ve never heard of purification stones being effective in preventing the transmission of diseases. I think it would be wise to look into it a bit more.”
I was telling him that Zaira was a liar.
‘Sigh, so it was because of a troublemaker like this that the relationship between Cain and the Duke was so strained.’
I’d just thought the Duke had a strange personality.
These kinds of details weren’t in the original story, so I hadn’t known.
But now that I did, I couldn’t let Zaira interfere with the Duke and Cain’s relationship any longer.
“…….”
My words ended, but the Duke said nothing.
He merely closed his eyes slowly and opened them again, as if deep in thought.
“Alright, I understand. But…… the meals are still off the table.”
“……!”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but even so, I can’t be completely at ease.”
“……Yes.”
If that’s how he feels, there’s no helping it.
I understood. The Duke cherished Cain too much to blindly believe my words.
“Well then, since the conversation is over, I’ll take my leave…….”
I bid the Duke farewell and left the office.
“…….”
But my steps were heavy.
‘Honestly, I thought he’d listen to me.’
Was it because I’d lost the means to mend the relationship between the Duke and Cain?
I understood the Duke, but my heart was troubled.
Eventually, on my way to my room, I plopped down on the stairs.
‘What do I do now?’
I felt lost. What could I do here to improve things between them…….
“Why are you sitting there?”
Just then, someone beside me spoke.
It was Cain.
