Ch.90Rose (2)

“Get out.”

The first time she spoke.

However, it was an infinitely cold echo to be directed at family.

Sharlotte’s lips falter.

“······Elise.”

“I said get out. I don’t want to see that disgusting face.”

“But.”

“Can’t you hear me? All of you, get lost.”

“······.”

The rigid sentences strike harshly.

Trembling blue eyes.

She seemed intimidated by the fierce response, but before long, Sharlotte clenched her fist.

It was a firm resolve that she couldn’t yield this time.

“You need treatment. An opportunity like this won’t come again.”

“What does that have to do with you?”

“Because I’m your sister.”

“Ha… what nonsense.”

The rose lets out a hollow laugh.

Her slender fingers grab something and throw it at the girl before her.

It was an empty vase that had been on the bedside table.

Crash-!

It narrowly misses Sharlotte before falling to the floor and shattering.

The glass fragments scattered at her feet are particularly eerie.

“······.”

The violent action finally silences the sister.

The younger sister, filled with terrible coldness, only glared at her not-so-distant blood relative.

Her bloodless lips murmur as if in warning.

“I told you clearly. Whether I die or not, it’s not your concern.”

“······.”

“I don’t need your pity.”

“You know it’s not pity.”

“I never wanted to know. Not once have I ever wanted to be alive by your side.”

“Why do you… always say such hurtful things?”

The conversation flows in a suffocating direction.

I belatedly recall the setting.

Elise’s characteristics.

She has a poor relationship with her sister Sharlotte, and her personality is difficult.

Similar scenes existed in the original work.

‘Was it this bad?’

Looking at the sinking Sharlotte, such thoughts naturally remain.

The atmosphere had grown irreversibly cold.

Both of them seemed to have forgotten my presence.

As I stood there wondering what to do, Elise suddenly clutches her chest and begins coughing.

At the same time, blood mixes with her painful breaths.

“Cough, ugh…!”

A pained expression.

The momentary blood spitting adds a red color to her previously white lips.

Sharlotte moves as if to rush over immediately, but stops at the words telling her to get lost.

She freezes, unable to move forward or back.

It’s an uncharacteristically agitated appearance.

She wants to stop the seizure but doesn’t know how.

She wanted to at least hold her hand, but it was obvious that would only trigger more convulsions, so she was truly helpless.

I sense that now is precisely the right timing.

“Your Highness.”

I gently grasp Sharlotte’s shoulder.

When her trembling pupils turn to look back, I smile reassuringly and speak confidently.

“Let me try something.”

“Can you do something…?”

“Of course. Isn’t that why you called for me?”

Faith is truly cunning.

In the most difficult moment, it’s enough to whisper the most desired words.

People are weak.

They take the words they want to hear as the foundation of trust.

I whisper sweet words.

“I think I can fix it.”

The blue eyes widen.

The one phrase she most wanted to hear.

Though just a brief sound, it fills the void.

Through the loosely entangled strings of trust, I whisper one condition that cannot possibly be refused.

It is the first step that will put a leash around my own neck.

“But for the treatment, I need Your Highness’s active cooperation.”

“Cooperation…?”

“Trust in me.”

Poor young prince.

The possibility that she, who has cherished the rose for so long, would refuse this condition…

“······I understand. I’ll do whatever you say.”

…is nonexistent.

***

A few minutes later.

Only the rose and I remain in the room.

This was what I had requested.

The statement that others couldn’t be present for the treatment to proceed.

The already half-entranced Sharlotte had nodded and headed outside with the maid who had been in charge of nursing.

The scene, devoid of human presence, was deathly quiet.

“Cough…!”

Only the occasional cough was the entirety of the noise.

I stare at the bed shrouded in darkness.

A single rose blooming pitifully.

Though she seemed to be enduring as much as possible, her face already showed clear signs of suffering.

Her complexion was beyond pale, it was ghastly white.

“How pitiful.”

I mutter as if deliberately for her to hear.

Fortunately, her ears seemed to be working properly, as Elise raised her lowered head upon hearing my words.

She looks up with narrowed eyes.

“Haa, haa…”

Even while struggling to catch her breath, her pupils flashed with a venomous light.

I meet such a gaze head-on.

An intersection without an inch of retreat.

I scratch at her with a sarcastic tone.

“Aren’t you in pain?”

“Get… out… I clearly told everyone to leave…!”

“It’s to treat Your Highness’s illness. Please forgive this unworthy servant’s disloyalty.”

“I don’t… cough, need, that.”

“I need it. When I want something, I never let it go.”

“Talking… nonsense…!”

Crash-!

As I move closer to the bed, suddenly a glass cup grazes my cheek.

The missed object shatters noisily again.

“My.”

Bad hand habits.

When taming her, I’d need to correct such habits first.

“Ugh, urgh… cough!”

For now, stopping the seizure takes priority.

I immediately approach the girl.

Elise had been unable to stop coughing up blood since earlier.

Although her fierce reactions might make it seem less severe, she must be suffering from pain that could hardly be described.

Because that was the nature of the “disease” she was suffering from.

‘Mana Stone Disease’

A condition where each mana line in the body hardens like stone, eventually causing the entire body to crumble into pieces.

A mysterious disease with unclear causes.

Though it has existed in records for a long time, not a single person has survived it so far.

A terminal illness with a survival rate approaching 0%.

In short, it’s like a curse that leaves nothing but despair.

Theoretically, treatment is said to be impossible, but if I am the one performing the operation, the story changes.

I intended to twist the natural order to save this girl.

‘Not too hastily.’

Taking time slowly.

So that I could completely devour everything that remained around me.

Snap-!

I lightly flick my fingers.

An invisible curtain forms in the room, completely blocking any sound from reaching outside.

With this, the surrounding space becomes a perfect sealed room.

Sharlotte will be guarding the entrance, and no sound from inside can be heard outside.

No matter what screams might be uttered, the outside would not notice.

“Hehe.”

Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the rose.

Was she trying to resist?

The red-haired girl raised herself up, then threw back the blanket and clenched her fist.

She seemed to be trying to act out to avoid treatment.

Of course.

“Not a chance.”

Clap-!

I lightly clap my hands.

Following the clear sound, several strands of shadow extend outward.

The pitch-black ropes bind the girl’s limbs one by one, then fix her body so she cannot move.

Elise flinches in surprise.

“Wh-what is this all of a sudden…?!”

The first sign of agitation since I entered the room.

I draw a sinister smile.

Has she realized something is wrong?

The rose tries desperately to resist, but the tightly woven knots would not come undone.

She could only lie spread-eagled.

“Wait, what are you trying to do…!”

“I’ll fix various things for you. Whether it’s your painful disease or your bad habits.”

=I’ll heal your internal injuries little by little so they don’t spread.

I gently extend my hand.

Perhaps because she was ill, the girl was wearing only a thin nightgown.

Her body’s curves were clearly visible.

Swish-.

I grasp the fabric covering her skin and slowly lift it up as if undressing her.

With that slight movement, the girl’s stomach is exposed.

Skin that preserves its pure white complexion.

I gently stroke her slender abdomen with my fingertips.

‘I need to concentrate.’

Since it was where the mana lines in her body converged, it required delicate work utilizing deception.

I intended to regenerate slowly to avoid leaving aftereffects.

With my palm on her stomach, her warm body temperature seeps through.

“Huh…?!”

Elise moans at the unexpected situation.

Upon seeing her own state, she trembles with shock and stammers.

“Y-y-you… Do you know what you’re doing?!”

“I know better than anyone.”

=I’m treating your illness.

“Let go! Cough! Is this why you made everyone else leave the room from the start?!”

“You’re quick-witted. It was all for this.”

=It would be embarrassing to show such a scene to others.

The green eyes shake violently.

Reflecting myself in her transparent pupils, I raise the corners of my mouth as gently as possible.

It was the smile of a doctor looking down at a patient.

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.”

=Don’t worry, I’ll treat you without causing pain.

I press firmly on the girl’s lower abdomen.