Ch.92Rose (4)

The painful diagnosis is concealed by a momentary lie.

The faint breath continues quietly.

The rose sleeps deeply, unaware of her surroundings.

Leaving the girl to rest, we were casually sharing tea in the adjacent room.

Across from the plush sofa sits a platinum-blonde girl.

“……”

Charlotte maintained her silence.

She seemed lost in her thoughts.

The hot teacup merely hung between her fingers, cooling without movement since earlier.

Beyond her transparent pupils, complex emotions could be glimpsed.

‘She’s still in this state.’

I hold back a bitter smile.

Hope that arrived suddenly.

The girl appeared to have something to say, but hesitated, unable to voice it.

In our occasionally crossing gazes, wavering emotions were contained.

‘Perhaps she’s in shock.’

I gently set down my teacup.

At this rate, we might stay up all night, so I decided to speak first.

I ask in an utterly calm tone.

“How was it?”

A casually tossed question.

Though brief, it clearly referred to the rose.

It must have been a while since Elise looked so comfortable.

As I quietly wait for an answer, a subdued voice eventually reaches me.

Sinking blue eyes.

“…Can you really cure her?”

The question breaks pitifully.

Even at a glance, it was more wish than question.

I didn’t nod immediately.

Instead, I smiled as if deliberately making her anxious.

“Would it be difficult…?”

Charlotte grows more restless.

With her beloved sister’s life at stake, the girl scrutinizes even the slightest twist of my lips.

Her agitated gaze forgets its usual coldness.

Currently, Charlotte was emotionally precarious.

Hope, and despair.

Two intense emotions swirling together.

While hopeful about finding a way to save her sister, she simultaneously suffered anxiety that this too might fail.

The endless emotional rollercoaster was enough to shake the girl.

“It’s not difficult.”

I thought.

Now is the time.

It was time to tame the little princess.

With cracks forming in her once-solid heart and a momentary gap appearing, I saw an opportunity to wedge myself in.

I casually let words slip as I rise from my seat.

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s entirely possible.”

I’m targeting her moment of confusion.

Humans, being powerless before despair, instinctively seek hope to rely on in moments of weakness.

Even a four-dimensional girl like her would be no different.

While positioning myself as a wall to lean on, I also intended to become a deep swamp that would swallow the princesses.

For this, I needed to instill trust.

“You must trust me.”

Trust that I was someone worth relying on.

“Your Highness.”

“……”

Transparent pupils stare blankly in my direction.

I slowly move.

To the sofa opposite where the princess sits.

Slipping behind it, I place my hand on the girl’s shoulder.

I bring my lips close to her white ear and speak.

“The treatment won’t be easy.”

“……”

“But if Your Highness follows my instructions well, it’s not impossible.”

“…What do I need to do?”

“Nothing much. Just follow my directions absolutely regarding the treatment.”

“If I do that, can you save Elise?”

“I give you my word of honor. If I’m lying, you may bury my head in the ground.”

“Yes… I’ll believe you. I’ll do whatever you say.”

The girl nods as if entranced.

Even as she steps into the swamp, her blue eyes shine transparently.

I smile gently with affection.

“That’s a good attitude.”

Though this was merely the stage of dangling bait, it wasn’t a bad start.

I whisper in a low volume.

“Please remember.”

In this despair.

The only person who can pull you out.

“Is none other than me.”

This marked the beginning of proper princess gaslighting.

***

Elise Rose von Staufen.

The Empire’s Second Princess and Charlotte’s younger sister, yet her treatment in the imperial family was poor.

This was due to the illness she suffered from.

Mana Stone Disease.

Despite having “disease” in its name, people strongly perceived it as a curse.

It was so bad that it even carried the superstition of having earned God’s hatred.

The problem was that even the academic world accepted such superstitions as established theory.

Medical arts, magic, divine power… Despite centuries of research, they hadn’t even found a clue for treatment, meaning that even experts had essentially given up.

In this situation, Stone Disease had truly become a symbol of ill fortune.

‘I can’t say I don’t understand.’

I think it made sense.

Appearing without warning, with unknown causes, no solutions, limited samples, virtually no information, and ultimately leading to inevitable death.

There was no explanation other than abandonment by God.

‘Moreover.’

The patient’s mana lines harden completely.

As a result, the internal flow reverses, and sharp broken fragments circulate, tearing apart the internal organs.

Even the process leading to death was so horrific that the perception could only be the worst.

In fact, looking at cases from the past few centuries, there were records of patients being burned at the stake for purification, accused of receiving God’s curse.

Such a curse, remembered like a nightmare.

Had manifested in none other than the Empire’s princess.

‘Naturally, the imperial family was turned upside down.’

The rose who had been the people’s flower until yesterday suddenly became a sinner who had incurred God’s wrath.

This phenomenon could easily be interpreted as an ill omen for the Empire.

It was obvious that it would cause unrest not just within imperial politics, but among the imperial citizens as well.

Therefore, the Emperor took swift action.

The matter was covered up as an imperial secret.

All involved parties were silenced, and only a minimum of close associates were allowed to know.

The rose was confined to a separate palace to prevent news from leaking.

To the outside world, the princess declined all social activities due to poor health.

‘Poor thing.’

She wasn’t even ten years old yet.

Of course, considering the political turmoil that followed and the girl’s well-being, the Emperor’s response was truly wise, but ultimately the rose was left alone from a young age.

Spending nearly 10 years in confinement.

-This is too modest for a national princess to reside in.

-…Yes.

That was also why her residence was particularly modest.

Because access was extremely restricted.

The First Princess was about the only one who visited the separate palace regularly.

The rose spent her days waiting for death, cared for by a few maids.

This was all I learned from playing the original game.

[EP???. For Elise]

-A lonely nest, a rose withering in winter-

This was the backstory revealed in a side story.

I had uploaded a separate video about it, but the ending wasn’t particularly good, leaving a bitter taste.

The rose was a character who met death in every route.

“It’s truly regrettable.”

I mutter as if in mourning.

As I stand with my hands clasped, I feel a cold gaze directly in front of me.

“……”

Long, flowing red hair.

Lifeless green eyes devoid of vitality.

Pale complexion emphasizing her frailty.

It was none other than Elise.

The girl was sitting on the bed, glaring at me.

Her fiercely widened eyes seemed to directly ask, “Why are you here?”

I smile calmly.

“Good morning. I am Judas Snakus, who will be serving as Your Highness’s physician from today.”

“……”

“I apologize for yesterday’s rudeness.”

“Ha.”

Perhaps recalling yesterday’s intense memory?

The rose lets out a scornful laugh.

That reaction contained blatant contempt.

The girl clenched her fists as if ready to pounce at any moment.

A venomous light still swirled in her pupils.

“You… shut up. I want to kill you right now.”

“Are you still holding a grudge?”

“Shut up.”

“I told you it was just part of the treatment. Besides, it was Charlotte who entrusted me with such a request.”

“Your shamelessness reaches the heavens. To dare lay hands on a royal body.”

“I merely fulfilled my duty as a subject.”

“After raping a national princess.”

“That’s completely untrue. I had no contact beyond treatment.”

“If not for the First Princess, you would have been executed immediately.”

Elise mutters through gritted teeth.

Her pupils were filled with murderous intent, but she couldn’t exact any revenge.

She couldn’t even leave the bed easily.

“Ugh, haa…”

The sickly princess gasps for breath just from getting briefly heated.

It seemed the cycle of seizures was returning.

I gently add.

“I came because you seem to need treatment today as well.”

“Get out.”

“It’s by Charlotte’s order.”

“I don’t need it… get out. I never asked for a physician in the first place.”

“Aren’t you in pain?”

“I’ve lived like this my whole life.”

The rose stubbornly refuses treatment.

Is she not afraid of seizures?

It’s obvious she’ll be writhing on the floor coughing blood, so why is she so adamant?

The girl merely fumbled at the desk beside the bed.

Clatter-

The storage drawer opens roughly.

After rummaging inside briefly, her hand successfully grasps something.

It was a pocket knife the size of a palm.

The girl unwrapped the bandages wound tightly around her wrist, then brought the sharp silver edge to her skin.

Watching blankly, I belatedly realize her action.

“You mustn’t.”

I grab her delicate wrist.

Inside the bandages, countless straight-line scars were densely packed.

They were clearly self-inflicted marks.

The girl applies pressure to her captured hand as if trying to hide them.

“Let go.”

It was a kind of folk remedy.

A method to calm seizures caused by mana reversal.

Creating wounds far from the energy center and forcibly balancing by bleeding.

It temporarily alleviates pain but doesn’t provide a fundamental solution, and being self-destructive, it’s an avoided method.

Looking carefully, she had bandages not only on both arms but around her neck as well.

No way.

“…Your condition is more serious than I thought.”

I noticed she’d been fidgeting with her bandages for a while, thinking she found them uncomfortable.

It was withdrawal symptoms.

Once the habit forms, it becomes highly addictive.

Especially with unstable mana flow, the stability gained from such acts would be significant.

Judging by the state of the scars, it had been going on for at least three years.

There were hints in the original work, but I didn’t know it was this serious.

“You’re refusing treatment in this state?”

“……”

“This won’t do.”

I thought I’d been too harsh yesterday and planned to be gentler today.

But seeing this, I can’t back down either.

Snap-!

Without delay, I snap my fingers.

Shadows emerge immediately.

They intertwine like ropes again, restraining the girl’s rigid body to the bed.

It was recreating the exact scene from yesterday.

“Wait…?!”

The red-haired girl falls onto the blanket in surprise.

Gathering dark lies at my fingertips, I lift the rose’s thinly worn nightgown.

Then I slowly caress her stomach.

“Today will be rougher than yesterday. Please endure it for a long time.”

I said to the resisting rose.