Ch.93Rose (5)

The warmth of skin beneath my fingertips.

As I press my palm against it, craving that body heat, labored breaths escape through rose-tinted lips.

The red-haired girl lay on the bed, her appearance completely disheveled.

“Haa, haa…”

Her trembling gaze glares at me.

Though I hadn’t even begun the actual treatment yet, she had exhausted herself from her fierce resistance.

Murderous intent drips from her leaf-like eyes.

“You… dare to… do this again…!”

Her tightly clenched fist looks ready to deliver violence at any moment.

Behind her chilling voice hides shame and shock at her current situation.

Perhaps she’s finally realized that resistance is futile.

Elise had relaxed her limbs, merely glaring with wide eyes.

I respond with a smile.

“It’s the same as last time. It won’t hurt, so please relax.”

“I clearly… told you… to get lost!”

“I didn’t intend to go this far, but after seeing Your Highness’s condition, I decided to take a firmer approach.”

“Don’t… ugh, don’t touch… my body…!”

“That’s one request I’m afraid I cannot honor.”

I firmly shake my head.

It was obvious that the rose wouldn’t listen to anything I said now.

My thinking was that I needed to restore her damaged state, even if it meant adopting somewhat forceful methods.

I speak while holding onto that soft sensation.

“Then… I’ll begin the treatment.”

Simultaneously, shadows ripple from my fingertips.

The thin coating over my finger joints gradually seeps into the skin it touches.

A squirming sensation.

The rose’s pupils tremble in surprise.

She exhales a held breath, followed by a faint moan.

Her breathing was thoroughly disturbed.

“Huh…?!”

A particularly clear sound rings out.

Her small frame trembles as if terrified, but the coiled snake had no intention of releasing its prey.

It merely licks her nape with a flicking tongue.

“You’ll feel better soon.”

This could be called the start of the real treatment.

If yesterday was just a light sample, today was the time to address the fundamental causes.

I expend a small amount of output.

Swish-

The thinly spreading darkness seeps into her abdomen.

Before long, it causes invisible changes beyond.

“…?!”

Elise’s shoulders twitch.

Perhaps due to the unfamiliar sensation.

Currently, her body’s sensitivity was increased nearly twofold.

By maximizing the stimulation the patient receives, I could more easily detect the flow of mana throughout her body.

Thanks to this, the girl was more sensitive than ever before.

“St-stop, hng, don’t… what are you doing… to my body…?”

The sensitivity she’s experiencing is probably even greater than that.

The stimulation entering her body suddenly increased from 100 to 200.

I had adjusted potentially dangerous sensations like pain, but other nerves remained fully active, making it overwhelming.

For example, smell, hearing, touch… or even pleasure.

So her intense reactions weren’t surprising.

“Ugh, ungh… this is strange, why suddenly…!”

I stroke her head as if to soothe her.

Perhaps even that felt alien to her.

She jerked her head away, forcing me to remove my hand.

‘This seems harder than expected.’

I’d have to postpone other thoughts for later.

I stop biding my time.

I concentrate my output on my fingertips where they touch her.

Then, as if exploring her warm flesh, I firmly press my palm against her pale abdomen.

Exactly at the point forming her dantian.

“Ughak?!”

A breath bursts out in response.

Perhaps due to the intense stimulation.

Her waist lightly jumps up, but even that is blocked by my pressing hand.

Her pitiful frame could only tremble.

“You mustn’t move.”

Perhaps the beginning is always difficult.

Since I had anticipated this level of response, I calmly waited for the girl to settle down.

With my other hand, I stroke the rose’s head.

“Ah, ugh… what, haa, are you trying to do?”

“As I said, it’s treatment. Since it’s delicate work, please refrain from sudden movements.”

The surgical method was simple.

Restoring each heavily contaminated mana line one by one.

The approach was to inject mana into the central dantian, let it flow into the tiny channels, and push out the backflowed energy with properly ordered energy.

It sounds simple, but in reality, it’s nearly impossible.

First, I had to manipulate mana individually.

While handling particle-sized units, I also had to ensure the pathways didn’t deviate.

This process had to be applied sequentially to numerous channels, making the procedure difficult not only in execution but also requiring considerable time to reach the healing stage.

It was a procedure ordinary doctors couldn’t even attempt.

‘Of course.’

For me, it was the ideal method.

I could take my time with the treatment, steadily demonstrate recovery, and the burden on the patient was relatively minimal.

I just needed to leisurely consume the princesses during the given period.

The difficulty of manipulation posed no problem for me.

If I could restore even a chimera with a single gesture, failing at this would make the name “Worst” weep.

I continue the treatment with a faint smile.

“You’re enduring well.”

Squeeze-

I press her abdomen once more.

Her shoulders twitch.

By now, her ragged breath was boiling like a mild fever.

Her feeble hands tightly grip the bedsheet, and her lips are bitten as if suppressing sounds.

She was desperately enduring.

“Ugh… st-stop, I don’t, need, treatment, hng.”

Squeeze-

“Hngh…!”

Elise squeezes her eyes shut.

Her sprawling breaths boil like a mild fever.

Perhaps frightened by the alien sensation, there’s even a slight moisture gathering at her eyes.

Yet her gaze remained unbroken with killing intent.

She was keeping her pitiful thorns raised until the end, truly like a single rose.

Perhaps because her resilient appearance was particularly admirable.

I stroked Elise’s head several more times.

“Good. You’re getting used to it gradually.”

“You… I’ll kill, you, ugh, you piece of… trash…!”

“That wouldn’t be a bad end. Of course, that’s a matter for after Your Highness’s treatment is complete.”

“Hic, ungh…!”

Squeeze-

The girl trembles pitifully.

She seemed to look for someone to help her, but unfortunately, there was no one else in the dark room.

Only the sickly rose and the golden snake existed there.

Since she had agreed to follow my instructions completely, Sharlotte was waiting in the next room with her maid.

No matter how much noise was made here, it wouldn’t reach the other side.

I had soundproofed it like yesterday.

“Just continue like this.”

Squeeze, squeeze-

The repetitive hand movements.

The first treatment was only completed after about three hours.

Perhaps because I had expended quite a lot of output for so long.

As I remove my hand that feels cramped, the exhausted rose’s breath reaches my ear.

Elise lies powerlessly.

“Haa, haa…”

The girl was drenched in sweat.

As a result, her wet nightgown revealed what was underneath, and the sticky scent of flesh colored the air in the room.

Her pupils, seemingly focused yet unfocused, were particularly beautiful.

“Well done.”

I offer a light word of appreciation.

Elise in her disheveled state.

Her nightgown, revealing the underside of her chest, barely covers the tips that form above it.

Slight hand marks remain on her pale abdomen.

“Your body should feel much better now. With consistent treatment, recovery is possible.”

I snap my fingers.

Snap-!

After the light bursting sound.

The disheveled girl returns to a neat appearance.

It was a consideration I offered, thinking she might feel uncomfortable from sweating.

Also to tidy up the surroundings I had disturbed.

“Well then.”

“……”

“I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

“…just die.”

The rose mutters as if scraping the words out.

Beyond her upward-gazing eyes, venom is clearly visible.

Perhaps she’s still not broken.

I smile in response and caress the girl’s cheek, which still retains some heat.

Thorns hide at the end of the velvety sensation.

“You’ll come to realize.”

I whisper with a cunning tongue.

“That even such resistance has no meaning.”

Sweet breath tickles her ear.

Elise merely clenched her fist, her body trembling from near exhaustion.

Though she may resist now.

A touch she will not be able to defy in the future.

“I can do whatever I want with Your Highness at any time.”

Her pale complexion is especially fragile.

As I feel the warmth at my fingertips, suddenly a voice brushes past my ear.

One of the fragments of a now-shattered past.

-Brother… I hurt.

-I cried because I missed you, but I stopped right away like the nurse said.

-Hehe! So hurry up and pat my head!

I make a vow while feeling the fragile body heat.

To prevent the coming tragedy, to save Sharlotte from despair, to ensure everyone reaches a happy ending.

So that your fairy tale will be different from mine.

“I will definitely save Your Highness.”

Definitely.

I will save you.