Episode 50 – Mending

*

After sending Mela’s son away, I returned to my room and opened the box Ellie had left three days prior.

Inside was a black robe with a mask and hood.

Not Baron Salvier’s mask, nor the domino mask I used to hide my identity, nor the white masks Ellie and Deborah wore, but a new mask.

It was a plague doctor mask, shaped like a bird’s beak, mainly used by doctors.

I picked up the mask and recalled the conversation I had with Ellie when she left this box.

,Ellie, I want to ask you one last thing,

,What is it?

,Why are you helping me?

Ellie tilted her head at my question.

She looked at me with an expression that seemed to scold me, as if saying, ‘What kind of stupid thing is that to say?’

Sensing her mood, I decided to add an explanation to my words before she could say anything.

,I understand that I have a grudge against Robin, but I don’t understand why you want to kill Robin.

,…Hmm, do you think political issues alone aren’t a strong enough motive?

,Yeah, no matter what, he’s a Hero, and he has a lot of support from the people. It would be the obvious choice to somehow win him over or use him for propaganda. Of course, I know his engagement with Daniel fell through, but I don’t understand why you immediately chose hostility after that.

Ellie raised her eyebrows slightly, looking surprised at my words.

,Oh… you’re more politically savvy than I thought, Ed.

,Really?

,Yeah, unlike that dumbass Hero who tried to awkwardly play both sides.

,…

,Um, you know, Ed. Actually, when I was young, I liked the Hero-nim.

,…What?

I stared at Ellie with wide eyes.

Ellie saw my expression and burst out laughing.

,Why are you so surprised? He’s the Hero-nim. There probably isn’t a single girl in all of Sionis who hasn’t harbored feelings for that brilliant blonde hair that shone in the Hero party’s journey to defeat the Demon King, which we read about in books as children, right?

,Huh, I guess so… Well, he did accomplish the feat of defeating the Demon King, and that bastard is unnecessarily handsome on the outside.

,Of course, I was so disappointed when I later met him in person and realized he was a dumbass blinded by his lust for power.

Ellie made a face as if she had eaten shit.

Having grown up in the heart of the political arena that is the Emperor’s Castle with a brilliant mind since childhood, Robin’s pathetic political skills must have been very disappointing to Ellie.

Of course, unlike her praise, even if I had survived and become a noble and engaged in politics, I might not have been much better than Robin.

Even when I was alive, I ignored all the nobles who approached me politically, saying it wasn’t my area to meddle in, as I had never received proper education.

Maybe I would have lived a peaceful life with Mela in some quiet countryside village, growing old together.

I scoffed at Robin’s ambition that didn’t suit him and said to Ellie.

,Ha, too bad.

,But that was all. That’s the only reason I dislike the Hero.

,…?

,Just that he’s politically incompetent but greedy, that’s the only complaint I have about that Hero. It’s annoying that he’s attached to the Valguir Dukedom and adding strength to the noble faction, but it’s not enough to want to kill him. Rather, our Empire would suffer a huge blow if it lost the Hero. It might even be divided again like before.

,…Why are you helping me, even though you, as a Princess, know that the Empire might be in danger?

Ellie stared at me intently.

Unlike her usual self, her expression was devoid of playfulness.

Ellie’s face, which had been hiding her emotions and thoughts with various expressions and rich reactions, shed all exaggeration and falsehood and turned towards me, revealing her true expression.

However, her true face, her true thoughts and feelings, were so deep that I couldn’t read them at all.

It seemed expressionless, but it also seemed to reveal all emotions at once, such as sadness, affection, apology, guilt, joy, pride, and gratitude.

Her jewel-like jade eyes seemed even more transparent, capturing my image as if trying to swallow me.

For some reason, looking directly at her gaze felt ticklish, so I looked at the small mole under Ellie’s right eye.

Ellie, who had been looking at me without saying a word for a long time, finally opened her mouth.

,…Because Ed is pitiful.

,Huh?

,And, because all the twelve-year-old girls in this world who have been deceived by those stupid fairy tales filled with lies are pitiful.

,…What’s that supposed to mean?

,Ed.

,Um?

,…No, nothing.

What was Ellie trying to say then?

Unfortunately, my head couldn’t keep up with her thoughts.

All I could do was hope that she wouldn’t become my enemy in the future.

Because killing Ellie would be a very difficult task.

*

Two days later, at dawn.

I stood in Siorand’s central square, fully dressed.

A black robe with a hood and top and bottom connected as one piece, gloves and boots made of tanned leather. A bird’s beak-shaped mask with glass covering the eyes and filled with various herbs.

It was a plague doctor’s outfit, covering me from head to toe in black.

Even without anything else, my appearance, standing alone in the empty square at dawn in the already ominous-looking plague doctor’s outfit, looked very bizarre.

Moreover, I had added wooden blocks inside my shoes to increase my height in order to hide my identity, and perhaps because of that, my movements were unnatural and grotesquely staggering.

I was thinking that if any passing citizens were to witness my current appearance, they might mistake me for a ghost, when.

A carriage was approaching me from afar.

The Boldiras family’s carriage slowly stopped in front of me.

The door of the carriage slowly opened, and Edward’s orange hair, Mela’s son, could be seen inside the door.

I cleared my throat once and got into the carriage.

,Nice to meet you. I was introduced by the Baron-nim. I am Edward Boldiras.

Edward seemed very nervous.

Whether it was because he was worried about his sister, whose life was in danger, or because he was worried about disobeying Robin’s words in order to save his sister,

Or perhaps it was because he had met such a bizarre-looking person from the dark dawn.

I tried my best to remove Baron Salvier’s unique foreign accent and spoke in a rough and rugged, yet low and rumbling voice.

,…I heard you’re a priest.

Perhaps because of the mask covering my mouth, my voice sounded much harsher and phlegm-filled than I intended.

Two days ago, when Edward came to me begging me to save Dena, I told him that a certain doctor had helped me.

When Edward asked how the doctor was able to undo the curse of undeath, I explained that the doctor surprisingly possessed divine power, but was not a priest affiliated with the Holy See, and gave him one request.

,No one knows his past, and it is not even known whether he is a defrocked former priest or a heretical priest, but he does not seem to have good feelings towards the priests of the Goddess Church, so do not ask about his identity or make him uncomfortable.

Perhaps because of my request, Edward seemed to be very tense.

He was so nervous that he even stuttered as he answered.

,Ye… Yes, I’m an apprentice.

,…Hmm, it seems the Goddess Church can’t spare a priest, huh?

,…N-No, it’s not that.

,Shh, that’s enough.

,Yes… Yes? Ah, yes.

,…I won’t ask about the details, so don’t ask me anything either.

,…I understand. I only ask that you please save my sister.

,…Hoo,

After that, until the carriage arrived at Robin’s mansion with a rattling sound, Edward and I did not exchange a single word.

As an apprentice priest undergoing training at the Holy See, Edward would have been reluctant to receive help from an unidentified doctor who might be a heretic.

For a priest, contact with a heretic was an act that carried the risk of being defrocked if caught.

Nevertheless, Edward braced himself and accepted Baron Salvier’s introduction.

Just as Ellie had predicted.

*

,She has regained consciousness since about four days ago, but she is still under the curse of undeath.

,…

Edward and I entered the room where Dena was sleeping, avoiding people’s eyes.

Edward looked at Dena, who was breathing heavily, with a pitiful expression.

Dena’s complexion, lying in bed, looked very bad even at a glance.

My heart felt heavy thinking that it was because she had been hurt by Daniel, who was resurrected by my scheme.

In fact, even while directly watching Daniel bite her, I didn’t care at all what happened to this girl, and even if Dena had died then, I wouldn’t have felt much emotion at the time.

However, that night after the incident, Lily’s plea not to become accustomed to cruelty continued to linger in my mind for days.

,I’m Lily, not Robin’s daughter.

Those words, along with Lily’s blue galaxy-like eyes that shone as we finally met eyes, remained in my heart, wandering around and leaving many footprints.

After looking into her eyes, my perspective on Dena and my overall revenge seemed to be changing as well.

The fact that she is an innocent eight-year-old girl.

And the fact that Dena is not Robin’s child, which I heard from Edward two days ago, was also one of the reasons for changing my perspective.

Of course, Dena was still Jennifer’s daughter, but that didn’t bother me much.

If Banata is in this mansion, as Ellie said, and if the reason she kidnapped Banata is really ‘that’, as Ellie said,

It was as good as saying that revenge on Jennifer was approaching.

In order to prove that my revenge for what Robin and Jennifer had done to me was just and righteous,

No, rather, for another narrative that would add to the flavor of my revenge, I decided to mend what I had done.

Having decided to lift Dena’s curse, I said to Edward in a low voice.

,Leave.

,…Yes?

,I said leave.

,…

Edward looked flustered.

It was natural.

Edward would have no intention of leaving his sister, who was in the weakest and most painful state he had ever seen, in the care of this unidentified human.

However, Edward was a priest in training at the Holy See, albeit an apprentice.

If I used Mela’s divine power in front of him, there was a very high risk that he would recognize it, so I strongly insisted.

,It’s not a sight I want to show to a priest of the Goddess Church.

,Th-That’s…

,If you don’t trust me, you can stop now.

,… Ugh,

Edward looked at Dena and bit his lip.

Daniel and Rose, Edward and Dena, Robin’s children really seem to have a strong sibling bond.

I gave Edward time to think it over.

After a while, Edward looked at me. No, he glared at me.

His bitten lip was torn by his teeth, and blood was forming.

,Please, never, ever harm Dena.

,… Okay.

I approached Dena’s bedside.

,Close the door and leave. I’ll call you when it’s all over, so stay in front of the door.

,…Please take care of her.

Tak.

As soon as the door closed, golden mist rose from my right hand.

.