episode_0011

“Subdue the traitor!”

As soon as Yugram’s shout hit the banquet hall, the knights of the banquet hall instinctively moved according to their training. They blocked the entrance, guarded the royal family, and approached to subdue Gabinas. In the meantime, the only one who did not move was Amias, who was staring blankly at Gabinas with his hand on his sword.

‘Incompetent..!’

As a knight guard, he failed to stop the princess’s actions? Up until that point, even Yugram himself had nothing to say. However, what else could you call an knight guard who forgot his duty and became absorbed in personal feelings after the situation arose, if not incompetent?

While the Knights were subduing Gavinas by breaking his leg joints, Gavinas did not resist at all. Even though Gavinas was a high-ranking noble and a warrior with exceptional fighting ability, there was no one in this banquet hall who was not a high-ranking noble, and because he had used a curse that was beyond human power, he was already in a state where he could not even stand.

Also, without even checking it, Yugram picked up the princess and immediately started running to his workshop, with Marianne following behind. Bearkart tidied up the messy hall and sealed off the banquet hall to investigate if there were any accomplices of Gavinas who might still be there, but he clenched his fists as if they were going to tear apart.

And it was the same with Reinhard, the first prince, who stood behind Bearkart with a sorrowful expression. The reason was unknown, but the situation was clear at a glance. Gavinas was a remnant of the Shinigami cult and tried to assassinate him for treason. And that… the fact that the youngest sister among the siblings stopped him instead.

How pitiful. I knew from a young age that I would one day be in a position to shoulder this country. And along with confidence, there was also a burden. I could do it, but there was a better person… I was worried that my younger brother, who was four years younger, might be more suitable.

So he worked like crazy. To make sure that the nobility, the royal family, and his family all knew that he was worthy of the position of king. To be able to do anything, to do anything without fail, to do everything leisurely, to show no weakness to others, to do anything, anything, anything, anything..

‘The result… is this all?’

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Yugram, who had kicked open the door to the workshop, immediately laid Lilianne down on the cleanly emptied desk and poured out his magical power like crazy. Although Yugram and Marianne had an uncommon aptitude for healing magic, even though Marianne, who had an exceptional amount of magical power even among the royal family, poured out her magical power like water, Lilianne’s screams as if her throat was being torn showed no sign of stopping.

Yes. Marianne knew it too. This was the curse of the god of death. It was an extra-human curse that would cause the body to rot and disappear without leaving a corpse behind. It was an overwhelming violence called despair that no human could resist. Marianne’s hands were trembling. Marianne, who always handled construction work with coolness, composure, and elegance as a royal, was also a member of the Karsten royal family, so perhaps it was because she couldn’t hold back her emotional agitation at the situation her daughter was in.

Right now, she was forcibly blocking the progress of the curse. No, to be exact, she was continuously reviving the face that had been directly hit and was starting to rot. When Yugram brought dozens of reagents and performed some kind of magical treatment, Marianne felt the magic power that was leaking out decrease a little. However… she also instinctively knew that it wouldn’t last that long. Marianne held back her trembling voice and opened her mouth.

“..I’ll say it anyway. Is it possible?”

─Can you save me?

“It is possible..but..”

The despair that humans cannot do anything about, Yugram said that he could solve it easily. This is also unbelievable, but for those who know the relationship between these two, something even more surprising happened. Yugram is reluctant to tell Marianne? A question that he cannot answer lingered within Yugram. Is it right to say this? Is it really the right thing to do?

“This can also be suppressed by borrowing the power of God to weaken the power of the curse as much as possible and subordinate the effect of healing magic. However…”

“..Is that so.”

Even if I just said that, Marianne could understand everything. No, in fact, it would be okay to say that she already knew it, but she just didn’t want to hear the exact answer.

It cannot be cured. It can only be suppressed.

That story… is that, far from being able to stop the pain Liliane is going through now, she might have to carry it with her for the rest of her life.

And that is the only way Liliane can survive, and that is the only way she, as her mother, can choose.

But Marianne couldn’t decide if it was really the right thing to do, if she was just putting her daughter through pain to ease her own guilt in the name of her daughter’s well-being. But… she had to choose.

“Just in case, isn’t it impossible to relieve the pain with medicine?”

“It would be okay for a short period of time, but considering the princess’s age and the risk of addiction, it is probably impossible.”

I guess so.. Marianne said softly. But in the end, there was only one choice. When Marianne nodded slightly, Yugram brought one of the spheres he was holding to Lilianne’s face.

The relic that is said to contain the power of God Jushin, the younger sister of the God of Death.

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My body feels heavy.

I feel a sickening, sticky feeling of helplessness all over my body, as if someone is weighing me down, and my head is buzzing so I open my eyes but I’m not sure if I’m seeing straight ahead.

“Sigh…phew… flow…”

I tried to call out to Yugram when I heard his presence, but my throat was hoarse and sore as if I had a bad cold, so I couldn’t speak properly. I wondered what it was, and soon Yugram came into view. I couldn’t see properly in front of me, but for some reason, Yugram had a face I’d never seen before. It was… sadness.

“You have a neck injury, so please rest and do not speak for now. For now, the princess has been unconscious since she prevented Gabinas’ assassination at Gabinas’ banquet hall.”

Oh, I see.

It was somehow hazy and I couldn’t tell if it was reality or a dream, but was it true?

I even remembered that the man who had lost his arm and was wearing a prosthetic arm somehow had three arms and was holding a cane in that third hand, so for some reason his body moved as he pleased.

“The curse of Gavinas has been blocked on the princess’ face, and she has been administered a strong pain-relieving potion for treatment, so she will not feel any strength in her body.”

I see. Is it something like general anesthesia?

I thought it was a world where anything could be done with magic, but it seems like there are such potions. No, is that also made with magic? I don’t know because I never learned about it in class.

By the way, along with the feeling of exhaustion all over my body, I felt a bad, uncomfortable sensation and pressure as if ants were crawling on the left side of my face. Is this a side effect of the curse? The pressure I feel on half of my face is like a bandage or gauze covering it, and I feel like I want to rip it all off and scratch it with my fingernails.

“The curse used by Gabinas is a curse that borrows the power of the god of death, and cannot be broken by human power. If hit, all things will rot and disappear. The princess is currently suppressing the progress of the curse as much as possible and is continuously healing the corruption. ”

Yugram’s voice, which calmly told me about my condition, was no different from usual, but for some reason, it felt more emotional than usual. Yes. Yugram was pitying me right now, and blaming himself. And he was trying to hide it, but he couldn’t. That Yugram.

“The princess’s magic power and blood will be used constantly. In addition, the fact that the curse is progressing means that her face will continue to rot, so the pain currently suppressed by the potion cannot be stopped for the rest of her life.”

“That’s all I can tell you, Princess. When the potion wears off, you will probably experience a pain that is much greater than you can imagine. A pain that cannot be stopped and will not go away for the rest of your life. No one can force you to do that, and no one can. Then…”

What are you going to do? Yugram said quietly.

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Yugram quickly finished speaking, entrusting himself to the shield of a sense of duty, and handed over his writing utensil to the princess. The princess slowly sat up and picked up the pen.

A girl who had just turned 10.. Even though she was a princess, she hadn’t even had her coming-of-age ceremony yet. Even for a commoner who learned things quickly, she was still a child who was not good enough to do one person’s share. However, the princess didn’t despair or scream. She just slowly moved her hands with a blank expression on her face, checking the sensation in her hands. After that, the princess moved the fountain pen.

‘Is Reinhardt okay?’ Yugram was speechless at the question that was finally written. Does she understand that she is dying? Yes, of course she would understand, since she is smart. However, even though she knows that, she doesn’t really care about it and is just concerned about the safety of her family.

“..Thanks to you, I’m safe. But I have one question, why on earth…why did you do that?”

The princess smiled faintly for a moment as if she was saying something strange, then moved her pen without hesitation. ‘As royalty, it is your natural duty to protect the heir to the throne.’

Yeah, of course.

Everyone in the Karsten royal family has the right of succession, but of course the order is set. So it is a custom or a battle manual to protect the person with the highest right of succession. The king is the queen. The queen is the first prince. The first prince is the younger siblings. After the royal family, the knight commander..

It is an extremely honorable thing to protect the royal family by sacrificing one’s life. If one is a knight, even if one comes from a lowly family, one will be immediately incorporated into a higher family, and for a while, one’s name will be known as an honorable knight. Yugram also has no reason to hesitate to risk his life to protect his masters, the queen, the king, and the royal family, and he thinks it is natural.

But, it can be overlooked that she understands it as information she has been educated to understand, but is it normal for a 10-year-old girl to be able to say that after suffering and despairing because of it for the rest of her life?

After a few questions and answers, Yugram left the bedroom, leaving Lilianne with her eyes closed, saying, “I want to rest a little.” Normally, there was no way a man could enter the princess’s bedroom, but since Yugram was currently the princess’s doctor and the one who could manage the curse, there was nothing he could do.

Although Yugram objectively recognized himself as extremely calculating, cold-blooded, rational, and averse to unproductive activities, his body was filled with unnecessary anger and resentment, and he felt the urge to swing his sword at any moment. Yes. It was an anger without a target. Gavinas, who cast the curse, was already under interrogation, and he could not find and kill the god of death, who was the driving force and subject of the curse.

This anger is a mixture of feelings of helplessness and not being able to solve things even though you know everything.

In fact, it was natural. On the contrary, it could be called a miracle that he was able to suppress the curse like this. However, even though he knew it rationally, anger burned inside Yugram. He was so emotional that he was ashamed of himself.

The princess will probably be officially declared dead. No one has ever survived the curse of the god of death, and it is common sense that it is impossible. There is no need to reveal that the royal family possesses the god’s treasure and can stop the curse from progressing.

The interrogation and execution of Gavinas is natural, and a great bloodbath will also blow to the Purcell family. Numerous investigations and interrogations will be carried out under the pretext of finding Gavinas’ accomplices, and in the meantime, there will be active movements to eliminate the enemies that have been annoying. And Yugram himself is also planning to deal with a few people together with his incompetent escort knights.

‘The princess will be sad.’

Yugram, who was worried about the princess without answering, snickered. It is not strange for the royal family to want to destroy the Purcell clan, but according to the ancient oath, the ten families must continue forever. Also, if a high-ranking family with great power were to be destroyed in an instant, it would be no different from advertising to other countries that their power has weakened. It is truly regrettable.

Today, Yugram kept repeating to himself over and over again that he was not being himself. He had never deceived his master, the queen, before, but today, for some reason, he did it without realizing it.

It’s the curse of the god of death. A curse that borrows the power of a god, not a human. Can such a curse be stopped just by continuously using healing magic?

It’s none other than royalty. If the curse could be stopped with healing magic, all you had to do was hire dozens or hundreds of healing magicians. There’s no way a childish prescription like that would work. With just human magic? One day, the power of the curse will be completely unstoppable, and the progression of corruption will accelerate… until nothing is left.

This one also borrowed the power of the gods, but in the end, it was just an object imbued with the power of the gods. In reality, the effect is far from sufficient to say that it borrowed the power of the gods. If it were possible to really borrow the power, it wouldn’t be impossible to make it disappear completely.

A sacred relic imbued with the power of the god… In fact, even Yugram doesn’t know its identity or origin. Why did he use such a suspicious object, and how did he know that it would help suppress the magic power of the god of death? He couldn’t find the answer even though he asked himself. It was as if someone had cut and pasted his memories, and he only knew that it was a tool to suppress the magic power of the god of death through knowledge. It was an object that had existed in his workshop since he knew it.

The reason Yugram deceived the queen was because he intentionally limited information to induce the queen’s thoughts. No, the queen may have wanted to believe that too, so she deceived herself and was deceived by Yugram.

One of the areas ruled by the god of death is corruption. This is self-evident, as the curse causes everything to rot. And the characteristic of corruption is that the further it goes, the faster it progresses. Food, objects, and living things all rot away in an instant. The curse is no different.

Thanks to the miracle of the holy relics of the Lord, Yugram could not possibly tell the queen or princess about the grace period that had been extended by hundreds or thousands of times. This must also be his fault.

The curse will continue to grow stronger and there is no way to stop it.

The maximum time that Yugram thinks of is 6 years.

The princess will die in it.

And yourself too.