episode_0091

Despite her fierce resistance, a cool palm landed on her soft skin.

A lukewarm warmth lingered on her abdomen.

Unlike her earlier thorny demeanor, delicate skin could be felt through her thin pajamas.

The sensation of flower petals welcoming spring.

I unconsciously stroked her pale stomach.

“Ugh, you, you, you… I’ll kill you!”

Rose shrieked with a sharp voice.

She wore an expression of disbelief, glaring fiercely in my direction.

It was as if she refused to let go of her venom.

But.

“How dare you, after doing such a thing…!”

Despite her efforts, the tremor in her pupils could not be hidden.

Her green eyes shook violently.

Beyond them, clear agitation rippled.

As I looked down at her fearful reaction, my formerly calm lips twisted into an ominous smile.

It was an unsettling laugh that escaped me unconsciously.

“Now, now… I won’t hurt you, okay?”

With those words, I lifted her top.

The girl’s clothing already reached her lower chest, now precariously covering the forbidden zone.

Elize was tied to the bed, practically half-naked.

Was it due to the overtly exposed skin?

Her unique sweet scent of skin permeated the air.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

The scene escalated, as if about to explode.

Her body was thin, perhaps due to her frail health.

Nevertheless, her chest possessed its own presence.

Her roughly disheveled attire clung to her body, drawing endlessly alluring curves.

I mischievously stroked the girl’s stomach.

“Ugh, th-th-this, you bastard…!”

Elize flinched at my lingering touch.

Her shoulders trembled.

She tried to lift her head forcibly, but her red hair simply fell loose.

Rose rustled her petals as if blown by the wind.

*Press*.

Following my momentarily forceful touch, the girl’s stomach pressed downwards without resistance.

Only a soft, yielding sensation remained at my fingertips.

“Ugh, ugh…”

Eventually, the girl’s lips pressed shut.

Until just before, she had maintained a fierce gaze, but in such a helpless moment, her true nature finally emerged.

Moisture had already gathered on the surface of her green eyes.

Her pupils crumbled and shattered, ultimately reflecting only fragility.

“Oh my.”

Perhaps I had gone a little too far with my teasing.

It had bothered me how she treated Charlotte, so I had intended to tease her a bit, but now it seemed I should stop and truly begin the treatment.

After all, I didn’t want to make her cry on our first meeting.

To calm her, I spoke a few gentle words.

“Don’t make such a frightened expression. This is just the beginning, you see.”

“Sh-shut up! I’ll definitely kill you…!”

“Hehe… Even if you say you dislike it now, you’ll soon come to like it.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“It will certainly be a happiness you’ve never experienced before.”

“Cough, cough… O-outside, is no one out there?”

Elize pleaded for help with a dying voice.

She cast her gaze towards the closed door, but naturally, no answer came back from beyond it.

The noise from inside was already completely blocked.

I had also given Charlotte a heads-up, so no one else would accidentally enter.

I spoke with a relaxed smile.

“It’s no use.”

A secret room where only two people existed.

This state was expected to last for at least two more hours.

“Resign yourself and accept it. You just need to spend some intimate time together.”

“You, you trashy bastard…!”

“As I told you before, it won’t hurt at all.”

I soothed Rose with a calm tone, then gathered a slight amount of power at my fingertips.

A wavering shadow thinly coated my fingers.

Perhaps because the aura was so faint, the girl didn’t seem to notice.

My palm moved nonchalantly, stroking her stomach.

*Press*.

A touch that gently pressed her dantian.

Behind the soft skin I was touching, I lifted my covering eyelids.

Beyond her pale skin, distinct mana could be felt.

“Then… I’ll start gently.”

I focused my consciousness.

An anomalous flow was moving within the girl’s body.

Mana lines tangled haphazardly, uneven connections, and even fragments of mana that had solidified and reversed their flow.

Such symptoms were occurring throughout her entire body.

‘The most severe area… is indeed the abdomen, it seems.’

As it was the region where mana lines converged within the body, the degree of petrification was more severe compared to other areas.

Glass-like broken fragments violently stirred inside.

‘How.’

How was she enduring such pain?

The sensation of her insides being torn apart every moment, yet the girl showed no sign of pain.

As if she had grown accustomed to enduring it.

“Enduring it… doesn’t lessen the pain, you know.”

“Ugh, what do you know!”

“I know better than anyone.”

Mana Petrification Disease.

An incurable disease where every mana line in the body hardens like stone, eventually causing the entire body to shatter into pieces.

These symptoms continue until the affected individual ceases vital functions.

No cure had been discovered.

Even the cause of its onset was unknown.

Since it was so rare, occurring only once or twice every century, the continent strongly perceived such symptoms as a ‘curse’ rather than a ‘disease’.

As nothing at all had been revealed about it, it was interpreted as ‘the wrath of the gods’.

‘The wrath of the gods… because it’s a terrible disease that warrants such a name.’

Because of this, Petrification Disease had been a symbol of ill omen since ancient times.

This was no different for the imperial family.

The reason Elize resided in such a lonely detached palace was also the same.

The disease of the cherished Second Princess was deemed inauspicious, and she was confined on the grounds that it would be an ill omen for the empire.

Later, claiming illness, all her social activities were strictly forbidden.

‘The secret about Rose.’

It was a secret covered up by the imperial family, but as someone who had read the original setting guide, I knew.

How lonely Elize’s struggle with illness had been.

Why her once bright personality had become so warped and capricious.

I murmured with a fleeting touch of pity.

“Even if it’s just for a moment… this too will be salvation for you, won’t it?”

I expended the output of my ‘Lie’ power.

I very slowly, with delicate manipulation, made the fragments of mana embedded in her body disappear.

Following that, the blocked blood flow gradually regained its movement.

‘This is a temporary measure.’

It would alleviate her pain for about a day.

From now on, I planned to gradually proceed with the treatment, step by step.

Of course, there was a way to cure it all at once, but considering the future, doing it this way was better.

Trust, that is.

It naturally requires a sufficient amount of time to build.

To save the young prince, I had to open the heart of the Rose she loved.

Thus, I had seized this treatment as an opportunity.

“Cough, cough…!”

Bloody spittle kept erupting from her pale lips.

As I murmured a faint incantation, I simultaneously transmitted the ‘Lie’ held at my fingertips to Rose.

A thin shadow seeped into her stomach.

“Rest.”

Immediately after.

It permeated her entire body.

The girl’s world, which had been noisy with countless screams.

Became quiet.

“…… .”

The sudden arrival of peace.

Was it because she had been suffering from pain until just before?

Elize, experiencing this rest that had come after ten years, was staring blankly, utterly lost.

An ecstatic sensation flashed before her eyes.

“Ah, ahh…?”

A question that spontaneously escaped her.

Her green eyes flickered, even forgetting their venom.

I smiled quietly.

‘Did it work?’

What enveloped the girl.

A pleasure that hazily imbued her entire body.

Having lived for so long in pain, even the brief tranquility given to her returned as ecstasy.

At the unexpected bliss, Rose flinched her shoulders.

“H-how, how…?”

Her breath, now rough and quickened.

Despite her slurred pronunciation, Elize directed a question towards me.

It was a question that had filled her entire life with despair.

“How… I-it doesn’t, hurt, but why, suddenly… me?”

She seemed confused.

I raised my index finger and lightly covered her weary lips.

With my other hand, I covered her green eyes.

“Shh.”

What was needed first was rest.

For the past few years.

Since she likely hadn’t been able to sleep properly due to the pain, I wanted her to close her eyelids and rest deeply for now.

The conversation about today could be had tomorrow.

“Ah…”

*Slowly*.

Her eyes closed obediently.

Both her arms, which had repeatedly resisted, soon lost strength and fell onto the bed.

I whispered towards her fading consciousness.

“Sleep well.”

A single word that conveyed peace to the frail Rose.

In the quiet that ensued, I continued to stroke Elize’s stomach for a while.

It was a touch that still held warmth.

***

A few hours later.

The closed door opened, and two girls entered.

It was Charlotte, who had been waiting outside, and the young maid she had taken with her.

They wore somewhat anxious expressions.

Were they worried about Elize?

They had entered upon hearing that her condition had improved, but honestly, they didn’t seem to hold much hope.

They must have realized it after being abandoned by countless renowned physicians over time.

That expectations only lead to greater despair.

In other words, it felt like learned helplessness.

“Um… where is Elize?”

Her terrible struggle with illness.

As they were the only two who had stayed by her side, it was as if they had shared her pain.

For they had shed tears every dawn, listening to her groans of suffering.

‘But.’

Today was different.

Because I had remained by their side.

“Over here.”

I pointed to the bed.

Rose, the girl who had lost consciousness a while ago, was still asleep.

Her red hair was spread out between the blankets.

*Softly breathing*.

Her tranquil breathing could be heard.

Upon seeing her face, eyes closed without the slightest distortion, surprise spread in the eyes of the two who had been filled with anxiety.

As if they had witnessed an unbelievable miracle.

“My goodness.”

“Elize…?”

“I’ve never seen Her Highness wear such a peaceful expression before. There’s no sign of suffering, and she’s not sweating at all!”

“It was really… possible after all.”

“This is truly wonderful! Your Highness…!”

The maid rejoiced, even shedding tears.

Perhaps her emotions were also rising, as Charlotte couldn’t speak for a while.

Finally, as if regaining her composure, she posed a question.

“How did you… do it?”

Beyond her clear pupils, only my figure was reflected.

As if answering the girl’s mirror, I merely left a playful remark.

“Hehe.”

The answering words were.

“It’s a secret.”

Just as always.