THJDM 13

Chapter 13

After a short silence, as though something had suddenly come to mind, Elion closed his eyes and murmured in a low voice.

“Tell Fred to prepare a pair of communication bracelets.”

“With whom will you be using them, Your Grace?”

“Who else? Lady Fayson, of course. We’ll be meeting often from now on, and sending letters by carrier pigeon each time would be inconvenient.”

“Yes, understood. I’ll pass along the order.”

That was the end of their conversation.

Although Elion’s eyes remained closed, he wasn’t asleep.

He was thinking about the barrier that had suddenly become unstable.

And he was thinking about Rubiana, who could so easily become the target of monsters.

“Does her danger mean my danger as well…?”

At present, without a proper cure, Rubiana was said to be the only means of stabilizing his condition.

“Even the magical stabilizer from the Grand Temple couldn’t be a complete solution…”

If Rubiana were attacked by a monster, it would be the same as losing his treatment altogether.

A deep crease furrowed between Elion’s brows.

Omar had said that his meeting with Rubiana was a blessing in disguise.

“But… is that really the case?”

Elion found it difficult to agree.

Through this incident, both Omar and Rubiana had learned the secret that he had awakened as a Sword Master.

Until now, only Hailey, Fred, and the elite division of the Imperial Knights had known.

For the past year, Elion had fought at the vanguard, leading only the elite unit, avoiding the gaze of the other knights.

It had been a secret known to just ten people in the world. Now, the number had grown to twelve.

And who knew when it might swell to twenty, or a hundred.

“The day the Empress finds out, things will grow troublesome.”

Being under the Empress’s scrutiny was tedious and irritating.

A sigh of frustration escaped his lips.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

The fact that he now had a new weakness called “Rubiana” was also a problem.

Already, instead of worrying about the citizens’ safety from the weakened barrier, he found himself worrying about hers first.

It was not a welcome sign.

Elion finished his bath and entered his bedroom.

While drying his wet hair with a towel, he noticed a strange box placed on the table.

Opening it, he found a pair of bracelets inside.

“So these are the communication bracelets.”

They were made of leather as thick as his little finger, each set with a violet-colored communication stone.

Elion pressed the black stone of the bracelet he already wore twice, click, click.

The stone flickered, and soon Fred’s voice came through.

—“Your Grace, did you call for me?”

“I checked the bracelets on the table.”

—“Ah, yes. I prepared them immediately after hearing from Hailey.”

“Well done.”

—“Such things are only natural.”

He chuckled, pleased by the praise.

“But why were they left here?”

—“Pardon? I heard they were for you and Lady Fayson to wear.”

“For me and her?”

His sharp brows furrowed deeply at once.

A flustered voice came from the other end.

—“Was I mistaken? That’s what Hailey told me.”

Elion shook his head slowly with a sigh of disbelief.

“Not me and her. You and her should be wearing them.”

—“You mean… myself and Lady Fayson?”

“That’s right.”

Arranging his schedule was one of Fred’s duties as his aide.

Annoyance colored Elion’s voice, as though the obvious were being questioned.

Suddenly, Fred spoke in a weary tone.

—“Your Grace, forgive me for saying so, but I am already wearing five communicators.”

“…”

—“Two on my right wrist, two on my left, and one on my finger. If I were to add one more…”

Fred trailed off.

“And if you do?”

—“…it would be too burdensome.”

“Whether it’s five or six, isn’t it all the same?”

—“Your Grace, that’s too cruel. I am still a knight who wields a sword. A knight cannot fight properly if his hands are weighed down.”

“…Fair point.”

Elion paused.

Fred was a knight first, his aide second—an exceptional one, at that, belonging to the elite unit.

Only then did Elion nod in understanding.

Loading any more communicators onto Fred’s hands would be unreasonable.

But even so, there was no way he himself could share this bracelet with Rubiana.

“In that case, it’ll have to be Hailey.”

—“Your Grace. May I say one more thing?”

“What is it?”

Fred lowered his voice to a near whisper, as if sharing a secret.

—“I believe it’s only proper that the bracelets be worn by you and Lady Fayson.”

“And why is that?”

—“Because the act of sharing mana is, after all, something deeply personal. That is to say… intimate and private.”

Personal? Intimate? Private?

“Well… secrecy is crucial.”

Fred’s reasoning wasn’t without merit.

—“That’s why it would be far more efficient if the two of you arranged your schedules directly, without a third party in between.”

“You may be right. Very well.”

—“Then…”

Fred seemed about to say more, but it was too late.

Elion pressed the stone long and ended the call.

He took one bracelet from the box and fastened it to his wrist.

Now there were two bracelets on his left wrist:

The black one he shared with Fred, and the violet one that would be shared with Rubiana.

“Phew…”

The new bracelet felt heavy, suffocating, almost like—

“…a shackle.”

Rubiana was both the only treatment for his illness, and his only weakness.

“Is it really necessary to go this far?”

Elion was deeply skeptical of the situation.

He had never once wished for a long, healthy life.

He had always thought it enough simply to accept the fate given to him.

He accepted being born a prince yet abandoned to his maternal family’s remote estate.

While living quietly, he suddenly found himself captivated by the sword one day.

He accepted a knight’s life, devoting himself to swordsmanship.

He accepted the life of roaming battlefields as part of the Imperial Knights.

He even accepted the baseless suspicion of the Empress, keeping his head low.

So surely—

He could accept the fate of being devoured by an uncontrollably surging mana as well.

Relying on another’s help to prolong his life was not his way.

Nor did he care enough for life to fight desperately to keep it.

And yet—

A face flashed through his mind.

Rubiana’s tearful face as she knelt before him.

“Please, save me! Without Your Grace’s mana, I’m as good as dead. Please don’t let me die. Just share a little mana so I can live, please?”

A pained sigh escaped his lips as he buried his face in his hands.

He had made her kneel. He had made her cry.

And in the end, he had promised to help her with his own mouth—making it impossible to abandon her now.

Heat surged through his head.

Elion inhaled deeply to cool his anger.

“According to Omar, Lady Rubiana’s illness may actually improve.”

He recalled the explanation about the gap between her body and soul.

Omar had said that gap would gradually close.

Since their mana resonated well together, there was hope she might recover even faster than expected.

“Yes. Only until then. I’ll endure in the capital only until she fully recovers.”

Finally making up his mind, Elion tugged the bell cord.

He needed to send a carrier pigeon before it grew too late.

Rubiana lay in bed, but no sleep came.

Her body was exhausted, yet her mind remained clear.

“A guest whose mana is leaking endlessly would be a hundred times more likely to be targeted by monsters than an ordinary person.”

Omar’s voice echoed in her ears.

At the same time, the terrifying image of the monster that had attacked her returned, making her whole body shiver.

Its upper body had resembled a crocodile, its lower half a scorpion.

She could not forget its gaping maw dripping with saliva.

“Is my house really safe? What if monsters break in while I’m asleep? I’m scared…!”

The fear that had lodged in her mind began to swell larger and larger.

There was no way she could sleep like this.

“Should I ask to sleep with Sister Stephanie? No… I can’t.”

She could never put her sister at risk because of herself.

She decided to close her eyes and count sheep instead.

That was when—

Tok—tok, tok.

A familiar sound came from the window.