BTMLP 25

Chapter 25

“When the emperor’s first son was born, I blessed him with seven kisses. One of them was that he would always be beautiful, like a single blossom.”

My heart pounded. What were the contents of the other six blessings? This was something that never appeared in the original novel. Would it have been revealed in Part 2?

But Clements had clearly died at the end of Part 1. No matter how powerful a magic, it couldn’t have protected him from his lover’s sword.

“You’re quite talkative. Do you even know who that child is to get so excited?”

“So I’m asking to find out. Who is this girl? Where did you first meet?”

Cremcia asked impatiently, unable to hide her curiosity. And finally…

“Not even a hint of sexual tension?”

“Huh?”

“Cough!”

So… our first encounter as humans was on a bed. Tension? I wouldn’t call it that. There was a life-threatening situation instead.

I was so flustered by her question that I coughed uncontrollably. Perhaps the lingering pain in my back made it worse. Oh, why now of all times! What if she misunderstood?

“Shh, calm down, calm down.”

I got it. I knew exactly what kind of feeling that voice carried.

It was the voice of an aunt who pesters relentlessly, thinking every woman near her grown nephew is a potential wife, asking all sorts of impertinent questions. I desperately denied it.

“Your Highness and I—cough—we’re nothing. We each have someone we care about.”

“All right, all right.”

It wasn’t the kind of “all right” that meant she believed me. I gritted my teeth and muttered to myself.

“Even if the world ended and it was just His Highness and me…”

“Oh hohoho! That much? You dislike him that much?”

Strangely, the more I denied it, the more excited Cremcia seemed. Why was she like this? I was grateful she had healed me… but demons must be bored in the demon realm, with nothing to do?

“Now, now. Since you still have wounds on your back, lie down, won’t you?”

I obeyed and lay down on my stomach, hugging a pillow. Cremcia snapped her fingers as if to say, “To heal the wounds, we must remove the clothes, of course.”

Click, click. With each sharp sound, a layer of my clothes peeled away and fell beside me: my cloak, my jacket, revealing the blouse with buttons at the back.

Cremcia ran her fingers down the center of my back, parting the blouse to expose the skin beneath. The cold air touching the hidden skin sent shivers down my spine.

Then I remembered—this was Clements’ bed. Was I using it too freely? I glanced at him.

“Hmm?”

Clements quickly covered his eyes. His cheeks seemed slightly flushed as he turned his head.

“Cremcia!”

His voice was angry. Cremcia hummed cheerfully in response.

“Why? I’m just healing the young lady, that’s all.”

A wave of rose scent enveloped me, soft and moist. That’s when I realized: Cremcia didn’t need to strip clothes just to check bruises on the skin. She could diagnose the whole body with a glance and heal internal injuries with a gesture.

Cremcia had been deliberately teasing us. That mischievous demon. I pressed my flushed cheeks into the pillow to hide them.

“Finished? Then leave!”

Her laughter, light as dozens of jade beads rolling on a silver tray, gradually faded. The room, once bright with purple and rose-colored lights, grew dark again.

Clements brushed back his hair, looking slightly exhausted. Had he lost too much blood? His palms still glimmered with purple light—each point of light was his blood.

“Your Highness, are you all right?”

I asked without thinking.

“Cremcia is talkative and mischievous. I apologize for causing you distress.”

He glanced toward me, then cleared his throat and turned his head.

Ah.

I carefully pulled the thin blanket over my back. Demon matron!! Thank you for healing me, but what are you doing?!

“The servant you brought, Cassis, is done. I’ll call a maid so you can put your clothes back on.”

“Eh? Wh-why would anyone interfere with my marriage path?”

Does the crown prince even realize what he’s saying? If a maid from a count’s house sees me like this, what will she think?

“….”

Clements fell silent as if at a loss for words. A moment later, he approached me with a determined expression. I startled and clutched the blanket.

“Hik… w-what are you doing now?”

“What are you thinking? You won’t manage to put it on yourself, will you?”

It seemed the crown prince was going to help fasten my buttons. Clements, don’t you see this is exactly what Cremcia intended?

“Oh, I can’t let such a noble person handle a trivial thing like this. I’ll do it myself. Could you just draw the curtain?”

“You want to do it yourself? With this?”

He looked puzzled. Using the thick bed curtains as cover, I glared at him with narrowed eyes.

Like some sinister final beneficiary of a feudal hierarchy…

Having servants nearby, he probably never tried to dress in slightly complicated clothes by himself. Ah, that’s why young noblemen are raised so carefully!

Step by step, I dressed again. The blouse first: fastened the front buttons, twisted it half a turn to insert the sleeves. Then the jacket, and my navy cloak. I tied it carefully.

As I emerged, fully dressed, from behind the curtain, Clements looked… slightly awed.

“You really did it yourself.”

“Haha, this is basic for a maid.”

“Interesting.”

Really. That’s not what’s interesting. But I forced a faint smile.

“Thank you. Because of you, I could recover quickly.”

I worried he might use the healing as an excuse for unreasonable demands, like, “I healed you, so you’re my chick for life”.

But his concern was something else.

“What do you mean by having someone you care about?”

“Your Highness…”

How should I explain? That I had someone I cherished, a woman worth giving my life for.

Not yet, but soon… it should happen soon. Yet now I wasn’t sure if that time would ever come.

‘Bella…’

I remembered the black panther turning away with a wounded expression in the forest.

“You too? Spouting nonsense like my brother? And you of all people? Telling me to wear suffocating clothes and get married?”

She must have been so disappointed. I should have listened to her words more than anyone.

Did Bella truly not want to be with Clements? Had it already diverged from the “original story”?

Clements was still waiting for my answer. My voice, lacking confidence, barely emerged.

“You will meet your destined partner soon enough.”

Clements didn’t scoff.

“I mean you.”

“Ah, me? I….”

Someone I cared about? I was busy surviving and tending to Bella, so there was no time for that. I only said it so Cremcia wouldn’t persistently interrogate me.

I smiled faintly.

“It’s a trivial matter for the lowly; nothing worth your concern.”

“….”

Clements seemed visibly uncomfortable.

What could be bothering him? There were many possibilities: being entangled with a lowly maid in a trivial romantic matter, the reckless behavior of a proud family, or the encounter with the black panther.

‘I need to talk to Bella again.’

“Your Highness, I have a request.”

“…What is it?”

By the window stood a crow, out of place in the room. A thin chain of light connected to its neck. It was Nikta, disguising itself to avoid Cremcia, a highly ranked demon.

Clements would likely use Nikta to cast a curse on me again. I would become the silent, trapped chick once more.

But I couldn’t spend time in the same house as Bella, unable to speak, just leaving things unresolved.

Before Clements finished his inspection and returned to the capital, everything had to be settled. Bella’s feelings, and my curse.

I knelt before him.

“Please give me just one day. Just one day to remain human.”

Surprisingly, he didn’t refuse outright. He asked in a low voice what I intended to do. I pleaded earnestly.

“There’s something I must do, and someone I must speak to. I beg you. It will also be to Your Highness’s benefit.”

In my mind, Bella’s matter was inseparable from Clements’. Even if there was truly no more love between them…

My heart ached.

…Even if that were true, I could not allow Bella to kill Clements.

The grounds of the Monahan estate stretched into the forest at the back and sides of the mansion.

Yellow and white spring flowers bloomed, filling the air with a fresh scent. Soft sunlight pierced through the trees.

It was a beautiful scene, but my heart was anxious. My attention was fully on one person.

Bella, her long hair braided tightly, wore red hunting clothes. She stood with a bow between the Monahan count and Clements, with Cassis and the count’s attendants nearby. It wasn’t a situation where I could speak freely with her.

The count was busy preparing for this outdoor archery session. But after Bella left the salon yesterday evening, and then was scolded by Clements, his morale seemed to have collapsed.

“Archery? Hahaha… It’s pointless. Your Highness won’t come, so it’s useless. Cancel it!”

Though it seemed canceled, Bella didn’t miss the chance to leave the mansion and step into the open forest confidently.