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Chapter 7
Bartholomew’s brow furrowed.
Lucy paid it no mind and stepped closer to him.
“How about creating that beautiful beginning at the imperial banquet being held this time?”
“I refuse.”
Bartholomew took a step back and pulled his hand free from hers.
His already pale face lost even more color.
“W-Why?”
When Bartholomew didn’t answer, Lucy reluctantly resorted to playing dirty.
“You’re rejecting a lady’s request—no, a princess’s request—so bluntly?”
Even if Bartholomew hadn’t known Lucy personally, hearing the surname Adelstein should have been enough for him to realize she was royalty.
With a wary expression, Bartholomew asked,
“What are you plotting?”
“A plot? I just want to become close to you, Young Lord Bartholomew.”
Bartholomew stared at Lucy in silence.
Feeling guilty under his gaze, Lucy finally spoke again.
“I truly need your help more than anyone else’s.”
If Bartholomew helped her, she could act without being affected by the negative stat penalties.
Not just for the imperial banquet quest—he might prove useful for many aspects of playing the game going forward.
‘Besides, through Bartholomew, I might even find Alexander’s whereabouts.’
Lucy felt as if she’d obtained a cheat code in an impossibly difficult game.
“Young Lord Bartholomew. What I’m about to say will probably sound absurd, completely unbelievable, and make me seem insane.”
“You already do.”
Bartholomew answered instantly.
Lucy faltered for a moment but quickly regained her composure.
“Please listen under the assumption that everything I’m saying is true.”
“……”
“One day, all of a sudden, I became unable to speak properly in front of other people or even move the way I wanted. All because of a secret I possess.”
The “secret” was really just her stats problem, but Lucy felt the need to phrase it more carefully.
“That secret is like a disease—or rather, a curse. I had no choice but to end up like this.”
At the word curse, Bartholomew’s eyes sharpened briefly.
“For some reason, only in front of you does it feel like the curse is lifted.”
“……”
“If even you turn away from me, then I’ll never be free of this curse.”
When Bartholomew still didn’t answer, panic crept into Lucy’s voice.
“So that’s why… you’re the only one for me. Only you can help me.”
“Princess Lucy.”
Bartholomew called her name quietly.
“I’ll say it again. I’m not interested.”
With that, Bartholomew left the herb room without giving her another chance to stop him.
Lucy stared blankly after him.
Ding!
[Warning: ‘Abnormal Health Condition’!]
[Due to the aftereffects of excessive running, today’s stamina has been completely depleted.]
[For player protection, Forced Sleep Mode has been activated.]
Lucy let out a hollow laugh.
The penalty appeared the moment Bartholomew disappeared from sight.
Then, like a marionette with its strings cut, she collapsed to the floor.
‘Just wait.’
As her vision faded and her eyes slowly closed, Lucy made a vow.
‘I’ll definitely become close to Bartholomew.’
* * *
A servant pacing anxiously outside the sickroom spotted Bartholomew and hurried over.
“Lord Bartholomew! Where have you been without saying a word?”
Ignoring the servant’s question, Bartholomew brushed past him and entered the room.
Since the temple couldn’t employ outside servants, temple attendants took over the role instead. But because of their overwhelming workload, they usually failed to perform properly.
However, the servant assigned to Bartholomew obsessively tried to stay by his side at all times.
Bartholomew knew full well that this servant was another spy planted by Duke Faraday.
It was always like this whenever he came to the temple for treatment.
That was why he despised the temple even more.
The priests’ healing magic had no effect whatsoever.
If anything, as though offended by his attempt to defy fate, his pain only worsened compared to usual.
‘It’s an illness that can’t be cured in the first place.’
The corner of Bartholomew’s lips twisted upward.
As he recalled the princess he had met earlier, a mocking smile surfaced naturally.
‘A curse, she said.’
To Bartholomew, Lucy seemed perfectly normal.
She could speak just fine and even run with all her strength.
Yet after doing all that, she talked about illness and curses.
The thought disgusted him.
‘There’s no such thing as a curse that can be broken by the existence of a single person.’
Not only did such curses not exist—
there was no way he could be some miraculous existence capable of breaking one.
Bartholomew shook his head as if trying to drive the thought away.
All he could do was wait for the day he could finally return to the estate.
* * *
Lucy, who had fainted in the herb room, woke up in her own bed.
A passing servant had found her and carried her there.
Unfortunately, after committing the grave crime of running once, Lucy continued suffering from the side effects of her “abnormal health condition.”
She had come down with a terrible fever.
Cecil also noticed her condition and performed at least a token healing treatment.
“You don’t need to do rehabilitation today, so stay in bed.”
Lucy obediently nodded, but the moment Cecil left, she forced her heavy body upright.
She intended to find Bartholomew.
‘Even I think yesterday was completely insane.’
Looking back, she really had seemed crazy.
She’d rambled nonsense and suddenly asked him to become inseparably tied to her.
Who would want to associate with someone like that?
On top of that, Lucy was the “abandoned princess.”
The nobles already avoided becoming involved with her, so approaching Bartholomew that way had been a terrible idea.
‘I’ll make up for yesterday’s humiliation.’
Clenching both fists tightly, Lucy went out in search of Bartholomew.
But he wasn’t in the herb room, nor in the connected special care ward.
‘If he isn’t receiving treatment…’
How did he spend his free time?
Wondering that, Lucy wandered through the patients’ common areas within the temple.
Fortunately, this time she encountered a servant who guided her around.
But Bartholomew was nowhere to be found.
Feeling her stamina reaching its limit, Lucy decided she would check the garden one last time before giving up.
Just as she opened the door leading into the beautifully maintained garden—
RUMBLE—CRASH!
SHAAAAA—
A torrential downpour suddenly poured from the sky along with thunder and lightning.
In less than three seconds after opening the door, Lucy was completely drenched by the fierce wind-driven rain.
The servant beside her looked equally flustered.
“Princess, perhaps it would be best to postpone your walk.”
“…Haha.”
Lucy let out a hollow laugh.
The servant stared at her wide-eyed as she shook with laughter like someone who had finally lost her mind.
‘Just because I got to know Bartholomew doesn’t mean my situation would suddenly become easy.’
Rain pouring down as if deliberately trying to obstruct her.
Lucy stopped the servant from closing the door.
“An umbrella.”
“Pardon? You’re really going out?”
Lucy gave no answer, as though telling him not to ask any more questions.
The servant had no choice but to bring her an umbrella.
Holding it overhead, Lucy trudged out into the storm while the servant followed behind helplessly.
“Princess, I should carry the umbrella—!”
The servant nearly collided with Lucy when she abruptly stopped walking.
“Princess?”
Tilting his head, he followed Lucy’s gaze.
There stood Cecil.
Apparently caught off guard by the sudden rain, he was standing there completely exposed to it.
“Oh dear, I should bring Priest Cecil an umbrella as well.”
Even as the servant hurried back into the temple, Lucy couldn’t take her eyes off Cecil.
Cecil showed no intention of going indoors.
Sweeping his soaked hair back, he instead tilted his face toward the sky.
Then he quietly closed his eyes and let the rain pour over his entire body.
‘Come to think of it…’
Lucy stretched her hand outside the umbrella, watching raindrops fall into her palm.
Then she tightened her grip on the umbrella handle and approached Cecil.
At the sound of footsteps, Cecil flinched slightly and turned around.
The moment he saw Lucy, his expression hardened sharply.
“What are you doing?”
The object he’d been holding was hastily shoved into his pocket as he strode toward her.
‘Huh?’
Lucy noticed something failing to make it fully into his pocket and falling onto the ground.
She tried to bend down to pick it up, but Cecil grabbed her arm first.
“I told you to stay quietly in your room.”
Going outside in weather like this—not even on a clear day, but during a torrential storm.
“Are you trying to make all the healing treatment you’ve received meaningless?”
Under his fierce questioning, Lucy swallowed dryly.
“Or do you simply have no intention of getting better?”
“……”
“What exactly is it that you want?”
Cecil glared at the silent Lucy before letting out a bitter laugh.
“Don’t tell me… you want my attention?”
How had he figured it out?
Ever since Lucy had handed him the herbs he liked to brew into tea, he’d felt uneasy.
Now, combined with this bizarre behavior, contempt filled his eyes as he looked at her.
“Do whatever you want. Once I’ve healed you, I have no intention of ever seeing you again.”
Cecil immediately led Lucy back toward the temple.
‘No, wait…!’
Lucy twisted around, trying to see the object he had dropped, but Cecil’s grip was too strong, and she had no choice but to follow him.
