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Chapter 16
The doctor looked at Clémen with a curious expression as he explained.
“The reason the Grand Duchess has survived until now is because her room was warm. When I entered earlier, it was hotter than midday in the desert.”
“That’s about the temperature she needs to sleep—”
“Ahem.”
“Oh, right. She was sleeping.”
Ignoring Sie’s light cough, Clémen turned back to the doctor.
“Anyway, so?”
“But suddenly the castle became cold, and her body couldn’t endure it. If you had come even a little later, I don’t know what might have happened.”
“What about now? Is she okay now?”
“For the moment, she has only passed the immediate danger. The important thing is the herb. Judging by you, you seem to be from the desert. You know about it, don’t you?”
The doctor asked as if testing her.
Clémen nodded casually.
“Will it take a long time for you to obtain it too, Doctor?”
“No matter who it is, obtaining Rababa will take a long time.”
Clémen shrugged as if she had expected that answer.
Seeing her light reaction, Sie was about to protest—
“Hmm… alright. I understand. Doctor, one knight… and maybe one more person. Hmm. Where’s Rosia?”
“Wait, Lady Rosia isn’t in the castle. Where are you going? I would prefer if you stayed beside the Grand Duchess.”
Though hesitant, Sie grabbed Clémen’s arm.
Clémen understood Sie’s concern.
If the Grand Duchess suddenly became critical again, they believed Clémen was the only one who could save her.
But that didn’t mean she could stay here forever.
This was exactly why she had gone through all that trouble earlier!
“It’s okay. It’s for the Grand Duchess. I’ll be back soon.”
Clémen took Knight Gwen and the doctor with her and climbed the mountain.
Despite the raging snowstorm, not a single snowflake touched them.
In fact, as they walked up the rough path, they even began to sweat.
It was a strange sight.
Everywhere Clémen passed, the piled snow vanished without a trace.
No matter how many times they saw it, it was still mysterious.
“A fire spirit… you’re really not one?”
“No.”
“I feel like you are.”
“Hey—”
Clémen was about to say there was someone similar in the castle too, but seeing the doctor panting heavily beside them, she closed her mouth.
“We’re almost there. Doctor, can you keep up if we go faster?”
“F-faster…?”
“What’s so difficult about a mountain without snow? I’ll carry you as part of my training. Run, Clémen!”
“Okay!”
After crossing a ridge, a wave of heat suddenly rushed toward them.
It had already been warm until now, but this was even hotter.
“P-please put me down!”
The doctor, who had spotted the herb, quickly jumped down and ran forward.
“Th-this is…!”
A red stem with black leaves that looked like flames burning.
It looked exactly like Rababa, the herb that could cure Cactus Flower.
An herb that should never grow in the North.
Yet the environment around them was hot.
There was someone melting the snow.
Then—
“You grew Rababa here, didn’t you?”
“What do you think? It should be fully grown by tomorrow. Is this enough?”
“It’s more than enough!”
“Then that’s fine. I’ll pull them up tomorrow.”
“No, more importantly—how did you grow them?!”
As the doctor tried to grab Clémen, Gwen blocked him.
The doctor was so persistent that his fingers dug into Gwen’s arm.
Clémen lightly tapped the doctor’s fingers.
“I’ll explain while we head back.”
It was actually simple.
There was no secret technique.
Rababa was a plant that grew quickly if the temperature was raised to the level of a lava field.
However, she had underestimated the North’s weather.
It required much more effort than she expected.
It wasn’t just raising the temperature—she had to keep the heat stable against the blizzard.
She had worked so hard that she eventually fainted.
When she woke up, the snow across the entire mountain had melted.
She had been extremely startled.
“You fainted?”
Gwen asked in shock.
Clémen immediately understood what he was thinking.
“Oh, it wasn’t serious. My body temperature just suddenly got too high—”
“So you collapsed while growing the herb for the Grand Duchess?”
“Rababa grows quickly as long as there’s enough heat. It really wasn’t that hard!”
“Still, creating that much heat in the North must have been difficult. That’s why you collapsed.”
Gwen’s eyes filled with emotion, gratitude, and a faint sense of guilt.
He had completely misunderstood.
He believed she had sacrificed herself for them.
“No, no, no! That’s not it! I’ve grown them before, so it really wasn’t difficult.”
“Don’t worry about being modest in a situation like this. I will report everything properly.”
No matter how much she denied it, Gwen clearly wasn’t listening.
Watching Gwen tear up over whatever heroic story he had imagined, Clémen held her forehead.
After Clémen harvested the herb and gave it to the doctor, the Grand Duchess’s illness began to improve noticeably.
Her appetite returned.
She stayed awake longer.
And she slowly began gaining weight.
“Clémen.”
“Yes, Grand Duchess.”
“No, no. Call me Mother.”
“…What?”
Clémen blinked at the sudden statement.
The Grand Duchess gently held her warm hands and smiled kindly.
“You’re Zephyrus’s friend. And you’re the one who saved my life. I don’t like such stiff titles.”
“Um… I might treat you too casually…”
“Yes, that’s exactly it. Treat me freely—like a real mother!”
Whatever Gwen had told them, both the Grand Duchess and Sie treated Clémen like a precious treasure.
But what exactly did it mean to treat someone like a mother?
“…Then… could you hug me once?”
Since she didn’t know what else to do, Clémen asked for the one thing she had always wanted if she ever had a mother.
“Of course! Of course!”
The Grand Duchess hugged her and gently stroked her back.
“…Isn’t it too hot?”
“I like it. It’s warm.”
“That’s good.”
Compared to life among desert people who didn’t even want her near them, the North felt like heaven.
“Oh right. Once you can move a little, can I give you to Master as a present?”
“Give me?”
“Yes. I think he’ll be really happy. Both you and Master.”
“How?”
“It’s still too difficult to open the door, but you could see each other without opening it, right?”
Clémen’s eyes sparkled.
The Grand Duchess chuckled softly and leaned her forehead against hers.
“How should we do that?”
Outside, the snowstorm still raged.
But inside the castle, it was warm.
The previously tense atmosphere had settled.
All of it was the result of one person.
However, there was one place where the air remained cold.
Zephyrus’s room.
“I can’t even count how many times.”
“Hm?”
“The number of times you skipped our meals together.”
Clémen laughed awkwardly.
“I couldn’t help it. I was busy.”
“Is there something here more important than your friend?”
Zephyrus knew she had obtained the herb for his mother.
But Clémen’s job should have ended there.
Turning Rababa into medicine was the doctor’s work.
He also knew his mother often called for Clémen.
But Clémen was his maid.
She should be eating with him, not with his mother!
“I worked even harder for my friend.”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
Clémen approached Zephyrus, who kept glancing at her despite his complaints, and held out her hand.
It meant bare-hand training.
“I… also tried.”
Zephyrus removed his gloves himself and placed his bare hand over Clémen’s.
One second. Two seconds.
He endured for exactly one minute before lowering it.
Pretending not to notice the cold sweat on Zephyrus’s forehead, Clémen clapped her hands.
“You did well. You even removed one layer of clothing today. Good job, good job. I should give you a reward.”
“A reward?”
“Yes. I prepared it carefully.”
Zephyrus stared at her silently before holding out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
“It’s not something that small. I’ll give you dessert first.”
A small candy dropped onto his palm.
“What is this?”
“The doctor carries it around to give patients when medicine tastes bitter. It’s delicious.”
It had recently become a popular dessert rumor throughout the Grand Duchy.
Many people were already saying they would buy candy when the merchant caravans arrived again.
“They say it’s good when you’re tired.”
“I see. I’ll eat it later.”
“Okay. Now let’s eat!”
“…Eat.”
He slowly looked over the meal.
Soup made with potatoes and corn.
Roasted rabbit.
Bread.
It might seem like a humble meal for a Grand Duke, but during this season it was the best they could manage.
“Which village are you staying in now?”
“The same one as Ruby.”
“I see. That’s the only place you could commute from.”
“Yes. Why?”
“I was wondering if the villagers are having trouble with food.”
“Hmm…”
