🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter: 21
While subtly dodging Sieta’s curious gaze, Rashita answered earnestly.
“…That is a dangerous matter. If done incorrectly, it could permanently necrotize that part of the body.”
‘I see.’
Divine power inherently has healing attributes, so it isn’t harmful.
Magic, however, is different.
While Sieta was lost in thought, Rashita, seemingly unsure of what to say, added a comment.
“And Princess, you don’t necessarily need to take an interest in healing. I will always take care of your mind and body.”
To monopolize the care of a top-tier original healer—indeed, the taste of power was remarkable.
“Although… my strength has weakened quite a bit.”
At that, Sieta flinched for a moment.
The pendant she had meant to give to Rashita… had been intercepted by Rosiate, so she hadn’t been able to deliver it properly.
‘I need to somehow restore Rashita’s strength too.’
It was unforgivable that the priests had tormented young Rashita and siphoned his power.
And since Sieta had decided to empower him, she had to act.
But for now, she had to fix the part where Rosiate had expressed disappointment in Sieta, saying she wasn’t like him.
If Sieta died before restoring Rashita’s power, it would be catastrophic.
So…
‘If I can somehow practice and prove this new method of healing magic…’
She could justify not using destructive magic in that moment, claiming it didn’t suit her, and potentially postpone Rosiate’s judgment.
For that, she needed to…
“I still want to protect my own body. Ah! Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t need your help, Rashita.”
“…Yes.”
Rashita replied cautiously, keeping an eye on Sieta.
Sieta, feeling frustrated, patted her chest and added:
“I really mean it. Just in case… you might not be by my side, right?”
Even after saying this, Rashita seemed to sense that Sieta didn’t fully trust her.
Then there was no choice.
“To prepare for that moment.”
In situations like this…
“Master. Please.”
Being utterly shameless was the answer.
“Hmm? Master, please. Teach me.”
At her awkward yet comical posture…
“…Pfft.”
Rashita blushed and said:
“Yes, Your Highness. If your intention was to make me laugh, you’ve succeeded.”
She willingly affirmed, and Sieta’s eyes sparkled as she checked repeatedly:
“Really? So you’ll teach me?!”
In her sparkling gaze, the silver-haired child looked only at Rashita, waiting solely for her answer.
Even though she could have dominated Rashita with her power…
“…Yes. But the healing will only be received from me.”
“Of course!”
Rashita clearly saw Sieta trying to worm her way out using her cuteness, but…
“I don’t know how much knowing the nuances of divine power will help with magic, though.”
Rashita finally replied with a smile.
Even seeing through her intentions, it didn’t feel malicious, which Sieta thought was a talent in itself.
But, as if that smile were meaningless, something happened shortly after.
Having made her promise with Rashita, Sieta stepped into the afternoon dining hall with a calm heart—but what unfolded before her eyes was unbelievable.
“Cough, cough.”
Rosiate coughed.
“…Uh?”
Right before Sieta’s eyes…
Rosiate von Ariace, still wearing a cold expression…
Collapsed face-first into the dining hall. The nearby attendants and nobles panicked.
“What’s happening! Your Majesty, are you alright?!”
“What’s going on?!”
As the young chancellor scrambled to summon the temple priests, Sieta instinctively thought:
‘Rashita’s here, after all.’
And despair washed over her.
He couldn’t even exert proper strength because of the shackles restraining him.
‘…Rosiate uses black magic.’
Even if Rashita tried to heal Rosiate with all her power, it would only make things worse.
Realizing this, Sieta stood up to give an order, only to find…
It wasn’t Rashita summoned by the chancellor…
“Oh.”
A voice both familiar and gentle—but Sieta thought it wouldn’t come from the royal palace—made her freeze.
“Has His Majesty the Emperor collapsed?”
The speaker approached gracefully and touched Rosiate’s forehead.
The gesture was so natural that Sieta didn’t even think to stop him.
‘…Huh?’
Something felt wrong.
With only that vague premonition, Sieta watched the sequence of events in a daze.
Rosiate collapsing in front of her.
Rosiate receiving the pope’s touch yet showing no reaction.
‘Why that expression?’
Blink, blink…
Sieta remained rooted in place, unable to act.
The unexpected collapse of someone she thought would never fall.
And…
“…Dad? Why are you here?”
Her father, whom she expected to be in the temple, was here.
Rosiate looked at Sieta briefly, then closed his eyes.
And Vicente, who had been watching Rosiate exclusively, only then turned to Sieta, a sympathetic frown on his face.
“Your Highness, the Emperor’s collapse must have shocked you greatly.”
Amid the surrounding chaos, only Sieta and Vicente remained calm.
Sieta quietly observed Vicente as he continued attending to Rosiate.
“His condition is critical. Someone attacked the Emperor from outside!”
But Sieta knew the truth.
Rosiate was a genius with magic. Not just genius—she possessed the powerful strength of the final boss of the original story, “I Will Punish That Villain.”
And…
‘The original heroine earned a knighthood.’
The original male protagonist assisted the heroine with healing.
Excluding the Tower Mage, whose strength was unknown, Rosiate was the strongest in terms of magic.
Could someone really curse her outside the palace and hit her?
The pope claimed it was an outsider’s doing, but Sieta thought:
‘…Definitely.’
An insider’s work.
It couldn’t have been an outsider.
In a short span, Sieta became certain.
And then…
“Kuhk…!”
Despite the healing, Rosiate’s condition worsened.
Finally, as the dining hall became soaked with Rosiate’s blood…
“What in the world…”
The Emperor’s unchanging condition left the chancellor and his subordinates utterly panicked, unsure how to help.
“Your Majesty, this is unacceptable!”
Vicente poured healing energy desperately, yet Rosiate’s condition only deteriorated.
But Sieta knew the reason.
‘Because she uses black magic.’
The divine energy rejected Rosiate’s black magic.
Even if hands imbued with divine power tried to bless her, she became more cursed and weakened.
And the one forcing the healing wasn’t anyone else…
“It’s the curse of God!”
The pope, with a flustered expression, appeared to be withdrawing the divine energy he had been pouring into the Emperor as quickly as possible.
But Sieta noticed.
‘The pope put in the most divine energy.’
On the surface, it seemed he was trying to save a woman he loved deeply, enough to have a child with, as quickly as possible.
But…
‘Rosiate and Vicente aren’t on good terms.’
Considering the conflict between imperial and divine authority in the Sikan Empire…
“To think the Emperor was under God’s curse. Then we must not heal him now.”
Suspicion grew naturally.
No matter how Sieta felt, Vicente, with worried eyes, pushed away the other priests trying to heal the Emperor.
He turned to Sieta and spoke with difficulty:
“Your Highness… it seems His Majesty will not regain consciousness for a long time.”
He moved Rosiate’s forehead with a complicated expression, one that even momentarily swayed Sieta, who had suspected him.
But immediately after…
“If His Majesty cannot regain consciousness for more than three days, the state will be paralyzed, and Your Highness will need to take over government affairs.”
Sieta realized exactly what Vicente was aiming for.
“But Your Highness is only six years old…”
She clearly understood.
“A regent is necessary.”
