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Chapter 14
“A carrier pigeon?”
Even last night, Elion had sent her a message by carrier pigeon.
It was to arrange the time and place for her checkup with Omar.
Rising slowly, Rubiana walked toward the window.
Just as she expected, a pigeon was tapping at the glass with its beak—tok, tok, tok.
“Come in.”
When she opened the window, the pigeon hopped inside.
Tied to its leg was a note.
When she untied it, she found a small envelope.
Inside was a bracelet and a short memo.
<This is a communication bracelet. Press the purple communication stone twice.>
Oh! A communication bracelet!
Rubiana’s eyes sparkled as she encountered this new magical item.
In this novel’s world, there were no smartphones—but magic existed, and so convenient items like this would occasionally appear.
She followed the instructions on the note and pressed the purple stone, which looked like a gem—click, click.
The stone lit up and began to blink.
It seemed to be sending a signal to the other side.
Moments later, the blinking stopped and the stone glowed brightly.
At the same time, a deep, familiar voice came through.
It was Elion.
—Lady Payson?
“Yes, it’s me, Your Grace.”
—Can you hear me well?
“Yes, perfectly.”
Ohh, how amazing!
It felt no different from making a phone call.
—Good, it seems to be working properly.
“Why did you suddenly send me this?”
—From now on, we’ll be meeting every day to exchange mana. Rather than arranging schedules with a carrier pigeon every time, this will be more convenient.
“Ah, that makes sense.”
Rubiana nodded as she replied.
“Thank you.”
—So when would be good tomorrow?
“Tomorrow… anytime is fine with me.”
Ah… that sounded a little pathetic, didn’t it?
Her cheeks flushed red.
But she couldn’t help it.
The truth was, she had no other plans.
If things had gone according to the original story, she would have already become a Spiritist by now, joined the Imperial Knight Order, and be adapting to a new life.
But right now… I’m nothing.
No—enough gloomy thoughts.
She shook her head, trying to scatter them away.
—How about late afternoon?
“That works.”
—Then I’ll contact you again at that time.
“Yes.”
The matter was settled.
Just as she was about to say her goodbyes, Elion’s hesitant voice reached her.
—And also…
“Yes?”
—If a monster suddenly appears again, like last time, contact me immediately.
“Ah…”
Did he mean… he would come save her?
This man? This hidden-villain duke?
The one called a war maniac, a murderer, a man who always reeked of blood?
A man with neither blood nor tears, with almost zero understanding of normal human emotions?
Wait. What am I thinking? I’m the one clinging to his pity just to survive.
Still, before his addiction to mana stabilizers, Elion had clearly been a rather considerate person.
Her heart, which had just moments ago been trembling with fear, now thumped with sudden joy—ba-thump, ba-thump.
Someone knew of her fears.
Someone wanted to help her.
A wave of emotion surged through her.
Her eyes grew hot, tears threatening to spill.
Ahh… no, I can’t cry. My eyes will swell again tomorrow morning. I don’t want that two days in a row.
She bit down hard on her lower lip, fighting to hold back tears.
Perhaps noticing her silence, Elion asked:
—My lady? Did you hear me?
“…Yes.”
She kept her reply short, afraid her voice might tremble.
She didn’t want him to realize how touched she was.
—My only remedy can’t afford to get hurt, can she? Your safety is my safety as well.
“…I see.”
So that’s what he meant. And here I thought…
So much for being moved. Give me back my emotions!
The tears retreated instantly.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
—Indeed.
Click. The call ended, but Rubiana, not realizing, continued her farewell.
“Good night…”
Only after seeing the stone go dim did she realize, and let out a helpless laugh.
Any lingering emotion was completely gone.
A yawn escaped instead.
Now she could finally sleep.
Leaving the bracelet on the table, she crawled into bed.
It felt unfair to be moved all by herself, but at least her heart felt lighter.
Whatever the reason, she really was being protected.
And if the greatest swordmaster of the world, Elion, said he’d protect her, then there was nothing to fear from mere monsters.
Who cared if he was the hidden villain, or even a demon?
Right now, he was undeniably her partner in coexistence.
“…I should probably keep wearing the bracelet.”
Springing up, she strode back to the table.
Fastening the bracelet with its violet stone securely around her wrist gave her a sense of peace.
With a long yawn, she lay her head on the pillow and quickly drifted into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, in the Imperial Knight Order’s Spiritist unit—
Chad was just heading out for personal training when Stephanie came in.
“Good morning, Captain.”
“Oh, Chad. You’re here early.”
“Gotta train hard. I’ve still got a long way to go.”
“Right. Keep it up.”
As she nodded lightly and passed by, Chad hesitated, as if he had more to say.
When Stephanie glanced back at him, asking silently ‘Well? What is it?’, Chad finally spoke, awkwardly.
“…I was wondering how Rubiana is doing.”
“Our Ruby… she’s not well. But… she’s also fine.”
“Pardon? What does that mean…?”
Seeing Chad’s puzzled face, Stephanie added further explanation.
They had been close childhood friends once—so she supposed it was fine to share more details.
“Plenty of physicians have come, but none could name her illness. They all just say she’s become weak.”
“…I see.”
Chad’s face darkened.
Before his expression grew too gloomy, Stephanie quickly lightened her tone.
“But she goes about her daily life without too much trouble—running around here and there as usual. Ah, though she’s gotten a bit emotional, probably because of the sudden illness.”
She chuckled softly, recalling her younger sister weeping stormily after being touched that her family had waited for her without eating.
“How about visiting sometime? As a patient visit? I think Ruby would like that.”
“Would… would that be alright?”
Stephanie smirked at the way Chad’s face brightened.
He might look like a fine young man of twenty now, but in her eyes, some of his expressions and mannerisms were still exactly the same as when he’d been a ten-year-old boy.
“How would I know? Ask Ruby yourself.”
“Ask… Ruby?”
“Mm. With a letter.”
“Ah, right.”
Of course—there was that way.
Chad nodded vigorously.
Meanwhile, Elion was at the Hall of Regents.
He was there to discuss with the High Priest about restructuring the capital’s protective barrier.
As he sat waiting in the reception room, the door opened and a woman dressed in pure white entered.
It was none other than Florencia Mirren—the Empire’s sole Saintess.
Born as the daughter of House Mirren, she had grown up as a noblewoman until, upon reaching adulthood, her holy power suddenly manifested.
It was said to be the strongest divine power in the history of Lamoreism, the Hasmik Empire’s state religion.
Perhaps because it was rare for a high noblewoman to awaken as a saintess, Florencia was revered absolutely by all citizens of the Empire.
Seeing her appear in place of the High Priest, Elion’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
He rose from his seat and bowed with due respect.
“Greetings to Your Holiness, the Saintess.”
“Hello, Duke Klitzmann. It’s been a while.”
Her long golden hair flowing behind her, Florencia smiled brightly at him.
She seemed genuinely delighted.
In a voice tinged with laughter, she asked:
“How is your health these days, Duke? I had prepared mana stabilizers for you, but you never came to collect them. I was worried.”
“I apologize for causing needless concern, Your Holiness. As you can see, I’ve improved greatly.”
Elion bowed his head in thanks.
But Florencia pursed her lips and murmured:
“Elion, aren’t you being too formal? You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? Putting up a wall, drawing a line, just to get under my skin?”
“Of course not, Your Holiness. Please set aside your doubts. I beg you.”
His eyes curved gently as he looked at her.
“If you don’t, you’ll be in trouble, you know.”
At that, Florencia let out a small laugh.
