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Chapter 16
Aila took a deep breath before speaking.
“Well… there’s good news and bad news.”
“Tell me.”
“The good news is that, in my opinion, Lord Bael is not going to die.”
Bael merely nodded in response, but Luciella felt a shiver run through her.
I saved him.
I actually saved him.
Bael—the character countless players had tried every possible method to save, only to watch him die anyway.
And I saved him.
The fact that her mother was not here suddenly made her feel lonely. If she had been, she would have spent an entire week showering her daughter with praise.
My daughter did well. You did such a good job.
“The bad news?”
“The bad news is that I still haven’t found a way to completely heal Lord Bael’s lower body.”
“……”
“The poison has seeped too deeply into his body. There’s a limit to what I can do with the herbs I currently have. I can stop it from spreading to his upper body, and with the aid of mana, he may regain some movement, but a complete recovery…”
“Does that mean no cure exists at all?”
Unable to hold back, Cain asked.
“I won’t make such a definitive statement. Ancient texts sometimes mention medicines I’ve never heard of. But realistically…”
She frowned, clearly frustrated herself.
“Please give me some time to research.”
After a moment of thought, she continued.
“When you keep researching, sometimes paths appear where none seemed to exist before. Until then…”
Her gaze settled on Luciella.
“Until then, the best thing we can do is restore his strength. And for that, he needs to eat.”
“…Fine. I’ll do that.”
Bael shrugged as though agreeing reluctantly.
His eyes, cold as a frozen lake, shifted toward Luciella as well.
“There’s nothing in particular I want to eat, but since you did find the poison, if you insist on giving me something…”
“Oh, I see.”
Luciella replied with an expression of disbelief.
Nothing you want to eat?
After the appetite he had shown over the past few days?
“You don’t want to eat anything, huh?”
She opened the Status Window and checked.
[Target: Bael Bellaon – Abnormal Condition Detected]
Current Status: [URGENT] Severe Sugar Deficiency! (Reason on the verge of being consumed by instinct.)
Craved Menu: “Extreme Melting Brownie with Exploding Dark Chocolate”
Desired Consumption Level: MAX (100%)
Expected Effect: Upon consumption, overwhelming happiness will be charged to a level that creates the illusion of understanding all truths in the world and conquering the ducal house. (Delusion.)
…Unbelievable.
The guy was obsessed with food.
* * *
“…You can purify the sword?”
Bael asked as he took a bite of the brownie Luciella had made.
“Mm.”
The rich cocoa flavor struck first, followed by caramel infused with vanilla melting across his tongue.
At the center of the palm-sized brownie were thick chunks of sea-salt caramel. Every bite alternated between sweetness and saltiness, creating an unpredictable combination of flavors.
The vanilla ice cream on top had not yet melted, retaining its cool chill. Where it met the hot, sticky brownie, an explosive contrast of temperatures was created.
A faint smile appeared on Bael’s lips.
For someone who had just learned that a close relative had tried to kill him, he looked strangely normal.
In truth, the emotional shock he suffered from the revelation was not especially great.
Not because the poisoning of his parents—or the attempt on his own life—was insignificant.
Rather, because deep down, he had long suspected that everything might have been the work of someone within the family.
“That’s right. The mana crystal in the hilt was replaced immediately, and after several experiments, Aila identified the poison flowing through the blade.”
Cain answered while taking a huge bite of the brownie on his own plate.
“Blue Eagle Poison… I’ve heard it was occasionally used in the Southern Continent long ago.”
Aila spoke.
“Through a mana crystal, it can be infused into an object. Then it can flow from the object into a person through mana without leaving any traces.”
Even while speaking seriously, traces of brownie remained at the corner of her mouth.
“The Blue Eagle bird has gone extinct even in the Southern Continent. The possibility that its poison still existed—and that it would be flowing through Lord Cedric’s keepsake…”
“The mage employed by the Bearden Merchant Company specializes in toxin purification, so I entrusted the remaining work to him.”
Cain continued.
“It seems the poison from the mana crystal gradually spread throughout the entire sword over the years. Once the purification is complete, your father’s keepsake should be perfectly safe to use.”
He resumed speaking.
“A special poison from the Southern Continent… one that spreads through mana. I’ve heard it’s used for assassinations because both physicians and mana users have difficulty identifying it.”
Despite talking the entire time, he never stopped eating.
Within three bites, both the brownie and ice cream had vanished.
“How are you feeling?”
At Cain’s question, Bael looked toward Aila.
Aila nodded, signaling for him to try.
“……”
Bael tensed his arms and moved his legs slightly.
Only a few days ago, he had needed to grit his teeth hard enough to break them just to make the tiniest movement.
Now his knees bent naturally.
Aila smiled, visibly moved.
“The recovery began the moment he was separated from the sword. The detoxifying herbs that had previously done nothing are finally working. The mana inside his body is flowing again. And his muscle strength is recovering much faster than expected.”
She looked back and forth between Bael and Cain before cautiously adding:
“Perhaps… perhaps with enough time, he may even be able to walk little by little.”
“…Little by little?”
Bael raised an eyebrow.
“Yes. Little by little. And that alone would be remarkable.”
“……”
Bael fell silent.
Everyone knew exactly what he was thinking.
So I’ll never walk, run, and move freely without restrictions?
Even before the poison had been identified, he had never abandoned that hope.
“Is there truly no way for him to recover completely?”
Luciella asked quietly.
Aila set down her spoon.
“It’s not that there’s no way.”
She spoke slowly.
“At least, I don’t think so.”
“Explain.”
Cain folded his arms.
Aila interlaced her fingers on the table.
“It’s theoretically impossible to fully neutralize the poison circulating through his body with ordinary herbs. The Blue Eagle Poison has already merged with his mana and circulates alongside it.”
She continued.
“To uproot it completely, another method is necessary.”
“What kind of method?”
“Fight poison with poison.”
Silence filled the room.
“That sounds like a treatment designed to invite death.”
Cain said flatly.
“Under normal logic, yes.”
Aila admitted.
“However, there exists a rare poison that is lethal but does not cause actual harm until it has remained inside the body for a full day. Theoretically, if the antidote is administered within that day, the two poisons cancel each other out and all residual toxins disappear.”
“…Theoretically.”
“No one has ever attempted it.”
Aila added calmly.
“Because I’m the one who came up with the method.”
Luciella was reminded once again just how extraordinary a physician Aila was.
She was not only knowledgeable about theory.
She could devise bold solutions that no one else would even imagine.
Perhaps that was why Bael had survived this long.
“I trust you completely.”
Cain spoke again.
“So all we need is that poison?”
Aila sighed.
“The poison I mentioned is even rarer than Blue Eagle Poison. I’ve never actually seen the plant myself. All I have are a few illustrations from botanical records, and almost no habitat records exist.”
She continued.
“It only grows in extremely specific climates. If we were to search for it…”
Her expression turned serious.
“It would probably only be found on the Northern Continent. In the polar regions where no people live.”
“What’s it called?”
Luciella asked softly.
“Samyo Herb.”
“……”
“It has a blue stem, and gold, silver, and red berries growing together on the same stalk. All three colors at once.”
Aila smiled faintly.
“That characteristic makes it impossible to mistake for any other plant.”
…Huh?
Something flashed through Luciella’s mind like lightning.
A distant fragment of memory surfaced from the deepest corner of her mind.
A lingering image of blue, gold, silver, and red mixed together.
She had definitely seen it before.
“—Ah! Wait a second! I need to run to my room!”
Cain, Aila, and Bael all turned toward her at the sudden outburst.
But Luciella was already gone.
Bang!
She burst into her room and practically overturned a drawer.
Her hand reached instinctively into the back and pulled out a worn notebook.
It was her mother’s diary.
Luciella rapidly flipped through the pages.
Recipes.
Dates.
Random records.
Mathematical formulas.
A chaotic mixture of notes.
Then her eyes stopped on a particular page.
“…There it is.”
