Chapter 46

"What? Then Kal's role is…?"

"I'm Civilian #1."

"Pfft. What does Civilian #1 do, exactly?"

"Just stand still. Until the hero saves me later."

She laughed at the sheer absurdity.

No question — Rozelia had handed out the roles entirely on her own.

"Hngh. Ether wants to be the hero too."

But Ether looked so crushed that Iberin had to pick him back up.

My Ether only walks the path of smiles.

Well — there'd been a precedent where she'd been delighted even when Ether was the villain.

"Even as the villain, my Ether's cool."

"Really?"

"Of course. My baby's the best."

That was all it took — Ether brightened in a second and broke into a soft smile.

"But Rozel's the hero. The hero's supposed to be nicer and cooler…"

At that, Rozelia deflated and started reading Iberin's face for a verdict.

"Of course Rozel's cool too. Hero or villain, in my eyes my babies are the best."

"Rozel's the best too?"

"Of course."

That was the cue — Rozelia perked right up, swung her sword, and struck a flashy little pose.

"You evil villain! Take my blade!"

"Argh, Ether's not an evil villain! {Big sis is the one who's mean!"}(#pvl04ay85idr)

Ether parried right back.

"…."

Then Kal looked silently over at Iberin.

"Kal's my baby too. Therefore, cool."

That earned a small, sheepish grin from Kal before he slipped back into formation like he'd never smiled at all.

Honestly, they're killing me with cute.

Kal seemed bad at showing what he felt.

But the way he occasionally cracked like that — she wanted to bite him on the cheek.

He clearly had no idea what was going on in Iberin's head, of course.

Iberin sat off to the side, watching them happily.

The thunder of running feet — Kal was finally starting to look like a boy who knew how to play with kids his own age.

A lot of that was Rozelia.

She'd grown up among a crowd of kids at the orphanage, so she knew all kinds of games children would enjoy.

Up till now, Iberin and the staff had been Ether's playmates, but playing with kids his own age was simply a different thing.

"What are you doing here?"

She'd been watching the kids play when, somewhere along the way, Lyssel came over.

"Oh? Did you finish your work?"

Iberin greeted him and patted the spot beside her.

Lyssel slid in naturally next to her.

"Yes."

"Good work. Want me to rub your shoulders?"

"It's fine. Should I do yours, Iberin?"

"What have I done to need a shoulder rub?"

"I just want to."

"Hmm. Then I guess I'll take one."

She turned her shoulders a little toward him, and Lyssel carefully laid his hands on them.

Squeeze, squeeze.

His palms were practically bear paws, but the pressure was as gentle as if he were handling jelly.

"What are you doing?"

"Massaging. Does it hurt?"

"How would that hurt? I can't even feel it."

Only then did he add a tiny bit of force, but it was still feather-light.

"Harder."

"You have to tell me if it hurts."

"Yes, yes. I'll tell you."

Worn down by Iberin's insistence, Lyssel pushed a bit harder, and that was the spot.

"Oof, ah."

Lying in bed every day and barely moving had left her body knotted up, and now it was all melting loose.

A low groan slipped out of her.

But since she never said it hurts, Lyssel kept faithfully kneading at one steady pressure.

"…You really aren't hurting?"

Of course, every time Iberin let out a little oof, he checked whether it hurt.

"Doesn't hurt. It feels amazing. Do this for me often, okay?"

"Then that's a relief. Is this about the right amount?"

"Yup."

Iberin gave herself over to the massage completely.

"Mommy, are you hurt somewhere?"

But maybe the sounds had registered as pain — Ether and Rozelia, who'd been throwing themselves into the sword fight, came over.

If she said yes, they looked ready to clobber Lyssel with their wooden swords right then and there.

Especially Rozelia.

"Hm? Mommy's not hurt. His Highness is just giving me a massage."

"Then why are you making those ow sounds?"

"Because it feels good — it comes out on its own."

"It feels good? It's a good thing?"

"Of course."

"Then Ether wants to do it."

In a flash, Ether tossed his sword aside and grabbed Iberin's shoulder.

Rozelia did the same.

They each claimed one shoulder, and somewhere along the way, Lyssel got bumped to the back.

"…But I was doing it first…"

Lyssel tried, but the two kids brushed him off without a thought.

"Pfft."

Iberin burst out laughing at the look on Lyssel's face.

There'd been a time she didn't know what to do, she'd been so scared of him — when had this man gotten so easy to push around?

"Mommy, when Ether does it it's even better, right?"

"What about when Rozel does it?"

"So good."

"From now on Rozel'll do it for you every day!"

"Ether too!"

Iberin went limp again — but for entirely different reasons than before.

---

She'd thought the limpness was just bliss, but it turned out she'd been getting sick.

That night Iberin's fever spiked, and she spent the whole night moaning her way through it.

The Lecashe estate went straight into crisis mode.

"Mommy."

Ether's face was pinched with worry as he watched her.

The boy didn't cry anymore.

The first time she'd gotten sick, he'd glued himself to her every day and sobbed — but once he'd realized crying made Iberin upset, he stopped letting the tears show.

He only put himself to work helping the physician.

"…What do we do."

Rozelia, on the other hand, had never seen Iberin this sick.

She wasn't crying, but the look on her face was that of a child who couldn't figure out what she was supposed to be doing.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

Iberin smiled, her lips dry and cracked.

"I'm fine."

Rozelia knew she'd been kidnapped because they needed her holy power, but the weight of it hadn't really landed before.

She'd only figured out that her holy power was unusually large after coming to Lecashe.

Iberin was always bright, and she rarely let on when she was suffering, so Rozelia hadn't known.

She certainly hadn't known Iberin could still smile in the middle of all this.

Once Iberin slipped under from the medicine, the people left behind sank into a heavy silence.

"Hng."

Only after Iberin had fallen asleep did Ether finally let a few tears squeeze out, and he tucked himself into Lyssel's arms.

Lyssel scooped him up with his usual unflinching expression and patted his back.

"She'll be all right. And you did well today."

"Mm."

Lyssel had gotten reasonably skilled at soothing Ether by now.

Ether, for his part, leaned into him without difficulty and buried his face in his chest.

"…If I could just give it to you, I'd give you all my holy power…"

Rozelia mumbled.

Lecashe was a famously well-known house, and she'd picked up the finer details that first day she'd been kidnapped and met Rotte.

But none of it had hit home back then.

She hadn't known what kind of person Iberin was, and she hadn't cared.

She'd liked the people of the Lecashe estate, who were kind to her, and she'd just wanted to live here for the rest of her life.

Then, when Iberin came back from the capital, Rozelia lost her heart to her at a glance.

The blunt, terrifying Grand Duke melted on the spot for his wife, and the timid, easily-spooked-looking Ether turned into a full puddle of clinginess in front of his mother.

They looked like a real family.

A few days of living among them only made her love them more.

She might not be able to be family, but if she stuck around, surely she could become something close to it — and she gave that her all.

"H-hng, but what good is someone like me, when even the temple threw me out? Sniff."

Rozelia clung to Iberin and wept out loud.

The truth was, back at the temple, so what if I can't use my holy power? had been her whole attitude.

She'd been brazen about it.

But now she hated it — hated that her holy power wouldn't move at her command.

Rozelia wanted to give Iberin her holy power, the only thing that could save her.

This wasn't anyone's demand. It was the first goal Rozelia had ever set for herself in her entire life.

She stretched out her hand and tried, exactly the way she'd been taught at the temple, to move her holy power — and, as always, nothing happened.

Iberin kept letting out feverish breaths, struggling under it.

It was Rotte who caught hold of Rozelia, by now breaking into a cold sweat as she strained.

"You can stop now."

"But…"

Her face was flushed bright red from crying so hard. Rozelia's voice cracked.

"It's all right. Just your wanting it — Lady Iberin would be happy with that alone."

"Wanting isn't power."

"Why isn't it power?"

"Huh?"

"Sometimes, how desperately you want something is what makes a miracle happen."

"…Desperation?"

"Yes."

Rotte gathered Rozelia into her arms and rocked her.

Face full of misery, Rozelia buried her head in Rotte's chest.

"It's all right."

"But — why doesn't anyone say anything? You guys kidnapped me because you needed me, and I'm basically useless to you—"

"If we'd kept you because you were useful, wouldn't we have thrown you out a long time ago? Were you carrying that around all this time? You were acting so fine, I thought you really were."

The tears spilled all over again.

"Hngh, how are people like this?"

Just like Iberin had said — the Lecashe estate was full of nothing but good people.

Was that why Iberin could smile even while she was sick?

"Miss Rozelia."

That was when Lyssel spoke up.

Rozelia jumped a little.

Rotte and the others might have been kind, but Lyssel — her kidnapper — could feel differently.

She'd been desperate for them not to throw her out, after all.

And she could tell Lyssel was a man who kept a stiff, careful distance from people.

She might've treated him without fear, but there was no missing the line he wouldn't cross.

"…I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were thinking about that."

"…Huh?"

She'd been braced for at least a stern word, even if he wasn't kicking her out — and instead came a flat-out apology.

"The kidnap— that was my mistake, and you're just the one I hurt. When you said you couldn't use your holy power… yes, I was honestly disappointed, but it's all right. Everyone here likes you. Iberin included, obviously."

Rozelia's head shot up, and her eyes locked with Lyssel's.

"Do you mean that?"

"Of course."

"…How are you really like this?"

"Like what?"

"Hng. Wahhh!"

Rozelia hopped down out of Rotte's arms and threw herself at Lyssel.

He froze for an instant, plainly caught off guard, but he didn't push her off.

Not even as the front of his trousers got soaked with tears and snot.

---

After spiking a fever all night and putting everyone through the wringer, Iberin started easing up around dawn. By morning all that was left was a low, lingering warmth.

"Mm."

The feeling of having had every last drop of moisture wrung out of her.

Iberin opened her eyes against a burning thirst.

But her body felt as heavy as a water-logged sponge.

"Nngh."

She let out a small whimper and tried to lift her arm. It wouldn't budge.